Faculty

Faculty Handbook Chapter V: Faculty Appointments and Promotions and Non-Faculty Titles

FACULTY APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION PROCEDURES

1. All appointments, reappointments and promotions of the faculty require endorsement by the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure and ratification by the Dean and the Trustees.
2. The Chair or Acting Chair of the Department shall be solely responsible for initiating recommendations to the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure². Chairs are encouraged to establish a departmental committee to advise on recommendations for appointments, reappointments and promotions.
3. Recommendations for appointment, reappointment or promotion shall be submitted to the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure on forms provided by the School of Medicine.
4. An appropriate statement from the Chair shall be an essential part of each recommendation for appointment, reappointment or promotion. This statement may include comments from the faculty member's Division Chief, Program Director and/or departmental committee on appointments and promotions. The statement should explicitly document the scholarly, educational, clinical or other activities of the candidate that warrant the appointment, reappointment or promotion.
5. The Department Chairperson recommending an individual for a faculty appointment, reappointment or promotion is responsible for verifying the curriculum vitae and bibliography of the candidate. Any faculty member who provides a letter recommending an individual's appointment or reappointment to the faculty or promotion must include all material facts relating to professional qualifications and personal integrity of the applicant.
6. The Chair of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure shall appoint an ad hoc committee to review each recommendation for appointment or promotion to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure or Professor (with or without tenure). The ad hoc review committee will consist of three members of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure, one of whom shall serve as chairperson, and three other Professors. No member of the ad hoc review committee shall have a primary appointment in the same department as the candidate.
7. The Department Chair shall provide names and addresses of individuals from outside the institution who might be solicited for letters of recommendation by the Dean's Office for the appointment or promotion of faculty to the ranks of Associate Professor or Professor. Letters may be requested from additional reviewers by the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure and its ad hoc committees.
8. In the event that a Department Chair's recommendation for an appointment, reappointment or promotion is not approved, the reason(s) for such decision shall be communicated to that Chair. The Department Chair may request an opportunity to appeal the decision and meet with an ad hoc committee of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure. The Department Chair may invite a senior faculty member to accompany him/her to assist in the presentation to the Committee. In the event that the candidate is not endorsed again, the reason(s) shall be communicated to the Department Chair. In this case, the candidate shall be ineligible for further consideration for at least one year.
9. In the event that the Dean fails to accept a recommendation submitted by the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure, such decisions shall be communicated in writing to the Committee along with the substantive reasons. The Committee will then reconsider the appointment, reappointment or promotion of that faculty member.
10. All votes by members of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure and its ad hoc review committees on an individual recommendation for appointment, reappointment or promotion shall be by secret ballot. Members of these committees with a primary appointment in the same department as the candidate shall not be present during any deliberations on the individual candidate and are not eligible to participate in the voting.
11. A Department Chair may recommend an individual for a secondary appointment with the prior consent and endorsement of the Chair of the Department in which the primary appointment is, or is to be, held. The candidate for a secondary appointment must be recognized as having an important and significant identification with both departments and the documentation and justification must indicate the rationale for such a secondary appointment.
12. If a faculty member is to transfer his/her primary appointment from one Department to another, then a letter indicating approval of the contemplated transfer must be signed by the Chairs of both Departments and must be submitted with the request for transfer.
13. The Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure will consider a recommendation for appointment or promotion at any time. The date on which it will become effective, however, will be either January 1 (if endorsed by the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure between October 1 of the prior year and March 31 of the same year) or July 1 (if endorsed by the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure between April 1 and September 30 of the same year).
14. A letter of appointment, reappointment or promotion, signed by the Dean, will confirm the rank and type of appointment made. The letter will contain details on the term of appointment and information relevant to the reappointment process (see below for specifics on appointment/promotion and reappointment for each academic rank). If tenure has been awarded, the letter of appointment will so state.
15. When a faculty member is not reappointed to the faculty of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, responsibility for salary support during the remaining portion of the term will be borne by the institution that is currently paying that faculty member's salary. Notwithstanding the appointment terms and notice provisions contained in this chapter, when a non-tenured faculty member's responsibilities are primarily at an affiliate institution, the term of that appointment will not extend beyond the termination of such affiliation.

2. Requests for appointments, reappointments, or promotions to the ranks of Associate Professor and Professor will not be accepted from Department Chairs who will leave that position within six months of the date of submission of the application.