Faculty Appointments, Promotions & Annual Reviews

Faculty Appointments and Promotions

The Office of Faculty Affairs and Human Resources provides guidance and assists the School of Medicine department administrators in the processing of faculty appointments and promotions for full and part-time, senior and junior level faculty, the awarding of tenure, annual faculty activity summaries, and other faculty issues. 

Faculty members may be full-time or part-time. The faculty handbook states: “Eligibility for consideration for appointment or reappointment to the full-time faculty must include both of the following qualifications and is subject to approval by the dean: a) fifty percent or more time must be devoted to approved academic activities; and b) the academic activity must be conducted at an approved site.”

Full-time faculty may or may not receive a paycheck from CWRU, and if they do receive one, are Benelect eligible if that paycheck is fifty percent or more of their professional compensation. All new full-time faculty positions with fifty percent or more of the professional salary paid through CWRU must meet all Office of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity (OIDEO) affirmative action requirements. All new full-time faculty appointments are conferred by the University Board of Trustees.

All faculty appointments are for a one year period and are annually renewable. The faculty member is asked to sign and return a copy and keep a copy for their records. See the Search Process Steps guide for assistance.

All full-time faculty will be issued a CWRU User ID and are encouraged to obtain a CWRU ID card (by visiting Access Services); all part-time faculty are eligible for and encouraged to obtain a CWRU ID card and to request from our office a CWRU User ID and email/computer account.

The SOM Uses Five Full-Time Faculty Ranks

Senior Level

  • Professor
  • Associate Professor

Junior Level

  • Assistant Professor
  • Senior Instructor
  • Instructor

The SOM has a two-track appointment system for full-time faculty at the Assistant Professor level and higher:

  • Tenured or on the tenure track (appointments with tenure or leading to tenure consideration)
  • On the non-tenure track (appointments not leading to tenure consideration)

Part-time ranks are:

  • Adjunct/Clinical Professor
  • Adjunct/Clinical Associate Professor
  • Adjunct/Clinical Assistant Professor
  • Adjunct/Clinical Senior Instructor
  • Adjunct/Clinical Instructor

Pre-Tenure Review

Tenure track faculty members in their third and sixth pre-tenure years must be evaluated by their department's Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure (DCAPT). These evaluations shall address the faculty member's:

  • knowledge of academic field and commitment to continuing development of this competence
  • dedication to effective teaching
  • commitment to a continuing program of research or other advanced creative activity
  • willingness to assume a fair share of university administrative and service tasks.

Reviews take place in the spring of the appropriate year and are managed by the Faculty Affairs Office.

Annual Performance Review

Department chairs are required to provide each full-time faculty member in their department with a written summary of their annual performance review. Basic science departments and the clinical science departments based at University Hospitals use a common electronic website or a Word document of the same format for the performance review. Faculty at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and the MetroHealth System are evaluated using their hospital's form.