Tufts University School of Medicine

Faculty Appointments & Promotions

The Office of Faculty Affairs manages the appointment and promotion process for all Tufts School of Medicine faculty. Faculty appointments are proposed by the TUSM Academic Chair in partnership with our affiliated hospital Chiefs and Chairs. If you are a prospective faculty member, please reach out to your chief or chair to start the process.

Tufts University School of Medicine also recognizes the important contributions of the residents and fellows of our affiliated training programs to medical student teaching, research, and the academic life of the school. The Office of Faculty Affairs works in conjunction with institutional graduate medical education (GME) offices to issue annual trainee academic appointments for residents and fellows based at Tufts-affiliated GME programs. For more information about trainee appointments, visit the OFA Homepage.

If you have questions regarding any of the policies or procedures, please contact the Office of Faculty Affairs. For a full list of the Medical School policies, visit our Faculty Handbook page.

  • SPRING 2023 ANNOUNCEMENTS

    • New Lateral Appointment Processes

      • Given the need to recruit and retain experienced faculty within this highly competitive environment, both the Basic Science Faculty Appointment, Promotion and Tenure (BSFAPT) committee and the Clinical Faculty Promotion and Appointment Committee (CLINPAC) recommended streamlined processes for appointing senior level faculty that currently hold a senior rank appointment at their previous institution, coming to Tufts at the same rank.
      • The new lateral appointment processes are outlined in detail in the Appointment Forms, Templates and Resources section on this page (be sure to check out the new appointment and promotion checklists for required documentation).

    • Updated Requirements for Senior Clinical Dossiers

      • Following an external audit, the School of Medicine and the Office of Faculty Affairs have worked to simplify and streamline several appointment and promotion processes. One such process improvement was the implementation of the expedited lateral appointment process. Additional changes include:
    1. Reduced the redundancy of proposal letters by allowing for one co-signed proposal letter from the TUSM Academic Chair and the affiliate chief/chair/academic dean.
    2. Increased flexibility in the accepted CV formats. Candidates no longer need to convert their CVs into the Tufts format (though it can still be very useful for new academicians). See the Appointment Forms, Templates, and Resources section for a helpful guide titled Academic CV Guidelines to understand what constitutes an academic CV.
    3. Updated Teaching Portfolio template that allows for candidates to summarize their teaching contributions in narrative form and highlight their educational leadership and scholarship without having to complete the chart of courses. See the updated template in the Appointment Forms, Templates, and Resources section below.
    4. Reduction in the number of required peer referee letters and a loosening of the definition of "external peer" and "disinterested peer". See the new Senior Referee Letter Requirements document in the Appointment Forms, Templates, and Resources section for full details. Further, the Referee Tracking Sheet has been updated to reflect these new requirements.
    5. Student and/or trainee letters are no longer required (though still strongly recommended).
    6. Publication reprints are no longer required.

    **A new Appointments and Promotions Checklist is also available that outlines all of the requirements for each appointment type.

    • Interfolio Rollout - Spring 2023

      • The OFA is transitioning appointment and promotion submissions to Interfolio's Review, Promotion, and Tenure Module. 
      • This process will replace email submission and allow for more transparency in the process since Chiefs/Chairs and their administrators will be able to see which step each submission is at in the process via their Case Dashboard.
      • The OFA is doing a staggered rollout of Interfolio, with trainings occurring in May and June. We anticipate that Interfolio will be live for all groups by the beginning of Academic Year 2023-2024.
      • See the Interfolio section below for additional information about Interfolio.

  • Appointment Forms and Templates

    The following forms and templates are available to assist you in compiling the documentation for all appointments and promotions. Please see the checklists first to determine what documentation is required.

  • Criteria for Appointment and Promotion

    The School of Medicine is committed to fostering the development of dedicated clinicians, scientists, public health professionals, and educators who will have a sustained positive impact on the health of individuals, communities, and the world. To accomplish this, the School of Medicine depends on the committed participation of excellent faculty in a broad range of disciplines.

    The links below are for sections of the TUSM Handbook that present overviews of the basic science and clinical faculty academic tracks, ranks and titles, and offers guidelines and criteria for such appointments and promotions.

  • What is Interfolio: Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure?

    Interfolio’s Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure (APT) module is a secure digital case management platform that the Office of Faculty Affairs at the School of Medicine will be using to accept and review faculty appointments and promotions. This workflow tool will take the place of email submissions and will provide additional transparency to the process.

    When Will the Transition to Interfolio Take Place?

    Tufts University School of Medicine will begin implementing Interfolio’s APT module in May 2023 with the goal of 100% use by July 1, 2023. As we move forward with the implementation process, please keep an eye on this space for updates, announcements, and helpful resources.

    Next Steps

    The Office of Faculty Affairs will begin the Interfolio’s APT rollout with two clinical departments for beta testing. Following this period of ironing out the process we will hold trainings for the TUSM community at large during the weeks of May 22 through June 2 for junior appointment processing, and again in later June for senior appointment processing. Trainings will be most beneficial for department chairs and administrators that are regularly involved in the appointment material submissions and reviews.  Please reach out to the Office of Faculty Affairs to sign up for a training session.