Faculty Affairs

Appointment Procedures

The Office of Faculty Affairs in collaboration with the College of Medicine Dean’s office processes all aspects of the COM faculty members’ academic appointments. Listed below are guidelines for: appointing new paid faculty members, appointing new adjunct faculty members, promoting current faculty members, requesting a secondary appointment, changing tenure tracks, and accomplishing a departmental transfer.

For issues related to credentialing, please consult the Professional Staff Office. 
If you have questions regarding any of these procedures, please contact Connie S. Albert, Faculty Appointments and Database Manager. You can reach Connie by email or phone: csalbert@uams.edu and 501-526-4684. All COM faculty appointment guidelines listed below require the use of the online Justification for Recruitment (JFR) system. If you are not familiar with the system, please contact Connie for information and training. Paper packets may no longer be used to process any of these guidelines. Word Document for Faculty Appointments.  If you are an administrator involved in recruiting and appointing new faculty  members to the College of Medicine, there are rules of submission:  Table grid of REQUIRED submissions.

Appointing a new, paid faculty member:

For assistance in determining the appropriate title, rank and tenure pathway for a new faculty member, please refer to College of Medicine Faculty Appointment Grid that lists the choices available within the College of Medicine.For a more detailed explanation of Tenure/Non-Tenure Pathways, refer to Tenured and Non-Tenured Faculty Tracks.

Required documents:

Instructor and Assistant Professor

• Candidate’s Curriculum Vitae
• financial information for the position
• (generate within the JFR database a) letter of recommendation from the Department Chair requesting the appointment

Associate Professor**

• candidate’s Curriculum Vitae
• two letters of recommendation, written by authorities in the candidate's field of expertise who are not UAMS faculty members and who have been neither the candidate's teacher nor employer
• financial information for the position
• (generate within the JFR database a) letter of recommendation from the Department Chair requesting the appointment

Professor**

• candidate’s Curriculum Vitae
• three letters of recommendation, written by authorities in the candidate's field of expertise who are not UAMS faculty members and who have been neither the candidate's teacher nor employer
• financial information for the position
• (generate within the JFR database a) letter of recommendation from the department chair requesting the appointment
  

**These appointments will be processed through the Promotion and Tenure Committee within the online JFR system.

Appointing a new Adjunct Faculty Member (adjunct is the term used for all faculty members who volunteer their services to the College of Medicine):

For assistance in determining the appropriate title and rank for a new adjunct faculty member, please refer to College of Medicine Faculty Appointment Grid that lists the choices available within the College of Medicine. Adjunct faculty members are now required to provide service to the College of Medicine and may receive the benefits as described within: Adjunct faculty members are now required to provide service to the College of Medicine and may receive the benefits as described within:
 
UAMS College of Medicine Principles for Adjunct Faculty Appointments
UAMS College of Medicine Principles for AHEC Adjunct Faculty

Appointments Required documents:

Instructor and Assistant Professor
Associate Professor and Professor**

• candidate’s Curriculum Vitae
• (generate within the JFR database a) letter of recommendation from the Department Chair requesting the adjunct appointment

**These appointments are processed through the Promotion and Tenure Committee within the online JFR system.

Promoting Current Faculty Members (This includes current adjunct faculty):

Instructor to Assistant Professor – 1 copy

• letter from Department Chair to the Dean requesting promotion
• candidate Curriculum Vitae

Assistant Professor to Associate Professor
Promotions to Associate Professor must go through the regular Promotion and Tenure process. Please refer to the “Promotion and Tenure” link in the left column of this page for helpful information and the correct procedures. Associate Professor to Professor
Promotions to Professor must go through the regular Promotion and Tenure process. Please refer to the “Promotion and Tenure” link in the left column of this page for helpful information and the correct procedures.

Requesting a Secondary Appointment:

Required documents:
Instructor and Assistant Professor – 1 copy
Associate Professor and Professor – 18 copies

• letter from Secondary Department Chair to Dean requesting appointment
• letter from Primary Department Chair to Dean showing support of request
• candidate Curriculum Vitae

Requesting a Tenure/Non-Tenure Pathway change:
According to the Criteria and Guidelines for Faculty Appointments Promotion and Tenure: “Once appointed, clinical faculty may switch between the clinical scientist and clinical educator pathways (with approval of the respective department chair and the Dean) during the first 36 months of service. Additionally, with approval of the respective department chair and the Dean, faculty appointed to a tenure-track position may change to a non-tenure track. Similarly, under unusual circumstances and with the approval of the respective chair and the Dean, faculty appointed in a non-tenure track may, prior to 6 years of service, switch to the tenure track provided that each year of service in the non-tenure track shall count as one year of probationary status under the tenure track. A faculty member can only make a single change between tenure track and non-tenure track. An individual who has switched to a non-tenure pathway may not return to a tenure pathway. The Dean’s decision with regard to changes in pathways and tracks shall be final, subject to the usual appeals mechanism. ”Required documents:

1. Letter from the faculty member to his/her Department Chair requesting a change in pathway that explains the reason for the request
2. Letter from the Department Chair to the Dean requesting the pathway change
3. Faculty member's Curriculum Vitae Departmental transfer:

Required documents for a departmental transfer are:

• letter from the requesting Department Chair to the Dean
• letter from the current Department Chair to the Dean supporting the transfer
• faculty member’s Curriculum Vitae

   **These requests are processed through the Promotion and Tenure Committee
       within the online JFR system.