Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1540-01-02-.16 - PERSONNEL AND INSTRUCTOR QUALIFICATIONS

(1) Administrative personnel and instructors shall meet all qualifications listed in this rule. Evidence of education, experience, or training, such as official transcripts, for each personnel and instructors must be maintained on-site at the authorized location. Institutions must provide this evidence at any time upon receiving a request from Commission staff.

(2) The method of administration and procedure for staff selection must be defined in a way that each employee has specific duties and responsibilities. The process for selection of administrative personnel and instructors shall ensure that administrative personnel and instructors meet the qualifications in this rule. Additionally, institutions shall take reasonable actions to ensure that a supervisor of any experiential learning, regardless of whether the learning is conducted at the location or in the field, is qualified to supervise the learning. For example, the supervisor must hold an appropriate license if the subject is a vocation requiring licensure.

(3) Administrative personnel at an authorized institution must be graduates of an accredited college or university or have sufficient background and training in the administrator's area of responsibility. If the institution employs a director of education, that director shall possess a baccalaureate degree or the highest educational credential offered by the institution, whichever is higher. Administrative personnel are individuals that oversee areas as outlined in operational and administrative standards. This includes by function. but is not limited to, titles of an institutional director; financial aid administrator; director of admissions; director of education; business officer or manager; director of student services (including counseling and placement) and the registrar. Support and clerical staff are not included as administrative personnel.

(4) Institutional Directors:

(a) Each institution must designate one (1) person as the institutional director. The institutional director is responsible for ensuring that the conduct of the institution and its agents is in compliance with the Act and these rules. The institutional director shall serve as the official contact for all correspondence and business conducted between the institution and the Commission or Commission staff.

(b) Institutional owners must ensure that each authorized location has an institutional director at the authorized location for at least fifty percent (50%) of the operational time each week the school has students present unless other provisions have been approved by Commission staff.

(c) The institutional director implicitly accepts knowledge of and responsibility for compliance with the Act and these rules including, but not limited to, advertising, records, contracts, required benchmarks, annual due dates, and fee payments.

(d) The institutional director at an authorized institution must:

1. Be a graduate of an accredited postsecondary educational institution with at least one (1) year experience in administration or institutional management; or

2. The total years of administration or institutional management experience in postsecondary education shall equal at least five (5) years.

(5) Instructors:

(a) Instructional staff for all institutions must be selected at a minimum on the basis of these rules.

(b) Instructors in a trade related or specific skill area must have documented proficiency and practical applied experience in that trade or skill.

(c) An instructor must hold the appropriate license if the subject is a vocation requiring licensure.

(d) An instructor must be qualified by education and experience/background and must meet at a minimum the following qualifications:

1. Doctorate level courses:

(i) Hold a doctorate degree from a college or university judged to be appropriate by the Commission and either:

(I) A doctorate degree with a major or concentration in the subject area to be taught; or

(II) A doctorate not in the subject area but with a minimum of one (1) year of practical experience within the last five (5) years in the subject area to be taught and completion of nine (9) semester hours or twelve (12) quarter hours of doctoral level courses in the subject.

2. Master's level courses:

(i) Hold a master's or higher degree from a college or university judged to be appropriate by the Commission and either:

(I) A master's or higher degree with a major or concentration in the subject area to be taught; or

(II) A master's or higher degree not in the subject area but with a minimum of one (1) year of demonstrated practical experience within the last five (5) years in the subject area to be taught and completion of nine (9) semester hours or twelve (12) quarter hours in graduate level courses in the subject.

3. Baccalaureate level courses:

(i) Hold a baccalaureate or higher degree from a college or university judged to be appropriate by the Commission and either:

(I) A baccalaureate or higher degree with a major or concentration in the subject area to be taught; or

(II) A baccalaureate or higher degree not in the subject area but with a minimum of one (1) year of demonstrated practical experience within the last five (5) years in the subject area to be taught and completion of nine (9) semester hours or twelve (12) quarter hours in the subject. Additional years of documented experience in the subject area may be substituted for semester/quarter hour requirements.

