| (a) Faculty Organization.
(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) 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.
(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.
(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.
(C) Part-time faculty may participate in all aspects
of the program. Clear lines of communication of program policies,
objectives, and evaluation criteria shall be included in the policies
for part-time faculty.
(b) There shall be a Nursing Faculty Handbook that
contains written policies for nursing faculty that are in keeping
with accepted educational standards and are consistent with the policies
of the governing entity. Nursing policies that differ from those of
the governing entity shall be consistent with nursing unit mission
and goals (philosophy and outcome).
(1) 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). Written policies for nursing
faculty workload shall allow sufficient time for faculty to accomplish
those activities related to the teaching-learning process.
(2) Personnel policies shall include position descriptions
for all members of the nursing program (including the director/coordinator)
outlining the qualifications and responsibilities directly related
to the nursing program.
(3) Written policies for nursing faculty shall also
include: terms of employment, plans for faculty orientation to the
institution and to the nursing program, resources and opportunities
for faculty development and evaluation of faculty, and Nursing Peer
Review, as described in §217.19 (relating to Incident-Based Nursing
Peer Review and Whistleblower Protections) and §217.20 (relating
to Safe Harbor Nursing Peer Review and Whistleblower Protections)
of this title.
(4) Orientation of new nursing faculty members shall
be initiated at the onset of employment.
(5) 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.
(6) A variety of means shall be used to evaluate faculty
performance such as self, student, peer, and administrative evaluation.
(c) A vocational nursing education 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) The number and level of students enrolled;
(2) The curriculum plan;
(3) Activities and responsibilities required of faculty;
(4) The number and geographic locations of affiliating
agencies and clinical practice settings; and
(5) The level of care and acuity of clients.
(d) Faculty Qualifications and Responsibilities.
(1) Documentation of faculty qualifications shall be
included in the official files of the program.
(2) Each nurse faculty member shall:
(A) Hold a current license or privilege to practice
nursing in the State of Texas;
(B) Have been actively employed in nursing for the
past three (3) years or have advanced preparation in nursing, nursing
education, and/or nursing administration;
(C) Have had three (3) years varied nursing experiences
since graduation; and
(D) Show evidence of teaching abilities and maintaining
current knowledge, clinical expertise, and safety in the subject areas
of teaching responsibility.
(e) Faculty Waivers.
(1) In fully approved programs, if an individual to
be appointed as a 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 without
Board approval, 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 (1) year;
(2) Minimum program criteria:
(A) program's NCLEX-PN® examination pass rate for
the preceding examination year was 80% or above; and
(B) total number of faculty waivers at program shall
not exceed 10% of the total number of nursing faculty.
(3) Minimum criteria for prospective faculty member:
(A) hold a current license or privilege to practice
as a vocational or registered nurse in the State of Texas;
(B) has been actively employed in nursing for at least
two (2) years of the last three (3) years;
(C) if not actively employed in nursing during the
past three (3) years, the prospective faculty's advanced preparation
in nursing, nursing education, and nursing administration shall be
considered; and
(D) prior relevant nursing employment.
(4) A waiver is valid for up to one (1) year.
(5) If an extension of the waiver is needed, the director
or coordinator shall petition Board Staff for an extension of the
original waiver.
(f) Military faculty. Federal laws and regulations
regarding licensure of military nursing personnel shall apply to Texas
based military faculty members functioning within vocational nursing
education programs.
(g) Non-nursing faculty are exempt from meeting the
faculty qualifications of this chapter as long as the teaching assignments
are not nursing content or clinical nursing courses.
(h) 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.
(i) 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.
(j) Teaching assignments shall be commensurate with
the faculty member's education and experience in nursing.
(k) Faculty shall be responsible for:
(1) supervising students in clinical learning experiences;
(2) supervising all initial nursing procedures performed
by the student in the clinical area and ascertaining that the student
is competent before allowing the student to perform an actual nursing
procedure independently;
(3) developing, implementing, and evaluating curriculum;
and
(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.
(l) Teaching activities shall be coordinated among
full-time faculty, part-time faculty, and clinical preceptors.
(m) There shall be a minimum of one (1) full-time nursing
instructor for the program.
(n) 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 vocational nursing education
program.
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| 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; amended to be effective October 21, 2012, 37 TexReg 8294; amended to be effective August 9, 2018, 43 TexReg 5072 |
