The ranks held by teaching faculty are described in the Faculty Handbook (pp. 37-40). Faculty with tenure-track appointments hold ranks of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or professor. Faculty with non-tenure-track appointments hold ranks of lecturer, demonstrator, laboratory supervisor, visiting (assistant, associate) professors, and extension specialists. Faculty who are not paid by NCSU but are professionally affiliated with the University are appointed as adjunct (assistant, associate) professors.
The Faculty Handbook also lists the academic qualifications for appointment to each rank (pp. 37-40). Appointment at the rank of instructor requires a master's degree, an equivalent degree, or equivalent professional experience, and appointment at the rank of assistant professor, associate professor, or professor requires a doctoral degree, an equivalent degree, or equivalent professional experience. Qualifications for appointment at the rank of lecturer, demonstrator, or laboratory supervisor are the same as for the rank of instructor, and the qualifications for visiting faculty are the same as for tenure-track faculty of equivalent rank. Although the wording in the Faculty Handbook regarding the academic qualifications of adjunct professors is ambiguous, the handbook explicitly prohibits adjunct faculty from teaching graduate courses unless they are members of the graduate faculty. The practice is to expect the same qualifications of adjunct faculty as of the tenure-track faculty. The Faculty Handbook states that membership in the graduate faculty requires a doctoral degree or clear evidence of equivalent experience, knowledge, and capability.
Statistical data on the academic qualifications of tenure-track teaching faculty comes from NCSU's fall 1992 report to the Office of Civil Rights. Of the 1,326 tenure-track teaching faculty, 1,285 (97 percent) hold the terminal degree, and 41 (3.0 percent) hold another degree. Comparable data on the academic qualifications of non-tenure-track teaching faculty are not available.
The Agricultural Institute employs no faculty of its own but uses faculty with appointments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Veterinary Medicine, including faculty who teach communication skills, mathematics, and computer-applications courses. According to the Agricultural Institute Catalog, 1993-1995, "faculty for the four-year program are responsible for organizing and teaching courses offered by the Agricultural Institute" (p. 2). Thus, Agricultural Institute faculty must fulfill the academic qualifications for rank listed in the Faculty Handbook, with the minimum academic qualification normally being a master's degree. Documentation on the academic preparation of Agricultural Institute faculty is maintained (as is documentation on the academic preparation of all faculty) by the various departments within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and in the Provost's Office [4.4.2.1.3; 4.4.2.1.6; 4.4.2.1.7; 4.4.2.1.8].
Although the Provost's Office maintains a computerized database of faculty credentials, the data are not organized to permit verification of compliance with the standards stipulated in the SACS Criteria for Accreditation. However, as part of the self-study, the Office of University Planning and Analysis collected information about the qualifications of every faculty member teaching during fall 1993. The results of this review are being used to modify this database. According to the department hears, all faculty teaching in baccalaureate programs meet the SACS criteria. The vast majority of the 1,423 faculty who taught credit courses (excluding lab sections) hold the appropriate academic degree. Department heads stated that all faculty who do not hold the appropriate degree are qualified because of professional experience and demonstrated contributions to the teaching discipline. Documentation for these exceptional cases are on file and will be available in the self-study library [4.4.2.2.1; 4.4.2.2.2].
Recommendation 8.6: NCSU should modify the database of faculty credentials in the Provost's Office to permit verification that faculty (particularly non-tenure-track, part-time teaching faculty) comply with the standards for academic and professional preparation.
The database in the Provost's Office should document that faculty hold the terminal degree in areas of teaching and research for which they are responsible. Rare exceptions to this standard should be documented and a letter of justification from the hiring administrator should be retained as a component of the database.
NCSU complies with the requirement that at least 25 percent of course credit hours in each undergraduate major offered both on- and off-campus be taught by faculty holding the terminal degree. In a survey of fifty-six department heads, forty-eight departments with undergraduate degree programs claimed compliance for on-campus courses, seven departments have no undergraduate degree program, and one department did not respond. Regarding compliance for off-campus courses, thirty-nine of the fifty-six departments offer no off-campus courses, four departments did not respond, and twelve claimed compliance (Department Heads' Questionnaire, Faculty Section, item 4) [4.4.2.2.3].
