Professoriate and Clinician Educator Appointments and Promotions (A&P) Roles

Each role noted performs a critical function in leading professoriate review actions on behalf of the department. Information about the Decision-Maker Roles in the Process is available here.

Role of the Department Chair

The department chair initiates the appointment, reappointment or promotion evaluation after making an appropriate assessment of the candidate’s credentials; in larger departments, the department chair may seek the advice of the candidate’s division chief regarding its assessment.  The chair or designee will author the transmittal memo and counseling memo (when applicable).

Role of the Long Form Faculty Lead

If the department chair decides to proceed with the full evaluation, he or she appoints a Long Form Faculty Lead (a senior member of the faculty, in some departments, this may be the Vice Chair or Associate Chair) to lead the formal evaluation of the candidate’s qualifications. The Faculty Lead may be a member or the chair of the evaluation committee/unit. The department chair, division chief, or faculty lead must assemble a list of referees, trainees and peer set (as applicable). The faculty lead authors the narrative report (often in partnership with the evaluation committee/unit).

Role of Faculty Affairs Administrator (FAA)

FAAs are local staff experts who guide, support and facilitate the academic review at the department level.

Role of the Departmental Evaluation Committee or Evaluation Unit (Professoriate Only)

The department chair appoints a Departmental Evaluation Committee or Evaluation Unit to conduct the formal evaluation of the candidate’s qualifications and to prepare the long form. Committee members are selected for their ability to make a critical and objective appraisal of the candidate’s qualifications in relation to the academic standards and other criteria of the University and School.  Faculty from other departments may be included on the Evaluation Committee or Evaluation Unit.  Members should be at or above the proposed rank of the candidate. The use of an Evaluation Committee or Unit depends on the size of the department; larger departments use a larger Evaluation Unit. SoM Handbook

Role of the Departmental Faculty (Eligible Voting Faculty or A&P Committee)

In smaller departments, the long form is circulated to all faculty members at or above the candidate’s proposed rank. In larger departments, a departmental A&P committee, consisting of a subset of department faculty members at or above the proposed rank, reviews the long form. In both cases these bodies vote on the action, and no abstentions are allowed. The vote is advisory to the department chair, who determines and forwards to the next level the department’s recommendation for the action. 

Role of Division Chiefs

In some departments, Division Chiefs make the A&P decisions at the division level. Therefore, Division Chiefs are strongly discouraged from participating in search and evaluation committees. Division Chiefs should not write the long form or sign the referee and trainee solicitation letters. Because they make the final decision for the division, they should not vote on files. 

If the Division Chief is not involved in A&P actions or decisions, the Division Chief may be involved in the A&P process as a faculty participant with no additional restrictions.