Junior Promotion

Promotion to Assistant Professor requires that the candidate has contributed in a meaningful way to the achievement of the Faculty's and the University's education mission.  The nature, quantity and quality of these contributions will be evaluated.  

Academic activities, since the initial date of appointment, should showcase impact, importance and innovation at a local or provincial level.

• on average, a faculty member holding a full time appointment would require a minimum of 3 years
• on average, a faculty member holding a part time appointment would require a minimum of 3-5 years
• on average, a faculty member holding an adjunct appointment would require approximately 10 years

In the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, teaching and education can encompass the following components:

• formal teaching
• curriculum and course development, and development of effective educational materials
• educational leadership and administration
• faculty development
• scholarship in education
• research in education
• quality assurance and evaluation of educational process and outcomes
• assessment of learners

In the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, teachers and educators can show evidence of teaching in one or more of the following levels:

• undergraduate education
• graduate education
• postgraduate medical education
• post-doctoral training
• continuing education and faculty development
• patient/public education

The Temerty Faculty of Medicine describes the criteria for a junior promotion (Lecturer to Assistant Professor) under Sustained Commitment OR Advanced Degree.

Criteria Description:

Sustained Committment

Faculty may apply for a junior promotion under the category of Sustained Commitment in ONE of the following categories:.

1. Teaching Effectiveness
   1. Details of teaching and teaching evaluations must be part of the dossier.
   2. A teaching and education report
   3. A teaching data summary table showing the number and types of trainees and evidence that the candidate has taught in a variety of teaching environments.  The table should include an analysis of the student/trainee evaluations with the mean scores and how they compare to other faculty members.
   4. Copies of teaching effectiveness scores (TES).
2. Educational or Curriculum Development (planning of new curriculum or education programs, the production of new educational materials)
   1. Details of educational or curriculum development must be part of the dossier:
      1. A statement of the importance of the educational or curriculum development
      2. The candidate should have been a significant participant in the planning and development of major curricular or educational offerings
      3. Supporting details documentation
3. Creative Professional Activity (CPA) such as: (i) professional innovation and creative excellence; (ii) contribution to the development of professional practice; (iii) exemplary professional practice.
   1. Details of CPA must be part of the dossier:
      1. A CPA report
      2. A statement of the importance of the achievements in CPA
      3. The candidate must demonstrate leadership and provide examples of contributions.
      4. There should be evidence of sustained and current activity.
      5. Supporting detailed documentation

Advanced Degree

• Faculty may apply for a junior promotion under the category of Advanced Degree if they have successfully completed a recognized graduate program such as master's degree or PhD (or an advanced training experience deemed to be equivalent to a Master's level program) post-MD
  • the graduate program/training must be related to the applicant's current field of work
• It is expected that the candidate will have at minimum 1-2 published first author peer-reviewed publications at the time of request for promotion
  • the publications should be recent in well-regarded journals

PRE-APPLICATION

1. Meet with your respective Chief or approved DFCM Program Director to discuss your promotion and the required documents of the application.
   • This step is mandatory.
   • Determine that you meet the criteria for promotion.
   • Review the required documents.
   • Identify internal letters of reference
2. Meet with your respective hospital/program administrator to discuss your promotion application and review successful dossiers.

APPLICATION PROCESS

1. The hospital/program administrator is asked to complete and submit the online application form.
2. Prepare the application package by referencing the appropriate section below (Preparing a Junior Promotion Dossier) and complete all required documentation listed. 
3. Submit the completed application following the instructions outlined below electronically in a single PDF file   
4. The promotion dossier is brought forward to the Department Appointments Committee (DAC) for their review and support.
   1. DAC is comprised of senior faculty (Assistant and Associate Professor)
   2. DAC meets on a monthly basis from September - June
   3. Please see Application Process and Packages for this year's DAC dates and submission deadlines

FOLLOWING “SUPPORT” FROM THE DAC

1. Following the “review and support” of the DAC, an application package is prepared and submitted to the Dean, Human Resources, Temerty Faculty of Medicine for their “review and approval”.
   4. The application package includes a letter of support from the Chair, the recommendation of the DAC and other related documents.
   5. Full Time promotions are submitted to Faculty Appointments Advisory Committee (FAAC) for their review and approval.

FOLLOWING “APPROVAL” FROM THE DEAN

1. Once approval is granted, Human Resources will notify the DFCM via email.
2. The DFCM will prepare and send a congratulations letter to the faculty member, with a copy to the hospital administrator and Chief/Division Director via email.
3. The DFCM updates their database and records accordingly.
4. Successful candidates are invited to an annual DFCM recognition event.

Listed below are the required documents for submitting a junior promotion application to the DFCM. Applications are submitted via an online application form using the Temerty Faculty of Medicine step-by-step guide to applying for an academic junior promotion (Lecturer to Assistant Professor).

Please ensure all supporting and required documents are attached to the application form at the time of submission. The preparation of a junior promotion dossier requires critical attention to the assembly and organization of the documents.

