Research Faculty Appointment and Review
GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH TRACK APPOINTMENTS, REAPPOINTMENT, AND REAPPOINTMENT AT HIGHER RANK (PROMOTION)
Research Track Criteria for Rank
All auxiliary faculty appointments are subject to University Policy & Procedures 9-2. That policy provides that appointments to the auxiliary faculty are for limited terms only. Department decisions not to reappoint are not subject to the School of Medicine Retention, Promotion, & Tenure (RPT) Policy & Procedures.
Research faculty do not receive tenure and are reappointed annually. These appointments automatically end on June 30 of each academic year.
All auxiliary faculty appointments end automatically each June 30 unless the appointment is made by means of a written contract for a fixed term of up to five years. In the absence of such a contract, departments may choose not to reappoint auxiliary track faculty members.
Suggested lengths of contracts are:
Research Professor : one to five years
Research Associate Professor: one to three years
Research Assistant Professor: one to two years
Research Instructor: one year
Research Track appointments are considered full-time in the ranks of:
Rank Job Code
Research Professor 9183
Research Associate Professor 9179
Research Assistant Professor 9180
Research Instructor 9182
The main emphasis for appointment in this track is research, but may also include administration and teaching.
Reappointment At Higher Rank (Promotion) must be processed utilizing the SOM RPT policy and procedures.
There is no limitation on the maximum number of years for reappointment.
Formal and Informal Reviews (RPT/AFR)
Informal Reviews:
• All research faculty shall be reviewed annually to assess their achievement in teaching, research/scholarly (other creative) activity, and administration, as appropriate for their track.
• Informal reviews must minimally include a face-to-face meeting between the candidate and the department chair (or a designee as per department guidelines) to discuss the candidate's progress based on their file; involvement, determined by the department, from the RPT department advisory committee (DAC); and provide a written report to be made available to the candidate, the members of the DAC, and the department chair.
• The responsible department chair/division chief and the faculty member should establish agreed upon goals and expectations.
o These expectations should include how the faculty member will divide her/his time and effort.
• The agreed upon expectations and goals should be written down and signed by both the faculty member and the department chair/division chief and retained for future reference.
o The list of expectations and goals need not be tremendously detailed, but should clearly state the areas in which accomplishments are anticipated.
• During subsequent yearly meetings the department chair/division chief and faculty member should compare the faculty member's performance to agreed upon expectations and then make any necessary modifications to the faculty member's future goals and expectations.
• The department chair/division chief should specifically determine if the faculty member has performed satisfactorily over the past year compared to the expectations and goals that were agreed upon.
• If the faculty member is deemed to have performed unsatisfactorily, then a plan should be devised to correct the deficiencies. The department chair/division chief evaluation, the revised goals and expectations, and any remediation plan should be put in writing.
• Final summary of informal review will be presented to DAC during annual reappointment review process.
Annual Reappointment:
Annual reappointment reviews are conducted until the faculty member has completed a probationary period of seven years if initially appointed as an Instructor Assistant Professor, or five years if initially appointed as an Associate Professor or Professor.
Departments should approved School of Medicine research track criteria for annual reappointment review. However, departments may request to utilize departmental criteria for annual reappointment review. Departmental criteria are subject to Dean and Vice President approval and should be submitted for review and approval by June 30, 2008.
After research track faculty have completed their probationary periods, the Department Chair may approve their annual reappointment by writing a letter to the Dean, if the specified funding on which the positions are dependent is available.
Formal Reviews:
Research track faculty should be reviewed at the third year, sixth year, and then every five years using the Auxiliary Faculty Review (AFR) process.