Applying for Promotion

Promotion and tenure are important career transitions for academic faculty.  Academic medicine presents unique circumstances and challenges for faculty members who wish to be promoted and achieve their ultimate career goals. 

The Office of Faculty Affairs is here to help.  Please feel free to call upon us at any time we can be of assistance.  Our goal is to help you achieve your goals by providing personalized guidance at every step along the way!

Here are some resources that we hope will be helpful to you as you prepare to seek promotion:

General Information

The Four Areas of Achievement (Principles Regarding Teaching, Research, Clinical Care and Service)

All VTCSOM faculty members are encouraged to be active in all four areas of achievement.  To be considered for promotion, a clinician faculty member must achieve significant progress (assistant to associate rank) or excellence (associate to professor rank) in any two of these areas.  Likewise, a basic science or other non-clinician faculty member must achieve significant progress (assistant to associate rank) or excellence (associate to professor rank) in two of these areas, one of which must be scholarly activity.

Promotion Timeline

VTCSOM is a college of Virginia Tech, and follows the promotion timeline published each year by the Office of the Provost.  Please keep in mind that this is a lengthy process which requires careful advanced planning. 

Schedule a Consultation

If you would like to meet with a member of our Faculty Affairs team concerning any aspect of your promotion process, please contact vtcsomfaculty@vt.edu. 

Peer Observation of Teaching

Teaching is a core expectation of all VTCSOM faculty, and is of particular relevance to the promotion process. Peer observation of teaching is also a time-honored tradition of Virginia Tech, and is intended to cultivate a culture of instructional excellence.  All candidates for promotion must participate in two peer observations of teaching during the time period prior to each promotion sought. The two peer reviews must represent different points of time in the review period and differing instructional events. Documentation of these peer reviews must be included in the promotion portfolio. 

Faculty can participate in a departmentally-based peer observation process via their primary academic department; or can choose to participate in the peer observation program offered by the TEACH Academy.  A resource guide for peer observation may be viewed under the Additional Resources tab on the right side of this page.  Contact Faculty Affairs for further information or assistance:  vtcsomfaculty@vt.edu. 

Portfolio Guidelines and Requirements

All portfolios must adhere to the VTCSOM Promotion Portfolio Requirements to be considered for promotion. A list of Promotion Dossier Do’s and Don’ts is available to help clarify relevant guidelines and offer suggestions on what to include within your final submission.

You may also use the Guidelines for Preparing Your Personal Statement to assist you with this document.  The personal statement includes a summary of your teaching philosophy and other important elements (maximum of 3 pages for clinical faculty, 4 pages for other faculty).

Promotion Workshop (December 2024)

Dr. David Musick, Senior Dean for Faculty Affairs at VTCSOM, and Dr. Donna Boyd, Chair of the APT committee, walk through the basics of the promotion process at VTCSOM for faculty pursuing promotion in AY25-26.

Committee Documentation

• Guidelines for Writing Letters of Support for Faculty Promotion
  
• Sample Department Chair Letter
• Sample Departmental APRT Committee Letter to the Department Chair
• Sample Departmental APRT Committee Letter Asking for Letters of Support on behalf of the candidate for promotion
• Dossier Certification Form

Cover Pages for Portfolio

• Cover Page - TENURE to Title
• Cover Page - NON-TENURE to Title
• Cover Page - Collegiate

Candidate’s Suggested External Reviewer List Form