If an instructor completed their graduate degree within the last five years and as a result has four years of experience rather than five, I would be comfortable asking for an exemption.
Susan,
You will need to go back to the years before their teaching experience. If they were qualified before they began the previous teaching experience, then you can count those years. For example, if the instructor was qualified with a high school diploma and 5 years experience within the last 10 years prior to becoming an instructor 12 years prior, then they can count the years as an instructor to meet the qualifications.
If I have a candidate who has been a full-time instructor for many years (let's say 12) and all of his/her practical experience is prior to this teaching experience, is a variance required?
Larry,
Most States require that you meet the regulatory requirement in which the school operates. For TWC the qualification is based upon the level of education and the appropriate years of experience. Even if the instructor is out of state, they need to meet the Texas instructor requirements.
Frank H.
Patricia,
Not if you can verify the instructors education and they have enough work experience within the last 10 years.
Frank
We are a court reporting college, and it is recommended that we go outside of our graduates when hiring new instructors. Most court reporters in the U.S. do not have a degree and half of all states do not have a license requirement. Since we have an online component, we have applicants from across the country and some from states that do not require a license but have many years in the field. In order to hire these qualified instructors, we would need to submit a variance to TWC for approval.
TWC usually requires an instructor to meet at least half of the qualifying requirements before they will approve a variance. Remember the state requirements are a level of education and the appropriate number of years experience.
Not if you have a copy of their education and show the appropriate number of years experience. If the diploma or transcript is not in english then you will need to get it translated and verified.
With the current violence in Mexico, a lot of professionals have opted to move to our state, would we have to submit a variance?
A variance is needed when you hire an online instructor who has no employment certification requirement in the state where they work but has extensive on-the-job experience.
We recently had an applicant for our Dental Assisting program who is a dentist from Mexico, but cannot practice dentistry here. Will I need to require a variance for this individual?
This is a good question. The prospective instructor could have a large a amount of industry experience from before they began focusing on teaching.
However, I can't help but think about the longest-standing instructors at my campus. Although they have been teaching here for several years, they are still extremely active in their respective fields.
Depending upon the courses that the individual instructor will be teaching will determine if the above is necessary
I could see this happening with an instructor teaching in a management degree program. For example, an instructor with a business degree who has many years experience dealing with a legal department (or an HR department) at a prior job wanting to teach Bus Law.
Certainly, if the school is having difficulty finding qualified applicants in a specific area, a variance may be needed for a potential instructor who may have th ability; however, may not meet all criteria. In addition, if the school needs to hire a temporary instructor to fill a gap while continuing to search for a qualified instructor.
When an Information Technology professional has several years of experience, possess various levels of certifications - i.e. - CISCO, UNIX and LINIX, however they do not have a Master Degree, which may be required. This requires a variance.
I “second†your comment, it is imperative that we adhere to faculty credentials and the standards set forth; this is one key component that ensures program quality.
Obviously we must strive to always hire faculty members that are fully compliant upfront and avoid requests for variances but I can see situations where you are in the middle of a term and you suddenly lose an instructor and you might have a short amount of time to recruit a replacement and thus result in a request of this nature. We would of course want to explore all other possibilities first.
TWC expects the instructor to meet at least half of the qualifications when submitting a variance.
My answer is that you should submit a variance if the instructor candidate is close but does not immediately meet the TWC guidelines such as 5 years of experience or a bachelors/master's degree, or doesn't have one degree above the program they are teaching.
