I. Scope: This policy applies to all George Mason University instructional faculty (tenured/tenure-track, term, adjunct, and affiliate), research faculty, administrative/professional faculty, postdoctoral research fellows, research staff, and graduate assistants serving as instructor of record, as defined in the George Mason University Faculty Credentialing Manual.
II. Policy Statement: George Mason University ensures that all faculty are suitably qualified to teach the courses to which they are assigned and that their credentials and qualifications are documented in a timely fashion. Faculty must not begin teaching until documentation of their credentials have been received and approved by the University. Degree credentials used as justification for teaching assignments must have been awarded by an institution accredited by a George Mason-recognized institutional accrediting agency.
III. Definitions:
Alternate Credentials: refers to a description of experiences related to how and why the individual is qualified to teach the course(s) they have been assigned.
Credentials: refers to appropriate official documentation of degree(s)/certification (s) earned and international evaluations and translations (if required).
Justification: refers to an explanation of how and why a particular instructor is adequately prepared to teach a specific course.
Suitably qualified: means, at minimum, maintaining compliance with the expectations of the University’s accrediting body and the George Mason Faculty Credentialing Manual.
IV. Responsibilities: Individual faculty members shall provide appropriate documentation of their credentials in a timely fashion in accordance with this policy and with the terms and conditions of their employment. The faculty member must provide an official transcript for the highest degree earned, and/or an official transcript for any other degree qualifying that individual to teach the assigned course(s). In addition, the faculty member is responsible for obtaining a certified third-party translation and evaluation for any international academic transcripts.
Local academic units (LAUs) bear primary responsibility for evaluating the credentials of prospective faculty in accordance with the standards of the field. LAUs shall ensure that their evaluations of credentials and qualifications are consistent with the standards promulgated by the relevant department, college or school, the central university administration, the accrediting body, and other relevant bodies (e.g., discipline-specific accrediting agencies). LAU’s shall collect the credentialing documents of adjunct faculty and submit them to the Office of the Provost in a timely fashion according to established procedures.
Deans’ offices shall ensure that LAUs use appropriate criteria for evaluating faculty credentials prior to hiring and that document-collection procedures are followed. Deans’ Offices shall submit information justifying and documenting the qualifications of faculty members serving in their respective colleges/schools, using processes and procedures established by the Office of the Provost. Deans’ offices shall ensure that faculty course assignments and any requested justifications are consistent with the George Mason University Faculty Credentialing Manual and the requirements of the accrediting body.
The Office of the Provost shall maintain records on faculty credentials that meet the documentation standards of the accrediting body. The Office of the Provost shall also ensure that reasonable and appropriate justifications of alternate credentials are provided by Deans’ offices as needed to clarify or explain an individual’s suitability to teach a particular course or within a particular discipline. The Office of the Provost shall provide guidance on the interpretation of policies from the accrediting body and others. The Office of the Provost may request additional documentation from faculty at any time to meet the credentialing standards of their accrediting body.
V. Compliance: Deans’ offices are expected to ensure that their units remain in compliance with this policy. Violation of this policy may result in a Deans’ Office request to cease a faculty member’s employment unless/until all credentialing requirements are met.
VI. Timetable for Review: This policy shall be reviewed every three years.
VII. Amendments: Amendments will be approved by the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and the Executive Vice President and Provost.
VIII. Dates:
Date approved: March 21, 2011
Revised: May 12, 2021
Procedures Updated: January 15, 2025
Renewed: September 15, 2026