Table 4: Policies regarding Dependence on Part-Time Faculty or Sufficient Numbers of Full-Time Faculty

Accreditor	Policies
Middle States commission	The institution should have “a core of faculty with sufficient responsibility to the institution to assure the continuity and coherence of the institution’s programs.”
New England commission	“The institution avoids undue dependence on part-time faculty.”• The institution employs “an adequate number of faculty whose time commitment to the institution is sufficient to assure the accomplishment of class and out-of-class responsibilities essential for the fulfillment of institutional mission and purposes.”
North Central commission	None.
Northwest commission	The institution “periodically assesses institutional policies concerning the use of part-time and adjunct faculty.” The institution should employ “a core of full-time, professionally qualified faculty . . . adequate in number and qualifications.”
Southern commission	The number of full-time faculty members should be “adequate to support the mission of the institution.”  “The work of the core faculty may be supplemented and enhanced by judicious assignment of part-time faculty.”
Western junior commission	The institution should have “a substantial core of qualified faculty with full-time responsibility to the institution.”
Western senior commission	The institution should have “an instructional staffing plan that includes a sufficient number of full-time faculty” and should employ “a faculty with substantial and continuing commitment to the institution sufficient in number, professional qualifications, and diversity to achieve its educational objectives, to establish and oversee academic policies, and to ensure the integrity and continuity of its academic programs.”  The institution should employ at least one full-time faculty member for each graduate degree program offered.