4.4  

The institution demonstrates that program length is appropriate for each of the degrees offered.

RATIONALE FOR COMPLIANCE JUDGMENT

The number of semester hours required in a degree at Nashville State Technical Community College (NSCC) is governed by Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) policy on Undergraduate Degree Requirements [1], by the Comprehensive Standards of the SACS Commission on Colleges, and by commonly accepted academic practice.

The TBR policy was approved in 2002, requiring campuses to reduce the required hours in most degree programs to 60 SCH.  The purpose of specifying the maximum number of hours required was to raise the level of educational attainment in the state by improving the persistence to graduation rate.  Although the policy sets a maximum for the number of semester hours an institution can require, it does not limit the number of credit hours a student can actually take.  Many students do, in fact, take more than the minimum requirements in the degree.  All NSCC degrees require 60 semester hours with the exception of three degrees. [2]   The A.A.S. degrees in Architectural and Civil/Construction Engineering Technology and in Electrical Engineering Technology are accredited by TAC/ABET, which has required a minimum of 64 semester hours.  The Occupational Therapy Assistant program requires 70 semester hours, a number recommended as a reasonable maximum by Occupational Therapy Assistant directors from all Tennessee OTA programs.

Sixty semester hours is also the minimum, based on common academic norms among community colleges and also on the language of SACS Commission on Colleges Core Requirement 2.7.1, which requires that “the institution offer one or more degree programs based on at least 60 semester credit hours or the equivalent at the associate level.”

The college has more flexibility with regard to setting program length for technical certificates.  Hours in these programs are established by faculty members at the campus level as part of the program proposal process.  The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), NSCC’s Coordinating agency, has established a maximum of 32 SCH, but no minimum, for certificates.  At Nashville State, hours required for certificates varies from 22 to 32.