The number of full- time faculty (254 for 2004-2005 and 264 for 2005-2006) at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) are adequate to support its mission.  HCC is a multi-campus institution accredited as one College.  As such, the College operates as a single institution guided by institution-wide policies and procedures.  Full-time faculty members teach a majority of course sections.  In addition, all students in the Associate in Arts (AA) program of study are able to complete their degree requirements at any HCC campus.  The Associate in Science/ Associate in Applied Science (AS/AAS) programs are assigned by campus in order to maximize the use of College resources, including faculty members.  Students who choose an Associate in Science/Associate in Applied Science program are able to determine which campus they need to attend in order to complete their program requirements.   These statements affirm HCC’s “one College” philosophy that includes a multi-campus perspective which allows both full access to and effective use of College resources.

Hillsborough Community College’s Office of Institutional Research provides documentation as to the number of overload sections taught by faculty.  Only full-time faculty members are assigned overload sections.  Additionally, full-time non-tenured faculty members have limitations on overload assignments.  After the first satisfactory evaluation, a non-tenured faculty member may teach the equivalent of one three-credit hour class in the fall, one three-credit hour class in the spring, and two three-credit hour overloads in the summer.  This policy reflects the institution’s philosophy of supporting faculty development towards student success.  That is, during the first three years of employment, non-tenured full-time faculty members are to accumulate 120 faculty development hours, including two graduate courses:  Seminar in College Teaching and The Community College in Higher Education.   Thus, this limitation or overloads reinforces our commitment to ensure quality of the academic programs.

Furthermore, full-time tenured faculty may teach additional overloads based student and/or program need.  The overload policy and the manner in which faculty overload points are monitored are fully explained in the Agreement between the Hillsborough Community College District Board of Trustees and the Faculty United Services Association, August 2004-2007, Article 8.4, pp. 53-55 (HCC-FUSA Contract).

Developed from the data (Faculty Load Report) received from HCC’s Institutional Research Department, the table below provides the numbers of faculty members, both full-time and part-time, and the numbers of sections taught for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 academic years.  Information on overloads is included as well.  For both years, full-time faculty members taught more than 60% of the sections.  Out of all sections, approximately 19% were overload sections for each year. 

With regard to the faculty roster, full-time faculty members are qualified to teach in each of the discipline and program areas.  Several faculty members are qualified to teach in more than one area.  HCC has full-time faculty members who are qualified to teach political science, as political science is part of the general education curriculum.  Real estate is not a credit program at HCC and is taught in the continuing education division; hence, the use of part-time faculty members is deemed to be adequate in this area.  Many of the part-time real estate faculty are real estate professionals in the community and are certified.  The College has a full-time faculty member who is qualified to teach French; however, foreign languages are neither required for any program nor are they a graduation requirement.  All foreign languages are electives.

Full-time Faculty Teaching Program Areas Cited in Report

As previously mentioned, HCC is a multi-campus institution accredited as one College.  The philosophical approach to hiring faculty at HCC is that all faculty are hired to teach for the College.  For example, the statistics faculty at HCC Dale Mabry are shared with the HCC Ybor City and nursing faculty are shared between HCC Dale Mabry and HCC Plant City.  Honor’s Institute faculty are shared by campuses.  The District Honor’s Institute Office is located at HCC Brandon, but faculty from across the College’s district teach honors courses and may teach at any campus.  In fact, during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 academic years, 17 faculty members taught at multiple sites. The practice of sharing faculty is outlined in the Agreement between the Hillsborough Community College District Board of Trustees and the Faculty United Services Association, August 2004-2007, Article 8.1, A-2-g (pg. 35).  Consequently, faculty may and do teach at multiple sites.  

The sharing of faculty by campuses does not prevent a student from completing a program of study at one campus.  Faculty move to accommodate students and/ or programs; students do not move from campus to campus to complete a degree program unless they elect to do so.  Moreover, the faculty hiring process supports the singularity of HCC as one institution and students’ ability to complete their program of study at one campus. 

The faculty hiring process allows the College to fill vacant lines and to establish new lines as needed.  The Campus Presidents initiate the requests for additional faculty.  To evaluate the need for additional faculty, the Vice President of Education and Student Development analyzes the number of full-time faculty across the college in relation to the need for the position institution-wide as well as to the student/program need for the faculty line.  If the analysis indicates that the need exists, the Vice President makes the recommendation to the President.   If approved, the faculty line is budgeted and staffed. 

As further evidence of the College’s philosophy that all faculty are hired to teach for the institution rather than for a campus, it is not uncommon to have faculty screening committees that consist of faculty and administrators from across the college.  The hiring recommendations that these college-wide screening committees make affirm HCC’s “one College” approach.   

In summary, HCC operates as a single institution with multiple sites that allow for increased access for its students.  Because of HCC’s academic focus, all students are able to complete an AA program at any campus.  Moreover, the clear designation of AS/AAS programs at site-specific locations allows students to plan effectively to complete their Associate in Science/Associate in Applied Science programs at designated campuses. Full-time faculty teach a majority (more than 60%) of the course sections, of which 19% are overloads.  Because HCC’s academic focus is upon programs rather than disciplines, faculty are assigned to campuses based on program needs (Full-Time Faculty Campus Assignment Table).  Based on this assignment process, full-time faculty members are available to teach in all credit program areas represented at the College, and, therefore, the number of full-time faculty is adequate to serve our students.  These statements affirm HCC’s “one College” philosophy that includes a multi-campus perspective which allows both full access to and effective use of College resources.