The Silver Book
Sixth Edition 2025
The purpose of this resource, known as the “Silver Book,” is to provide guidance to members of the tenure track faculty, and their mentors and advisors, on matters of professional development and academic advancement. This guide aids the faculty in understanding the strategies and benchmarks that lead them to successful development and promotion as it aligns with the missions of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) and Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM). Individuals who participate in promotion committees at the department and SOM levels may also find this resource useful.
Note that this is the accompanying guide to the School of Medicine’s Policy and Guidelines Governing Appointments, Promotions and Professional Activities of the Full Time Faculty (the “Gold Book”) and the School of Medicine’s Policy and Guidelines Governing Appointments, Promotions and Professional Activities for the Part-Time Faculty (the “Blue Book”). Nothing in this guide can be used to supersede these books or any policy of the Board of Trustees of The Johns Hopkins University.
This guide is based on the work of the Office of Faculty, the Faculty Senate, and the Promotions’ Committees of the School of Medicine (SOM).
I – Overview of Tenure Tracks, Ranks, and Promotional Criteria
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The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has two promotion tracks that may culminate in a contract to retirement (“tenure”) at the rank of Professor:
- Scholarship Track
- Clinical Excellence Track
Advancement through the ranks- from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor to Professor- is not an automatic consequence of part-time or full-time service for any given number of years. Rather, promotion is a privilege in recognition of merit based on accomplishments. Both tracks are based on two promotional pillars:
- Recognition for excellence and impact in one’s field of expertise
Recognition outside of Johns Hopkins (or other home institution) at a level- regional, national, or international- commensurate with rank. Regional is defined as a community (non-university, non-federal) institution within 50-100 miles of Hopkins (or other home institution when previously employed elsewhere), excepting university/federal institutions within that geographic range (e.g. for Hopkins- University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown, NIH, etc.).
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Assistant Professor
At the rank of Assistant Professor, faculty are expected (at a minimum) to have completed formal training, to have demonstrated research and/or clinical excellence, at least locally, and to have potential to become leaders in their field.
Faculty are undifferentiated with regard to promotion track at the rank of Assistant Professor. However, within the first year of appointment, faculty are expected to discuss with their department/division director the options for academic advancement, specifically, the promotion tracks and their differing promotional criteria. Although faculty are not required to choose a track immediately, it is in the faculty’s best interest to understand the different criteria as early as possible and have a clear sense of their career direction. This allows faculty and their mentors to set specific and achievable milestones for career advancement at an early stage. Failure to do so can delay accrual of the accomplishments necessary for academic advancement in the different tracks.
Formal declaration of a promotion track is required when application is made for appointment/promotion to the ranks of Associate Professor and Professor. Faculty may switch tracks when moving from Associate Professor to Professor.Scholarship Track- Associate Professor and Professor
On the Scholarship Track, the basis for recognition is scholarship, defined as the generation of new knowledge and/or the dissemination of knowledge that is accessible for critical assessment and future use by members of the academic community. Associate Professors are recognized nationally for contributions to their field of expertise. Professors are recognized as national leaders, and in many cases, internationally recognized, and must rank among the foremost leaders in their field.
There are four pathways on the Scholarship Track: 1) Researcher; 2) Clinical Scholar / Clinician of Distinction 3) Educator; and 4) Program Builder/ Developer. The pathways are intended to align with a faculty’s primary focus of work. Some faculty may focus their work on more than one area and may be considered for promotion on the Scholarship Track as a hybrid of more than one pathway. All faculty are expected to engage to some degree in the teaching mission, even if education is not a primary focus. Regardless of pathway (or hybrid pathway), the fundamental pillars for promotion on the Scholarship Track are the same; that is, recognition for scholarship outside of JHUSOM at a level commensurate with rank.
Clinical Excellence Track- Associate Professor and Professor
On the Clinical Excellence Track, the basis for recognition is sustained clinical excellence, as adjudicated by the four following groups: a) peers and/or leaders; b) staff members; c) learners; and d) patients (when appropriate by specialty). In addition, faculty on the Clinical Excellence Track are expected to demonstrate engagement with the education and discovery missions of JHUSOM, to disseminate their expertise, and to participate in efforts to improve the quality of clinical care at Johns Hopkins. Associate Professors are recognized regionally for their clinical excellence and clinical leadership in their area of expertise. Professors are recognized nationally for their clinical excellence and clinical leadership in their area of expertise. Eligibility for the Clinical Excellence Track is restricted to faculty who devote >60% of their effort (as adjudicated by their department director) directly and/or indirectly to clinical care.
Professionalism and Citizenship
All faculty, regardless of rank and track, are expected to perform their duties with professional competence, intellectual honesty, high ethical standards, professionalism, and to comply with all JHU and JHUSOM policies.
Faculty must adhere to all policies of JHU and JHUSOM
A partial listing of relevant policies can be found here. Faculty should take particular notice of the following policies:
- Code of Professional Conduct for Faculty (SOM)
- JHU Code of Conduct
- Policy for Conduct in Teacher/Learner Relationships
- Policy on Personal Relationships
- Rules and Guidelines for Responsible Conduct of Research
- Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment
In addition, faculty are expected to act as good citizens of the institution, participating in activities for the communal good, and to act collegially with others in the community. Examples of activities consistent with good citizenship include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Service on University, School of Medicine, Hospital, or department committees
- Participation in activities (advisory roles, teaching, mentoring, committee assignments) that enhance the learning environment, promote career development for learners, faculty, and staff, develop academic programs, and/or improve governance of the School of Medicine
- Engagement with institutional quality improvement initiatives
- Engagement in diversity/equity/inclusivity activities at University, School of Medicine, Hospital, or department level, or within the Baltimore region
II – Criteria and Achievements that Support Appointment / Promotion by Rank and Track
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Faculty are undifferentiated with respect to track at the rank of Assistant Professor. There is no track (Scholarship nor Clinical Excellence) for the rank Assistant Professor.
Candidates must meet at least one of the four following criteria, per the table below:
Assistant Professor - Criteria for Appointment/Promotion
One first or last author (Peer-reviewed original research) publication*
OR
Review article, book chapter, case report, etc.
One middle author publication*
AND
2 additional middle author publications*
One middle author publication*
AND
2 invited talks/CME/ workshops at local, regional, or national level
(excluding abstract presentations or student/resident/ fellow lectures at the home department)
One middle author publication*
AND
One clinical or educational leadership position at local, regional, or national level
*Note about publications: must be in the biomedical field, published during or after doctoral training, and be easily accessible to the community.
These criteria represent the minimum. Individual departments within JHUSOM may require additional criteria so long as the criteria are made public to department faculty and applied equitably.
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Recognition on the Scholarship Track is primarily determined by the quantity, quality, and impact of scholarship generated by faculty and the role the faculty played in generating that scholarship. The level of outside recognition is determined by the magnitude and geographic breadth (regional, national, international) of impact of faculty work and the extent of leadership played while performing that work.
