Promotions Oversight Committee Guide

Acknowledgements| Page 2

This guide was developed by a subcommittee of the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development’s Council of Faculty Development Liaisons.

The Mentoring and Oversight Guide Subcommittee Members are listed below:

Pam Asquith, Mark Connolly, Sharon Gehl, Ellen Hartenbach, Jana Jones, Randall Kimple, Mary Poellinger, Jessica Robbins, Rebecca Sippel, Jennifer Smilowitz, Christine Sorkness, Anne Stahr,Corrine Voils.

We particularly want to thank Mark Connolly and Jessica Robbins who led the efforts for developing and writing the SMPH Promotions Oversight Committee Guide.

We especially thank our co-authors Pam Asquith and Corrine Voils, who played major roles in the development and writing of the SMPH Mentoring Guide. Christine Pfund, who was not an official member of the committee, reviewed the final drafts and gave valuable feedback.

Anne Stahr, Director of Faculty Development Programming Nancy C. Raymond, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development

Executive Summary– Requirements and Guidelines| Page 3

1. School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) assistant professors on the Tenure Track and Clinical Health Sciences (CHS) track are required to have a Promotions Oversight Committee (POC) assigned to them  (FP&P 7.05, SMPH CHS Track Guidelines).
   a. These committees are expected to meet with faculty at least annually, and preferably twice a year, to review the faculty member’s progress toward promotion to associate professors.
   b. Details of the composition, roles and responsibilities of committee members can be found in this Promotions Oversight Committee Guide.
2. Tenure Track assistant professors should also receive mentoring which can be provided by members of the POC or by other senior faculty members or by a mentoring committee (FP&P 7.05). UW Madison requires that the mentoring provided to Tenure Track assistant professors meet a standard of excellence.
3. CHS assistant professors should be assigned a mentor who meets with them as needed to provide career guidance and support in advancing their academic career. See the SMPH Mentoring Guide for details.
4. Key Components of the SMPH Promotions Oversight Committee Guide include:
   a. Requirements and composition for the creation of the committees
   b. Requirements and responsibilities for committees and assistant professors
5. The role of the POC is different from the role of mentoring described in more detail in the SMPH Mentoring Guide: Definition of mentorship: a professional, working alliance in which individuals work together over time to support the personal and professional growth, development, and success of the relational partners through the provision of career and psychosocial support (NASEM, 2019). Can be accomplished through multiple formats.

Table of Contents| Page 4

A. Introduction

B. Requirements for Promotions Oversight Committee Formation

C. Promotions Oversight Committee Composition

D. Responsibilities of the Promotion Oversight Committee

E. Responsibilities of the Promotions Oversight Committee Chair

F. Responsibilities of the Assistant Professor

G. Promotions Oversight Committee Playbook

H. References

A. Introduction| Page 4

The purpose of this SMPH Promotions Oversight Committee Guide is to provide clarity to departments, faculty and committees for the process of promotion from assistant to associate professor on the Clinical Health Sciences (CHS)and Tenure tracks. It is important to identify the naming convention for these committees which were often called mentoring committees despite functioning for oversight of early career faculty. In tandem, the SMPH Mentoring Guide was developed and is now published to ‘Preparing for Promotion’ on the SMPH OFAD intranet. Information is provided for forming committees, responsibilities of the committee, committee chair and assistant professors.

B. Requirements for Promotions Oversight Committee Formation| Page 4

Within the first three months of their appointment, each assistant professor on the Tenure Track and the Clinical Health Sciences (CHS) Track will be assigned a Promotions Oversight Committee(POC). This committee will meet with the assistant professor at least annually, but preferably twice a year. The first meeting should be within six months of the faculty members start date. The function of the committee will be to ensure that the assistant professor is meeting expected milestones along their path to promotion to associate professor. The committee will provide general career guidance and recommendations to the assistant professor and ultimately will provide a summative statement to the department’s chair and/or executive committee regarding the assistant professor’s readiness to submit their dossier for promotion.

C. Promotions Oversight Committee Composition| Pages 4-5

The department chair is responsible for ensuring that all assistant professors on Tenure track and CHS Track have a POC. The departmental executive committee can play a role if requested to do so by the department chair. We recommend that the department chair and the executive committee seek input from the assistant professor on potential members when forming the committee.