4. Associate level courses:

(i) Meet the minimum requirements for doctorate, master's or baccalaureate level; or

(ii) Hold an associate degree from a postsecondary institution judged to be appropriate by the Commission and either:

(I) An associate degree with a concentration in the subject to be taught and one (1) year of practical experience; or

(II) An associate degree not in the subject area but with a minimum of two (2) years of practical experience within the last five (5) years in the subject area to be taught and satisfactory completion in a postsecondary educational institution of nine (9) semester hours or twelve (12) quarter credit hours in the subject area to be taught. Additional years of documented experience in the subject area may be substituted for semester/quarter hour requirements.

5. Diploma and certificate level courses or programs:

(i) Meet the minimum requirements for doctorate, master's or baccalaureate or associate level; or

(ii) Hold a high school diploma or GED and a certificate of completion from a postsecondary institution judged to be appropriate by the Commission in a relevant subject area and a minimum of three (3) years of practical experience within the last seven (7) years in the subject area to be taught. Additional years of documented experience in the subject area or licensure in the field may be substituted for the postsecondary educational requirements.

6. General education courses: All general education courses must be taught by holders of baccalaureate degrees with at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the general education staff with, at minimum, earned master's degrees.

(6) The Executive Director may approve a variance from the specific qualifications in paragraph (5) of this rule with sufficient justification and an assurance that the program quality will not be lessened. In such a situation, the institutional director must submit written justification and documentation using the School Personnel Application submission within five (5) business days of the personnel hire date. In addition, the instructor must be institutionally evaluated at the close of the first instructional period for effectiveness and quality. This evaluation shall be made available to Commission staff upon request.

(7) Instructors shall be evaluated annually in writing by students and annually in writing by the institutional director or chief academic/instructional officer. The institution shall maintain such evaluations for six (6) years from the date of the evaluation.

(8) Agents:

(a) An institution is responsible for any representations or misrepresentations, expressed or implied, made by the agent.

(b) Any student solicited or enrolled by an agent whose actions are in contravention with these rules is entitled to a refund from the institution of all moneys paid. Upon payment by the institution, the student shall release the institution from any further obligations to the student. Any contract signed by a prospective student as a result of solicitation or enrollment by an agent shall be null and void and unenforceable at the option of the student. In cases where the institution is willing to honor the contract and the student wishes the contract enforced, it can be. However, in cases where the contract has been fully executed between the institution and the student, the student is not entitled to a refund solely because the student was improperly solicited or enrolled by an agent.

(c) An agent is prohibited from inappropriate activities in procuring enrollees including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Administering the admission test;

2. Advising students about financial aid other than informing the student of the general availability of financial assistance;

3. Giving false, misleading, or deceptive information about any aspect of the institution's operation, job placement, or salary potential;

4. Representing that a program has sponsorship, approval, characteristics, uses, benefits, or qualities which it does not have;

5. Soliciting enrollments in a program which has not been approved by the Commission; or

6. Otherwise acting in contravention of these rules.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1540-01-02-.16

Original rule filed December 15, 1992; effective March 31, 1993. Repeal and new rule filed June 24, 1998; effective October 28, 1998. Amendment filed June 6, 2008; declared void and of no effect pursuant to Davidson County Chancery Court's October 2011 order. See also Attorney General's Opinion 11-78. Amendments filed April 1, 2013; to have been effective September 28, 2013. However, a petition for a rulemaking hearing was filed June 26, 2013. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission filed a withdrawal of the rule on July 26, 2013. Amendment filed September 2, 2014; effective December 1, 2014. However, the Government Operations Committee filed a 30-day stay of the amendment on November 19, 2014; new effective date December 31, 2014. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission withdrew the rule on December 10, 2014. Emergency rules filed August 15, 2016; effective October 3, 2016 through April 1, 2017. Repeal and new rules filed December 21, 2016; effective March 21, 2017. Emergency rules filed June 29, 2022; effective July 1, 2022 through December 28, 2022. Amendments filed September 30, 2022; effective 12/29/2022.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 49-7-2002, 49-7-2005, 49-7-2006, 49-7-2009, and 49-7-2011.