Three NCSU departments offer remedial courses: the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction, Math and Science Education, and English. The heads of these departments indicated that 100 percent of the faculty teaching remedial courses hold a bachelor's degree in a discipline related to their teaching assignment and either classroom experience in a discipline related to their teaching assignment or graduate training in remedial education (Department Heads' Questionnaire, Faculty Section, item 3) [4.4.2.2.5].
In addition to objective evidence showing that faculty teaching in baccalaureate programs have high academic qualifications, students must believe that faculty are highly qualified. In the Self-Study Survey of Undergraduate Students, 95 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that instructors are knowledgeable (Self-Study Survey of Undergraduate Students, item 5-H).
Because measuring competence levels in teaching and research is necessarily subjective, surveys of faculty and graduate students were used to gauge compliance. Perceptions of teaching competence vary. In a survey of teaching faculty, 87 percent of full professors agreed or agreed strongly with the statement that faculty demonstrate a high level of teaching competence, but only 75 percent of associate and assistant professors surveyed shared this view (Self-Study Survey of Faculty, item 13-B1). In a survey of graduate students, 89 percent agreed that faculty are often or almost always prepared for class (Self-Study Survey of Graduate Students, item 7-G). Perceptions of research competence also vary. In a survey of teaching faculty, 89 percent of full professors responding agreed or agreed strongly with the statement that faculty demonstrate a high level of research competence, but only 78 percent of associate and assistant professors shared this view (Self-Study Survey of Faculty, item 13-B2) [4.4.2.3.2].
Compared with gauging teaching and research competence, defining and publicizing eligibility requirements for faculty who teach graduate courses is straightforward. These requirements are specified in the Faculty Handbook (p. 41). Faculty who teach graduate courses must be either associate or full members of the graduate faculty. The minimum requirement for consideration as an associate member (the status with lesser qualifications) is an appointment at the rank of assistant professor, visiting assistant professor, or adjunct assistant professor. Appointment to these ranks normally requires a doctoral degree. The Faculty Handbook states that "Should the candidate not hold a doctor's degree there should be demonstrable evidence that the candidate possesses the experience, knowledge, and capability in the area of intended participation in the graduate program of the University" (p. 41) [4.4.2.3.3; 4.4.2.3.8].
Faculty qualifications for directing doctoral research, which are spelled out in the Faculty Handbook (p. 41), are designed to ensure that doctoral research is directed by faculty with both excellent research records and experience in directing research. Faculty directing doctoral research must be full members of the graduate faculty. (An associate member may co-chair a doctoral advisory committee with a full member.) Full member status is conferred upon an associate member who has achieved a number of significant publications, as judged by the full members in the department, and gained experience in directing research by serving as chairman on several master's advisory committees or as co-chairman on several doctoral committees [4.4.2.3.5].
Faculty perceptions regarding faculty qualifications for directing graduate research, both master's and doctoral, suggest that NCSU's policies serve their intended purpose. In a survey of teaching faculty, 94 percent of the faculty who expressed an opinion agreed or agreed strongly with the statement that faculty who direct graduate research are experienced researchers (Self-Study Survey of Faculty, item 17-A2). In the Self-Study Survey of Graduate Students, both master's and doctoral, 80 percent of students who expressed an opinion agreed with the statement that their research advisors were attentive to their work, and 81 percent who expressed an opinion agreed that their committees assist in their research (items 6-J and 6-L).
Faculty must demonstrate a commitment to graduate education and to their graduate students if NCSU hopes to achieve its goal of preeminence. The objective evidence shows that NCSU faculty teaching in graduate programs are highly competent teachers and researchers, and this evidence is corroborated by the perceptions of the faculty. In the survey of teaching faculty, 79 percent of full, associate, and assistant professors agreed or agreed strongly with the statement that the overall environment encourages scholarly interaction among faculty and graduate students, and in the survey of graduate students, 78 percent agreed or agreed strongly with the statement that they had a professional relationship with faculty (Self-Study Survey of Faculty, item 15-AG, Self-Study Survey of Graduate Students, item 6-G).
Faculty qualifications required for teaching at the graduate level are outlined in the Faculty Handbook, which stipulates that faculty who teach graduate courses must be at least associate members of the graduate faculty, and that associate membership requires a doctoral degree or else "demonstrable evidence that the candidate possess the experience, knowledge, and capability in the area of intended participation in the graduate program of the University" (p. 41). According to department heads, all faculty teaching in graduate programs meet these standards [4.4.2.3.6; 4.4.2.3.7; 4.4.2.3.9].
