APT Committee

Dossier Contents

What should be in the dossier?

• Section 5 of the APTC document fully details the Dossier Elements and Evaluation

• A department may keep high quality dossiers as samples, with permission of dossiers’ owners. Sample dossiers should not include letters to the APTC from the chair or DRC.

What is the purpose of the teaching and clinical portfolios?

• The teaching and clinical portfolio is used especially for the teaching/clinical track as the traditional CV format may not sufficiently highlight teaching and clinical expertise.

If I am in the tenure track or research track should I include a research portfolio instead of, or in addition to, a clinical portfolio?

• No. In the tenure and research tracks the entire CV is essentially a research portfolio, especially when combined with the candidate’s statement, which will include aspects of her/his research that the candidate wants the reviewers to focus on.
• For both research and tenure tracks junior faculty are encouraged to publish as first author whenever possible.

What is the format of the CV?

• Instructions for the CV and a template are in appendices 2 and 3. A word version of the template is on this website on the main page under Documents.

• Be sure to read all instructions in Appendix 2, including the boxed material at the beginning of the Appendix. Do not forget, for example, to list publications in reverse chronological order.

• The CV must be in the required form to facilitate the reviewers’ ability to locate specific items.

• The ‘list of the candidate’s students’ accomplishments refers to the candidate’s mentees, not students who took courses from the candidate. If extenuating circumstances exist, explain the listing.

• Listing of a CE course as a service activity refers to courses/presentations that the candidate has given, not taken. CE courses that have been taken are listed under education.
  

• The candidate/chair is asked to find the impact factor and/or the number of citations for up to 5 representative publications, and put them in the dossier or the chair’s letter. Please indicate why these papers are important (can be in chair’s letter and/or DRC report and/or the research statement).

• The number of citations and the impact factor of the journal also may be inserted after each reference in the CV. The impact factor may alternatively be included in a separate section of the CV, after Publications, which lists the journals the candidate has published in and their impact factors.

• The HSHSL will search for the impact factor of any journals and the number of citations to any paper that they are given. They charge a small fee.

Department Chair and Department Review Committee (DRC)

• The chair should review the dossier every year during the candidate’s annually review to help guide his/her progress toward promotion.

• The chair should review the candidate’s CV to be sure it is complete and conforms to the APTC format.

• An outline of the contents of the letters are in section 5.1.1 of the APT Policy Document.

• Chair’s letter needs to discuss the impact factor, and number of citations appropriate for the field of the candidate, since size and popularity of field affects number of citations a paper will receive. See also item 4 below.

• Chairs have the option of showing a draft letter to the chair of the APTC.

• The letters from the Chair and the DRC must be realistic in terms of both strengths and weaknesses of the candidate, and should be consistent with the CV and dossier. Although the department wants to promote its own, the APTC must have an objective appraisal without overstatement or hyperbole.

• Chair and DRC need to have the complete dossier to make their decision.

• The DRC may include their vote tally in their letter.

• The DRC may additionally discuss how the candidate meets the criteria for the rank being sought (as per USM policy document http://www.usmd.edu/regents/bylaws/SectionII/.)

• The absolute final deadline of the dossier is Nov 1. Earlier submissions are encouraged as they leave time for dossier revision. After Nov 1, delays for revision delay the request for external evaluator letters, which may delay the APT review process.
  

External Evaluators

• Professional colleagues who have not worked, collaborated, or published with the candidate in the last five years are acceptable referees.

• Department chair must check that faculty appointment level of external evaluators is at or above promotion being sought. The APT chair checks this and asks the Dept chair for more evaluators if needed, which may delay the process.
  

• They are asked to send a letter evaluating the candidate to the APTC by December 15 and to include a biosketch or CV of themselves.
  

Other Questions

• The APTC reviews the promotion of full-time and part-time school of dentistry faculty to professorial rank who are in the Clinical, Research, and Tenure tracks. This includes all titles that include the term ‘professor’. Candidates for promotion need a complete dossier.

• The APTC reviews appointment of new faculty to make a decision on appropriateness of rank. A dossier is required, but may contain less information than a promotion dossier, since the candidate has not had a career at the school. Details are in the APTC P&P Document.

• Progression from a Clinical Instructor, a Faculty Research Assistant, or a Research Associate to a Clinical Assistant Professor or a Research Assistant Professor is a promotion if the faculty member has been hired through a search that included equal employment opportunity requirements, otherwise it will be considered to be a new appointment.

• All positions listed in the APTC document are faculty, as are Clinical Instructors and Lecturers, whether part time or full time. School of dentistry faculty who are 0.8 FTE or greater are eligible to vote in APTC elections.