Demystifying the Promotion Process: Promotion to Professor

1. Demystifying the Promotion Process: Promotion to Professor Maureen T. Connelly, MD, MPH Acting Dean for Faculty Affairs

2. Faculty Ranks at HMS • Instructor: “Promise” • Assistant Professor: “Demonstrated Promise” • Reputation may be “within the walls” of HMS and the local community only • Associate Professor: “Promise Realized” • Broader reputation outside the local area (usually national) • Significant accomplishments since promotion to assistant professor • Professor: “Extraordinary Accomplishment” • True distinction as a scientist, teacher and/or clinician • National, and often international, reputation

3. Number of Faculty at HMS In 2008: 10,885 8,075 In 1980: 2,810 46% increase in full time faculty since 2000

4. Fulltime Professors at HMS

5. Current HMS Process Affiliated Institution HMS Dept. head proposes candidate HMS identifies ad hoc committee with input from Academic Dean HMS invites ad hoc committee Dept. Executive Committee sign off Hospital Committee (e.g., PCSA, COSA) Committee chair oriented Chair mails materials to committee CAD Chair hosts conference call Committee finalizes evaluator list Chair solicits evaluations Chair tracks responses OFA tracks responses as needed OFA schedules final meeting SOP

6. What arrives at HMS... • Letter from the Department Head describing the candidate and his/her contributions • Approval from the Executive Committee of the Department • Approval from the institutional committee (Committee on Senior Appointments - COSA) • Internal (2) and external (2) letters of reference obtained as part of the institutional process • Candidate’s CV

7. First steps at HMS • Review by the Council of Academic Deans (CAD) • Candidate is contacted by HMS to ask for copies of the “top 10” and an updated CV • “Top 10” may be original articles, reviews/chapters, educational material, CDs, etc. • Should be ones on which you have made a major contribution (for articles most often first or last author) • Choose those with the greatest impact on the field • An ad hoc committee of professors is appointed by the Dean to evaluate the candidate

8. Ad hoc Evaluation Committee • Committee of 6 professors appointed by the Dean • 4 professors from within HMS (usually one from candidate’s department) • 2 professors from outside HMS • Evidence used in the evaluation • Material from the initial institutional evaluation (Department head letter, letters of reference) • Curriculum vitae • “Top 10” articles • Request additional letters of reference • 4-6 internal letters evaluating local as well as broader contributions • 5-7 external letters evaluating candidate’s work compared with peers

9. Final meeting of the ad hoc Committee • Meeting attended by: • 6 committee members (external by conference call) • Representative of the Dean’s Office • Reviewer from the Subcommittee of Professors • In depth review and discussion of candidate’s: • Research contributions including a detailed review of the “top 10” • National and international reputation • Role in teaching and training • Role in the department/institution • Committee produces a report with its findings

10. Meeting of the Subcommittee of Professors • Report of the reviewer who attended the final meeting of the ad hoc evaluation committee • Report of a secondary reviewer • Comments from the chair of the ad hoc Evaluation Committee • SOP considers and makes a recommendation to the Dean

11. Final Steps…. • The Dean forwards his recommendation for approval to the Provost and President • When approval is received from the University, the Department chair is notified by the Dean’s office • Letter is sent by the Dean to the new Professor • Letter of Confirmation (“I beg to inform you”) is sent to the Professor by the Secretary to the University • CONGRATUALTIONS!

12. Members: Streamlining Promotions Task Force • Barbara McNeil Head of the Department of Health Care Policy, HMS • Orah Platt Academic Dean, CHB • Scott Rauch Head of the Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital • Barrett Rollins Academic Dean, DFCI • Isaac Schiff Head of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, MGH • Vikas Sukhatme Academic Dean, BIDMC • Joseph Volpe Chair, Senior Appointments Committee, CHB • Jeanine Wiener-Kronish Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, MGH • Nancy Tarbell Dean for Academic and Clinical Affairs, HMS • Maureen Connelly Acting Dean for Faculty Affairs, HMS • Joel Goldstein Partner, Wellesley Partners • Michael Gimbrone Head of the Department of Pathology, BWH • Michael Greenberg Head of the Department of Neurobiology, HMS • Douglas Hanto Acting Head of the Department of Surgery, BIDMC • T. Howard Howell Dean for Dental Education, HSDM • Joseph Loscalzo Head of the Department of Medicine, BWH

13. Key Questions • Can any of the existing steps be modified or eliminated? • Can more of the administrative process be managed locally? By HMS? A combination of the two? • Are all current review committees necessary? • Is the evaluation committee structure optimal? • How can incentive to accelerate the process be balanced by the need for objectivity? • What metrics could be used to confirm fairness across departments? Adequate rigor? Evidence of improvement in the process?

18. Creating a Promotion Profile

19. One man’s story….. John Enders (1897-1985) • Joined the HMS faculty in 1930 as an instructor • In 1954, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery that polio virus could be grown in a variety of tissues, laying the groundwork for development of the polio vaccine • In 1956, he was promoted to Professor at Harvard Medical School

20. Contact Us • Website: www.hms.harvard.edu/fa/promotion.htm • Create “customized” criteria for their rank and activities • Dedicated e-mail and phone line for questions • E-mail: OFA_Promotions@hms.harvard.edu • Phone: 617-432-7112