OBGYN Promotion FAQ

 Nominated positions are reserved for departments who hire permanent faculty members whose tenure-track or tenured appointments are pending final approval. The nominated appointment is ideally less than six months (maximum one year) and does NOT count towards time in rank, but work during this period does count towards promotion activities.

In order for a faculty member to switch, it requires a national posting and formal search for a new tenure or tenure track position. In selected cases, a waiver of national search may be requested for a specific circumstance, but this must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Employment (EEOC). In general, we expect that a successful waiver request will require strong evidence that the candidate fulfills a unique and critical role for the Department and the institution, to justify skipping a national search.

When it is unclear to which track a faculty member should be initially appointed, a new faculty may be initially appointed into the Variable Track as described in the SOM guidelines (p. 4), but will be required to differentiate to tenure or fixed term at the end of 2-3 years. This is a three-year appointment.

Yes, but only if there is a fixed term faculty role available, after discussion with the Division Chief and Chair. When a faculty member switches from tenure/tenure track to fixed term, there should be a letter stating the faculty understands by switching, they are relinquishing any and all tenure associated rights.  Additionally, once a faculty member switches o the fixed term track, they cannot go back to the tenure/tenure track.

It is requested by SOM Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development (FALD) Office that faculty request only one promotion-related dossier per academic year.

Keep in mind that “meet with the mark” and timelines for reappointment or promotion differ by track and areas of excellence. The closer you are to the 3-year minimum in rank, the more the APT review committees inside and outside of Obstetrics and Gynecology will scrutinize your dossier and expect your record to completely meet the criteria. Excellence must be met in one of the focus areas with progress over time with increasing depth and breadth of focus area. Three consecutive years of scholarship must also be met. Specific criteria and cheat sheets can be found on the FALD website.

Assistant Professors on the tenure tract typically serve two probationary terms. The first probationary term is four years and the second one is three years. The final year of the second probationary period is typically waived and the promotion to Associate Professor occurs at the beginning of the seventh year in deserving candidates and confers tenure.

Associate Professors who are hired into the tenure track have a probationary period of five years. The review for reappointment as Associate Professor with tenure typically is initiated at the beginning of the 4th year of the probationary period and goes into effect after the fifth year in rank.

Your dossier will be highly scrutinized in the following situations: 
Assistant Professor (tenure track) → Associate Professor with tenure

• if you come up for promotion during your first probationary term which is four years 
• if you have been at UNC-Chapel Hill for less than 4 years (or with a special agreement in the offer letter to count work at another institution). 

Associate Professor (tenure track) → Associate Professor with tenure 

• if you come up for reappointment before four years

 Tenured Associate Professor → Full Professor   

As a rare event, if you are recommended for promotion to Full Professor before 4 years in the tenured Associate Professor rank  

Fixed term: anyone going up for promotion or reappointment after only three years. Four years is generally the accepted time frame except for exceptional individuals. NB. Three consecutive years of sustained scholarship in rank is required. 

Bottom line: consult with your mentoring committee, Division Chief, and when needed, the Department faculty development leadership team, before deciding to put forward your dossier.

Time at another institution may be considered for promotion in the tenure track if the offer letter notes that this time will be counted and a strong justification needs to be made that the person was performing tenure level work if they are on the tenure track.

This varies by track and the type of scholarship must be while in rank. For tenure track, the scholarship is typically 1st/senior authorship of published (while in rank), peer-reviewed original research or scholarship, though there may be certain exceptions, such as in the education focus. The FALD cheat sheets further outline criteria by track, rank, and focus.
For fixed term a broader range of peer-reviewed or invited scholarship may be counted. This broader range includes the following:  

• Publications: This does not need to be first/last author for fixed term and may include middle authorship where the faculty member contributed significantly
• Book chapters
• Oral presentations
• Invited talks (grand rounds, workshops, departmental meeting); NB If the same invited presentation is given multiple times, it will not count multiple times toward the scholarship total unless the faculty member can demonstrate unique effects or results of the presentation in multiple venues.
• Development of educational curricula
• Invited talks in focus area
• Development of QI programs
• Published clinical guidelines

Letters of support are scrutinized for any conflicts of interest.

Conflict of Interest: friend/family connection, current or former student or mentee, if you have co-authored* or published a book chapter, paper or report with the candidate, written a grant or technical report with this candidate or if you were an instructor, faculty member or adjunct faculty member where the candidate was trained or is employed.

*note: given the increased emphasis on team science, publishing with a large number of co-authors on a report or publication may not be deemed a conflict of interest but must be acknowledged by letter writer and Chair.

NOT a Conflict of Interest: panelists, study section (NIH, NSF) membership, professional organization, guest speaker, members of a large research network (including large multi-authored research).

COI-related best practices- it is important for external letter writers to provide an independent assessment of faculty accomplishments. One of the ways that the SOM and University HR and APT committees confirm the integrity of this process is to search the applicants’ CV for the letter writer’s name. If found, and this is not addressed in the LOS and Chair’s letter, the Dossier will be flagged for a potential COI. Thus, to avoid delays in the appointment process, it is of the utmost importance that the Chair’s letter addresses any potential COI

Other ways of documenting teaching outcomes include:

• evaluations from lectures or invited presentations at meetings
  noting outcomes of trainees such as subsequent faculty positions or grants success
• asking for letters from supervisors who would be in position to comment on your teaching skills
• asking for individual letters commenting on teaching skills, from former trainees such as graduate students or post docs.