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. 

Portfolio Guidelines and Requirements

Use these portfolio guidelines to help you complete the necessary requirements.

Use the Guidelines for Preparing Your Personal Statement to create your teaching philosophy (maximum of 3 pages for clinical faculty, 4 pages for other faculty).

*Note - This does not replace information listed in the Faculty Affairs Guidelines. Please read guidelines first and use this to help guide you through the process.  

Promotion Workshop November 2023

Dr. David Musick, Senior Dean for Faculty Affairs at VTCSOM, and Dr. Sandy Fogel, Chair of the APT committee, walk through the basics of the promotion process at VTCSOM.

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
• Template for letters of support
• Dossier Certification Form

Cover Pages for Portfolio

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