OBGYN Promotion FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Promotion and Tenure
What is a nominated faculty appointment?
When it is unclear to which track a faculty member should be initially appointed, a new faculty may be initially appointed into the Variable Track as described in the SOM guidelines (p. 4), but will be required to differentiate to tenure or fixed term at the end of 2-3 years. This is a three-year appointment.
It is requested by SOM Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development (FALD) Office that faculty request only one promotion-related dossier per academic year.
Assistant Professors on the tenure tract typically serve two probationary terms. The first probationary term is four years and the second one is three years. The final year of the second probationary period is typically waived and the promotion to Associate Professor occurs at the beginning of the seventh year in deserving candidates and confers tenure.
Associate Professors who are hired into the tenure track have a probationary period of five years. The review for reappointment as Associate Professor with tenure typically is initiated at the beginning of the 4th year of the probationary period and goes into effect after the fifth year in rank.
Your dossier will be highly scrutinized in the following situations:
Assistant Professor (tenure track) → Associate Professor with tenure
- if you come up for promotion during your first probationary term which is four years
- if you have been at -Chapel Hill for less than 4 years (or with a special agreement in the offer letter to count work at another institution).
Associate Professor (tenure track) → Associate Professor with tenure
- if you come up for reappointment before four years
Tenured Associate Professor → Full Professor
As a rare event, if you are recommended for promotion to Full Professor before 4 years in the tenured Associate Professor rank
Fixed term: anyone going up for promotion or reappointment after only three years. Four years is generally the accepted time frame except for exceptional individuals. NB. Three consecutive years of sustained scholarship in rank is required.
Bottom line: consult with your mentoring committee, Division Chief, and when needed, the Department faculty development leadership team, before deciding to put forward your dossier.
For fixed term a broader range of peer-reviewed or invited scholarship may be counted. This broader range includes the following:
- Publications: This does not need to be first/last author for fixed term and may include middle authorship where the faculty member contributed significantly
- Book chapters
- Oral presentations
- Invited talks (grand rounds, workshops, departmental meeting); NB If the same invited presentation is given multiple times, it will not count multiple times toward the scholarship total unless the faculty member can demonstrate unique effects or results of the presentation in multiple venues.
- Development of educational curricula
- Invited talks in focus area
- Development of QI programs
- Published clinical guidelines
Conflict of Interest: friend/family connection, current or former student or mentee, if you have co-authored* or published a book chapter, paper or report with the candidate, written a grant or technical report with this candidate or if you were an instructor, faculty member or adjunct faculty member where the candidate was trained or is employed.
*note: given the increased emphasis on team science, publishing with a large number of co-authors on a report or publication may not be deemed a conflict of interest but must be acknowledged by letter writer and Chair.
NOT a Conflict of Interest: panelists, study section (NIH, NSF) membership, professional organization, guest speaker, members of a large research network (including large multi-authored research).
COI-related best practices- it is important for external letter writers to provide an independent assessment of faculty accomplishments. One of the ways that the SOM and University HR and APT committees confirm the integrity of this process is to search the applicants’ CV for the letter writer’s name. If found, and this is not addressed in the LOS and Chair’s letter, the Dossier will be flagged for a potential COI. Thus, to avoid delays in the appointment process, it is of the utmost importance that the Chair’s letter addresses any potential COI
- evaluations from lectures or invited presentations at meetings
noting outcomes of trainees such as subsequent faculty positions or grants success - asking for letters from supervisors who would be in position to comment on your teaching skills
- asking for individual letters commenting on teaching skills, from former trainees such as graduate students or post docs.