Many diverse types of accomplishments are considered as scholarship, and many diverse types of accomplishments demonstrate outside recognition and leadership at national and international levels. Examples of these achievements are listed below. It is important to note that no single type of achievement or specific number of achievements is sufficient to define the promotional bar. Rather, the aggregate of all accomplishments listed on the CV (see CV Template and CV Instructions) in combination with feedback from experts in the field (i.e. referee letters) are considered by promotions committees to determine if recognition at a level commensurate with rank has been achieved.Appointments and promotions at the levels of Associate Professor and Professor are evaluated through the lens of the aggregated list of accomplishments (on faculty CV) and evaluations (reference letters) solicited from referees inside and outside of JHUSOM. Advancement from Associate Professor to Professor is achieved by accumulating more accomplishments and at a higher level of recognition from the examples provided below. The weight promotions committees place on the different accomplishments varies depending on the primary focus of an individual faculty member’s work and the promotion pathway within the Scholarship Track. Some examples of accomplishments emphasized in each pathway at ranks of Associate Professor and Professor are described in a subsequent section.
Achievements consistent with scholarship
The generation of new knowledge and/or the dissemination of knowledge that is accessible for critical assessment and future use by members of the academic community include:
- Original Research publications
- Review Articles
- Case Reports
- Book Chapters, Monographs
- Books, Textbooks
- Editorials
- Guidelines/Protocols, Consensus Statement, Expert Opinion, Consortium Articles
- Letters, Correspondence
- Published course materials, learner assessment tools, educational evaluations, and/or assessment/evaluation instruments that are used/adopted by other institutions
- Creation and dissemination of an educational program, innovation, curriculum, or curricular product that is used/adopted by other institutions
- Creation and/or dissemination of knowledge in non-traditional formats, including videos, podcasts, web materials, etc. (with documentation of magnitude and geographic breadth of usage)
- Grants/contracts that fund innovative work in research, education, or clinical care
- Inventions, patents, copyrights, particularly those with documentation of magnitude and geographic breadth of impact - i.e., commercial licensing, creation of company start-up, product manufactured/sold
Below are the optional publication headings that are on the CV template:
- Clinical Stories or Memoirs
- Creative Writing
- Methods and Techniques, “How I Do It” articles
- Opinions, Perspectives, Political Commentary, Advocacy, Essays
- Original Research, not peer reviewed and/or not indexed
- For instance, a research contribution that is solicited by an open access journal that does not send the manuscript out to experts in the field for adjudication
- Proceedings Reports
- White Papers
- Media Releases or Interviews
Achievements consistent with recognition beyond Johns Hopkins
The following section lists accomplishments consistent with recognition beyond Hopkins; however, accomplishments in all areas are not required. For each of the following, distinctions are made regarding the recognition level (regional, national, or international) and/or leadership level of the accomplishment. The level of recognition required for Associate Professor is national contributor; the level required for Professor is national leader and/or international recognition.
Funding
- Extramural grants/contracts (e.g. Principal Investigator, Co-PI, Co-Investigator, etc.) from governmental agencies, commercial entities, and professional organizations/foundations/societies at regional, national, and international levels
Clinical activities
- Creator/Leader of clinical protocols/guidelines that have been adopted by regional, national, or international medical institutions or health-related organizations
- Creator/Leader of clinical program/service that garners patient referrals regionally, nationally, or internationally
- Creator/Leader of clinical program/service that has been emulated by other institutions regionally, nationally, or internationally
- Examiner/ test writer for national specialty boards certification
Educational activities
- Creator/Leader of educational curriculum or assessment tool that has been adopted by regional, national, or international medical institutions or health-related educational organizations
- Creator/Leader of clinical, educational, or research program that is emulated by or demonstrated to representatives from regional, national, or international organizations
Organizational activities
- Editorial board positions (e.g. Board member, Associate Editor, Editor-in-Chief, etc.) of regional, national, and international journals
- Advisory committee or Review/Study group activities (e.g. ad hoc member, standing member, chair, etc.) for governmental agencies, commercial entities, and professional organizations/foundations/societies at regional, national, and international levels
- Professional society activities (e.g. Subcommittee member, Committee chair, President, etc.) at regional, national, and international levels
- Conference organizer/Session chair related to biomedical discovery, education, or clinical care at regional, national, or international levels
Recognition
- Awards and honors conferred by governmental agencies, commercial entities, and professional organizations/foundations/societies at regional, national, and international levels
- Invited talks (e.g. panelist, grand rounds or CME speaker, plenary speaker, etc.) at biomedical institutions, professional societies/organizations, or governmental bodies at regional, national, and international levels
- Visiting professorships at biomedical institutions at regional, national, and international levels
Achievements consistent with professionalism and citizenship
All faculty, regardless of rank and track, are expected to perform their duties with professional competence, intellectual honesty, high ethical standards, professionalism, and to comply with all JHU and JHUSOM policies.
Faculty must adhere to all policies of JHU and JHUSOM
A partial listing of relevant policies can be found here. Faculty should take particular notice of the following policies:
- Code of Professional Conduct for Faculty (SOM)
- JHU Code of Conduct
- Policy for Conduct in Teacher/Learner Relationships
- Policy on Personal Relationships
- Rules and Guidelines for Responsible Conduct of Research
- Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment
In addition, faculty are expected to act as good citizens of the institution, participating in activities for the communal good, and to act collegially with others in the community. Examples of activities consistent with good citizenship include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Service on University, School of Medicine, Hospital, or department committee
- Participation in activities (advisory roles, teaching, mentoring, committee assignments) that enhance the learning environment, promote career development for learners, faculty, and staff, develop academic programs, and improve governance of the School of Medicine
- Engagement with institutional quality improvement initiatives
- Engagement in diversity/equity/inclusivity activities at University, School of Medicine, Hospital, or department level, or within the Baltimore region
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Researcher Pathway
National recognition for research at the Associate Professor level entails clear evidence of independent research, which includes a focused body of publications, national visibility of the research findings, and, in many cases, evidence of extramural support for the research. The impact of the publications and role of the faculty in the publication (e.g., as first or last author, co- author, other contribution) are more important than the number of publications. However, usually a substantial number of publications will be necessary to be considered for appointment / promotion to this rank. Clear separation from mentor toward independence is required.
National leadership and international recognition for research at the Professor level entails a significant body of work with high impact on the field. In addition to the accomplishments described for Associate Professor, high impact typically entails publications in high quality journals with high citation rates, service on national study sections, invited reviews in major journals, editorial board roles, leadership in national/international societies, and invited presentations of the candidate’s research at national and international conferences. An outstanding number of peer-reviewed publications will be necessary to be considered for this rank, although the widespread impact of the publications and the faculty’s role in the publication are more important than the number. Evidence of sustained extramural support for research is typically associated with this rank, but not required.Clinical Scholar / Clinician of Distinction Pathway
National recognition for patient care at the Associate Professor level includes, but is not limited to, development and dissemination of a unique clinical program, diagnostic test, or intervention that has had a national impact.
