Faculty Personnel Actions

Off-the-clock requests or clock stops provide faculty on the tenure-track with an additional year of time to be promoted to associate professor or achieve tenure. They are requested in one-year increments. Each request, if approved, provides one additional year of time.

Typically, clock stops are granted for these reasons: (1) engagement in important public or University service, (2) maternity or family parenting, and (3) serious personal or family illness. Faculty may request and receive multiple clock stops. A leave of absence from the University does not extend the probationary period on the tenure track without an approved clock stop.

All tenure-eligible faculty hired or promoted to associate professor with term on or before April 1, 2021 automatically received a one-year extension of the probationary period because of the COIVD-19 pandemic. Please see the Provost’s memo for full details.

The faculty member requests a clock stop. The off the clock memo is completed and signed by the faculty member and department chair.

The department sends the signed memo and CV to the Office of Faculty Affairs at uvasompt@virginia.edu. It is reviewed by the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development, SOM dean, and provost.

For full process details, please review our standard operating procedure: Clock Stop Requests for Tenure Track Faculty.

PROV-017: Promotion and Tenure – governs clock stops and includes information about the probationary period on the tenure track (10 years in SOM).

Emeritus rank is intended to honor retiring faculty who have contributed extraordinarily to their department, the School, and/or the University over the course of their careers.

Emeritus rank is an honor; eligibility does not guarantee conferral. The retiring faculty member must be recommended by their department chair, the dean of the School of Medicine, the provost, and, ultimately, be approved by the Board of Visitors.

Prerequisites

• An eligible faculty member has submitted their retirement letter specifying an exact month, day and year of retirement and the chair has accepted it in writing.
• SOM department has keyed the retirement in Workday.
• Faculty member is eligible for emeritus rank per Provost Policy 018: Emeritus Faculty.

Submitting the Nomination

Nominations can happen at any time of year. The department administrator should key the retirement in Workday and submit the emeritus letter to Faculty Affairs as soon as the retirement date has been finalized. Departments should submit a nomination no later than three months in advance of a faculty member’s retirement date.

The department chair writes an emeritus nomination letter (1-2 pages) to the dean of the School of Medicine indicating their support for awarding emeritus and outlining the retiring faculty member’s extraordinary contributions to their department, the School, and/or the University.  

The department sends the retirement letter with the chair’s written acceptance, chair’s nomination letter of support, and a copy of the retiring faculty member’s CV to Office of Faculty Affairs at uvasompt@virginia.edu for the dean’s review.  

The dean reviews the request and, if supportive, the packet will be forwarded to the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost for Faculty Affairs for final review and approval.

Please review our standard operating procedure for the full process: Granting Emeritus Rank to Retiring Faculty

• PROV-018: Emeritus Faculty
• SOM 1.810: Faculty Resignation and Retirement Notice

Endowed professorships are a named account, established for distinguished full or associate professors, that recognizes excellence in a field of study or practice and provides funds to support continued excellence in that field.  Full-time faculty at or above the rank of Associate Professor (regardless of tenure status) are eligible to be elected to a department’s vacant endowed professorship.

“Endowed professorships are one of the most prestigious honors bestowed by the University of Virginia on a faculty member. Some endowed professorships are awarded following the achievement of extraordinary distinction in their fields. Others are awarded to recognize and encourage excellence in earlier stages of an academic career, or to reward academic general faculty members for their exceptional contributions. In all cases, before an endowed professorship can be awarded to a faculty member, a gift agreement must be executed and the professorship must be established through a Board of Visitors resolution.” – PROV-034: Appointment of Faculty to Endowed Professorships

The department submits the following portfolio to uvasompt@virginia.edu:

1. letter of nomination from the department chair
2. candidate’s updated CV
3. candidate’s personal statement and documents demonstrating excellence in their field and, when applicable, in the area recognized by the chair. Not to exceed 10 pages.
4. List of referees and their contact information – include full names with correct titles, email addresses, and phone numbers. Please include:
   • five to seven external faculty who are at or above the nominee’s current rank and hold endowed chairs
   • a maximum of five additional referees who are current or former University of Virginia faculty members and hold endowed chairs

A minimum of three letters from external endowed chair holders must be received to move forward with the nomination.

The process can take 4-6 months, depending on the timing of Board of Visitors meetings. For full approval and renewal process information, please see these resources.

• SOM Faculty Affairs – SOP for the Appointment of Endowed Professorships
• SOM Faculty Affairs – SOP for the Reappointment of Endowed Professorships
• Board of Visitors meeting schedule

All SOM endowed professorship appointments are reviewed prior to the appointment end date or every 5 years for non-term-limited professorships.  Professorships that are associated with a specific position (such as a school dean appointment) are reviewed as part of the review and reappointment process for the associated position. All holders of term-limited professorships must go through a renewal review before being reappointed.   

• For department-owned chairs, OFA confirms with the department chair that a reappointment is appropriate and desired. 
• For SOM-owned chairs, OFA confirms with the dean that a reappointment is appropriate and desired.   

OFA requests the following from the department: 

• Statement of support from the department chair for the reappointment 
• Report from the professorship holder (maximum five pages) summarizing their work in relation to the enabling language of the endowed professorship. Should include noteworthy accomplishments.  
• Professorship holder’s updated CV 
• All documents should be submitted to Office of Faculty Affairs (uvasompt@virginia.edu) by the requested date. Typically, 45 days is the allowed timeframe.

