School of Pharmacy, Promotion and Tenure for Clinical Track Faculty, Department of Pharmacy Practice

 

The processes for appointment and awarding of promotion must be fair and appropriate if the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy is to encourage and recognize faculty excellence.

 

The Department’s Promotion Policy must be followed to ensure protection of faculty rights and protection of the University of Kansas. Promotion in rank for clinical-track faculty is made on the basis of meritorious performance and follows the same procedures as promotion of faculty members, including review by the University Committee on Promotion and Tenure. The criteria for promotion include (1) clinical education, (2) clinical practice, (3) service, and (4) scholarship. Promotion should relate directly to expectations articulated in the written position description.

Nothing in this document will nor should be considered to supersede the University of Kansas Policy on Promotion and Tenure or the School of Pharmacy Policy on Promotion and Tenure.

 

The Promotion process includes feedback to candidates per the University guidelines, with an opportunity for candidates to respond to questions and issues brought up during the Promotion process. University guidelines also exist to appeal Promotion decisions.

 

 

Promotions among the ranks of the Clinical Track Faculty are handled through the promotion process applied to clinical track faculty promotions. Criteria for promotion should be consistent with the expectations for promotion in clinical track faculty rank with recognition that promotion should relate directly to expectations articulated in the written position description.

 

A probationary period of six years applies to Instructor and Assistant Clinical Track Faculty unless the staff member achieves promotion to the Associate rank within the six-year period. Unlike tenure- track faculty, Clinical Track Faculty are not required to go through a mandatory promotion review during their sixth year of KU employment. However, the performance of all state-funded Clinical Track Faculty, Instructor and Assistant ranks should be evaluated carefully and thoroughly during the six-year probationary period, with special emphasis on the third and sixth-year review. Appointment to a seventh year of consecutive full-time service will normally mean that the probationary period has been completed satisfactorily and the position will be terminated only for adequate cause, including budget constraints.

 

 

Three main activities are required of the Department:

 

1. Advising faculty on Promotion

2. Initiating the Promotion process on behalf of a faculty member by notifying the School of Pharmacy Executive Committee

3. Evaluating and making a recommendation from the Department and external reviews and forwarding the complete dossier to the School of Pharmacy Executive Committee.
 

By the end of the first semester after appointment, the Department Chair will

 

1. Give the new faculty member a copy or direct them to the University Of Kansas School Of Pharmacy Faculty Bylaws

2. Direct the new faculty to The University of Kansas Handbook for Faculty and Other Unclassified Staff, and article VI of the Faculty Senate Rules & Regulations, which contain the University policies and procedures for Promotion

3. Assign a mentor/advisor for the new faculty

 

The Department Chair will meet with the Clinical Track Faculty regarding Promotion yearly during their annual review. It is ultimately the responsibility of the individual faculty member under review to provide evidence of his or her progress toward promotion.

 

For promotion or appointment to the rank of Assistant Clinical Professor, a faculty member should possess a terminal degree and show promise in his or her discipline. Promotion from Instructor to Assistant Clinical Professor requires attainment of a minimum performance in the four categories: clinical education, clinical practice, scholarship and service as articulated in the written position description.

 

Each recommendation for promotion shall be considered by the candidate's department. Members of the clinical faculty and tenured faculty in the candidate’s department shall meet and

 

discuss fully each recommendation for promotion except that members shall not vote on recommendations for promotion to a higher rank than the one they hold.

 

 

The role of the clinical track faculty is primarily in the areas of clinical education (didactic and experiential), clinical practice, and service. Therefore clinical track faculty have less of an emphasis in scholarship and research. Both the teaching and patient care activities must fulfill the needs of the School and Department first, and secondly the individual needs or desires of the specific clinical track faculty member.

 

 

 

Clinical Education is considered a primary duty of the clinical track faculty. Clinical track faculty will instruct a variety of students; including but not limited to: pharmacy students, medical students, nursing students, pharmacy residents, medical residents, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, health system administrators and the public. The Department of Pharmacy Practice promotes excellence in clinical education that draws upon the faculty member’s depth and breadth of knowledge, skills, and experience. Teaching excellence can be documented with respect to quality, quantity, impact, innovation and outcomes of the students.

 

 

Evidence of clinical education may include, but is not limited to, some combination of the sources listed below. In joint endeavors, the evidence should specify the extent of each person’s contributions.

 

 

 

Clinical Practice includes both direct patient-centered activity (e.g., primary care, patient counseling, etc.) and indirect patient-centered activity (e.g., drug information, practice management/administration, lifelong learning, etc.). Clinical Track faculty members are diverse in terms of areas of expertise and training and their clinical practice should relate directly to expectations articulated in their written position description.

 

Objective evaluation of clinical practice is difficult, but essential. Evaluation by other health care providers and peer recognition may provide insight into the quality of care. Clinical skills may be assessed by using many types of surrogate measures. The evaluation processes are likely to include a combination of clinical and administrative measures.

 

 

Potential sources of documentation of clinical practice excellence may include, but are not limited to:

 

 

 

Service activity may be defined as any activity that draws upon the clinical faculty member’s professional expertise and scholarship to address a service need in the academic or public community.

 

Academic service is oriented to the needs of the Pharmacy Practice Department, the School of Pharmacy, the University of Kansas, and the profession. All Clinical Track faculty members, regardless of rank and academic appointment, have general academic service responsibilities.

 

Public service activities are oriented to the general public and professional policy needs of society at large. Clinical track faculty have continuing contact with citizens and professional organizations in practice and research arenas. The clinical track faculty members work with local, State, National, and International leaders, providing for educational needs assessment, program development, training, consultation, and technical assistance.

 

 

Potential sources of documentation of service contributions may include, but are not limited to:

 

 

Scholarly activity is desirable of the Clinical Track Faculty; however, this is generally not their primary focus. The amount of scholarship performed for promotion should relate directly to expectations articulated in their written position description. Because of their important and time-consuming teaching and professional obligations, Clinical Track Faculty may publish in different forms (peer and non-peer review). Moreover, the scholarly activity is more likely to be collaborative in nature and in the role of a co-investigator or secondary author.

 

 

Evidence of original research or other creative scholarly activities include, but is not limited to, the sources listed below. In joint endeavors, the evidence should specify the extent of each person’s contribution.