Faculty Appointment and Promotions - Process Timelines
The following guidelines were written by Scott Walters; steps in the process need not be followed in a linear fashion (i.e. you can start on several sections at the same time). For more assistance, please contact Scott at swalters@stanford.edu or (723-5451).
The time ranges below are very general – all depends on the availability and cooperation of the various people involved in securing the appointment, as well as on the rank and line of the action and the time of year. The longest process since I’ve been here took 18 months; the shortest took just under three months.
The commencement of the process begins, for initial appointment, when a candidate is identified in a search or a search wavier is sought. For reappointments and promotions, the commencement of the process is timed to the expiration of the candidate’s current appointment. For these actions, a good rule of thumb is to begin a full year before the appointment is to expire.
Search Report – Initial Appointments [3-6 weeks]
In the case of initial appointments, once a candidate is identified, the first step to commencing the appointment process is the search report. This can usually be completed quickly after a candidate is identified, as no extraneous materials are needed other than the candidate’s CV and relevant personal information (SS#, etc.). Ideally, the offer letter and search report are submitted together; the entire process of compiling the search report and offer can take anywhere from a week to a month. Once submitted to the DOM faculty affairs office in final form, expect about three weeks for review by Liz and me, Judy Swain, and the School.
Possible delays: Extended negotiations over offer letter terms; problems with search process; problems with School finance.
Long Form – All Appointments, Reappointments and Promotions: [total time from commencement to final approval: 16-24 weeks]
For preparation of the appointment, reappointment or promotion “long form”, I have broken down the major tasks connected with this process as follows:
1. Referee Lists [1-3 weeks]: For ALL appointments, reappointments, promotions, the first step is to identify a set of referees and prepare solicitation letters. Depending upon the candidate and division chief and everyone’s availability, this can take days or several weeks. Ideally, it can be done in a week. While the candidate may suggest names, it is up to the division chief to choose the referees, and the candidate should NOT be allowed to approve or even see the final list. ALL lists should be sent electronically to me (using the referee grid found on the academic affairs web site) - along with an electronic version of the candidate’s current CV. The CV does not, at this point, need to be in long form format.
After reviewing the list, I send it to Judy Swain for her review and suggestions. If she approves, I then send the list to Linda McLaughlin in the Dean’s Office for her and Dean Stevenson to review. Generally, this takes about a week.
Possible delays: Inappropriate referees (wrong rank, too many collaborators, too far outside field of interest); inadequate information about referees; inadequate numbers of referees (use guidelines found in the sample long forms on the Academic Affairs web site).
2. Sending and receiving solicitation letters [3-6 weeks]: Despite what’s written in the sample letters on the AA web site, Dr. Swain would like us to allow referees a full month to respond, so the “reply by” date in the letters should be set accordingly. If a letter is not received in a month, two follow up attempts should be made.
Possible delays: Incorrect letter format; non-replies; summer (much more difficult to get prompt responses during summer when many faculty members are on vacation or sabbatical.
3. Assembling the long form [3-8 weeks]: Much of this can be done simultaneously with other steps such as assembling the referee grid and sending letters. Most narrative portions – teaching, clinical and scholarly activities, as well as evaluation process, other activities, overall evaluation of candidate, and a cover letter - are written by the Division Chief or assigned faculty member. In the case of reappointments and promotions the candidate is also called upon to write the candidate’s statement, and in the case of all actions he or she may also write the current work part of the Scholarship section. In addition to completion of these narrative sections, other tasks include collecting teaching and clinical evaluations, formatting the CV and acquiring articles for the A&P review (for Associate and Professor actions only).
Possible delays: Chiefs and candidate’s schedules; incomplete sections; inadequate numbers of evaluations; improperly formatted CV; failure to adhere to guidelines. For initial appointments of candidates who have not held a formal academic faculty appointment prior to coming to Stanford, please remember to request an official transcript for their highest degree completed (M.D. or Ph.D.).
4. Initial departmental review [1-3 weeks]: I’m happy to have complete long forms, but am also happy to review sections as they are ready. I can’t really DO anything with the form, however, until it’s complete. My initial review normally takes from 1-3 weeks. I request what revisions I think are necessary to take it to committee, then, when it’s ready, submit it to the relevant departmental committee(s).
Possible delays: High volume of long forms; substantial problems with form or sections missing.
5. Department A&P Committee and/or Division Chiefs [2-4 weeks]: Division Chiefs review ALL forms; the A&P Committee only reviews actions involving the Associate or full Professor levels. Scheduling an A&P Committee meeting takes one week, depending upon member availability. Usually a form can go right to the Division Chiefs immediately following A&P – the next Chiefs meeting on the schedule. So a form can go to both committees in less than a week in the best of conditions.
Possible delays: Committee member schedules; cancellation of meetings; failure to find a quorum for meetings; delay in acquiring written A&P Committee report from reviewer between A&P Committee meeting and Division Chiefs meeting.
6. Initial review by School [2-4 weeks]: All depends upon how backed up the School is. Files are read by Craig Spencer (MCL) and by Linda McLauglin (UTL and Research). They are thoroughly marked and returned to me for revision.
Possible delays: High volume of long forms; excessive problems with long form making resulting in form being sent back to Department for further work before review can continue.
7. Secondary review by Department [2-6 weeks]: After the initial School review, I pass on requests for revisions to the divisions and make minor revisions myself. Hang-ups most frequently occur here, as revisions may need to be made by you, me, the candidate, the chief, and even Dr. Swain and/or the A&P Committee reviewer. Sometimes additional letters are requested. If a single piece of the file is missing, it can’t go forward to the School.
Possible delays: Extensive revisions requested; requesting and waiting for additional letters; inability to get needed information promptly from candidate or chief.
8. Final submission to School to formal approval by the University [8-12 weeks]: Once the form is submitted in final to the School, it’s largely out of our hands, and one can expect a two-three month period before final approval. This is because the form must go through the Associate Deans (for all Assistant Professor actions) or the School A&P Committee (for all Associate and full Professor actions). The file must also go to the Executive Committee (made up of the Chairs of the departments within the School of Medicine), where it is discussed but not formally evaluated. Finally, the file goes to the Provost, where it is reviewed by the Ad Board (for all UTL and Research Line actions) and by the Provost himself. For the Ad Board, submission by the School is middle of the month for review the following month. A subset of the Ad Board reviews promotion to full Professor in MCL.
Possible delays: Information is missing or additional letters need to be requested – such requests for additional information or letters can occur at any point in the process, including all the way up to the form sitting on the Provost’s desk; Associate Dean or School A&P Committee member schedules; cancellation of meetings/lack of adequate quorum; summer (again, many people are on vacation).
In conclusion, in a best case scenario one can expect a file to get through the whole process in about four months, but six months is more likely.
