1. (a) There shall be written personnel policies for nursing faculty that are in keeping with accepted educational standards and are consistent with the policies of the controlling agency/governing institution.

   1. (1) Nursing policies that differ from those of the controlling agency/governing institution shall be consistent with nursing unit mission and goals (philosophy and outcomes).
   2. (2) Written policies concerning workload for the director or coordinator shall allow for sufficient time for administrative responsibilities consistent with §214.6 of this chapter (relating to Administration and Organization).
   3. (3) Faculty policies shall include, but not be limited to: qualifications, responsibilities, performance evaluation criteria, and terms of employment.
   4. (4) Written policies for nursing faculty workload shall allow sufficient time for faculty to accomplish those activities related to the teaching-learning process.
   5. (5) Position descriptions for the director/coordinator and nursing faculty outlining their responsibilities directly related to the nursing program shall be included in the nursing faculty handbook.

   6. (6) Written policies for nursing faculty shall include: plans for faculty orientation to the institution and the nursing program, faculty development, and evaluation of faculty.

      1. (A) Orientation of new nursing faculty members shall be initiated at the onset of employment.
      2. (B) A plan for nursing faculty development shall be offered to encourage and assist faculty members to meet the nursing program's needs as well as individual faculty members' professional development needs.
      3. (C) A variety of means shall be used to evaluate faculty performance such as self, student, peer and administrative evaluation.

2. (b) A vocational nursing educational program shall employ sufficient faculty members with educational preparation and expertise necessary to enable the students to meet the program goals. The number of faculty members shall be determined by such factors as:

   1. (1) The number and level of students enrolled;
   2. (2) The curriculum plan;
   3. (3) Activities and responsibilities required of faculty;
   4. (4) The number and geographic locations of affiliating agencies and clinical practice settings; and
   5. (5) The level of care and acuity of clients.

3. (c) Faculty Qualifications and Responsibilities.

   1. (1) Documentation of faculty qualifications shall be included in the official files of the program.

   2. (2) Each nurse faculty member shall:

      1. (A) Hold a current license or privilege to practice nursing in the State of Texas;
      2. (B) Have been actively employed in nursing for the past three years or have advanced preparation in nursing, nursing education, and/or nursing administration;
      3. (C) Have had three years varied nursing experiences since graduation; and
      4. (D) Show evidence of teaching abilities and maintaining current knowledge, clinical expertise, and safety in subject area of teaching responsibility.

4. (d) Faculty Waivers.

   1. (1) In fully approved programs, if an individual to be appointed as faculty member does not meet the requirements for faculty as specified in subsection (c) of this section, the director or coordinator is permitted to waive the Board's requirements, if the program and prospective faculty member meet the following criteria and after notification to the Board of the intent to waive the Board's faculty requirements for a temporary time period not to exceed one year:

   2. (2) Minimum program criteria:

      1. (A) program's NCLEX-PN® Examination pass rate for the preceding exam year was 80% or above.
      2. (B) total number of faculty waivers at program shall not exceed 10% of the total number of nursing faculty.

   3. (3) Minimum criteria for prospective faculty member:

      1. (A) holds a current license or privilege to practice as a vocational or registered nurse in the State of Texas;
      2. (B) has been actively employed in nursing for at least two years in the last three years;
      3. (C) if not actively employed in nursing for the past three (3) years, the prospective faculty's advanced preparation in nursing, nursing education, and nursing administration shall be considered; and
      4. (D) prior relevant nursing employment.
   4. (4) When the program does not meet the minimum program criteria or the prospective faculty member does not meet the minimum criteria for a faculty member, a petition for a waiver shall be submitted to the Board and be reviewed by the members of the Education Liaison Committee (ELC) for recommendation regarding approval and referred to the full Board for ratification.
   5. (5) A waiver is valid for up to one year.
   6. (6) The director or coordinator shall submit a sworn (notarized) notification of waiver to the Board.
   7. (7) If an extension of the waiver is needed, the director or coordinator shall petition the Board for an extension of the original waiver.
5. (e) Military faculty--Federal laws and regulations regarding licensure of military nursing personnel shall apply to Texas based military faculty members functioning within vocational nursing educational programs.
6. (f) Non-nursing faculty are exempt from meeting the faculty qualifications as long as the teaching assignments are not nursing content or clinical nursing courses.
7. (g) All nursing faculty, as well as non-nursing faculty, who teach non-clinical nursing courses that are part of the nursing curriculum, e.g., biological, physical, social, behavioral and nursing sciences, including, body structure and function, microbiology, pharmacology, nutrition, signs of emotional health, and human growth and development, shall have sufficient educational preparation verified by the program director/coordinator as appropriate to these areas of teaching responsibility.
8. (h) Non-nursing faculty assigned to teach didactic nursing content shall be required to co-teach with nursing faculty in order to meet nursing course objectives.
9. (i) Teaching assignments shall be commensurate with the faculty member's education and experience in nursing.

10. (j) Faculty shall be responsible for:

    1. (1) supervision of students in clinical learning experiences;
    2. (2) all initial nursing procedures in the clinical area and ascertain that the student is competent before allowing the student to perform an actual nursing procedure independently;
    3. (3) developing, implementing, and evaluating curriculum; and
    4. (4) participating in the development, implementation, and enforcement of standards/policies for admission, progression, probation, and dismissal of students, and participation in academic guidance and counseling.
11. (k) Teaching activities shall be coordinated among full-time faculty, part-time faculty, and clinical preceptors.
12. (l) There shall be a minimum of one full-time nursing instructor for the program.
13. (m) A director/coordinator without major teaching or clinical responsibilities shall not be considered a full-time instructor for purposes of meeting the Board's requirements related to having a sufficient number of nursing faculty for a nursing educational program.
14. (n) Substitute faculty may be employed to meet emergent program needs. Substitute faculty beyond ten consecutive working days and/or on an interim basis shall meet qualifications as specified in subsection (c) of this section.

15. (o) Faculty Organization:

    1. (1) The faculty shall be organized with written policies and procedures and/or bylaws to guide the faculty and program's activities, including processes for enforcement of written student policies.

    2. (2) The faculty shall meet regularly and function in such a manner that all members participate in planning, implementing and evaluating the nursing program. Such participation includes, but is not limited to the initiation and/or change in program policies, personnel policies, curriculum, utilization of affiliating agencies, and program evaluation.

       1. (A) Committees necessary to carry out the functions of the program shall be established with duties and membership of each committee clearly defined in writing.
       2. (B) Minutes of faculty organization and meetings shall document the reasons for actions and the decisions of the faculty and shall be available for reference.
       3. (C) Part-time faculty may participate in all aspects of the program. Clear lines of communication of program policies, objectives and evaluative criteria shall be included in policies for part-time faculty.

Source Note:The provisions of this §214.7 adopted to be effective February 13, 2005, 30 TexReg 545; amended to be effective January 9, 2007, 32 TexReg 91; amended to be effective October 19, 2008, 33 TexReg 8501; amended to be effective December 27, 2010, 35 TexReg 11662.