National leadership/international recognition is demonstrated at the Professor level by invited presentations at national and international conferences, highly cited publications, development and dissemination of clinical standards of care/protocols/consensus statements, leadership roles in clinical professional societies, editorial board roles, and national or international awards for clinical distinction.Educator Pathway
Educational work typically fits in the following domains: 1) Teaching and Facilitating Learning, 2) Program and Curriculum Development, 3) Mentoring/Coaching/Advising, 4) Learner Assessment and Program Evaluation, 5) Educational Leadership, and 6) Educational Scholarship. Most faculty whose primary focus is education will be engaged in multiple domains and would be expected to demonstrate scholarship and impact beyond Hopkins in more than one domain. Faculty seeking promotion as an educator on the scholarship track must disseminate scholarly educational materials with impact consistent with rank. Examples of national recognition, national leadership, and international recognition for each domain are listed below.
(1) Teaching and Facilitating Learning
Regional and national (or international) recognition may include accomplishments such as:
- Teaches a method/technique with impact
- Invited to teach at institution or meeting
- Excellent teaching evaluations (as available)
- Teaching awards or other recognition
- Disseminated scholarly product on teaching and facilitating learning
National leadership/international recognition is demonstrated by:
- Serving as program chair or leader for national teaching conference/initiative
- Leading teaching effort at a national workshop or seminar
- Leading teaching effort at an international workshop or seminar
(2) Program and Curriculum Development
Regional and national (or international) recognition may include accomplishments such as:
- Created a program, curriculum, or curricular product that is/are utilized
- Demonstrated successful outcomes of learners completing an educational program or curriculum
- Invited to advise external institution(s) on creation or implementation of an educational program, curriculum, or curricular product
- Invited to serve on organization/society committee/initiative to develop an educational program or curriculum)
- Received award for program, curriculum, or curricular product
- Disseminated scholarly product related to educational program, curriculum, or curricular product
National leadership/international recognition is demonstrated by:
- Led national or international group, society, organizational initiative to create or implement an educational program, curriculum, or curricular product
(3) Mentoring/Coaching/Advising
Regional and national (or international) recognition may include accomplishments such as:
- Demonstration of mentee, coachee, advisee achievements
- Served as a mentor, coach and/or advisor individually or as part of program
- Selected to speak, lead workshop and/or serve on panel about mentoring, coaching and/or advising
- Received award for mentoring, coaching and/or advising
- Served as consultant, committee member or leader of a mentoring, coaching and/or advising program
- Served as team member for an educational grant related to mentoring, coaching and/or advising
National leadership/international recognition is demonstrated by:
- Led national or international mentoring, coaching and/or advising program, initiative and/or organization
- Led national or international educational training grant related to mentoring, coaching and/or advising
(4) Learner Assessment and Program Evaluation
Regional and national (or international) recognition may include accomplishments such as:
- Created individual, curricular or program assessment or evaluation used to make decisions
- Invited to advise external institution(s) on either creation or implementation of an assessment or evaluation product
- Invited to serve/lead organization/society to develop and assess individuals or programs
- Disseminated scholarly product related to an assessment or evaluation
- Received award for an assessment or evaluation
National leadership/international recognition is demonstrated by:
- Led national or international group, society, or organizational initiative focused on individual or program assessment or evaluation
(5) Educational Leadership
Regional and national (or international) recognition may include accomplishments such as:
- Led educational program, initiative and/or organization
- Received educational leadership award
- Disseminated education initiative and/or product
- Invited to speak about educational leadership
- Served as consultant to an educational program
- Led or served as team member for educational grant
- Served as committee member of national educational program, initiative and/or organization
- Served as team member national educational grant
- Led national educational training grant
- Served as invited committee member or leader of international educational program, initiative and/or organization
- Member of national/international educational grant review committee
(6) Educational Scholarship
Regional and national (or international) reputation may include accomplishments such as:
- Publications on educational topics (original research, review articles, brief reports, case reports, curricular descriptions, innovations, guidelines, commentaries, perspective pieces)
- Book(s) or book chapter(s) on educational topics
- Educational product (videos, websites, podcasts)
- Workshop on educational topics
- Presentation on educational topics
- Educational demonstration activity and/or consultancy
- Funding for educational scholarship
- Created program, curriculum, or curricular product that is used
- Received award for educational program, innovation, curriculum, or curricular product
- Invited to advise or serve on creation or implementation of an educational program, curriculum, or curricular product
- Disseminated scholarly product or publication related to an educational program, innovation, curriculum, or curricular product
- Prestige and number of grant awards
Program Builder/Developer Pathway
Program building includes development of a system innovation, quality improvement, or leadership program with documented effectiveness or impact formally disseminated through publication or other means. Typically, the program has been adopted by peer institutions.
National leadership/international recognition is demonstrated at the Professor level by invited presentations at national and international conferences, highly cited publications, leadership roles in professional societies, emulation of novel program by national/international biomedical institutions, and national or international awards. -
Recognition on the Clinical Excellence Track is primarily determined by the quality of clinical care delivered by faculty over a sustained period of time (generally considered to be a minimum of 3-5 years). Outside recognition is primarily determined by the magnitude and geographic breadth (regional, national, international) of impact of faculty work and the leadership roles related to that work.
Several accomplishments are considered to establish clinical excellence. A very important metric is feedback to a survey instrument (360 survey evaluation) solicited from peers and leaders in the field, staff members, learners, and patients (and/or family members). Responses from patients are an important component in assessing clinical excellence; however, patient responses are not required for faculty who do not have direct patient contact. In addition, faculty in some clinical practice environments may not have sufficient longitudinal relationships with patients to request patient (or family) responses. The decision not to include responses from patients (or family) should be explained in the Department Director’s Nomination letter. A total of 25-30 individuals across each of the 4 groups, who are selected by the faculty member, provide feedback on a faculty’s clinical excellence along several domain areas, including fund of knowledge, diagnostic acumen, communication skills, professionalism, humanism/compassion, application of evidence/knowledge, health system-based practice, enthusiasm for clinical care, and role modeling for learners. To be appointed or promoted, faculty must be rated in the top 25% to achieve the rank of Associate Professor, and top 10% to achieve the rank of Professor.
Additional accomplishments consistent with clinical excellence are described below along with activities that establish engagement with the teaching and discovery missions of JHUSOM, dissemination of clinical expertise, participation in efforts to improve the quality of clinical care at Johns Hopkins, and recognition beyond Johns Hopkins.
It is important to note that appointment or promotion on the Clinical Excellence Track requires some accomplishments in each of these areas; however, there is no specific number of achievements in any domain required for promotion. Rather, appointments and promotions at the levels of Associate Professor and Professor are evaluated through the lens of the aggregated list of accomplishments (on faculty CV) and letters of recommendation solicited from referees inside and outside of JHUSOM (reference letters). Advancement from the rank of Associate Professor to Professor is achieved by accumulating a larger number of accomplishments and at a higher level of recognition from lists below. Please note that many of the accomplishments listed below overlap with those used in the Scholarship Track; however, the weight placed on these accomplishments differs between the two tracks.Sustained Clinical Effort >60%
Sustained effort >60% in activities directly and indirectly related to clinical care is required for eligibility for the Clinical Excellence Track. Direct and indirect clinical effort includes, but is not limited to:
- Direct provision or supervision of clinical care in any inpatient, outpatient, or telehealth setting, including acute, subacute, and follow-up visits and diagnostic/laboratory/imaging services
- Leadership/administrative role related to provision of clinical care - e.g. clinical unit director, clinical division director, clinical program leader, etc.
