Faculty Appointments and Promotion

There are two tracks: tenure-eligible and tenure-ineligible.
 

The tenure-eligible track is restricted to civilian faculty who will commit full-time effort and responsibilities to the USU School of Medicine and affiliated institutions.

The tenure-ineligible track includes all uniformed services faculty members and civilian faculty members not specifically appointed to the tenure-eligible track. Within the tenure-ineligible track, there are four pathways which define the major responsibilities or activities of the faculty member:

•  Clinician-Educator (most uniformed services faculty)

• Clinician-Investigator

• Educator

• Research
  
  

Academic appointment inquiries should be sent to the Department of Surgery Faculty Coordinator, SUR-Faculty@usuhs.edu. 

Assistant Professor is the first, formal academic rank conferred by the USU Department of Surgery.

Minimum requirements for appointment to Assistant Professor include:

• Board certification or eligibility following completion of residency

• Engagement in research and scholarly activity

• Evidence of Institutional Citizenship

To apply for appointment to Assistant Professor in the USU Department of Surgery:

• Register for a USU Single Sign On (SSO) account

• Prepare the following forms (templates available here):

o CV in Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) format

o USU Form 107

o USU Faculty Form

o Letter of Support and/or Command Letter

• Use the USU Workflow to upload and submit the required documents

For questions, to request assistance, or if you have difficulty accessing the templates via the Google Drive, please reach out to the USU Department of Surgery Faculty Coordinator, SUR-Faculty@usuhs.edu. 

Application for Associate Professor is a formal process that progresses in stages, beginning with the USU Department of Surgery’s Promotion Recommendation Committee (PRC) and moving to the School of Medicine’s Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure (CAPT), the Dean, the Board of Regents, and the USU President. 

The minimum requirements for appointment to Associate Professor include:

• Board certification, if clinical responsibilities  

• At least 4 years’ experience as an Assistant Professor

• At least 5 peer-reviewed publications as the first or senior author

• Achievement of Level 2 teaching

• Evidence of Institutional Citizenship at the USU School of Medicine or affiliated hospital departments

While these are the minimum requirements, sustained scholarly productivity and peer recognition of scholarly achievement beyond the parent institution are critical for promotion. The successful applicant averages five years’ time in grade as an Assistant Professor and has 10-12 substantive publications in high impact journals. 

To apply for promotion consideration to Associate Professor, the following documents are required:

• CV in Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) format

• Personal Statement

• Reprints of 4 scanned articles

• Educator’s Portfolio

• List of References: The USU Department of Surgery will request these directly from the reference. Overall, at least three names and emails of Associate Professors or Professors from different institutions are required. None of the references should have had a significant or supervisory role in your training or past employment

For questions, to request assistance, or if you have difficulty accessing the templates via the Google Drive, please reach out to the USU Department of Surgery Faculty Coordinator, SUR-Faculty@usuhs.edu. 

Promotion to the rank of Professor is the highest academic recognition the USU School of Medicine and the Department of Surgery confers and is reserved for those members of the faculty who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and sustained productivity in the four Areas of Scholarship. The minimum requirements include:

• Board certification, if clinical responsibilities  

• At least 4 years’ experience as an Associate Professor

• At least 15 peer-reviewed publications as the first or senior author

• Achievement of Level 3 teaching

• Leadership in educational or clinical care policymaking

The successful candidate usually has demonstrated national and international leadership, a high-level of academic productivity including independent research with more than 30 peer reviewed publications, and demonstration of Level 3 educator activity in certain categories. Further information can be found in the Professor promotion packet.

For questions or to request assistance, please reach out to the USU Department of Surgery Faculty Coordinator, SUR-Faculty@usuhs.edu. 

When should I apply for academic appointment?

The first appointment after residency one should apply for is Assistant Professor.

When should I start an educator portfolio? 

During residency, sample Educator Portfolio

How do I initiate a request for promotion? 

Contact SUR-Faculty@usuhs.edu

What are the criteria for “external” reference letters? 

Rank at or above that being applied for; having had no role in training or prior employment; each letter from a different academic institution; 3 or more for Associate, 5 or more for Professor.

How often does the CAPT (Committee on Appointments, Promotion and Tenure) meet? 

Four times a year.

How long does the promotion process take? 

Five to six months. The most time consuming part of assembling the promotion packet is getting the reference letters, which can take up to two months, so the reference list should be submitted early. Once submitted, CHR takes another two months to review the packets before submitting to the CAPT. Once the CAPT decisions are made, there is another month before final approval by the Board of Regents. So for example the process for the August 1, 2022 Board of Regents began February 11. 2022.

What is the official document guiding appointments and promotions?

Form 1100A