Faculty Promotion and Tenure

Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure

School of Medicine Office of Faculty Appointments, Promotion and Tenure 

Please see School of Medicine's Office of Faculty Appointments, Promotion and Tenure. Most FMCH faculty will be on the Clinical Science APT Career Track.

Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Faculty Promotion Resources 

Steps for Promotion 

  1. Meet with Division Chief (or designee) annually to obtain feedback on where you are on the promotion pathway and plan timeline activities you will need to get to the next step, along with any needed resources. The Division Chief (or designee) will serve as your faculty advisor who is responsible for making sure you have good mentorship, sponsorship and coaching and attests to such along with faculty development plan for the coming year in your annual review.   
  2. Establish/Refine five-year timeline for promotion with Division Chief.  
  3. Keep your CV updated and in Duke format (Tips for Duke CV formatting). This is an “old” document but could help with categorizing activities.
    • Using Scholars@Duke to generate a CV is a good starting point. This site can be used to generate a CV in Word, in the Duke format, which can be edited. Consider using the Expressions of Scholarship guidelines to help categorize important elements of your professional activities.
  4. Keep an updated Academic Portfolio. Think about how to reflect the outcome and impact of a subset of your activities. This includes what was taught and how it engaged learners, the quality of clinical care provided to patients and patient engagement, and whether assigned mentees earned a publication, grant or new position. 
  5. If seeking promotion from Medical Instructor to Assistant Professor, the process is fairly straightforward and Becky Franklin (rebecca.franklin@duke.edu) can assist with that process, no additional steps will be required. For a promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor, or Associate Professor to Professor, please make sure to complete the following next steps. When ready to move forward with promotion process, contact Becky Franklin (rebecca.franklin@duke.edu). She will send an information packet containing detailed instructions on all requirements, and will set up a personal BOX folder as a place holder for the various documents needed for building promotion dossier. (#3, 4, 6, 7, 8)
  6. Intellectual Statement: Guidelines and samples
  7. Identify 8-10 potential faculty letter writers who are at a faculty rank AT LEAST AS HIGH as the rank to which you are aspiring who can serve as reviewers of your promotional package. Send names/addresses with your packet. Department leadership can help identify potential letter writers if needed. Letter writers may be familiar with you but should not be close peers or people with whom you have worked, published, or collaborated. Letters for evaluation
  8. Draft a letter to Division Chief/Department Chairthey can use to recommend promotion: Highlight your career especially since your last promotion and request to be considered for promotion. Example Promotion Letter
  9. Still confused or have Questions regarding promotion? Don’t suffer alone: we’re here to help! Contact your advisor (whoever does your annual review) for coaching on the process. Other resources:  
    1. Co-chairs of Departments APT Committee: Truls Ostbye truls.ostbye@duke.edu, Kathryn Andolsek Kathryn.andolsek@duke.edu
    2. Inquire with Becky Franklin (rebecca.franklin@duke.edu) for logistical help or if you need help identifying other faculty in our department that have recently been promoted.  
    3. Vice Chair for Education & Faculty Development: Greg Sawin (Gregory.sawin@duke.edu

Additional Resources