Types of Faculty Appointments & Requirements for Tenure and Promotion

Types of faculty appointments:

Medical school faculty are hired under a contract specifying a Clinical Educator or Tenure Track appointment.  There are variations within these categories, for instance, part-time and off-site appointments at area ambulatory care clinics.  In both categories of appointments assessment of achievement includes examination of Scholarly Work (defined separately for each kind of appointment),  Patient Care,  and Education and Teaching.  All faculty are expected to gain tenure and promotion under either category.

To access specific criteria on building a dossier for tenure and promotion, see the medical school Academic Affairs web pages: http://hsc.unm.edu/somacade/index.html

(and--hsc.unm.edu/somacade/document.htm, and hsc.unm.edu/somacade/policies.htm). Following is a condensed version of promotion guidelines published by the UNM SOM Academic Affairs, from the web page: http://hsc.unm.edu/somacade/index.html, contact that office at 272-5700 for more information.   

When building your academic career, after achieving an academic appointment, most of the preparation areas already described will continue needing development. In addition to networking through professional organizations and the added teaching and clinical responsibilities, scholarly work (including scholarship, research, and creative works) takes a more central role. It remains vitally important to continue using the guidance and support of your faculty mentor.

For Clinician Educators, scholarly activities may include participation in clinical trials and other patient-related research activities, gaining extramural funding, or the development of a national or international reputation as a clinician.  There should be a significant educational component that includes junior faculty, students, and/or other trainees, and there should be a significant contribution made to the missions and programs of the department, the SOM, and/or the Health Sciences Center (HSC).  (See requirements for tenure and promotion, described on the UNM SOM Academic Affairs website).

For Tenure Track faculty, research is understood to mean systematic, original investigation directed toward the generation, development, and validation of new knowledge or the solution of contemporary problems.  Faculty are expected to participate in research projects, and take the principal investigator role on grant proposals.  It will be necessary to present research at conferences and meetings when possible, and to publish research in peer reviewed professional journals.  It will be important for tenure track faculty to develop a national and/or international reputation in their field.  (See requirements for tenure and promotion, described on the UNM SOM Academic Affairs website).

Requirements for tenure and promotion:

The following summary is extrapolated from the UNM SOM Academic Affairs web page: http://hsc.unm.edu/somacade/index.html.  The web page, and the SOM Office of Academic Affairs should be consulted for specific and updated information concerning tenure and promotion at the UNM SOM.  As indicated by the Academic Affairs web page:  specific performance levels for tenure and promotion are determined by the Chair of each department, who will justify the positive tenure or promotion recommendations based on the faculty member's particular accomplishments and contributions.

Some clarifying definitions are included below covering the main areas for faculty performance review:  (1) Scholarly Work; (2) Patient Care; and (3) Education and Teaching.

(1) Scholarly Work

Scholarly work in terms of promotion and tenure at UNM SOM is comprised of "scholarship, research, and creative works."  For tenure track faculty members, scholarly work should produce "published works that lead to recognition beyond the boundaries of the University of New Mexico."  Additionally, scholarly work is defined as: scholarship is the "critical and accurate synthesis and dissemination of knowledge"; research is "systematic, original investigation directed toward the generation, development, and validation of new knowledge or the solution of contemporary problems"; and creative work is "original or imaginative accomplishment in literature, the arts, or the professions. Scholarly work should contribute to the discipline and serve as an indication of professional competence."  Scholarship is evidenced by a "faculty member's publications...and may be supplemented by evidence of integration of the faculty member's scholarly work and teaching."

Clinician educator (CE) faculty members are primarily "engaged in patient care and teaching with "associated scholarly activities."  These activities may include, in addition to those described for tenure track, "participation in clinical trials and other patient-related research activities...extramural funds, or the development of national or international reputations."  Excellence in terms of quality and quantity is defined as containing a "significant educational component that includes junior faculty, students, and/or other trainees, and ...should make significant contributions to the missions and programs of the department, the SOM, and/or the HSC.  They should also have the potential to make significant contributions to the health needs of the people of the State of New Mexico.  Examples include: book chapters, case reports, review articles, book reviews, abstracts, participation in symposia, poster and oral presentations, development of patient education materials, development of new educational methods, development of new courses, dissemination of information through Continuing Medical Education (CME).  Promotion of CE must be based on qualitative and quantitative excellence in patient care and on excellence in the combined effort devoted to educational and "scholarly activities."

(2) Patient Care

For the purposes of promotion and tenure, faculty members are compared to local and national peers in their specialty area, and are required to demonstrate "excellence" in all quality parameters, and at least meet expectations in the quantity parameters. 

Quality of patient care is judged using the following parameters, as evaluated by a combination of Peer Review, Patient Outcome, and Examinations:  

Knowledge Base—required to make well informed decisions in patient care, current knowledge of specialty and subspecialty.

Clinical Judgement—the ability to apply clinical knowledge

Ethics—priorities in patient care, dedication to providing each patient with the best possible care

Patient Rapport and Satisfaction—effective patient communication skills

Technical Skills—to effectively perform procedures, make diagnoses, and perform diagnostic tests, as required in the physicians specialty and subspecialty area

Innovation and Applied Scholarship—application, integration and dissemination of existing knowledge...to improve health care at the personal, community, or population level.

Quantity of patient care is judged using the following parameters, evaluated according to division head and department chair expectations. 

Number of patients seen

Number of procedures performed (if applicable)

Clinical RVUs (accounts for number and type of visits, procedures)

Clinical billings and collections

Percentile rank

To be considered "excellent" in patient care the individual should: "be considered an excellent clinician by students, residents, fellows, faculty, and regional peers; have an emerging or established regional, national, or international reputation as a consulting physician or professional; play an essential role in developing and/or directing clinical or professional programs(s); devise or implement a new clinical method or protocol which receives local, regional, national, or international recognition.

(3) Education and Training

For promotion and tenure considerations, competence and excellence in teaching will be evaluated both on quality and quantity parameters, and compared to local and national peers.  Each faculty member should keep a teaching portfolio to document innovative teaching activites. 

Quality of teaching.  Students and faculty peers participate in evaluation of teaching, according to the following parameters:

Stimulation of critical thinking and reasoning

Facilitation of learning

Clinical skills

Presentation skills

Instructional innovation

Quality of written materials used in teaching

Effective evaluation

Identification of problems in education

Effectiveness in teaching/educational committees

Receptivity and involvement with mentoring activity

Evaluation of teaching skills by learners and peers may take place in a variety of teaching environments, such as: "lectures, lab sessions, tutorials, inpatient rounds and surgery, ambulatory clinics, grand rounds, teaching or supervision of graduate students, teaching or supervision of medical students...teaching in postgraduate or continuing education programs." 

Quantity of teaching responsibilities will vary with each department as communicated to the faculty member by the department Chair.  Following are a description of the main teaching categories:

Teaching—undergraduate, medical student, graduate student, residents, peers, and community, including all applicable formats and interdisciplinary  

Development—of curricula and syllabi, faculty development, organization and development of courses and blocks, development of community educational sites

Leadership—service component and educational component, service on or chairing a medical school committee, a block or clerkship, graduate studies committee

Advising—students and residents, junior faculty, staff, and community groups, advisory boards

Mentoring—an active role in helping to advance the career of another faculty member by improving his or her educational productivity

Performance standards.   To achieve "excellence" in comparison to local and national peers, "the faculty member should be very good to excellent in the quality parameters and should meet expectations for local and national peers in the quantity parameters.

Please review detailed information from the Office of Academic Affairs, UNM SOM.

Contact the Hispanic and Native American Center of Excellence
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
(505) 272-1419

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