VCOM Faculty Handbook

Academic Rank Full-time, part-time and adjunct faculty, regardless of track, will be appointed to one of the following academic ranks: • Assistant Instructor • Instructor

• Assistant Professor • Associate Professor • Professor

Academic rank will be assigned according to the criteria stated under Faculty Appointments and Promotion and is subject to approval by the appropriate Campus Dean, Provost, and final approval of the Board.

Assistant Instructor Appointment to the rank of Assistant Instructor is awarded to the following: • One who holds a bachelor’s or master’s degree with expertise in the subject area appropriate to their research and/or the subject being taught, or • who serves as an assistant instructor under a faculty member who oversees their research program. Candidates will have the professional qualifications necessary to contribute to VCOM’s educational mission and will have ongoing responsibility to a specific academic department of VCOM. The faculty member must have been reviewed and have obtained a written endorsement from the Associate Dean for Curriculum, Assessment and Medical Education, the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, or the Associate Dean for OMS 4 and GME and written approval by the Campus Dean as to having the appropriate expertise to teach in their area of expertise (required by accreditation to teach at the doctoral level if holding a Master’s Degree) This title is generally awarded to biomedical graduate assistants with a Master’s degree who may contribute to the curriculum by participation in the educational program by mentoring research. Instructor Appointment to the rank of Instructor requires a minimum of a master’s-level degree or who holds the appropriate terminal degree for a specific health occupation in the case of inter-professional education. The faculty member must have been reviewed and have obtained a written endorsement from the Associate Dean for Curriculum, Assessment and Medical Education, the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, or the Associate Dean for OMS 4 and GME and written approval by the Campus Dean as to having the appropriate expertise to teach in their area of expertise (required by accreditation to teach at the doctoral level if holding a Master’s Degree). The entry level assignment in research, teaching, and/or clinical practice must be in a subject area appropriate to their teaching and research education and experience and must be a health sciences terminal degree in their educational field. Additional faculty who are included in this category are those employed by VCOM and who hold a Master’s degree or a terminal degree in nursing, athletic training, physical therapy, or other inter-professional degree appropriate to the content being taught and must have endorsement by the Associate Dean and the Campus Dean. Assistant Professor Appointment or promotion to the rank of Assistant Professor requires a doctoral-level degree in a subject area appropriate to their expertise and is considered an entry level rank for teaching for those faculty who hold a doctoral degree. The rank is appropriate for newly graduate physicians entering a teaching or research career rather than a clinical practice occupation. The rank is also appropriate for VCOM employed fellows and residents who are in an academic residency program and have commitments in research and teaching. The title appropriate for clinical

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