The Adjunct certificate is authorized in the Specialized Alternative Certification Guidelines approved by the State Board of Education and allows a South Carolina public school or school district to utilize a content area expert to fill a limited instructional need. The request for the issuance of an Adjunct certificate must be initiated by the public school or school district seeking to hire an individual under one of two options outlined in the guidelines—a locally-identified content area expert or an eligible candidate for the Program of Alternative Certification of Educators (PACE).

Please note that the Adjunct Certificate is designed for use in certain subject areas in pre-Kindergarten through high school settings and is not related to the hiring of adjunct faculty at a college or university.

• Information regarding eligibility and requirements for the Adjunct certificate for a locally-identified content area expert is provided below.

Adjunct Certificate for a Locally-Identified Content Area Expert

The Adjunct certificate issued under this option does not lead to a standard educator certificate but may be renewed as indicated. An educator who has been issued an Adjunct certificate who wishes to pursue a standard educator certificate may do so through completion of an approved traditional educator preparation program or through an approved alternative route program.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to pursue the Adjunct certificate for a locally-identified content expert, the following conditions must be met:

• A public school or school district in the state must be willing to employ the individual as a teacher on a part-time basis in a content field at the middle or secondary school level or in the related arts or physical education at the elementary level.
• The individual must have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher with a major in or related to the field of certification, or must submit passing scores on the content knowledge exam(s) required for the certification area if one exists.
• The individual must submit verification of five years of occupational experience within the past ten years in, or related to, the content field of the certificate for which the individual is applying. If the SCDE determines that this requirement is not met, the individual and the employing public school or school district may apply to the SBE for a determination as to whether adequate occupational experience is documented to justify the issuance of an Adjunct certificate.

Applicant Procedures

• Create a user account and submit an application through My SC Educator Portal prior to all other steps.
• Pay the non-refundable application fee through My SC Educator Portal.
• Complete the Fingerprinting and Criminal History Review Process. Specific instructions for completing the fingerprinting process are available to an applicant through the Educator Portal only after the application for certification is submitted.
• Submit official transcripts from all regionally accredited colleges and universities where a degree, undergraduate or graduate coursework, or an educator preparation program was completed.
• Submit official Praxis score reports for Required Examinations.
• Submit verification of five years of occupational experience within the past ten years in, or related to, the content field of the certificate for which the individual is applying.

Employer Requirements

The public school or school district seeking to employ the individual must provide the following documentation to the SCDE teacher certification office:

• A written request and justification for employment of the instructor,
• An assurance that the employment of this instructor will not displace a certified teacher already employed, and
• An assurance that the adjunct instructor’s teaching assignment will be less than a .5 full-time equivalent position and will not exceed two credit-bearing courses in an academic year.

Stipulations

If approved, the Adjunct certificate is valid for three school years, subject to the other stipulations here stated.

• The Adjunct certificate is valid only in the sponsoring public school or district and is not transferrable to any other public school, district, or state.
• During the initial three-year validity period of the Adjunct certificate, the sponsoring employer must assign the adjunct instructor a trained mentor who is certified in the same content area or grade level in which the instructor is assigned to teach.
• The adjunct instructor must be evaluated annually by the sponsoring school or school district and must receive successful performance reviews for the certificate to be reissued for subsequent years at the request of the sponsoring employer.
• The adjunct instructor must complete a minimum of 20 contact hours of professional development approved by the sponsoring employer during each three-year period the certificate is held.
• The salary for the adjunct instructor will be determined by the sponsoring employer.
• When requesting renewal of an educator’s Adjunct certificate for an additional three-year period, the sponsoring employer must provide documentation of successful performance reviews and required professional development.