As you assemble a dossier, please keep in mind:

• The package should be well organized, in the order listed below.
• It should not exceed 75 pages; avoid including lengthy documents such as powerpoint slides.
• Reference letters must be signed to be valid.
• All applicants must be able to demonstrate basic teaching competency (especially if they are a clinician teacher) which is why a teaching dossier is mandatory for all promotions

SUSTAINED COMMITMENT

If going forward under the category of sustained commitment in Teaching Effectiveness OR Educational/Curriculum Development, Include (in order): 

1. Letter of Support 
2. CV 
3. Academic Position Description  
4. 2-3 Internal Reference Letters 
   • *Please note: if a junior promotion also includes a request to change to full time status, 4 reference letters must be included instead of 2 (as 4 reference letters are required for a full time appointment application). 
5. Teaching Philosophy Statement 
6. Teaching Dossier 
7. Teaching Data Summary Table 
8. Teaching Evaluations 
9. Copy of Publications and/or 1-3 supporting documents (optional) 
10. Profile Form 

If going forward under the category of sustained commitment in Research, include the first 12 documents, as well as:

1. Research Statement
2. Research Dossier
3. Publications

If going forward under the category of sustained commitment in Creative Professional Activity, include the first 12 documents, as well as:

1. CPA Statement
2. CPA Dossier 

Please reference the Submitting a Junior Promotion Application and Templates sections below.

• For a junior promotion application, please complete the online application form.
• In the field box "Appointment Type Required", select Promotion from Lecturer to Assistant Professor.
• Attach all the completed documents listed below at the time of submission. You will be prompted to attach documents when completing the application form

Required Documents:

Please ensure to use our CHECKLIST when attaching the following required documents to the online application form. 

Application: 

1. Letter of Support 
2. CV 
3. Academic Position Description (Junior Promotion) 
4. 2-3 Internal Reference Letters 
   • *Please note: if a junior promotion also includes a request to change to full time status, 4 reference letters must be included instead of 2 (as 4 reference letters are required for a full time appointment application). 
5. Teaching Philosophy Statement 
6. Teaching Dossier 
7. Teaching Data Summary Table 
8. Teaching Evaluations 
9. Copy of Publications (if applicable) 
10. Profile Form 

If going forward under the category of sustained commitment in Research, include the first 10 documents, as well as: 

1. Research Statement 
2. Research Dossier 
3. Publications 

If going forward under the category of sustained commitment in Creative Professional Activity, include the first 10 documents, as well as: 

1. CPA Statement 
2. CPA Dossier 

The following forms/templates are available in Word:

1. Checklist 
2. Checklist Guide to completing a junior promotion dossier 
3. Chief/Program Director's Letter of Support template (*new version September 2024) 
4. CV template 
5. Academic Position Description (for adjunct, part time, full time) 
6. Teaching Philosophy Statement Template 
7. Teaching Dossier Sample 
   • Teaching Dossier Tips 
8. CPA Dossier Sample 
9. Research Dossier Sample 
10. Teaching Data Summary Table 
11. Reference Letter Template 
    • Template to Solicit a Junior Promotion Reference Letter 
12. Profile Form  
13. Junior Promotion CHART GUIDE 

Listed below are some of the common questions we receive around junior promotions:

• Q: Where do I get my TES?
  • A: Your first point of contact to receive your TES is your Site Chief/Division Head.
  • For DFCM faculty who wish to obtain TES for Undergraduate Education courses ONLY:
    • For the Family Medicine Longitudinal Experience (FMLE), please contact fmle.recruit@utoronto.ca  
    • For Family and Community Medicine core clerkship: dfcm.clerkship@utoronto.ca 
    • For Electives TES Reports, please contact eva.lagan@utoronto.ca
    • For Transition to Residency (TTR) TES reports, please contact ttr.ume@utoronto.ca
• Q: How can I tell if I'm ready for promotion?
  • A: We recommend that you meet with your Site Chief/Program Director/Division Head to review your CV and TES scores and determine your readiness for promotion.
• Q: Am I eligible for junior promotion even if I've only taken a small amount of learners, i.e. 1-2 per year?
  • A: Yes, absolutely! We recognize that many faculty (particularly community physicians) do not teach learners on a full-time basis. As long as the teaching took place over a sustained period of time in order to build up enough scores to show in your dossier - i.e. 7-10 years since initial time of appointment. Other academic achievements contribute as well (i.e. teaching awards).
• Q: Can I apply anytime?
  • A: Our Department Appointments Committee (DAC) reviews new appointments and junior promotions. They meet on a monthly basis from September - June. Junior promotions may be submitted to our office at any point during that time.
• Q: What are the benefits of promotion?
  • A: Although academic promotion is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged for the following reasons:
    • It is the University's way of recognizing your outstanding accomplishments
    • To help you deepen your understanding of your own academic work and further your career
    • Leadership opportunities/committee roles
    • To further the discipline of Family & Community Medicine
    • Making your family proud!