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. Faculty policies shall include, but not be limited to: qualifications, responsibilities, performance evaluation criteria, and terms of employment.

   1. (1) Policies concerning workload for faculty and the director or coordinator shall be in writing.
   2. (2) There shall be written plans for faculty orientation, development and evaluation.
   3. (3) There shall be orientation of new faculty members at the onset of employment.
   4. (4) A variety of means shall be used to evaluate faculty performance such as self, student, peer and administrative evaluation.
2. (b) Minimum Teaching Personnel--There shall be a minimum of one full-time nursing instructor for the program. A director/coordinator without major teaching or clinical responsibilities shall not be considered a full-time instructor. Use of part-time instructors is permissible.

3. (c) Faculty Qualifications and Responsibilities.

   1. (1) Documentation of faculty qualifications shall be included in the official files of the program. Each 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. If the instructor has not been actively employed in nursing for the past three years, the instructor's advanced preparation in nursing, nursing education, and nursing administration, and prior relevant nursing employment may be taken into consideration in evaluating qualifications for the position; and
      3. (C) have had three years varied nursing experiences since graduation.

   2. (2) 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:

      1. (A) minimum program criteria

         1. (i) program's NCLEX-PN Examination pass rate for the preceding exam year was 80% or above.
         2. (ii) total number of faculty waivers at program shall not exceed 10% of the total number of nursing faculty.
         3. (iii) waiver is valid for up to one year and shall not be extended without Board approval.

      2. (B) minimum criteria for prospective faculty member

         1. (i) holds a current license or privilege to practice as a vocational or registered nurse in the State of Texas;
         2. (ii) has been actively employed in nursing for at least two years in the last three years;
         3. (iii) 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. (iv) prior relevant nursing employment.
      3. (C) 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.
      4. (D) a waiver is valid for up to one year.
      5. (E) the director or coordinator shall submit a sworn (notarized) notification of waiver to the Board.
      6. (F) if an extension of the waiver is needed, the director or coordinator shall petition the Board for an extension of the original waiver.

   3. (3) Faculty shall be responsible for:

      1. (A) supervision of students in clinical learning experiences;
      2. (B) 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. (C) developing, implementing, and evaluating curriculum; and
      4. (D) participating in the development of standards for admission, progression, probation, dismissal of students, and participation in academic guidance and counseling.
   4. (4) Non-nursing faculty are exempt from meeting the faculty qualifications as long as the teaching assignments are not nursing didactic or clinical courses.
   5. (5) Clinical preceptors shall be responsible for providing clinical instruction and/or supervision when a program faculty member is unavailable in clinical sites. The clinical preceptor shall meet the requirements of Rule 214.10(k)(1).
   6. (6) 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 Rule 214.7(c)(1).
   7. (7) 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.
   8. (8) Military faculty--Federal laws and regulations regarding licensure of military nursing personnel shall apply to Texas based military faculty members functioning within vocational nursing programs.
4. (d) 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. Minutes of faculty organization and meetings shall document the reasons for actions and the decisions of the faculty and shall be available for reference.

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.