In general, the committees will be composed of 3-5 members (inclusive of the chair of the committee); the committee members must hold the rank of associate professor or professor on the CHS or tenure tracks. One member of the committee will serve as the chair. At least some of the members of the committee should have expertise in areas that align with the academic interests and expertise of the assistant professor. Some departments may assign specific roles to the remaining committee members; for instance, each member may be assigned to have primary oversight of teaching/education, clinical, research, or leadership activities of the assistant professor, while the chair oversees the entire committee. Some departments may have each of the committee members oversee the assistant professor’s career progress, holistically.

To ensure complementary perspectives and diversity of thought, one or more committee members may come from outside of the home department/division of the assistant professor though they ought to share an academic/clinical interest with the assistant professor. The committee member from outside the assistant professor’s departmental/divisional will provide unique perspectives or insights into untapped clinical or academic resources. The assistant professor’s direct clinical supervisor (division or section chief) should not be chair of the POC; due to potential conflicts of interest, appointing the direct clinical supervisor to the POC is not recommended.

D. Responsibilities of the Promotions Oversight Committee| Pages 5-6

The primary function of the POC is to review the progress of the assistant professor in order to ensure that they are progressing along an expected academic trajectory and are on track to achieve promotion. A secondary function of the POC is to provide general career guidance with the aim of furthering the assistant professor’s scholarly pursuits. In the first three years, the POC is expected to confirm that the assistant professor is on the appropriate faculty track and report via the SMPH oversight mechanism initiated by the Dean’s annual memo (Example 2017 Memo and Form).If the assistant professor and the POC determine that the track placement is inappropriate, the POC chair and the assistant professor should discuss a possible track change with the department chair, as soon as possible. The track transfer process is outlined in Guidelines for Faculty Track Transfers, and on the SMPH OFAD Track Transfers Page.

The POC should also provide general career guidance and advocacy on behalf of the assistant professor. The chair of the POC must ensure that the assistant professor has adequate and appropriate academic career mentorship. If such mentorship does not come from members of the POC, the chair of the POC will help the assistant professor identify appropriate mentors either through direct recommendations or facilitating a conversation between the assistant professor and their chair/ division/ section head.

The assistant professor may discuss questions and seek advice from the committee on challenges they are facing. If the POC believes that the assistant professor has areas in need of improvement, they will discuss this with the assistant professor and provide recommendations.

E. Responsibilities of the Promotions Oversight Committee Chair| Page 6

It is the responsibility of the chair of the POC to prepare an agenda, convene, and run the POC meeting at least once per year, though preferably the committee would meet with the assistant professor twice a year. The specific responsibilities of the committee members may differ between departments and divisions or sections. Ultimately, the chair of the POC will define the roles and expectations of the committee members.

The chair of the POC should ensure that the assistant professor has adequate mentorship and enlist the committee to come up with suggestions to improve the mentoring if needed. The chair of the POC should continually assess potential conflicts of interest between the assistant professor and POC members and seek guidance from the department chair to replace committee members should conflicts arise. The POC chair will be responsible for providing feedback to the assistant professor after the POC meeting. Once annually, the chair of the POC is responsible for providing a summary for the assistant professor and department chair of the departmental executive committee.

F. Responsibilities of the Assistant Professor| Page 6

Adequate preparation for the POC is foundational for successful annual meetings and ultimate preparation of the promotion dossier. In advance of their meeting, the assistant professor will provide the committee with the following:

1. An updated CV in the UWSMPH format
2. A written summary of the year’s accomplishments(if required by the department).(examples of annual summary forms can be found here)
3. Goals for the upcoming year at the first meeting and achievements of past goals with new goals for the upcoming year at subsequent meetings

These products will give the committee insight into what the assistant professor is planning and will allow the POC to provide advice to the assistant professor about progress towards promotion. Depending on the candidate’s areas of accomplishment and nearness to date of promotion, other documents should be shared with the committee (e.g., teaching evaluations, funding proposals, personal statements, names of potential external evaluators). Although it may not be required by the assistant professor’s department, the assistant professor should consider completing or updating an individual development plan (IDP) prior to the POC meeting (link to OFAD IDP templates) to help organize information, identify issues, and improve career planning. The IDP can also be reviewed at POC meetings.

G. Promotions Oversight Committee Playbook| Pages 7-10

H. References| Page 11

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25568

Promotions Oversight Committee Guide

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