- Leadership/administrative role related to teaching clinical care delivery to learners at all levels- e.g. residency program assistant director, clinical fellowship director, medical student clerkship leader, etc.
Clinical Excellence achievements may include:
- Highly rated for clinical excellence by peers/leaders, staff members, learners, and patients/patient family*- top 25% for Associate Professor and top 10% for Professor.
- *Patient evaluations not required for specialties with limited direct patient contact and/or lack of longitudinal follow-up (e.g. anesthesiology, critical care medicine, emergency medicine, hospitalist, pathology, radiology, etc.)
- Creator/Leader of clinical program/service that garners patient referrals outside JHUSOM at regional, national, or international levels
- Creator/Leader of clinical protocols/guidelines that have been adopted by regional, national, or international medical institution
- Creator/Leader of innovative clinical program that is emulated by or demonstrated to representatives from regional, national, or international organizations
Education mission achievements may include:
- Teaching/precepting/supervising health professionals at all learner levels (e.g. undergraduates, medical students, residents, fellows, nurses, etc.) in any clinical setting
- Classroom teaching of health professionals at all learner levels (e.g. undergraduates, medical students, residents, fellows, nurses, etc.)
- Participation in continuing medical education (CME) courses, lecturers, workshops, etc.
- Teaching and/or creation of clinical educational materials for patients, high school students, the lay public, etc.
- Mentorship of students, residents, fellows, and faculty
- Creation/authorship of educational publications, including review articles, books, book chapters, web-based educational materials, etc.
For contributions to the Education mission, please refer also to the 6 Educator Domains described in the Scholarship Track section.
Discovery/ research mission achievements may include:
- Conduct or participation in biomedical research, clinical trials or registries as PI or Co-I, subject recruitment, collection of bio specimens, institutional review board, etc.
- Development of and/or funding for clinical or educational research protocols/programs
- Conduct or participation in clinical quality improvement, patient safety, systems innovation, and/or clinical operations research projects
- Author/co-author of original research publications (clinical, translational, or laboratory)
Dissemination of clinical excellence achievements may include:
- Publication of materials related to the field of clinical expertise, including peer-reviewed original research articles, review articles, case reports, books, book chapters, guidelines/consensus statements, educational curricula, other media (web-based publications, podcasts, videos, and blogs), etc.
- Invited lectures and visiting professorships at institutions outside JHUSOM
- Development or participation in continuing medical education courses, lectures, or workshops delivered to audiences outside JHUSOM
- Service on committees of professional societies/organizations, advisory/review panels, or governmental agencies that result in distribution of clinical guidance, white papers, or policy statements with impact outside JHUSOM
- Editorial board roles on clinically oriented journals
- Creator/Leader of clinical program that is emulated by or demonstrated to representatives from regional, national, or international organizations
- Creator/Leader of clinical protocols/guidelines that have been adopted by regional, national, or international medical institutions or health-related organizations
- Creator/Leader of clinical program/service that garners patient referrals regionally, nationally, or internationally
- Creator/Leader of clinical educational curriculum or assessment tool that has been adopted by regional, national, or international medical institutions or health-related organizations
Improving clinical care at Johns Hopkins may include:
- Leader or participant in committee or project related to clinical quality improvement or patient safety initiatives at JHM
- Leader or participant in committee or project related to clinical systems innovation project at JHM
- Leader or participant in committee or project to improve patient access to clinical care at JHM
- Clinical or administrative leadership role at JHM
Recognition outside of Johns Hopkins may include:
Please note that for each of the below, distinctions are made regarding the recognition level (regional, national, or international) and/or leadership level of the accomplishment. The level of recognition required for Associate Professor is regional; the level of recognition required for Professor is national.
- Invited talks (e.g. panelist, grand rounds speaker, plenary speaker, etc.) at biomedical institutions, professional societies/organizations, or governmental bodies at regional, national, and international levels
- Visiting professorships at biomedical institutions
- Extramural grants/contracts (e.g. Principal Investigator, Co-PI, Co-Investigator, etc.) from governmental agencies, commercial entities, and professional organizations/foundations/societies at regional, national, and international levels
- Editorial board positions (e.g. Board member, Associate Editor, Editor-in-Chief, etc.) of regional, national, and international journals
- Advisory committee or Review/Study group activities (e.g. ad hoc member, standing member, chair, etc.) for governmental agencies, commercial entities, and professional organizations/foundations/societies at regional, national, and international levels
- Professional society activities (e.g. Subcommittee member, Committee chair, President, etc.) at regional, national, and international levels
- Awards and honors conferred by governmental agencies, commercial entities, and professional organizations/foundations/societies at regional, national, and international levels
- Conference organizer/Session chair related to clinical care delivery or education at regional, national, or international levels
- Creator/Leader of clinical or educational program that is emulated by or demonstrated to representatives from regional, national, or international organizations
- Creator/Leader of clinical protocols/guidelines that have been adopted by regional, national, or international medical institutions
- Creator/Leader of clinical program/service that garners patient referrals regionally, nationally, and internationally
- Creator/Leader of clinical educational curriculum or assessment tool that has been adopted by regional, national, or international medical institutions
Achievements consistent with professionalism and citizenship
All faculty, regardless of rank and track, are expected to perform their duties with professional competence, intellectual honesty, high ethical standards, professionalism, and to comply with all JHU and JHUSOM policies.
Faculty must adhere to all institutional policies.
A partial listing of relevant policies can be found here. Faculty should take particular notice of the following policies:
- Code of Professional Conduct for Faculty (SOM)
- JHU Code of Conduct
- Policy for Conduct in Teacher/Learner Relationships
- Policy on Personal Relationships
- Rules and Guidelines for Responsible Conduct of Research
- Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment
In addition, faculty are expected to act as good citizens of the institution, participating in activities for the communal good, and to act collegially with others in the community. Examples of activities consistent with good citizenship include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Service on University, School of Medicine, Hospital, or department committee
- Participation in activities (advisory roles, teaching, mentoring, committee assignments) that enhance the learning environment, promote career development for learners, faculty, and staff, develop academic programs, and improve governance of the School of Medicine
- Service as a curriculum or course director, a residency or fellowship director or co-director
- Engagement with institutional quality improvement initiatives
- Engagement in diversity/equity/inclusivity activities at University, School of Medicine, Hospital, or department level, or within the Baltimore region
III – Preparing the Application Packet for Appointment / Promotion
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The promotions application process begins within each individual department. Faculty must be nominated for promotion by their Department Director. Each department has a different process through which faculty are evaluated for readiness for promotion. In most departments, this process includes an internal departmental review committee, which makes a recommendation regarding promotion to the department director. Faculty members need to be aware of promotions processes within their department and are advised to discuss this process early and often with their departmental mentors. If faculty disagree or have concerns with departmental promotions decisions, they are encouraged to contact the Office of Faculty (Vice-Dean of Faculty, Sr. Associate Dean for Appointments and Promotions) for additional guidance.