NCSU complies with the requirement that each graduate degree program have at least four qualified, full-time faculty whose responsibilities include teaching in the program [4.4.2.3.10]. The graduate faculty of each department participate in planning the curriculum for each graduate program a department offers (Faculty Handbook, p. 41). All graduate course proposals are reviewed by the Graduate School Administrative Board, whose members include representatives of the graduate faculties from each of NCSU's colleges. Decisions by the board are advisory to the dean of the Graduate School (Faculty Handbook, p. 128). In a survey of teaching faculty, 79 percent of full, associate, and assistant professors agreed or agreed strongly with the statement that faculty are adequately involved in the formulation of academic policies and regulations for graduate curricula (Self-Study Survey of Faculty, item 11-J) [4.4.2.3.10].
In the same survey, four of the fifty-six heads indicated that their departments offer an off-campus degree program (Department Heads' Questionnaire, Faculty Section, item 7). For each of these programs, the heads detailed the steps their departments take to ensure that off-campus students have access to full-time faculty members comparable to that of on-campus students [4.4.2.4.2]. These descriptions indicate that access to faculty is comparable. The Department of Business Management, which offers a baccalaureate-degree program at IBM, relies on the proximity of the IBM complex to the NCSU campus (about twenty miles) together with IBM's ability to make rooms available for student-faculty meetings outside of class time. The Department of Textile Engineering, which offers a Master of Textile Engineering degree, provides off-campus students with the same lectures as on-campus students through videotape; additional faculty contact comes via phone and letters. In the Administrative Officer's Management program, offered by the Department of Political Science, the faculty and the director of the program hold regular discussions with students regarding their University experiences. The Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, which offers a doctoral program in cooperation with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, requires students to complete one year of coursework in residence and thereafter requires them to return to campus to meet with their committees at least twice yearly.
Under the leadership of the Industrial Extension Service, the College of Engineering offers graduate courses for regular academic credit through its Video-Based Engineering Education program. Faculty delivering these courses are from among those of the various participating engineering departments and certain departments in other colleges. Courses for this program and others in other colleges make use of the CONCERT network operated by the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina for dissemination and feedback.
A serious constraint on retention of faculty has been the inadequacy of funds for yearly salary adjustments. When salaries are not adjusted, newly appointed, inexperienced faculty sometimes receive higher salaries than exemplary faculty of the same academic rank who have worked for the University for several years, a condition that leads to morale problems.
The perception that resources are declining extends beyond department heads and addresses issues beyond salaries. In a survey of teaching faculty, 52 percent of respondents disagreed or disagreed strongly with the statement that resources are adequate to attract good faculty, and 56 percent disagreed or disagreed strongly with the statement that resources are adequate to retain good faculty (Self-Study Survey of Faculty, Questions 14A and 14B). Particularly disturbing is the disagreement or strong disagreement with the latter statement by 65 percent of assistant professors.
At least half of respondents disagreed or disagreed strongly with the statement that classroom resources are sufficient (50 percent), that facilities for teaching are adequate (53 percent), that teaching labs are sufficient (50 percent), that professional development support is adequate (55 percent), that funding for equipment is adequate (57 percent), that research equipment is adequately maintained (52 percent), and that faculty salary levels are competitive (59 percent) (Self-Study Survey of Faculty, items 14-C2, 13-H1, 14-C3, 14-M, 17-C2, 17-D2, and 11-L). A distressing 74 percent of respondents disagreed or disagreed strongly with the statement that library materials are adequate, and 57 percent were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with periodical collections in their fields (Self-Study Survey of Faculty, items 14-C5 and 24-C).
Failure to redress the decline in resources could seriously hamper NCSU in its quest to be a preeminent research university in the land-grant tradition. NCSU must address the need to attract and retain outstanding faculty if we are to continue to be a viable servant of society in providing needed research as well as in providing the rich benefit of a research environment for our undergraduate and graduate students.
Recommendation 8.7: NCSU should seek more resources to use in attracting and retaining a faculty qualified to direct graduate studies.
