VCOM Faculty Handbook

All persons promoted to the level of Professor must demonstrate completion of a minimum of five full years’ experience at the Associate Professor level and must demonstrate sustained accomplishments while an Associate Professor. The list for accomplishments may also include outstanding contributions to the field of medicine, health policy, and/or science that are worthy in and of itself.

The Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee

The Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee consists of representatives across campuses who are appointed by the Campus Deans. The committee consists of the following voting members: • Associate Deans for Biomedical Affairs and Research from each campus; • Associate Deans for Pre-Clinical Education from each campus; • Associate Deans for Clinical Affairs from each campus; • Chair from each Campus Faculty Senate; • Vice Provost for Research; • Vice Provost for International and Appalachian Outreach; and • The Campus Dean from each campus. The APT Committee will convene a minimum of quarterly to appoint new faculty and will meet annually in the spring to render its recommendations regarding pending applications for promotion in rank and tenure. The APT Committee must critically review the documentation supporting a candidate’s request for appointment, promotion, and/or tenure in order to determine if the candidate meets the qualifications specified for that rank or tenure. Should the committee deem that the documentation is lacking, it is empowered to request that the candidate be mentored in obtaining additional documentation deemed necessary and may appoint the mentor. Failure by the candidate to provide documentation may delay the consideration of appointment, promotion, or tenure. APT Committee members may not be held liable for providing their opinions as to the qualifications, or lack thereof, by the candidate. All proceedings of the APT Committee are considered confidential and not for publication, except in the case of promotion, where the appointment following a positive decision may be published. Initial Faculty Appointment The APT Committee is responsible for initial faculty appointments for all candidates seeking full-time or part-time employment, regardless of track. Faculty with a previous or current rank from another academic higher education institution are typically initially appointed at VCOM at the same rank. However, faculty will be considered for initial appointment at the next highest rank above their previous or current rank from another academic higher education institution if they have met VCOM’s criteria for appointment to that rank (including requisite number of years served at their current/previous rank from another institution and teaching, research and scholarly activity, and service requirements). In order to be considered for appointment at a higher rank at the time of initial appointment, faculty must submit evidence of their teaching, research, and service contributions that meet the requirements of the rank of which they are seeking. Failure of the faculty member to submit this evidence will result in the APT Committee considering the faculty member for appointment at the rank they hold/held from the previous institution.

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