Faculty Affairs

Updates on faculty promotion and tenure

By: Guy Benrubi, M.D., FACOG

The promotion and tenure process is in mid-stream for this academic year. Seven faculty members submitted packets for promotion to professor and five for promotion to associate professor. The applications are now at the Academic Personnel Board stage.

During the 2015-16 academic year, there were 251 assistant professors, 70 associate professors and 29 professors on the Jacksonville campus. In fiscal year 2016, six Jacksonville faculty members were promoted to associate professor and two were promoted to professor. That same year, four assistant professors and seven associate professors were on the tenure track in Jacksonville. The rest were on the multiple-mission track.

There were no tenure track promotions of Jacksonville faculty in 2016. From both campuses, the number of refereed publications for multi-mission associate professor was a median of 18.5 and a mean of 22.8. For multi-mission professors, the comparable numbers were 37.5 and 48.5, respectively. For tenure track associate professors, the number of refereed publications were median 31 and mean 34.2. For tenure track professors, the comparable numbers were 69 and 83.82, respectively. All promoted tenure track professors had extramural research funding, with nine of 11 having National Institutes of Health funding. Funding levels were between $600,000 and $6 million.

The dean’s office has funded a very strong mentorship program for career development and promotion packet preparation. All faculty members are urged to take advantage of the program at least one year before packet preparation. The process can be accessed through Lynn Weathers in the dean’s office.