Alaska Administrative Code
Title 20 - Miscellaneous Boards and Commissions
Chapter 17 - Regulation of Postsecondary Educational Institutions
Article 2 - Authorization to Operate as a University, College, Junior College, Community College, or Career College
20 AAC 17.245 - Faculty standards

(a) Associate degree programs.

(b) Baccalaureate degree program.Except as provided in this subsection, faculty members of a baccalaureate program must hold an advanced degree in that member's discipline. An instructor of a subject area that is not usually academically credentialed with a graduate degree is excused from the advanced degree requirement. Faculty representing major fields of study and their related disciplines must, unless waived by the commission, possess the highest degree in their discipline. An adequate number of qualified and full-time graduate faculty members must be provided representing each subject field and related disciplines in which the institution offers major study, in accordance with the accreditation standards in the Accreditation Handbookof the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, 2013 edition, adopted by reference. If that core faculty does not exist, or does not meet the academic credential standards of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the institution must demonstrate to the commission that its students are well-served by a waiver of the requirements of this subsection. The institution must provide the faculty with structured and routine opportunities for development of institutional policies and with safeguards for the faculty's academic freedom.

(c) Graduate degree programs.Except as provided in this subsection, each faculty member must hold the highest degree in that member's discipline. An adequate number of qualified and full-time graduate faculty members must be provided in the subject field and related disciplines in accordance with the accreditation standards in the Accreditation Handbook, of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, 2013 edition, adopted by reference. If that graduate faculty does not exist, or does not meet the academic credential standards of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the institution must demonstrate to the commission that its students are well-served by a waiver of the requirements of this subsection. The institution must provide the faculty with structured and routine opportunities for development of institutional policies and with safeguards for the faculty's academic freedom.