Can I be considered for promotion early (before the mandatory review year)?
At The Ohio State University there is no concept of “early promotion”. This does not mean that promotions cannot occur before the mandatory year, but rather is an indication that the promotion system for all tracks is based entirely on accomplishment. The Department and College promotion and tenure documents define the targets and expectations that are required for promotion and/or tenure. When a faculty member meets those expectations, they are eligible to be considered for promotion. The annual review process provides regular feedback to faculty to help gauge progress toward promotion. Faculty with questions about criteria or expectations, or whether their achievements meet criteria for promotion should consult with the Chair of the Department Promotion and Tenure Committee, the Vice Chair for Academic Affairs, the Department Chair, of the College of Medicine Office of Academic Affairs.
Do I need an NIH R01 to be considered for tenure?
The College of Medicine does not require or expect NIH funding for promotion or tenure, although some departments may require this type of funding. The College does have an expectation for nationally competitive, peer-reviewed funding. Although NIH funding is in many ways the “gold standard”, other types of nationally competitive funding satisfy this expectation. Examples of funding that would meet this criterion include funding from the national American Cancer Society or American Heart Association. Funding from state or local branches of these organizations do not satisfy the criterion. Similarly internal funding does not satisfy the requirement for research funding. It is generally expected that tenure track faculty will have extramural research funding to support their scholarship, but there may be unusual circumstances that a faculty member may be able to demonstrate a focused program of high quality scholarship without extramural funding. These situations will be very uncommon.
Independent research funding is not required for faculty on the regular clinical track, although participation in clinical trials, investigator initiated trials, or participation in translational research is typical of successful faculty on the regular clinical track.
Contemporary research practices emphasize research teams, and the College promotion and tenure document therefore has addressed questions of research funding and scholarship in the context of research teams. Research funding as Co-Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator may be sufficient to meet the expectation for extramural funding. For all tenure track faculty, and particularly for faculty who do not have funding as a principal investigator, it is essential that their dossiers demonstrate a strong record of productivity as first or senior author on peer-reviewed publications.
Faculty members are evaluated on the totality of their contributions, and a well balanced portfolio of scholarship, teaching, and service is highly desirable and beneficial in terms of consideration for promotion and/or tenure.
Can I review my dossier?
You may review your dossier during the 10-day comments period that occurs when the department chair has concluded the departmental evaluation and again when the College has concluded its evaluation.
If my department asks me to fulfill a requirement that the college does not have, do I have to do it?
Departments may require more of faculty than the college, based on their objectives, standards and needs. However, they may not require less.
What is Peer Review and how often should it occur?
Peer review is a requirement of the Promotion and Tenure dossier. It means that one of your peers should evaluate your teaching and write an assessment of it that you may include in your dossier. The assessment may be in any format: a form, letter, memo, etc. For this purpose, teaching is not limited to the classroom, it can mean many things including, Grand Rounds, rounds, or instruction in a laboratory setting. Furthermore, it doesn't necessarily have to occur at Ohio State. If a faculty member is invited to present at a conference and receives an evaluation, that is acceptable documentation. We advise faculty members be evaluated by their peers twice per year.
Which faculty may vote on P&T cases?
The eligible faculty may vote. Eligible faculty is defined as faculty at or above the rank to which the candidate aspires. For instance, the dossier of someone applying for promotion to Associate Professor - Clinical would be voted on by everyone on the Regular Tenure Track and Regular Clinical Track at the rank of Associate and above. However, clinical track faculty may not vote on tenure-track dossiers. Auxiliary faculty are not eligible, neither are faculty emeritus or faculty from other departments (unless there are not enough eligible faculty within a department).
Do you have a question about Promotion and Tenure that you would like to see answered here? Email Heather.