Will national accredited MFA be recognized as legit teaching credentials?

Hi, I'm brand new here and have a question that this community can hopefully help me answer.

I am currently teaching graphic design at a community college with a Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited university. I am starting to research graduate schools. Among several others, I came across Full Sail University. Its nationally accredited by ACCSC (Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges), which is recognized by the US Department of Education. Full Sail offers a 60 credit hour MFA in one year.

Our school is accredited by SACS. Will SACS recognized a nationally accredited MFA degree as part of their faculty credentials requirements?

I plan to ask people in the front office about this, but I wanted to get an idea before I ask them (i.e. I'm trying to avoid asking a stupid question )

Thanks for any help.

 

My advice is to keep looking... A degree from this school is unlikely to get you more teaching assignments than you've already achieved.

 

If you can try to earn Masters degree from RA university with name recognition if possible traditional one. Many traditional universities offer some on line classes.

 

Below are the faculty credential guidelines from SACS. Notice that they do not specify national versus regional accredtitation. Really, acceptance and justification of a degree is up to the individual school.


Comprehensive Standard 3.7.1 of the Principles of Accreditation reads as follows:

The institution employs competent faculty members qualified to accomplish the mission and goals of the institution. When determining acceptable qualifications of its faculty, an institution gives primary consideration to the highest earned degree in the discipline. The institution also considers competence, effectiveness, and capacity, including, as appropriate, undergraduate and graduate degrees, related work experiences in the field, professional licensure and certifications, honors and awards, continuous documented excellence in teaching, or other demonstrated competencies and achievements that contribute to effective teaching and student learning outcomes. For all cases, the institution is responsible for justifying and documenting the qualifications of its faculty.

When an institution defines faculty qualifications using faculty credentials, institutions should use the following as credential guidelines:

a. Faculty teaching general education courses at the undergraduate level: doctorate or master’s degree in the teaching discipline or master’s degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline).

b. Faculty teaching associate degree courses designed for transfer to a baccalaureate degree: doctorate or master’s degree in the teaching discipline or master’s degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline).

c. Faculty teaching associate degree courses not designed for transfer to the baccalaureate degree: bachelor’s degree in the teaching discipline, or associate’s degree and demonstrated competencies in the teaching discipline.

d. Faculty teaching baccalaureate courses: doctorate or master’s degree in the teaching discipline or master’s degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline).

e. Faculty teaching graduate and post-baccalaureate course work: earned doctorate/terminal degree in the teaching discipline or a related discipline.

f. Graduate teaching assistants: master’s in the teaching discipline or 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline, direct supervision by a faculty member experienced in the teaching discipline, regular in-service training, and planned and periodic evaluations.

 

An MFA will definitely be sufficient for a job in higher education. Although an accreditation deemed worthy by the US Dept. of Ed. should be enough, many academics are snobs and insist that regional accreditation is the only way to go. So... beware.