The Degree Requirement

I agree with this. The requirement excludes some who would be very good facilitators of learning.

I agree that our specific instruction and sharing does not require or necessitate a degree from a University setting. At the time we installed this requirement, the institute was attempting to have a more professional persona in the educational and professional communities. We believed that the degree would provide more credibility to our institute training.
With all the internet learning and information sharing, most people today are not concerned with degree qualifications. I think it gives credibility to authors, and if our instructors choose to publish, then it could be beneficial to them to have a degree from a higher educational institution. Before we eliminate this criteria, can we look at the “evidenced-based research” requirements or expectations and take these expectations into consideration for our instructors and facilitators.
I am all for eliminating hurdles for people to jump in order to be considered “faculty”. We may even decide to change the terms we use: faculty; instructor; senior instructor; facilitator etc. These terms worked for us in the 20th century before the digital/electronic wave swamped us. Maybe it is time to look at these requirements again and eliminate hurdles as best we can.