Prepare Your Packet

Advancing your field and growing your reputation are important for advancement in all career tracks. Institutional service is necessary but not sufficient for career advancement. Achieving academic promotion/tenure requires demonstrating that your work has an impact beyond Northwestern (and the institutions where you have trained or been employed). Given this, treat external professional recognition as a theme to be woven throughout the elements of the promotion/tenure packet, especially for promotion to the ranks of associate professor and professor.

• List evidence of external recognition on your CV, using the Feinberg standard CV template. Many sections of the CV serve to highlight external recognition, including: honors and awards, community service, external professional leadership and service, scientific and medical advisory boards, editorships and editorial board service, manuscript review responsibilities, grant review responsibilities, invited talks and medical coverage and appearances.
• Use the personal statement to highlight accolades received and provide description that helps evaluators better understand their significance.
• Letters of reference offer insight into the impact of your work and the breadth of your reputation, so choose referees carefully. View guidance on preparing your referee list.

Level of Recognition

As your career progresses, reviewers look for an expanding level of recognition. You might also hear phrases like "breadth of reputation," "scope of impact" or "activity scope" used when considering how widely you and your work are known.

• There should be evidence of widening recognition and impact with each advance in academic rank.
• Remember that reviewers focus on your accomplishments since your last promotion (or since your initial appointment, if you now hold your first academic rank). External recognition received prior to your last promotion will not guarantee your next promotion. Reviewers expect to see sustained, and preferably accelerated, career activity/impact since your last promotion.  

Examples

Some examples of external professional recognition are:

• Prizes and awards
• Election to scientific or professional societies and organizations
• Invitation to serve as a visiting or endowed professor
• Being selected to plan or lead symposia, conferences or professional society programs or workshops
• Invitation to develop clinical guidelines
• Appointment to scientific or medical peer-review bodies (e.g., study sections)
• Appointment to scientific, medical or government advisory or regulatory bodies
• Appointment or election to membership on governing councils or as an officer of scientific, government or professional organizations
• Appointment to editorial boards or as editor
• Invitation to deliver talks at national meetings or other institutions

Required Levels of Recognition

The level of recognition required for promotion varies by rank and career track. The table below shows the level of recognition you should demonstrate to obtain promotion.

 *Because they are heavily involved in team science, faculty on the team scientist track may also highlight external recognition accrued by the research teams or labs they support, explaining how their individual work contributes to the level of recognition of the unit. Include any forms of individual recognition received as well.

**Because faculty on the research track typically focus on supporting a research lab or core at Northwestern, they are not required to demonstrate individual external recognition. However, an effective way by which research faculty demonstrate their impact is to show how they contribute to the success and reputation of the research program/lab/core or research enterprise at Northwestern. This might include highlighting the impact and recognition of the unit/program at local, regional, national or international levels (e.g., this could be discussed in the personal statement). Though individual external recognition is not required, research faculty are encouraged to include evidence of any such recognition in their CV or elsewhere in the promotion packet because it warrants consideration for promotion.

Your CV is the foundation of your promotion/tenure packet, providing the most comprehensive accounting of your achievements. We require promotion/tenure applicants to use the Feinberg CV template to facilitate equity in the review and evaluation process. 

Save your file using this file naming convention: LastName CV (e.g., Simpson CV)

There are two options for creating your CV:

1. Feinberg CV template: You may create your CV manually, using this template as a guide. 
2. Feinberg Faculty Portal: You have the option of generating your CV from the Feinberg Faculty Portal if you have invested the time to enter your accomplishments throughout your career history. (The system is relatively new and many faculty have not yet added their full career history, so you are not required to use this option). After you have entered your activities and accomplishments in the system, run the CV template titled Feinberg Standard CV (set the date range to all), which has been configured for promotion and tenure review.

Tips

• Proofread your CV and be attentive to detail; a poorly prepared CV reflects poorly on the applicant.
• Ensure formatting is consistent throughout.
• When listing publications:
  • Place them in chronological order, or reverse chronological order if exporting from the Feinberg Faculty Portal (that system only offers reverse chronological ordering of publications); presenting in time order is important so that reviewers can assess your productivity and trajectory over time
  • List all authors in the order they appear on the publication 
  • Recommended: put your name in bold font so that your contribution stands out
• When listing grant awards, follow the format established on the CV template, making sure to document your role and the direct costs you received
• Do not include sensitive information such as your social security number
• Sections of the CV template that do not apply to you may be skipped, but the sections that do apply should be listed in the order established in the template
• If you have achievements in additional areas not represented on the CV template, you may add them at the end of the CV (or add sub-sections at the end of sections within the template, as appropriate)

This document is an optional component of the promotion/tenure packet and may be used by faculty on any career track to record their participation in quality improvement initiatives. Clinician-Educators specializing in the clinical or health services management domains are encouraged to document quality improvement initiatives as a form of achievement those domains. Health System Clinicians are also encouraged to document any quality improvement initiatives as demonstration of clinical impact or impact in health services management (for those who select the latter as their area of concentration).

