281—24.5 (260C) Accreditation components and criteria—additional state standards. To be granted accreditation by the state board of education, an Iowa community college must also meet four additional standards pertaining to minimum standards for faculty; faculty load; special needs; and vocational education evaluation.
	 24.5(1) Faculty. Community college-employed instructors teaching full-time in career and technical education and arts and sciences, in accordance with Iowa Code section 260C.48, subsection 1, shall meet, at a minimum, the following requirements:
	  a.   	 Instructors in the subject area of career and technical education shall be registered, certified, or licensed in the occupational area in which the state requires registration, certification, or licensure, and shall hold the appropriate registration, certificate, or license for the occupational area in which the instructor is teaching, and shall meet either of the following qualifications:
	 (1) 	 A baccalaureate or graduate degree in the area or a related area of study or occupational area in which the instructor is teaching classes.
	 (2) 	 Special training and at least 6,000 hours of recent and relevant work experience in the occupational area or related occupational area in which the instructor teaches classes if the instructor possesses less than a baccalaureate degree.
	  b.   	 Instructors in the subject area of arts and sciences shall meet either of the following qualifications:
	 (1) 	 Possess a master’s degree from a regionally accredited graduate school, and have successfully completed a minimum of 12 credit hours of graduate level courses in each field of instruction in which the instructor is teaching classes.
	 (2) 	 Have two or more years of successful experience in a professional field or area in which the instructor is teaching classes and in which postbaccalaureate recognition or professional licensure is necessary for practice, including but not limited to the fields or areas of accounting, engineering, law, law enforcement, and medicine.
	  c.   	 Full-time developmental education and adult education instructors may or may not meet minimum requirements depending on their teaching assignments and the relevancy of standards to the courses they are teaching and the transferability of such courses. If instructors are teaching credit courses reported in arts and sciences or career and technical education, it is recommended that these instructors meet minimum standards set forth in 281—subrule 21.3(1), paragraph “a” or “b.”
	 24.5(2) Faculty load.
	  a.   	 College parallel. The full-time teaching load of an instructor in college parallel programs shall not exceed a maximum of 16 credit hours per school term or the equivalent. An instructor may also have a teaching assignment outside of the normal school hours, provided the instructor consents to this additional assignment and the total workload does not exceed the equivalent of 18 credit hours within a traditional semester.
	  b.   	 Career and technical education. The full-time teaching load of an instructor in career education programs shall not exceed 6 hours per day, and an aggregate of 30 hours per week or the equivalent. An instructor may also teach the equivalent of an additional 3 credit hours, provided the instructor consents to this additional assignment. When the teaching assignment includes classroom subjects (nonlaboratory), consideration shall be given to establishing the teaching load more in conformity with that of paragraph 24.5(2)“a.”
	 24.5(3) Special needs. Community colleges shall provide equal access in recruitment, enrollment, and placement activities for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities shall be given access to the full range of course offerings at a college through reasonable accommodations.
	 24.5(4) Vocational education evaluation. The community college vocational program review and evaluation system must ensure that the programs:
	  a.   	 Are compatible with educational reform efforts.
	  b.   	 Are capable of responding to technological change and innovation.
	  c.   	 Meet educational needs of the students and employment community, including students with disabilities, both male and female students, and students from diverse racial and ethnic groups.
	  d.   	 Enable students enrolled to perform the minimum competencies independently.
	  e.   	 Are articulated/integrated with the total school curriculum.
	  f.   	 Enable students with a secondary vocational background to pursue other educational interests in a postsecondary setting, if desired.
	  g.   	 Provide students with support services and eliminate access barriers to education and employment for both traditional and nontraditional students, men and women, persons from diverse racial and ethnic groups, and persons with disabilities.