Recommending Academic Appointments
Recommendations for academic appointment or promotion at Weill Cornell Medicine originate in an academic department and require the written approval of a department chair. In appropriate instances, a recommendation may originate in a division or affiliate department, and then be reviewed by the department chair for approval.
Early Career Faculty and Non-Faculty Academic Staff
Generally, the following steps are required for appointment or promotion:
- A department evaluates a candidate based on its own written procedures. The department will solicit letters of recommendation as part of its internal evaluation.
- Credentials are submitted to the Office of Faculty Affairs in a timely manner so that the appointment or promotion can be processed in time to begin on a recommended start date. Typical credentials include the Recommendation for Appointment form (RFA), a Weill Cornell Medical College formatted CV, reference letter(s) and a chair’s letter of recommendation to the Dean.
For further details, please refer to Academic Staff Handbook sections Appointment and Promotion of Faculty and Appointment and Promotion of Non-Faculty, Academic Staff. The Office of Faculty Affairs forwards recommendations to the Dean for approval, informing a department and faculty member following the Dean’s decision.
Associate Professors or Professors
For appointment, promotion or tenure, the following steps are required:
- A candidate is given a preliminary departmental evaluation based on its own written procedures.
- A written request for evaluation from a department (a memorandum) is submitted to the Office of Faculty Affairs (per Academic Staff Handbook: Appointment and Promotion of Faculty, Appendix III).
- After evaluation, should a department elect to move forward with a recommendation for appointment or promotion, a chair’s letter of recommendation and an RFA is added to the materials already collected.
- A complete dossier, including the RFA form, is sent to the Office of Faculty Affairs for submission to the Committee of Review.
Termination of Appointments
Weill Cornell Medicine policies for termination of appointments are documented in the Academic Staff Handbook: Leaves and Termination of Appointment.
Weill Cornell Medicine offers three types of academic appointments: term appointments, renewable appointments and tenure appointments.
- Tenure appointments are of indefinite term.
- Term appointments have a definite time period and, without action, will end on a specified date unless a department decides to renew them.
- Renewable appointments are made with the prospect of renewal at the end of a term. If an appointment will not be renewed, the academic staff member is given a written notification of non-renewal.
All appointment terminations are recorded by the OFA, and confirmed to an academic staff member in writing if their department has recommended the end of their appointment. The two ways of recording appointment termination with the OFA are:
- the Recommendation for Termination of Appointment form, along with any documentation (e.g., a copy of an individual's letter of resignation or the department's notification letter)
- using the annual academic staff list (constraints apply)
The appropriate procedure to use depends on the effective date of termination (i.e., during the academic year or at the end of the academic year [June 30th]), the reason for termination, and the nature of an individual's appointment. In the case of salaried academic staff members, a department must submit the required form or notification to the Weill Cornell Medicine Human Resources Department as soon as a termination date is known.