Once formal nomination for appointment / promotion has been approved by a department director, an application (“case”) will be opened using a web-based program (Interfolio RPT) by the Office of Faculty Information. Faculty applying for appointment or promotion to Associate Professor or Professor must upload and submit their materials using the Interfolio RPT application. An introductory email will contain instructions and access to resources, such as a user’s guide, links to promotion committee resources and a link to the promotion tracker tool. The tracker tool allows faculty to track progression of their case as it moves through the workflow steps. Faculty will also receive status updates from the promotions coordinator as their application progresses.
Cases/applications for initial appointment of Associate Professor (PAR) and Professor (PAR) are opened in Interfolio RPT by departmental credentialing liaisons.
(Checklists for submission of materials can be found below).
Please review the schematic showing steps in the promotions application and review process.
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Faculty must ensure that their CV is in the approved Johns Hopkins SOM format.
Use this as a working document for inputting your CV data.
The CV Instructions provides instructions, examples and formatting guidelines.
CV examples
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The Department Director must formally nominate a faculty member for appointment / promotion by providing a recommendation letter. This letter is generally 4-5 pages.
Elements to include in the Department Director’s Nomination Letter:
- Rank for consideration
- Track
- Scholarship, or
- Clinical Excellence
- Pathway
For Scholarship track only. Candidates may have multiple pathways; please list the primary pathway first.
- Researcher
- Educator
- Clinical Scholar/ Clinician of Distinction
- Program Builder/ Developer
- Candidate’s educational and training background
- Summary of accomplishments commensurate with rank
- Achievements demonstrating excellence and impact in the following domains: clinical work, education, discovery/research, scholarship, program building
- Achievements demonstrating recognition outside of JHM at regional, national, and/or international levels, including level of leadership
- Citizenship and professionalism
It is common practice that faculty draft this letter with assistance from mentors, the departmental promotions committee, and others, with final input and approval by the Department Director. The letter is not intended to reiterate all accomplishments listed on the CV. Rather, it is intended to highlight the focus, impact, and level of recognition outside JHM that key accomplishments signify for the faculty member.
The format for Department Director’s Nomination Letter differs by track because the accomplishments and level of recognition commensurate with rank differ between Scholarship and Clinical Excellence tracks.Nomination letter templates
Nomination letter samples
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Referees (letter writers), from inside and outside JHM, are solicited by SOM promotions committees to evaluate faculty for appointment / promotion to Associate Professor and Professor. Referees are provided with the candidate’s CV and explanation of Hopkins promotion criteria (by rank) and are asked to provide feedback on impact of the faculty member’s accomplishments, level of recognition, and overall recommendation for appointment / promotion to rank. Faculty should consider carefully the names of referees they would like to include. Input from referees contributes substantively to deliberations of SOM promotions committees; however, the opinion of any single referee is not determinative of promotion.
Confidentiality of referee process
Candidates for appointment/promotion are not to contact their referees regarding their appointment or promotion. Candidates should not contact referees to ask them to write. If a referee sends an inquiry to the candidate during the process, please forward the inquiry to the relevant promotions committee liaison (or Chair)..
Selecting your referees
Faculty are asked to provide names and contact information for referees, both inside and outside JHM, some who know the candidate well and others who have no formal relationship with the candidate.
Please choose referees who can attest to your regional/ national / international reputation.
Tips for identifying referees:
- Choose referees that you feel certain will respond to the request to write a letter
- If there is a potential mentor-mentee concern of independence, choose someone who can attest to the independence of your work, either a mentor or non-mentor who understands the independence of your contributions to the field
- Choose international referees if possible when being considered for rank of professor
Faculty should select referees who are at the same rank or higher than the appointment/promotion rank being sought by the candidate. For appointments/ promotion to Professor, committees will solicit additional letters from referees who are not listed by the faculty.
Definition of types of referees
Promotions committees seek input from three different types of referees defined by their past and present relationship to the candidate. Definitions for the different types of referees follows below:
Johns Hopkins referees
Current colleagues, collaborators, or mentors within the Johns Hopkins community who can speak about your contributions within and/or outside of Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins entities include Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Sibley Memorial Hospital, Suburban Hospital, All Children’s Hospital, and Howard County Medical Center. Johns Hopkins referees may NOT include:
- Your current Department Director
- Your current Division Director (for Professor only)
- Current JHU President, JHU Provost, SoM Dean, SoM Vice Dean of Faculty, SoM Sr. Assoc. Dean of Promotions
External Colleague referees
Referees in this category are not currently at Johns Hopkins and do not have an appointment at Johns Hopkins but have more than a minimal relationship with the candidate. Examples of external colleague referees include:
- Referee and candidate trained together or worked simultaneously at the same institution.
- Referee participated in the candidate’s clinical or research training
- Candidate participated in the referee’s clinical or research training
- Dissertation committee member
- Co-authors on:
- Original research publications (excluding large multi-center/ multi-author collaborations)
- Case reports
- Co-investigator or co-principal investigator on a research project, grant, or contract (past or present)
Arm’s Length referees
Referees may be considered at arm’s length if they are not currently at Johns Hopkins, do not have a current Johns Hopkins appointment, and have no relationship with or only a minimal relationship with the candidate. Examples of relationships that may be considered “minimal” include:
- Candidate and referee served together on a national committee, study section, review panel, or consensus panel
- Coauthors on manuscripts that resulted from working together on a committee
- Referee has invited the candidate to speak
- Referee has seen the candidate present at national or international meetings
- Co-authors on:
- Mega Study Original Research (i.e. multi-site studies)
- Books, Textbooks, Book Chapters
- Monographs
- Guidelines
- Review Articles
Number and types of referees required by promotional track and rank
Scholarship Track- Associate Professor
- 14 referees are provided by the candidate- must be at the level of Associate Professor or Professor or equivalent role in NIH or industry.
- 4 Johns Hopkins
- 3 External Colleague
- 7 Arm’s Length
Scholarship Track- Professor
- 10 referees are provided by the candidate- must be at the level of Professor or equivalent role in NIH or industry.
- Johns Hopkins referees:
- Minimum 1, Maximum 3; allowed to utilize members of the department and those you may have collaborated with. NOT allowed to use department or division director.
- External Colleague or Arm’s Length Referees:
- A mix of 7-9 External Colleague and/or Arm’s Length referees.
- In addition, the PPC will solicit 10-15 additional referees (not provided by the candidate) to obtain a minimum of 7 additional evaluations.
Clinical Excellence Track- Associate Professor
- 14 referees are provided by the candidate- must be at the level of Associate Professor or Professor or equivalent role in NIH or industry.
- 4 Johns Hopkins
- 3 External Colleague
- 7 Arm’s Length
Clinical Excellence Track- Professor
- 10 referees are provided by the candidate- must be at the level of Professor or equivalent role in NIH or industry.
- Johns Hopkins referees:
- Minimum 1, Maximum 3; allowed to utilize members of the department and those you may have collaborated with. NOT allowed to use department or division director.