• Include only activity since your last promotion became effective (or since you were appointed, if you now hold your first faculty rank)
• Save your file using this file naming convention: LastName QI Initiatives (e.g., Simpson QI Initiatives)

There are two options for creating this document:

1. Quality Improvement Initiatives: You may create this document manually by using this form.
2. Feinberg Faculty Portal: You have the option of generating this document from within the Feinberg Faculty Portal. (The system is relatively new and many faculty have not yet added their full career history, so you are not required to use this option). After you have entered activities in the Quality Improvement Initiatives section of the Faculty Portal, run the CV template titled Quality Improvement Initiatives.

This document is an optional component of the promotion/tenure packet and may be used by faculty on any career track to record their development and leadership of clinical initiatives. Clinician-Educators specializing in the clinical or health services management domains are encouraged to document development and leadership of clinical initiatives as a form of achievement those domains. Health System Clinicians are also encouraged to document development and leadership of clinical initiatives as demonstration of clinical impact or impact in health services management (for those who select the latter as their area of concentration).

• Only initiatives in which you played a leadership role should be recorded.
• Include only activity since your last promotion became effective (or since you were appointed, if you now hold your first faculty rank)
• Save your file using this file naming convention: LastName Clinical Initiatives (e.g., Simpson Clinical Initiatives)

There are two options for creating this document:

1. Development and Leadership of Clinical Initiatives: You may create this document manually by using this form.
2. Feinberg Faculty Portal: You have the option of generating this document from within the Feinberg Faculty Portal. (The system is relatively new and many faculty have not yet added their full career history, so you are not required to use this option). After you have entered activities in the Development and Leadership of Clinical Initiatives section of the Portal, run the CV template titled Development and Leadership of Clinical Initiatives.

This document is an optional component of the promotion/tenure packet and may be used by faculty on any career track to record their participation in public and population health initiatives. Clinician-Educators and Health System Clinicians specializing in community engagement as their domain or area of concentration are encouraged to document public and population health initiatives as a form of achievement in this area. 

• Include only activity since your last promotion became effective (or since you were appointed, if you now hold your first faculty rank)
• Save your file using this file naming convention: LastName Public Health (e.g., Simpson Public Health)

There are two options for creating this document:

1. Public and Population Health Initiatives: You may create this document manually by using this form.
2. Feinberg Faculty Portal: You have the option of generating this document from within the Feinberg Faculty Portal. (The system is relatively new and many faculty have not yet added their full career history, so you are not required to use this option). After you have entered activities in the Public and Population Health Initiatives section of the Portal, run the CV template titled Public and Population Health Initiatives.

This document is an optional component of the promotion/tenure packet and may be used by faculty on any career track to record their participation in global health initiatives. Clinician-Educators specializing in the community engagement domain are encouraged to document global health initiatives as a form of achievement that domain. 

• Include only activity since your last promotion became effective (or since you were appointed, if you now hold your first faculty rank)
• Save your file using this file naming convention: LastName Global Health (e.g., Simpson Global Health)

There are two options for creating this document:

1. Global Health Initiatives: You may create this document manually by using this form.
2. Feinberg Faculty Portal: You have the option of generating this document from within the Feinberg Faculty Portal. (The system is relatively new and many faculty have not yet added their full career history, so you are not required to use this option). After you have entered activities in the Global Health Initiatives section of the Portal, run the CV template titled Global Health Initiatives.

Feinberg requires personal narrative statements for all promotion or tenure applications. Effective personal statements contextualize the accomplishments listed on the CV or provide supplementary information that may not be apparent from review of the CV. The personal statement is also an opportunity to communicate with reviewers outside your field, helping them to understand the significance of your work in your specialty.

Prepare your personal statement manually using the appropriate template as a guide:

• Personal Statement for Clinician-Educators, Team Scientists, and Investigators: use this template if you are appointed to the clinician-educator, investigator or team scientist track
• Personal Statement for Health System Clinicians: use this template if you are appointed to the health system clinician career track
• Personal Statement for Research Faculty: use this template if you are appointed to the non-tenure-eligible research track
• Save your file using this file naming convention: LastName Personal Statement (e.g., Simpson Personal Statement)

