Faculty Appointments, Promotion and Tenure

Tenure Track

Reserved for faculty members whose main professional focus is scholarship in scientific discovery and innovation.  

View the Faculty Promotion Guide for Tenure Track

Non-Tenure Track (new July 2025)

Reserved for faculty members embedded within the Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WFUSM) who are involved in several aspects of a department’s mission focused on Investigation and Inquiry, Teaching and Mentoring, Clinical and Patient Care, and Service and Administration.

View the Non-tenure Track Appointments Guidelines

Faculty Instructor (new July 2025)

Reserved for faculty employed by Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Atrium, Advocate/Aurora, Navicent or Floyd. Faculty Instructors may never develop credentials beyond their singular roles that would otherwise make them eligible for the Non-tenure Track.

View the Faculty Instructor Appointment Guidelines and Process

Research Faculty Affiliate (new July 2025)

Reserved for faculty members employed by Advocate/Aurora, Navicent, or Floyd and have a need to utilize WFUSM National Center for Clinical Trials (NCCT) or Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). Additionally, Research Faculty Affiliates are required to maintain a primary faculty appointment at an academic institution other than WFUSM for the purposes of medical education.

View the Research Faculty Affiliate Appointment Guidelines and Process

Adjunct Faculty

Reserved for professional employees of collaborating institutions, or faculty who hold a primary academic appointment at an institution other than WFUSM or WFU.

View the Adjunct Faculty Appointment Guidelines and Process

All new appointment requests and applications for promotion and/or tenure will be submitted and finalized using Mountain Pass, which will streamline faculty recruitment, promotion, and information management processes.

The WFUSM Committee on Promotion and Tenure is now comprised of five committees: one Tenure Track committee and four Non-tenure Track committees. The Promotion and Tenure Committee will review completed applications during the first, second, and third weeks of each month to support a thorough and timely review process.

• The Investigation and Inquiry Area of Distinction is most appropriate for individuals who spend more than 50% of their funded effort performing research. 
  
  
• The Clinical and Patient Care Area of Distinction recognizes faculty members for whom patient care and other clinically related activities constitute the unifying theme for the candidate’s academic activities and achievements. 

• The Teaching and Mentoring Area of Distinction is most appropriate for candidates who view education of health professions trainees and/or health professionals as their primary academic focus. 
  
  
• The Service and Administration Area of Distinction recognizes a faculty member’s demonstration of good citizenship through professional service activities in their department, the WFUSM, WFU and outside of WFU. 
  
  

View the Promotion Guide for the Non-Tenure Track

• Faculty are no longer required to submit internal evaluators with their application materials. All candidates, regardless of track, must submit an appropriate number of external evaluators as determined by the candidate’s requested rank and/or tenure status.
  
  
• Non-tenure Track faculty will now declare which Areas of Distinction will be highlighted in their promotion portfolio. Promotion consideration for Non-tenure Track faculty will require: Achievement of excellence in one AoD and demonstration of significant contributions in a second AoD OR demonstration of significant contributions in three AoDs. Each candidate will use their personal narrative to demonstrate their career progression through the selected AODs towards “Excellence” or as a “Significant Contribution. For each AOD selected, the promotion candidate will write no more than a 1-page Personal Narrative that clearly describes their career progression between ranks.
  
  
• The Personal Achievement Portfolio will no longer be required of any candidates, regardless of their promotional track.