Resources for Department Chairs and Faculty A&P Leads

The Office of Academic Affairs oversees and facilitates proactive administration of all aspects of policies and processes in partnership with departments related to faculty recruitments and appointments, reappointments and promotions and other faculty employment actions.  We support departments, the School of Medicine, and the University in safeguarding the integrity, fairness, and transparency of policies and processes affecting the faculty.

Materials distributed to the evaluation committee/ evaluation unit, eligible voting departmental faculty or the A&P Committee, and the deliberations of those groups (including outcomes), are strictly confidential and are not to be discussed outside of relevant meetings. Materials (including electronic materials) distributed to the voting bodies are to be returned or destroyed following consideration by the voting body. SoM Handbook

All members present at a meeting are required to provide a vote. The tabulation of the vote is recorded. Abstentions are inappropriate, and absentee votes may be allowed by department policy. All A&P actions must be handled in accordance with department, school and university policies and procedures.

It is understood that members will occasionally have personal, direct familiarity with the candidate's performance. In the interest of equity, because such personal perspectives will not be available for all candidates, members should not introduce personal knowledge (whether positive or negative) beyond the information presented in the file itself or in supplemental materials provided.

Reviewers should take care to be attentive to any conflict of interest or possible perception of conflict of interest with regard to the candidate. Reasons for recusal include a spousal or other family relationship with the candidate, collaboration (other than minor) on research, a mentoring relationship with the candidate, membership in downstream review committees that may see the file, and having written a letter for the file. If in doubt concerning a recusal, committee members should consult the committee chair, department chair, Vice Dean, or Office of Academic Affairs.

The department chair makes the final decision as to recommendations for appointments and promotions for clinician educators.  They may designate a departmental A&P committee or advisors to assist with this process. Those who vote on an action should have the same or higher rank than the action being considered.  All processes should ensure fairness and equity. Please see SoM Chapter 3 for more information.

This section provides document references and guidance on the process including guidelines for the Clinician Educator CV (including an example), and candidate statement guidelines.

• CE Detailed CV Guidelines
• Sample CV (CE)
  
• CE Candidate Statement Guidelines
  

The Faculty Affairs Administrator and leadership work together on the file. The sections below are written by faculty leadership as follows:

• Cover Page Summary (by Chair)
• Draft Counseling Memo (by Chair or Division Chief)

This section provides examples of cover pages. Also provides the template for counseling memos written by leadership.

• Cover Page summary (Department Chair)
• Cover Page summary example_New appointment
• Cover Page summary example_Promotion

Counseling Memo (Department Chair or Division Chief)

• CE Annual Counseling Form

This section provides document references and guidance on the A&P process, the departmental voting process, guidelines for conflicts of interest, and confidentiality.  

• Guidelines_Guide to the AP Voting Process
• A&P Process Details
• The Two Models for Departmental Voting on Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotions Files in Professoriate
• Guidelines_Roles and Conflicts in AP
• Presentation: Protecting the Integrity and Confidentiality of the A&P Process
• Presentation: Voting Process in A&P and Confidentiality-Guidance from the Provost Office

This section provides document references and guidance on the long form process including guidelines for the professoriate CV (including an example), candidate statement guidelines, best practices for writing the long form narrative, and a guidelines on why referee and trainee letters and grids are important.

• Guidelines_Professoriate CV
• Example_Professoriate CV
• Guidelines_CandidateStatement
• Guidelines_Referee Trainee Peer Selection
• Guidelines_Narrative Report
• Presentation: Best Practices for Writing the Long Form Narrative

The Faculty Affairs Administrator and the Long Form Faculty Lead work together on the Long Form. The sections below are written by faculty leadership as follows:

• Chair’s Transmittal Memo (by Chair)
• Narrative Report on the Candidate (Faculty Long Form Lead)
• Identify and Select referee, trainee, peers (Department Chair, Division Chief or Faculty Lead)
• Draft Counseling Memo (by Chair or Division Chief)

This section provides examples of transmittal memos, narrative reports, and counseling memos written by faculty. The department chair, division chief, or faculty lead must assemble a list of referees, trainees and peer set (as applicable).

Transmittal Memo (Department Chair)

• Transmittal Memo Example UML Cont Term
• Transmittal Memo Example UTL Prom Tenure

Narrative Report (Faculty Lead/Evaluation Unit/Committee)

• Narrative Report Example UML Cont Term
• Narrative Report Example UTL Tenure Prom

Identify and Select referee, trainee, peers (Department Chair, Division Chief or Faculty Lead)

• Guidelines_Referee Trainee Peer Selection

Counseling Memo (Department Chair or Division Chief)

• Counseling Memo Example Cont Term
• Counseling Memo Example UTL Prom Tenure