Tips

• Preferred length is one to three pages.
• Focus on explaining accomplishments since your last promotion (or since your initial appointment, if you now hold your first faculty rank), rather than recounting your entire career.
• Do not simply repeat the accomplishments listed in your CV. Instead, use the personal statement to provide additional context or other information that is not evident from your CV and that would help reviewers evaluate your application for promotion or tenure (for example, explain specific contributions that may not otherwise be appreciated by reviewers such as clinical expertise, describe extenuating circumstances that may have impacted your progress, list accomplishments that do not appear in other parts of the application).
• Use the personal statement to help reviewers who may be unfamiliar with your field to better appreciate the accomplishments on your CV by explaining the significance/impact of your work in your specialty.
• The dean's office or department chair may provide your personal statement to referees when soliciting reference letters (candidates do not solicit their own reference letters).
• For Team Scientists: If specializing in the research domain, use the personal statement to highlight your contributions to team and collaborative research.
• For Clinician-Educators: Use the personal statement to highlight your accomplishments in your chosen domains as recorded in the Feinberg Faculty Portal (navigate to Profile > Current Appointment to confirm). If you have accomplishments in more than these two domains, address your chosen domains first so that reviewers clearly see the connection between your career activity and the criteria they use for evaluation. You are welcome to highlight accomplishments in additional domains as well, but without first establishing achievement in your chosen domains, you can give reviewers the impression that your career is unfocused.

Teaching is a core mission of Feinberg and all faculty on the Clinician-Educator, Team Scientist and Investigator career tracks are expected to demonstrate contributions in this area as documented through this form. This form is optional for Health System Clinicians. Those with education as an area of concentration may demonstrate achievement in that area through this form.

• Include only activity since your last promotion became effective (or since you were appointed, if you now hold your first faculty rank).
• Save your file using this file naming convention: LastName Teaching Record (e.g., Simpson Teaching Record).

There are two options for creating this document:

1. Record of Teaching: You may create this document manually by using this form.
2. Feinberg Faculty Portal: You have the option of generating this form from the Feinberg Faculty Portal if you have maintained your teaching accomplishments there. (The system is relatively new and many faculty have not yet added their full career history, so you are not required to use this option). After you have entered your teaching activities in the system, run the CV template titled Record of Teaching.

Teaching Evaluations

Teaching evaluations may be added to the promotion/tenure packet following the Record of Teaching to demonstrate evidence of teaching effectiveness.

Faculty are expected to advance their fields, with their work having an impact beyond Northwestern's campus. Through the Critical References Form, applicants may identify up to five references since their last promotion in rank (or appointment) that represent their most significant contributions and explain the impact and consequences of each. Authorship order is not a perfect indicator of authors' contributions to publications, so if you are a middle author on a high-impact paper for which you played a critical role, this form also provides an opportunity to highlight your contribution. This form is required for all career tracks, with the caveat that among Health System Clinicians, it is only required for those who have selected research as their area of concentration.

• Include only references published since your last promotion became effective (or since you were appointed, if you now hold your first faculty rank).
• Save your file using this file naming convention: LastName Critical References (e.g., Simpson Critical References).

There are two options for creating this document:

1. Critical References List: You may create this document manually by using this form.
2. Feinberg Faculty Portal: You have the option of generating this document from within the Feinberg Faculty Portal. (The system is relatively new and many faculty have not yet added their full career history, so you are not required to use this option).

1. Go to the Activities page within the Feinberg Faculty Portal (left navigation menu).
2. Open the section called Publications and Scholarly Works.
3. For each item you want to highlight as a critical reference, select the edit (pencil) icon and in the form that opens, scroll down to the section called Activity Classifications. 
4. Look for the field called Critical References and set it to Yes (this causes the record to appear on your Critical References Form).
5. Complete the Role field and the Impact and Consequences field; these fields also display on your Critical References List.
6. Repeat these steps for each reference up to five that you wish to include on the Critical References List.
7. Go to the Vitas & Biosketches page within the Feinberg Faculty Portal and run the CV template titled Critical References List.

This letter is required in the promotion packet only for the following career tracks:

1. Team Scientists in the research domain
   Team Scientists should obtain a letter from a program leader at Northwestern who can attest to the essential contributions the Team Scientist makes as a key collaborator. For example, the program leader may be another faculty member who is principal investigator for a grant on which the Team Scientist contributes.
     
2. Faculty on the Research Track
   Research Faculty should obtain a letter from a program leader (i.e., principal investigator or director of core facility) to document the unique collaborative contribution of the faculty member to programmatic research and/or describe how the candidate’s activities contribute to research excellence at Feinberg or contribute to the excellence and impact of a research support facility.
   
   
3. Health System Clinicians with education as their area of concentration
   Health System Clinicians should obtain a letter from an educational program leader at Northwestern who can attest to the contributions the HSC makes to the educational mission of the academic medical center. 

Save your file using this file naming convention: LastName Letter from ProgramLeaderLastName (e.g., Simpson Letter from Burns).