The ability of the College to meet its mission is dependent on the successful participation of every faculty member, regardless of assigned academic pathway. The seven academic pathways exist because the scope of academic medicine is very broad. The pathways help individual faculty members and the College Promotion and Tenure Committee categorize and assess the accomplishments of each faculty member. The pathways adequately describe the expected contributions of the majority of the College’s faculty members. There are, however, individuals who contribute significantly to the College whose work is not easily characterized by any of the pathways. It is the responsibility of the Department Chairs and the Dean to appoint these individuals, on a case-by-case basis, to the pathway that best fits their expertise, career goals and expected contributions. It is the shared responsibility of these individuals and their Department Chairs to ensure that when these faculty members seek promotion and/or tenure, the value of their contributions is adequately assessed by peers from within and without the College who can clarify for the College’s Promotion and Tenure Committee whether these individuals have satisfied the criteria for promotion, appreciating that their field of expertise and expected scholarly contributions are not perfectly described by the criteria of their assigned pathway.
Each physician who is appointed on a clinical pathway and who is involved in the care of patients is expected to achieve and maintain certification in his/her cognate specialty and/or subspecialty board(s), consistent with the by-laws of the hospital(s) at which the clinician is credentialed. For appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor, a faculty member who has recently completed residency is expected to be on a defined path, approved by the Department Chair, for board certification. Faculty members who trained abroad and who are not eligible for United States board certification are expected to have attained the equivalent of US board certification in the country in which they trained, as determined by the Department Chair. Those faculty members who are not eligible for US maintenance of board certification are expected to demonstrate to the College Promotion and Tenure Committee, by other means, their ongoing commitment to the maintenance of their clinical excellence.
Each psychologist who is appointed on a clinical pathway and who is involved in the care of patients is expected to maintain his/her state license and manifest ongoing commitment to the maintenance of clinical excellence.
Five tables presented herein specify the College’s expectations for appointment or promotion at the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor on the seven compensated pathways. These tables must be interpreted within the context of this entire document and do not stand alone. In all domains of academic work, the quality of an individual’s contributions is of critical importance. Guidance is given in these tables about the generally expected quantity of an individual’s contributions. However quantity is not a substitute for quality. The College appreciates, for example, that some individuals will dedicate themselves to extensive periods of study that result in fewer but very important and high quality science and related publications than are stipulated in these guidelines. Several measures of the quality and importance of such contributions, including and not limited to recognition by experts in an individual’s field of expertise, will be helpful to the College Promotion and Tenure Committee in assessing such individual’s fulfillment of the criteria for promotion.
The three required letters of recommendation from experts within the candidate’s field, referenced within the following tables, must be written by academic authorities who have neither trained nor employed the candidate (e.g., letter authors must have been neither teachers, thesis advisors, residency program directors, fellowship program directors, major mentors, supervisors nor employers of the person requesting promotion and/or tenure) [1]. Letters of recommendation in addition to those required may be submitted from individuals who have taught and/or employed the candidate if these add substantially to the dossier.
All faculty members, regardless of rank or pathway, are expected to conduct themselves professionally at all times and to promote the institutional core values of integrity, respect, diversity and inclusion, teamwork, creativity, excellence, and safety.
[1] To ensure required letters meet Promotion & Tenure Criteria, letter authors must complete and submit with their letters of recommendation the Referee Form Template available at https://promotiontenure.uams.edu under helpful links.