Upon receipt of the reappointment materials, OFA forwards the packet to the Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development (SAD FAFD). The packet is discussed and a decision regarding the renewal is made at the Dean’s cabinet meeting. The SAD FAFD communicates the outcome of that discussion with the department chair.  

For full process information, please see: UVA SOM Faculty Affairs – SOP for the Reappointment of Endowed Professorships

• PROV-034: Appointment of Faculty to Endowed Professorships
• SOM 1.905: Appointment, Review, and Renewal of Endowed Professorships in the School of Medicine

New Faculty

Per Provost policy PROV-017, new faculty hired with tenure and/or at the rank of professor must undergo an expedited review in order to confirm their qualifications for their appointment. Therefore, an expedited promotion and tenure review is needed for new faculty hired as:

• tenure-ineligible professors
• tenured associate professors
• tenured professors

Faculty are evaluated by the New Hires Committee using the SOM criteria for their track and rank. This review occurs after the offer letter is signed and before the new hire’s start date.

For tenure actions, the faculty member’s appointment is term-limited to five years until the review process is complete. They are temporarily listed as “tenured pending review” in Workday and have a five-year term in the BOV docket.

The expedited review is complete when the faculty member’s rank or tenure status is approved by the BOV. The approval timeline is tied to their meeting schedule (March, June, September, December). Our goal in Faculty Affairs is to send the P&T materials and school approvals to the Office of the Provost before the faculty member’s start date so they will be confirmed in the docket as soon as possible.

NOTE: Rank review is a separate process that occurs before faculty receive their offer letter. It is also completed by the New Hire Committee; the purpose is to ensure that SOM is extending reasonable faculty appointments to candidates based on their qualifications. All new faculty hired at the rank of associate and above, regardless of tenure status, must be approved through rank review.

Current Faculty

For current faculty, an expedited P&T review is usually undertaken for retention purposes when a quick decision is needed. Faculty should be evaluated during the in-cycle promotion and tenure process whenever possible.

An expedited promotion and tenure review is needed for new faculty hired as:

• tenure-ineligible professors
• tenured associate professors
• tenured professors

1. The hiring Workflow system sends Faculty Affairs a notification that an offer letter has been signed and attaches the faculty member’s CV. If they are also nominated for an endowed professorship, this will be included in the expedited review. A separate review process is not necessary.
2. Faculty Affairs sends the department administrator the referee guidelines, appointment criteria, and a referee spreadsheet to complete. Departments have three weeks to provide these documents to uvasompt@virginia.edu:
   • Documentation of sustained excellence in two domains, as described in the faculty track criteria
   • Contact information for 6-8 independent referees (outside of UVA and current institution). NOTE: The guidelines for referees are the same as for regular cycle P&T
   • Nomination letter from the department chair
3. Faculty Affairs gathers the requires documents and seeks approval from the New Hires Committee, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development, SOM Dean, and the Provost.

For full details, please review our standard operating procedure: UVA SOM Faculty Affairs – SOP for New Hire Expedited Reviews – Rank or Tenure

For current faculty, an expedited P&T review is usually undertaken for retention purposes.

1. The department chair communicates the faculty member’s situation to the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development (SAD FAFD). 
2. The department sends the following documents to the Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) at uvasompt@virginia.edu: 
   1. Updated CV 
   2. Personal statement 
   3. List of referees – please note the requirements differ by faculty track and promotion action. NOTE: The guidelines for referees are the same as for regular cycle P&T
3. Once these documents are received, OFA emails each referee and includes the CV, personal statement, and promotion/tenure criteria. Referees are given one month to complete their letter. 
4. Before the referee letter deadline, the department submits the remainder of the P&T portfolio to OFA. 
   1. Documentation of excellence as described in the faculty track criteria
   2. Nomination letter from the department chair addressing the significance of the candidate’s scholarship and the candidates local, regional, national, and international reputation. 

For full process details, please review our standard operating procedure: Expedited P&T Reviews for Current SOM Faculty

• PROV-017: Promotion and Tenure 
• SOM P&T Policy

Track changes allow faculty members to move from one faculty track to a different track. The main reason for a track change is to better align a faculty member’s work with their track. Track changes can happen at any time and are not tied to fiscal, academic or annual review calendars.

Per the SOM P&T Policy, Academic General Faculty members at the rank of assistant or associate professor on the tenure ineligible CF, RF, or IF tracks are eligible to transfer to the tenure eligible CE or CI tracks. A change of appointment track requires the development of an updated job description and effort allocation, as well as approval by the Dean of the School of Medicine. Per University policy, Academic General Faculty members may not transfer to the tenure eligible AI track. A change to the tenure-eligible AI track requires application to an open search or an approved exception to a search.

1. Department submits these three items to the Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) at uvasompt@virginia.edu:
   1) faculty member’s CV
   2) Request to Change Appointment Track memo
   3) appropriate approval letter (see Letter Templates tab below)
2. OFA sends the track change package to the senior associate dean for review with the dean.  
3. If approved, OFA circulates the approval letter for signatures in DocuSign.

Please review our standard operating procedure for full process details: SOP for Track Changes

• Currently on a tenure-ineligible track
  • from one tenure-ineligible track to a different tenure-ineligible track
  • from tenure-ineligible to tenure-eligible
• Currently on a tenure-eligible track
  • from one tenure-eligible track to a different tenure-eligible track
  • from tenure-eligible to tenure-ineligible

• Currently tenured
  • from one tenure track to another, retaining tenure

• PROV-029: Faculty Appointment Types and Titles 
• SOM P&T Policy