40 Tex. Admin. Code § 807.81 – Instructor Qualifications

(a) The instructor shall be of good reputation and shall not be a current student in the same or similar program, as determined by the Commission, in which the instructor teaches.
(b) Instructors shall possess and affirm on forms provided by the Commission that the instructor has one of the following qualifications that applies to the course area to be taught. In such cases where the practical experience is gained on a seasonal basis as an industry standard, the season of at least three months of experience shall be considered as one year of experience.
1. (1) The instructor has a master's degree or higher that:
  1. (A) includes satisfactory completion of six semester credit hours or eight quarter credit hours in the class to be taught;
  2. (B) includes satisfactory completion of three semester credit hours or four quarter credit hours in the course area and one year of related practical experience within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school, if the class to be taught is in a technical field;
  3. (C) includes satisfactory completion of three semester credit hours, or four quarter credit hours in the course area to be taught, if the class to be taught is in a non-technical field; or
  4. (D) includes one year of related practical experience in the class to be taught within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school, if the class to be taught is in a non-technical field.
2. (2) The instructor has a bachelor's degree that:
  1. (A) includes nine semester hours or 12 quarter hours related to the course area to be taught;
  2. (B) includes satisfactory completion of six semester credit hours or eight quarter credit hours in the course area to be taught and one year of related practical experience within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school, if the class to be taught is in a technical field;
  3. (C) includes satisfactory completion of three semester credit hours or four quarter credit hours in the course area and one year of related practical experience within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school, if the class to be taught is in a non-technical field; or
  4. (D) includes two years of related practical experience within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school.
3. (3) The instructor has an associate's degree that:
  1. (A) includes satisfactory completion of nine semester credit hours or 12 quarter hours in the course area to be taught and two years of related practical experience within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school; or
  2. (B) includes three years of related practical experience within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school.
4. (4) The instructor has a secondary education if it includes a certificate of completion from a recognized postsecondary school for a program with course time of at least 900 hours in a relevant course area and four years of related practical experience within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school; or
5. (5) The instructor has proof of satisfactory completion of secondary education if accompanied by five years of related practical experience within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school.
(c) In addition to the other applicable requirements for instructors, including the good reputation requirement, the following qualifications apply to the specific instructors listed in this subsection.
1. (1) The Commission requires that a court reporting instructor of only machine shorthand theory and speedbuilding shall have:
  1. (A) an associate's degree or higher and certificate of completion of machine shorthand theory requirements in an accredited court reporting program;
  2. (B) an associate's degree in court reporting from any state-recognized school;
  3. (C) a Registered Professional Reporter or Certified Shorthand Reporter certification from any state; or
  4. (D) a certificate of completion of a court reporting program from a state-certified school.
2. (2) The Commission requires that a court procedures and technology instructor shall have:
  1. (A) a Registered Professional Reporter or Certified Shorthand Reporter certification; and
  2. (B) one year of court reporting experience.
3. (3) The Commission requires that a modeling instructor shall have, at a minimum:
  1. (A) a secondary education and certificate of completion from a modeling program of at least 45 hours of course time from a state recognized school and at least five verifiable paid modeling jobs completed within the past five years; or
  2. (B) a secondary education and at least ten verifiable paid modeling jobs completed within the past five years.
4. (4) The Commission requires that a truck driving instructor shall have, at a minimum:
  1. (A) a secondary education;
  2. (B) certified proof of successful completion of course time of 40 hours in safety education and driver training as required by this chapter; and
  3. (C) three years of full-time tractor trailer driving experience within the ten years immediately preceding employment by the school.
5. (5) The Commission requires that a bartending instructor shall be certified by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission as having completed the required awareness course.
(d) The director shall ensure that an instructor applicant demonstrates sufficient language to teach the class for which the instructor is applying to teach.
(e) For those instructors who return to the school prior to one full year of absence, and who will be teaching the same classes as previously approved, the school shall document the leave and reinstatement dates in the instructor's personnel file. When an instructor begins teaching new classes or the absence was more than one year, the school shall submit a new application to the Commission.

Source Note:The provisions of this §807.81 adopted to be effective August 16, 1998, 23 TexReg 8479; amended to be effective February 24, 2003, 28 TexReg 1651; amended to be effective August 28, 2006, 31 TexReg 6803.