- External Colleague or Arm’s Length Referees:
- A mix of 7-9 External Colleague and/or Arm’s Length referees.
- In addition, the CEPC will solicit 10-15 additional referees (not provided by the candidate) to obtain a minimum of 7 additional evaluations.
Documents sent to referees
Please note: Department Director Nomination letter does not go to referees
Track/Rank
Hopkins Promotion Criteria
Candidate CV
360 Survey
Impact Statement
Citation Report
(H-Index)
Scholarship Track/ Assoc Professor
X
X
Scholarship Track/ Professor
X
X
X
Clinical Excellence/ Assoc Professor
X
X
X
X
Clinical Excellence/ Professor
X
X
X
X
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Feedback from individuals who are familiar with the faculty’s clinical work is vital to evaluate appointments / promotions on the Clinical Excellence Track (CET). The CEPC will send a survey requesting that they assess the candidate’s clinical excellence in these domains: fund of knowledge, diagnostic acumen, communication skills, professionalism, humanism/compassion, application of evidence/knowledge, health system-based practice, enthusiasm for clinical care, and role modeling for learners.
Selection and types of 360 survey participants
Faculty are asked to provide the names and email addresses of ~33 survey participants:
- 11 peers/ leaders
- 7 learners/ trainees
- 7 staff
- 8 patients (or family members of patients) for medical specialists who have direct longitudinal contact with patients/family members
- Faculty must request permission from patients/family before including them on their participant list
- 11 peers/ leaders
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The Clinical Excellence Promotions Committee (CEPC) strongly recommends that faculty include an Impact Statement (5 pages or less). The current practice at Johns Hopkins is that your Department Director’s Nomination Letter is NOT sent to people who will serve as referees. The Impact Statement, along with your CV and 360 survey results, is sent to your referees.
Your Impact Statements should explain and document how you meet the criteria for appointment/ promotion in the 7 domains defined by the Clinical Excellence Track. You are not required to include information for all 7 areas.
- Clinical Excellence and Effort
- Clinical Performance and Contributions
- Recognition for Clinical Excellence
- Engagement in the Educational Mission
- Engagement and Contributions to the JHM Research & Discover Mission
- Publications, Presentations and Other Communications Disseminating Clinical Evidence
- Contributions to JHM Initiatives and/or Committees;
The Impact Statement should highlight the impact of your clinical excellence and your level of outside recognition for clinical excellence (regional, national, international). The statement is flexible in format; it may include tables, charts, graphs, website clips, and photographs, etc. within the 5 page limit. You are not allowed to provide materials that could identify any patient unless the patient has provided informed, written consent for you to do so. When accessible, information from the Department Director’s Nomination Letter may be used to describe your accomplishments in each of the 7 areas.
Download the Impact Statement Instructions - Clinical Excellence Track.pdf
Impact Statement examples
Review Impact Statement - Examples
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The PPC requires citations from Google Scholar as it tends to provide a more complete assessment than ISI Web of Science or Scopus. JHU faculty members are strongly encouraged to set up a Google Scholar page. [However, if one or more of your citations for any reason does not appear in Google, you may use the ISI or Scopus citation instead; just add a note to this effect to the affected reference]. Instructions to prepare your citation report and associated H-Index can be found here.
Citation Report examples- Review Citation Report examples.
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APPC - Associate Professor Promotions Committee
- Rank: Associate Professor
- Track: Scholarship
- APPC@jhmi.edu
- Committee members
PPC - Professorial Promotions Committee
- Rank: Professor
- Track: Scholarship
- PPC@jhmi.edu
- Committee members
CEPC - Clinical Excellence Promotions Committee
- Rank: both Associate Professor and Professor
- Track: Clinical Excellence
- CEPC@jhmi.edu
- Committee members
Checklists for submission of appointment/promotion materials
Scholarship Track- Associate Professor (APPC)
- Candidate receives nomination/approval of the SOM department director or departmental promotion committee for appointment / promotion
- Department requests a case be opened for appointment/promotion by emailing OFI@jhmi.edu
- Office of Faculty Information (OFI) opens the case, notifies the candidate, and provides instructions
- Faculty member should work with their department credentialing liaison to upload these materials to Interfolio RPT:
- CV
- Department Director’s Nomination Letter
- 14 referees
- APPC Application Form
- For non-US citizens: Permanent resident card or employment authorization document
- Transmittal form (this is done by the department credentialing liaison)
Contact: APPC coordinator, Office of the Dean/CEO, SOM 100, APPC@jhmi.edu
Scholarship Track- Professor (PPC)
- Candidate receives nomination/approval of the SOM department director or departmental promotion committee for appointment / promotion
- Department requests a case be opened for appointment / promotion by emailing OFI@jhmi.edu
- Office of Faculty Information (OFI) opens the case, notifies the candidate, and provides instructions
- Faculty member should work with their department credentialing liaison to upload these materials to Interfolio RPT:
- CV
- Department Director’s Nomination Letter
- 10 referees
- Citation report (H-Index)
- 3-5 recent reprints in color
- For non-US citizens: Permanent resident card or employment authorization document
- Transmittal form (this is done by the department credentialing liaison)
Contact: PPC coordinator, Office of the Dean/CEO, SOM 100, PPC@jhmi.edu
Clinical Excellence Track- Associate Professor (CEPC)
- Candidate receives nomination/approval of the SOM department director or departmental promotion committee for appointment / promotion
- Department requests a case be opened for appointment/promotion by emailing OFI@jhmi.edu
- Office of Faculty Information (OFI) opens the case, notifies the candidate, and provides instructions
- Faculty member should work with their department credentialing liaison to upload these materials to Interfolio RPT:
- CV
- Department Director’s Nomination Letter
- 360 survey participants
- 14 referees
- Impact Statement (optional)
- Attestation Form
- For non-US citizens: Permanent resident card or employment authorization document
- Transmittal form (this is done by the department credentialing liaison)
Contact: CEPC Coordinator, Office of the Dean/CEO, SOM 100, CEPC@jhmi.edu
Clinical Excellence Track – Professor (CEPC)
- Candidate receives nomination/approval of the SOM department director or departmental promotion committee for appointment / promotion
- Department requests a case be opened for appointment / promotion by emailing OFI@jhmi.edu
- Office of Faculty Information (OFI) opens the case, notifies the candidate, and provides instructions
- Faculty member should work with their department credentialing liaison to upload these materials to Interfolio RPT:
- CV
- Department Director’s Nomination Letter
- 360 survey participants
- 10 referees
- Impact Statement (optional)
- Attestation Form
- For non-US citizens: Permanent resident card or employment authorization document
- Transmittal form (this is done by the department credentialing liaison)
Contact: CEPC Coordinator, Office of the Dean/CEO, SOM 100, CEPC@jhmi.edu
IV – Resources for Career Development
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It is the responsibility of the Department Director to ensure that faculty members receive appropriate career development guidance. Furthermore, all faculty members must be given an objective evaluation of their progress towards and potential for academic advancement within Johns Hopkins. Each faculty member should be given an opportunity to pursue career development, including identification of additional skills and resources needed for advancement. To these ends, all full-time faculty members shall have at least annual reviews with their Department Director or his or her designee, and a written record of the review will be sent to the faculty member.
