Nicholls State University has highly qualified, accomplished, and diverse faculty members. These dedicated professionals work in a collaborative manner to support the mission of the University and to strive for the highest academic standards, both in their individual and collective pursuits of excellence in teaching, research, and service. Nicholls' mission [1] is to commit itself "to offering an excellent comprehensive education that meets the needs of the communities it serves. Through quality teaching, research, and service, the University strives to achieve accreditation in all eligible programs, evidence of its commitment to south central Louisiana and beyond." To realize this mission, Nicholls has developed quality curricula. The core ingredients which enable Nicholls to carry out this task are the accredited programs and adequate faculty resources needed to support and sustain these degree offerings to approximately 7,400 students who attend the University.

Adequacy in Faculty Numbers

Nicholls' motto is "excellence in education with a personal touch." This is accomplished by providing small class sizes and adequate full-time faculty members to teach Nicholls' course offerings. In addition, Nicholls' faculty members take an active role in helping students develop to their full potential.

Nicholls employ faculty members who meet SACS-COC standards for faculty qualifications or are documented and approved in regard to alternative qualifications (see Nicholls' Faculty Roster [2]). As illustrated in Nicholls' Factbook [3], Nicholls State University employed 285 full-time faculty members for the 2004-2005 year. While Nicholls makes every effort to recruit and retain full-time faculty for teaching purposes, 104 qualified part-time adjunct faculty members were hired in fall 2004 to meet students' needs and/or to bring specialized expertise into the classroom. In fall 2004, full-time faculty taught 88 percent of the class sections offered; part-time adjunct faculty taught 7.5 percent; 1 percent of the sections were taught by graduate assistants; and the last 3.5 percent of the class sections offered were taught by administrators or University staff with proper credentials for teaching those courses.

Table 1: Number of Sections, Taught by Faculty Type, Fall 2004

Office of Assessment and Institutional Research

Another indicator of adequacy in faculty numbers is class size. Nicholls strives to make certain that class sizes are kept as small as practically possible, allowing for the high level of student/faculty interaction–"the personal touch"– described in the motto. Figure 1 below illustrates the number of students enrolled per class section for undergraduate level courses during fall 2004, as indicated in Nicholls' Common Data Set 2004. Over 66 percent of the class sections offered by Nicholls contained fewer than 30 students.

Figure 1: Number of Students Enrolled per Undergraduate Class Section, Fall 2004

Office of Assessment and Institutional Research, Common Data Set 2004, Section I.13, Instructional Faculty & Class Size

Table 2 below illustrates average class sizes by college and level of instruction during fall 2004. The average class size for lower-level classes taught at Nicholls was 34 students; the average class size for upper-level classes was 18 students; and graduate level classes averaged 14 students per class section. These numbers illustrate that an adequate number of faculty members were available for Nicholls' course offerings.

Table 2: Average Class Sizes by College and Level of Instruction, Fall 2004

Office of Assessment and Institutional Research

Student to faculty ratio for the University during fall 2004 was 21:1. Table 3 below provides student to faculty ratio by college, for the fall 2004 semester.

Table 3: Student to Faculty Ratio by College, Fall 2004

Office of Assessment and Institutional Research

Nicholls' student to faculty ratio demonstrates that the University provides adequate faculty numbers to support its degree program offerings and its mission "to recruit, advance, and graduate qualified students."

Adequacy in Faculty Resources

In judging adequacy of faculty resources, it is important to establish that faculty members are qualified by virtue of degrees held. In fall 2004, 56 percent of Nicholls' 285 full-time faculty members held terminal degrees in their respective disciplines; 96.9 percent of Nicholls' tenured and tenure-track faculty held terminal degrees. The degree status of Nicholls' full-time faculty is illustrated below in Figure 2. Comprehensive Standard 3.7.1 [4] provides more detail on faculty qualifications.

Figure 2: Degree Status of Full-Time Faculty at Nicholls

Nicholls' full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members also teach the majority of upper-level (300 and 400 series) and graduate courses. During fall 2004, tenured and tenure-track faculty taught 80.3 percent of upper-level undergraduate courses and 84.5 percent of graduate courses (see Table 1).Faculty holding Bachelor's Degrees are utilized in teaching developmental courses.

Adequacy in faculty resources is also demonstrated by the quality of academic programs provided by the University. The Louisiana Board of Regents clearly links adequacy of academic programs to nationally recognized accreditation of programs in their respective fields, where such bodies exist. In its General Policy on Program Accreditation [5], as reflected below, the Board states the following:

Program Accreditation
Effective October 28, 1999
Amended December 5, 2002

Effective October 28, 1999, the Board of Regents recognizes accrediting agencies that it considers as mandatory, recommended, or optional for eligible programs offered by public community colleges, colleges/universities, and the Louisiana Technical College. A program that is eligible for accreditation by an agency that is considered mandatory must be accredited for continued program approval. If the program is not accredited, the Academic Affairs staff will recommend to the Board of Regents that the program be terminated.

As the Louisiana Board of Regents Inventory of Degrees [6] indicates, at Nicholls, 100 percent of programs classified as mandatory are externally accredited and in good standing. In addition to those programs classified as mandatory, Nicholls offers eight programs that the Board of Regents classifies as "recommended" for accreditation. Of the eight recommended programs, seven are accredited, and one is not currently sought by the University.

Among the colleges that comprise Nicholls, the distribution of faculty, both in rank and tenure status also attests to the adequacy of faculty resources. As Table 4 shows below, Nicholls employs faculty at all ranks:

Table 4: Nicholls' Full-Time Faculty by Academic Rank, Fall 2004