DO YOU KNOW WHAT AN FSA IS?

by Annie Ngo, Contract & Evaluation Liaison

A Faculty Service Area (FSA) is used in higher education to define the specific disciplines or areas in which faculty members are qualified to teach. Education Code Section 87743.2 provides guidelines and criteria for determining an individual faculty member's FSA within the California Community Colleges system. Here's a breakdown of the key points:

What is an FSA: An FSA is defined as a discipline or field of study in which a faculty member possesses minimum qualifications to teach as established by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges and are essential for maintaining quality education standards.

How are FSA’s assigned: “Each regular or contract faculty member shall be assigned one or more FSAs. To qualify for a FSA, a faculty member must meet the relevant state minimum qualifications as well as the district competency standard.” Newly hired faculty members are initially deemed competent in the FSAs for which they were hired, with the option to demonstrate competence in additional FSAs through 15 LHE of service at MiraCosta.

What is the purpose of an FSA: Faculty members are expected to teach courses within their designated FSAs. This ensures that they are teaching subjects in which they are qualified and competent. In essence, Education Code Section 87743.2 establishes the framework for determining and maintaining the Faculty Service Areas to ensure that students receive instruction from faculty members who are qualified and proficient in their respective disciplines.

Timeline for faculty members to claim new FSAs:

By February 1, tenured and tenure-track faculty shall submit claims for any additional FSAs for which they believe they are qualified and competent as evidenced by having taught 15 LHE in the FSA and official transcripts showing for any FSA claimed (unless the transcripts are already on file with HR). If the faculty member is claiming new minimum qualifications through equivalency, then the claim must go through the regular Equivalency Committee process.
By March 1, Human Resources will have reviewed FSA claims and notified the faculty member as to whether their claim has been approved. New FSAs become effective immediately upon approval.

Interested in reading more? Check out G.2.0 and Appendix 8 on Faculty Service Areas in our contract.