1. (a) There shall be written personnel policies for nursing faculty that are in keeping with accepted educational standards and are consistent with those of the governing institution. Policies which differ from those of the governing institution shall be consistent with nursing unit mission and goals (philosophy and outcomes).

   1. (1) Policies concerning workload for faculty and the dean/director shall be in writing.
   2. (2) Sufficient time shall be provided faculty to accomplish those activities related to the teaching-learning process.
   3. (3) Teaching activities shall be coordinated among full-time, part-time faculty, clinical preceptors and clinical teaching assistants.
   4. (4) If the director is required to teach, he or she shall carry a teaching load of no more than three clock hours per week.

2. (b) A nursing education program shall employ sufficient faculty members with graduate 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 affiliate agencies and clinical practice settings; and
   5. (5) The level of care and acuity of clients.

3. (c) Faculty Qualifications.

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

      1. (A) Hold a current license or privilege to practice as a registered nurse in the State of Texas;
      2. (B) Show evidence of teaching abilities and maintaining current knowledge, clinical expertise, and safety in subject area of teaching responsibility;

      3. (C) Hold a master's degree, preferably in nursing. A nurse faculty member holding a master's degree in a discipline other than nursing shall hold a bachelor's degree in nursing from an accredited baccalaureate program in nursing; and

         1. (i) if teaching in a diploma or associate degree nursing program, shall have at least six semester hours of graduate level content in nursing appropriate to his/her teaching responsibilities, or
         2. (ii) if teaching in a baccalaureate level program, shall have at least 12 semester hours of graduate level content in nursing appropriate to his/her teaching responsibilities.
      4. (D) In fully accredited programs, if an individual to be appointed as faculty member does not meet the requirements for faculty as specified in this subsection, the dean/director is permitted to petition for a waiver of the Board's requirements prior to the appointment of said individual.
      5. (E) In baccalaureate programs, an increasing number of faculty members should hold doctoral degrees appropriate to their responsibilities.
   2. (2) Nursing as well as non-nursing faculty who teach non-clinical nursing courses, e.g., pathophysiology, pharmacology, research, management and statistics, shall have graduate level educational preparation appropriate to these areas of responsibility.
   3. (3) Non-nursing faculty shall be required to co-teach with nursing faculty in order to meet nursing course objectives.
4. (d) Teaching assignments shall be commensurate with the faculty member's education and experience in nursing.
5. (e) The faculty shall be organized with written policies and procedures and/or bylaws to guide the faculty and program's activities.

6. (f) 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 of academic policies, personnel policies, curriculum, utilization of affiliate agencies, and program evaluation.

   1. (1) 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. (2) Minutes of faculty organization and committee meetings shall document the reasons for actions and the decisions of the faculty and shall be available for reference.

7. (g) There shall be written plans for faculty orientation, development, and evaluation.

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

Source Note:The provisions of this §215.7 adopted to be effective August 17, 2003, 28 TexReg 6540.