Demystifying the Appointments & Promotions at MSSM

Ruth G. Abramson, M.D.
Vice-Chair, MSSM Appointments & Promotions Committee, Professor of Medicine

Points to keep in mind

Keep Records Of Everything You Do, When You Do It !!!! Regularly update your cv.
In addition to the required cv content (see guideline) you can choose to submit a more extensive cv including things that you feel give a fuller picture of your accomplishments.
A faculty tracks committee appointed by Dean Arthur Rubenstein is actively reviewing and revising this A&P process. We will revise this Web site after they report.

The Process:

Each department has criteria for appointment and promotion. These should be available in your department.

The institutional criteria are described in the Faculty Handbook, see Web site.

In all cases the A&P process must be initiated by the Department Chairperson. In the Faculty Handbook you will see:

which appointments, re-appointments and promotions are MADE by Chairperson (with the "approval" of the Committee on A&P),
which appointments, re-appointments, and promotions are RECOMMENDED by Chairperson for full review and approval by Committee on A&P. The Committee on A & P is made up of Professors from basic and clinical departments.

The Chairperson initiates the application for appointment, reappointment, and promotion. It must be initiated in a written statement.

Note that oftentimes, the candidate writes a first draft of this statement for the chairman. Guidelines for the Chairperson’s statement are in the Faculty Handbook.

The statement must document the candidate’s scholarly clinical, research, teaching, or other activities; include, at a minimum, a substantiation of the special value of the publications and the role of the faculty member in each paper; and address all of the points enumerated in "Criteria to Evaluate Teaching" for those proposed primarily as a teacher.

For many positions, there is a requirement for outside letters of recommendation. These reviewers are selected in consultation with the Department Chairs and for certain positions, from suggestions by members of Ad Hoc basic and clinical science review committees. The names and addresses of reviewers are submitted to the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office, not the Chairperson, requests letters from reviewers.

For each requested appointment or promotion to the rank of Professor, an Ad Hoc committee is set up:

Ad Hoc Committees consist of A&P members and non-committee Professors. It reports to the relevant subcommittee and to the full committee.

There is an indepth review of the application and all letters by the Clinical and Basic Science Subcommittees who discuss and vote on applicants.

At the meeting of the full A&P Committee, this report is presented, discussed, and voted on for Associate Professors and Professors. Faculty from the candidate’s Department cannot participate in review, discussion, or vote (they must leave the room).

All appointments, re-appointments, and promotions must be endorsed by the Committee on A&P (a simple majority is needed for endorsement).

After endorsement by the Committee on A&P, the decision must be ratified by the Executive Faculty and Dean.
After ratification by the Executive Faculty and Dean, the decision must be approved by the Board of Trustees.

Effective dates of Appointments or Promotion are:

July 1 (if endorsed 4/1 - 9/30)
January 1 (if endorsed 10/1 - 3/31)

If tabled for more information:

The application must be resubmitted within 90 days or it is assumed that the application is withdrawn.

If not endorsed:

Chair may appeal decision: appeal must be within 30 days of notification. Documentation has to be submitted within 60 days; if not, non-endorsement is final.
If not endorsed after an appeal - there is a one-year wait to reapply

*The final version of the experts' presentations have been edited by Sandra K. Masur, Ph.D.(WFG President), Miki Rifkin, Ph.D.(WFG Vice President) often from notes of Kathryn Kaplan, Ph.D.,MSSM Consultant, Organizational Development.