Wright State University
Boonshoft School of Medicine

Procedure number: 310

Revised: August 2002

Subject: Promotions—Fully Affiliated

Promotion Time Line
After the provost's office announces the university time lines, the Office of Faculty and Clinical Affairs sets appropriate time lines for preparation and review of documents. Departmental chairs will receive copies of the School's time lines. The time lines are also posted on the office's web page.

Promotion
Process
1. Candidate notifies departmental chair of request for promotion. Faculty who desire promotion submit a written request to the departmental chair. For joint appointments: If promotion is sought in the secondary department as well, faculty must also submit a separate written request to the secondary departmental chair.

2. a. The candidate and committee develop the list of evaluators. The candidate and the departmental promotion committee agree on a list of individuals from whom letters of evaluation will be solicited. The committee is responsible for soliciting the evaluations from that list.

2. b. The candidate prepares the promotion document and submits it to the departmental promotion committee. The candidate prepares the promotion document. Promotion documents must include the following elements: (Faculty with matrixed appointments in the College of Science and Mathematics must follow CBA guidelines.)

(1) the candidate's review statement
(2) applicable departmental promotion criteria
(3) evidence of teaching effectiveness
(4) a current curriculum vitae, which must include a description of the candidate's teaching, scholarship, and service
NOTE: The evidence of teaching effectiveness and curriculum vitae may, together, total no more than thirty-five pages.
(5) candidate's personal statement(s) on teaching, research, and/or service (optional)

2. c. The candidate submits to the department copies of completed scholarly work reported on the candidate's vitae. Along with the promotion document, the candidate must submit complete copies of all relevant books, articles, and other manuscripts listed as published, in press, or under review in the curriculum vitae. Works used to document a successful promotion application in the past need not be submitted unless specifically requested by the departmental committee. Works submitted should be held in the department pending requests from the School Faculty Development Committee or university for review. A scholarly work will only be considered if it is reported on the curriculum vitae and if the candidate submits a complete copy of the work to the departmental committee.

2. d. The departmental promotion committee solicits evaluations from external evaluators for inclusion in the candidate's file, based on the following criteria:

• At least three letters of evaluation from peers external to the university are required for all promotion decisions.
  
• All letters received from external reviewers shall be included in the file.
  
• The external evaluators should be experts in the field of the candidate, and if they are faculty members at academic institutions, they should hold at least the rank to which the candidate aspires.
  
• These letters should evaluate the candidate's scholarly activities. They should not be testimonial in character, and they should not be based on promotion criteria at the writers' institutions.
  
• All letters of evaluation (both external and internal) received must be included in the file.

3. The candidate submits the document to the departmental committee. After the candidate has submitted the complete promotion document, it may not be altered without permission of the candidate and the departmental chair.

4. Letters of recommendation are added. The committee adds all letters of recommendation by external or internal reviewers, copies of letters soliciting the reviews, and brief statements of the reviewer's qualifications.

5. The committee reviews the document and all external and internal letters. The document and letters become part of the promotion file to which committee recommendation letters and statements from the departmental chair and dean are added.

6. The departmental committee and chair review the candidate's file. The departmental committee adds a record of its vote and recommendation and the statement of the departmental chair. The committee shall explain the reasoning for its conclusion it its recommendation. The departmental chair shall inform the candidate promptly of the decision and vote of the committee and provide the candidate access to his or her file, which includes the committee's recommendation and the chair's letter. The candidate will have ten (10) working days to review the file and to add a rebuttal letter, if desired. The departmental chair will then transmit the file to the School's Faculty Development Committee.

7. The School committee and dean review the candidate's file. The Faculty Development Committee shall use the applicable departmental criteria (as listed in 2b) to review the candidate's file and make its recommendation. The dean shall inform the candidate promptly of the decision and vote of the committee and provide access to the candidate's file, including the committee's recommendation and the dean's letter. The candidate will have ten (10) working days to review the file and to add rebuttal material, if desired. The dean will then transmit the file to the University Promotion and Tenure Committee. The dean and the elected chair of the Faculty Development Committee represent the School of Medicine on the university committee.

8. The university committee reviews and makes recommendation. The University Promotion and Tenure Committee shall use the applicable departmental criteria to review the candidate's file and make its recommendation. If the university committee reverses a recommendation by the departmental committee, the school committee, or the dean, it must add a statement to the file explaining its reversal.

9. The provost notifies the candidate of the university committee's decision. The provost shall inform the candidate of the decision and vote of the University Promotion and Tenure Committee and provide the candidate access to his or her file, which will include the committee's recommendation, and a record of the vote. The candidate will have ten (10) working days to review the file and to add rebuttal material, if desired. In the case of a negative recommendation by the university committee, this rebuttal will constitute an appeal to the university president.

10. The university committee forwards recommendations to the president and Board of Trustees. The University Promotion and Tenure Committee forwards its recommendations for promotion to the president and the Board of Trustees for approval. After approval by the Board of Trustees, promotions become effective in July of the following academic year.

Access to the File
The candidate has the right to access and obtain copies of his or her promotion file at any stage of the process and after its completion. If the candidate disagrees with any of the statements or conclusions in the file, the candidate may submit a letter of rebuttal and supporting evidence, if desired. The rebuttal letter(s) and supporting evidence will be added to the candidate's promotion file and will be given full consideration at all subsequent stages of the promotion process. At each stage, a rebuttal letter and supporting evidence may not exceed fifteen pages, although it may reference additional items with instructions as to where and how they may be inspected. A rebuttal letter and supporting evidence may confirm publication of an item listed in the curriculum vitae as under review, but it cannot admit previously unlisted works in the candidate's record of scholarship.

Withdrawal
Once the promotion process has begun, only the candidate may terminate the process. To do so, the candidate must submit written notice of withdrawal to the departmental chair, who will then convey this information to the dean and the provost, as appropriate.

Promotion to Assistant Professor
Promotion from instructor to assistant professor can be attained without action from the School Faculty Development Committee or the University Promotion and Tenure Committee if the faculty member has achieved a single specific criterion for this promotion. Examples would include achievement of board certification in a clinical specialty or completion of a postdoctoral fellowship in a basic science. The departmental chair notifies the associate dean for faculty and clinical affairs who submits the action to the School Executive Committee.

Updated March 28, 2006 (sho)

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