Elements recommended to be included and documented in the annual review include:
- Promotional track
- Current level of recognition (local, regional, national, or international) and estimated timeline to promotion
- Mentorship (does the faculty member have appropriate mentors? are mentors/sponsors/ coaches meeting the faculty member’s needs? etc.)
- Clinical accomplishments
- Educational accomplishments
- Research accomplishments
- Citizenship accomplishments (service/committee roles within the JHU/JHM, DEI work, etc.) and professionalism
- Professional development plan (goals, timeline, resources/skills required to achieve goals, etc.)
Examples of Annual Reviews
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An ICDP is a tool to help you design your career development path. An ICDP guides you to identify and clarify your goals, objectives, strategies, strengths, challenges, resources, and barriers. It is a “living” document and meant to be reviewed periodically (e.g., annually) and in consultation with your mentors and supervisors revised as appropriate. This document is not required; however, faculty may find this useful for creating action plans and accountability for their career advancement.
Individual Career Development Plan Template
V – Promotion FAQs
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There are two promotion tracks - the Scholarship Track and the Clinical Excellence Track.
- The basis for promotion on the Scholarship Track is scholarship, defined as the generation of new knowledge and/or the dissemination of knowledge that is accessible for critical assessment and future use by members of the academic community.
- The basis for promotion on the Clinical Excellence Track is sustained demonstration of clinical excellence as judged by the following four groups using a 360 survey: a) peers and/or leaders; b) staff members; c) learners; and d) patients (when appropriate by specialty).
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There are 4 pathways:
- Researcher
- Clinical Scholar / Clinician of Distinction
- Educator
- Program Builder/ Developer
Your work may demonstrate impact on more than one pathway.
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No. Instructors and Assistant professors will not be locked into a specific promotional track at the time of hire. It is critical, however, that early career faculty work with Department Directors and mentors to determine the most appropriate track for promotion.
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No, faculty will remain on the promotional track they first select (i.e. current scholarship track or clinical excellence track). However, faculty who substantively re-direct their careers towards the focus of a different track may be considered for promotion on that alternate track. Faculty redirecting their careers toward a different promotional track will be required to meet all of the benchmarks and accomplishments outlined for promotional criteria within that track.
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Educators can be promoted in either the Scholarship Track or Clinical Excellence Track, whichever is more closely aligned with their work. New educator metrics are being implemented in both tracks. The SOM will review the need for an Educator Track in the years ahead. For resources and additional information, please review the Educator Domains, Competencies and Metrics, and please visit the website for the Institute for Excellence in Education.
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Yes, the Clinical Excellence Track is appropriate for non-physician clinicians who demonstrate clinical excellence, including psychologists, audiologists, veterinarians, physical therapists, etc. Specialty-related input will be used in determining clinical excellence within each specialty.
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Yes. The extent of direct patient contact may vary based on the specialty. Specialty-related input will be used in determining clinical excellence within each specialty.
Promotion Criteria
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- Assistant Professor: Appointment/promotion requires, at a minimum, 1 first/last author written publication or one middle author publication with additional achievements (see Silver Book for more details).
- Associate Professor and Professor: There is no absolute number of publications that is required for appointment/promotion at the ranks of Associate Professor and Professor. The impact of one’s scholarship and level of recognition are more important.
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Federally funded grants are not required for promotion; however, grant awards are an important metric for promotion, particularly for faculty on the Scholarship Track/Researcher Pathway. Grants are evidence of impact because they represent recognition from experts in the field via the peer-review process. A grant awarded by the NIH to the candidate who is the principal or co-principal investigator is given considerable weight by SOM promotions committees.
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Applicants must demonstrate sustained clinical excellence over approximately 4-5 years based on the results of 360 surveys completed by peers and/or leaders, staff members, learners, and patients (when appropriate by specialty). The 360 surveys assess domains of clinical excellence including clinical skills, knowledge, acumen, communication, collegiality, professionalism, and reputation. Candidates must meet the excellence via 360 survey ratings and be engaged in discovery, institutional service and teaching missions.
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- H-index is not used in the Clinical Excellence Track and has very little influence on promotion to Associate Professor on the Scholarship Track.
- H-index is one of many metrics assessed by the Professorial Promotions Committee.
- There is no minimum, however on average, the H-index of faculty promoted to Professor in the Scholarship Track ranges from 25-45.
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Assessment of how well the publication record demonstrates national recognition in one’s field will include consideration of the following factors:
- Authorship: Papers on which the faculty member is the first or senior author carry the greatest weight. Co-authored papers may be reflective of national recognition if there is evidence of the individual’s pivotal role in the study; your role should be clearly documented on your CV.
- Publications based on outstanding, original, and innovative research findings.
- Important and novel clinical and education related scholarship are most likely to contribute to national recognition.
- Quality of the journal: Publications in journals of higher quality and impact in the candidate’s area of research will be judged more favorably.
- Highly cited publications may also demonstrate national recognition in one’s field.
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Invitations to speak at national meetings are evidence of recognition outside JHUSOM/ JHMI and carry considerable weight in both promotions tracks.
Nominations for promotion- how, when, and by whom
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Department Directors are responsible for nominating a faculty member for promotion. Promotion begins with an internal departmental process. Each department has its own process to evaluate faculty readiness for promotion, and most departments have an internal committee that formally evaluates faculty for promotional readiness. Faculty members should be familiar with the processes in their department. There are 3 main mechanisms that faculty members have to assess their promotional readiness: 1) discussion with Department or Division Director at each annual review; 2) discussions with mentors; and, 3) formal evaluation by internal departmental promotions committees. Faculty are strongly encouraged to take a proactive stance in discussing promotions with their department leaders and mentors each year. Faculty may also reach out to the Office of Faculty for additional input.
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Faculty must be nominated for promotion by their Department Director. The timing is at the discretion of the Department Director. There is no specific minimum or maximum time at rank before nomination for promotion can be made. The median time at rank from the time of appointment to promotion is typically 7-8 years. Faculty are encouraged to be proactive in discussing promotions with their Department and Division Director at their annual faculty review.
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You may contact the Office Faculty, Vice Dean of Faculty, and/or Sr. Associate Dean for Appointments and Promotions.
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- For advice on readiness for promotion and assembling your promotion package colleagues, mentors, division/department directors, departmental vice chairs for promotion, and members of the Office of Faculty are excellent resources.
