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Faculty Appointments and Performance Reviews

School of Medicine Faculty Affairs

Faculty appointments and promotions are governed by Regent, University and School of Medicine policies.  The school has established specific processes for hiring new faculty (PDF) and deadlines for completion of faculty actions (PDF). 

All faculty actions (appointments, promotions, changes in FTE, etc.) require completion of a Faculty Recommendation Form (FRF). The School of Medicine also requires the use of letters of offer templates for new appointments or changes in current faculty appointments. 

School of Medicine faculty members whose appointments are greater than or equal to 50 percent FTE are eligible for appointment to the Regular Faculty and are required to sign a University Physicians, Inc. (UPI) Full Member Practice Agreement.  Regular faculty members with clinical responsibilities are also required to sign a Non-Compete Agreement.  Go to Member Practice Agreements and Non-Compete Agreements for more information regarding these agreements.

Information regarding the School of Medicine Base, Supplement and Incentive Plan can be found here.   The current (2013-2014) Base amounts are:

Professor: $107,902
Associate Professor: $71,833
Assistant Professor: $62,574

Faculty members whose appointments are greater than or equal to 50 percent FTE are eligible for health and life insurance benefits, as well as participation in the CU retirement program under policies approved by the Board of Regents.  If you have any questions about available benefits as a faculty member, please contact the Payroll and Benefits Service Center at (303) 735-6500 or their website: https://www.cusys.edu/pbs/. 

Faculty employed at affiliated hospitals also hold regular School of Medicine faculty appointments; the same promotions standards are applied to all faculty, whether employed by the University of Colorado or an affiliated hospital.  However, faculty employed at affiliated hospitals may be subject to different policies, including those pertaining to compensation, benefits and eligibility for tenure or sabbatical assignment.

Faculty members whose appointments are less than 50 percent FTE, including volunteer faculty, are eligible for appointment to the Clinical Faculty; they are governed under separate Clinical Faculty policies.

Go to Research Associate Series for information regarding appointments in the Research Associate Series.


 
The School of Medicine recognizes four types of faculty appointments:

    • Tenured appointments continue until termination by resignation, retirement or otherwise pursuant to applicable Regent laws and policies.
    • Indeterminate appointments are made for an indefinite period of time; continuance is dependent upon inclusion in the approved budget and available funding.
    • Limited appointments are for specified periods of time (from less than one year to four years).  Faculty members with limited appointments are entitled to notice of non-reappointment.  Specific guidelines for notice of non-reappointment can be found in the Standards for Notice of Non-reappointment for Non-tenured Faculty. 
    • At-will appointments are made for an indefinite period of time; their continuance is at-will.  Faculty members holding limited or indeterminate appointments may not be reassigned to at-will appointments unless proper notice is provided, in accordance with SOM and University policies. 

Faculty Ranks

The following ranks are available for full-time faculty members:

    • Instructor - Instructors should have at least the Master’s Degree or its equivalent and should otherwise be well qualified to participate in teaching, research or clinical service in the School of Medicine and its programs.  Faculty at this rank are not eligible for University tenure nor does your service for this position count toward University tenure.
    • Senior Instructor - The rank of Senior Instructor allows higher recognition and salary and, in some cases, longer periods of appointment than that of Instructor.  It may be awarded to faculty members who do not possess the terminal degree or other prerequisites for promotion to Assistant Professor, but who have special abilities in teaching, research or clinical service that justify such recognition.  Faculty at this rank are not eligible for University tenure nor does your service for this position count toward University tenure. Faculty at the Instructor or Senior Instructor level may have the terminal degree appropriate to their field.  They may also have promise in teaching, clinical service or scholarly activity, although they usually do not have an established record of outstanding accomplishments.  Faculty at the Instructor or Senior Instructor level may lack board certification, a record of research funding, teaching or clinical experience or other qualifications for appointment at the Assistant Professor level.
    • Assistant Professor - Assistant Professors should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field, or its equivalent, and should otherwise be well qualified to teach in the Medical School and its programs.   Assistant professors should demonstrate potential for excellence in teaching, research, or clinical activity and the capacity to participate productively in scholarly activity.
    • Associate Professor - Associate Professors should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field, or its equivalent.  Associate Professors must demonstrate excellence in teaching, research, or clinical activity; and at least meritorious performance in teaching, scholarly activity, and service/clinical activity. 
    • Professor - Professors should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or its equivalent.  They must demonstrate continued achievement in their areas of expertise; a national reputation; at least meritorious performance in teaching and service/clinical activity; excellence in two of the following (teaching, research, and/or clinical activity); and excellence in scholarly activity. 
    • Emeritus or Emerita Status - Upon retirement, any member of the faculty who has given exemplary service to the School may be allowed to retain his/her title with the description of “emeritus” or “emerita,” respectively.  The recommendation for this status can originate with the appropriate department chairperson, who will forward the recommendation to the Executive Committee; or it may originate directly in the Executive Committee.  The Executive Committee will then transmit the recommendation to the Provost for approval.

Research Professor Series

Faculty members whose duties are to conduct research may be given titles in the research professor series.  Faculty members appointed in this series: 

    • Will have limited involvement in instructional programs
    • Must be supported by non-general funds
    • Must be at-will employees
    • Are not eligible for tenure or sabbatical assignment
    • Are eligible for vacation and sick leave and health and life insurance coverage in accordance with University policies

Criteria for ranks in the Research Professor Series can be found in the Research Professor Series Criteria.

Annual performance reviews and reviews for appointment and promotion in the research professor series are identical to the review and approval processes for regular faculty.

Positions in the research professor series and regular tenure-eligible faculty series are not interchangeable.  Faculty members holding regular tenure-eligible appointments may be re-assigned to the research professor series only if agreed to by the faculty member and agreed to by the department chair.