- For assistance with logistics of the promotion process, please reach out to the respective promotions committee coordinator: APPC@jhmi.edu, PPC@jhmi.edu, CEPC@jhmi.edu
- For questions about Interfolio RPT, contact OFI@jhmi.edu
- The Office of Faculty hosts information seminars: Promotions-Unlocking Promotion Readiness
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PAR appointments are used for newly recruited faculty from outside institutions to JHUSOM. These appointments are temporary and Full-time appointment at rank is not guaranteed to faculty with PAR appointments. The criteria for appointment at PAR ranks are the same as those for similar rank with Full-time status. The hiring Department is responsible for determining which PAR rank is appropriate for the new faculty member. This may differ from the rank they had at their previous institution. A faculty member must submit a formal application for appointment at rank with Full-Time status within 6 months of the PAR appointment. The application for Full-Time appointment at rank will then be reviewed by the appropriate SOM promotions committee (PPC, APPC, or CEPC) and a recommendation made regarding appointment at rank. If the SOM promotions committee does not recommend appointment at rank, the faculty member appointment will default to the lower rank.
Promotions application materials- Interfolio/RPT, CV, Directors’ Nomination Letter, Referee Letters, Impact Statements
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Yes, to see a sample go to Interfolio. Once in Interfolio go to Dossier. Faculty at JHU are provided with an Interfolio Dossier Institutional level account. This is a free online account where faculty can curate their scholarly materials, request and receive confidential letters of recommendation, and store materials for use throughout their career. This will allow you to see what documents are required for promotion. If you have questions about Interfolio RPT, please contact OFI@jhmi.edu.
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Since you are the best person to highlight the key details and impact of your work, you will be expected to write the first draft of your promotion letter. You should share this letter with mentors, the vice chair for promotion in your department (as appropriate) and your department director for feedback. Your department director will sign the final draft of your letter.
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Yes, the required CV template and sample letters, CVs, and impact statement examples available below.
Use this as a working document for inputting your CV data.
The CV Instructions provides instructions, examples and formatting guidelines.
CV examples
- Scholarship Track – Associate Professor (APPC)
- Scholarship Track – Professor (PPC)
- Clinical Excellence Track – Professor (CEPC)
- Clinical Excellence Track – Associate Professor (CEPC)
Nomination letter instructions
Nomination letter examples
- Scholarship Track – Associate Professor (APPC)
- Scholarship Track – Professor (PPC)
- Clinical Excellence Track – Associate Professor (CEPC)
- Clinical Excellence Track – Professor (CEPC)
Impact Statement
- Impact Statement Instructions - Clinical Excellence Track (CEPC)
- Impact Statement Examples – Clinical Excellence Track (CEPC)
Citation Report
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For more information, please review the Silver Book > Preparing the Application Packet for Appointment/ Promotion > Referee Letters
Associate Professor applications:
- You will be asked to provide the names and contact information for 14 individuals- some who know you directly through working with you at the same institution at the same time and some who only know you through the work you have disseminated or professional interactions (e.g. review committee, professional society, invited talk, etc.). All referees must be at the Associate Professor level or higher.
- The committee will typically need to receive evaluations from at least 2 Johns Hopkins referees, and at least 6 external referees (usually 4 of the external evaluations will be at arm’s length).
Professor applications:
- • You will be asked to provide the names and contact information for 10 individuals- some who know you directly through working with you at the same institution at the same time and some who only know you through the work you have disseminated or professional interactions (e.g. review committee, professional society, invited talk, etc.). All referees must be at the Professor level. Committees will solicit additional referees who are not named on your list as well.
- The committee will need to receive a minimum of 7 letters that are not on the candidate’s list.
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Faculty are asked to provide names and contact information for referees, both inside and outside JHM, some who know the candidate well and others who have no formal relationship with the candidate.
Please choose referees who can attest to your regional/ national / international reputation.
Tips for identifying referees:
- Choose referees that you feel certain will respond to the request to write a letter
- If there is a potential mentor-mentee concern of independence, choose someone who can attest to the independence of your work, either a mentor or non-mentor who understands the independence of your contributions to the field
- Choose international referees if possible when being considered for rank of professor
Faculty should select referees who are at same rank or higher than the appointment/promotion rank being sought by the candidate. For appointments/ promotion to Professor, committees will solicit additional letters from referees who are not listed by the faculty.
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The promotions committees require unbiased evaluations of your impact. Do not contact your referees regarding your promotion or appointment.
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Please note: Department Director Nomination letter does not go to referees.
Track/Rank
Hopkins Promotion Criteria
Candidate CV
360 Survey
Impact Statement
Citation Report
(H-Index)
Scholarship Track/ Assoc Professor
X
X
Scholarship Track/ Professor
X
X
X
Clinical Excellence/ Assoc Professor
X
X
X
X
Clinical Excellence/ Professor
X
X
X
X
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It depends.
- Clinical Excellence Track candidates are strongly encouraged to provide an Impact Statement.
- Scholarship Track Professor candidates may submit an Impact Statement ONLY if requested.
Approvals, denials, and delays in promotion
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Associate Professor approval levels:
- Candidates are nominated for promotion at the departmental level, with approval of the Department Director
- Promotions packet is forwarded from department to the SoM
- SoM promotions committee provides a recommendation to the Advisory Board of Medical Faculty (ABMF)
- ABMF makes a recommendation to the SoM Dean
- Approval by the SoM Dean
Professor approval levels:
- Candidates are nominated for promotion at the departmental level, with approval of the Department Director
- Promotions packet is forwarded from department to the SoM
- SoM promotions committee provides a recommendation to the Advisory Board of Medical Faculty (ABMF)
- ABMF makes a recommendation to the SoM Dean
- The SoM Dean makes a recommendation for the JHU Tenure Advisory Committee (TAC)
- The JHU TAC makes a recommendation to the JHU President and Board of Trustees
- The JHU President and Board of Trustees provide the final approval
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The average time from receipt by SOM of promotion packet to promotion decision is 6-18 months for Associate Professor and 1-2 years for Professor.
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- Check the Promotion Tracker for an update.
- You may also contact the committee’s coordinator:
- APPC@jhmi.edu - Associate Professor Promotions Committee
- PPC@jhmi.edu - Professorial Promotions Committee
- CEPC@jhmi.edu - Clinical Excellence Promotions Committee
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Waiting for all referee letters to be submitted can delay the process. Review of the final promotion package by the promotions committee requires receipt of the necessary number of referee letters from Johns Hopkins and external referees; and in the case of the Clinical Excellence Track, an appropriate number of responses from the 360 survey. See Silver Book > Preparing the Application Packet for Appointment/ Promotion > Referee Letters.
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- Promotion package does not demonstrate sufficient evidence of:
- External recognition for rank;
- Scholarship (for Scholarship Track);
- Clinical excellence from CV, Impact Statement and/or 360 evaluations
- Referee letters are not supportive of promotion
- Concerns about professionalism
- Promotion package does not demonstrate sufficient evidence of:
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Specific recommendations are made by SOM promotions committee and sent to the Department Director outlining what the candidate should accomplish in order for the committee to recommend promotion.
- Associate Professors - There is no specific wait period for the candidate to be re-reviewed. Faculty members are free to reapply for promotion whenever they feel they have adequately addressed the issues raised by the initial SOM promotions committee review.
- Professor - It is customary practice to wait 2 years before reapplying for promotion if the previous review was unfavorable
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A rise in rank is usually associated with an increase in salary; however, each department has its own compensation plan. Faculty should discuss the impact of promotions on salary with their Department Director, Division Director, and/or departmental administrator.