Promotions Process

Overview

Starting in July 2026, the school is moving to a bi-annual faculty promotion schedule, with academic promotions scheduled on January 1 and July 1. This gives faculty two opportunities each year to apply for promotion and helps the school budget more accurately by eliminating unexpected, off-cycle promotion actions.

The school is also launching in summer 2026 a new system called AdAPT in summer 2026, which will help departments and Faculty Affairs better track and process promotion applications. Faculty Affairs will now collect evaluator letters directly, which reduces the administrative burden on department staff and ensures letters are requested and received in a timely manner.

Process & Key Dates for Fiscal Year 2027

All completed promotion applications must be submitted by the dates below. Promotions become effective on January 1 or July 1 only.

Fall 2026 (promotions effective January 1, 2027)

  • August 3: Recommended department deadline for faculty to provide CV and personal statement to chair
  • August 17: All application materials and evaluator names are DUE to Faculty Affairs
  • September 14: Evaluators’ deadline to submit letters
  • October 5: Applications sent to the Faculty Appointments & Promotions Committee
  • October 19*: Committee meets to review applications; approved applications are forwarded to the GSDM Executive Committee
  • October 27: Executive Committee meets to review and approve promotion applications**
  • January 1, 2027: Promotions and salary increases take effect

Spring 2027 (promotions effective July 1, 2027)

  • February 1: Recommended department deadline for faculty to provide CV and personal statement to chair
  • February 15: All application materials and evaluator names are DUE to Faculty Affairs
  • March 15: Evaluators’ deadline to submit letters
  • April 5: Applications sent to the Faculty Appointments & Promotions Committee
  • April 12*: Committee meets to review applications; approved applications are forwarded to the GSDM Executive Committee
  • April 27: Executive Committee meets to review and approve promotion applications**
  • July 1: Promotions and salary increases take effect

      *Tentative meeting dates

      **Unmodified appointments at the associate professor or professor rank require additional review by the University provost and president

      Candidates shall, at their request, be given copies of reports and rationales from each level of the promotion review process. To facilitate this procedure, reports and rationales are formulated to preserve the anonymity of participants in the judgment (to the extent that this is consistent with the communication of the basis of judgment) at each level. The candidate is not given access to individual letters of evaluation submitted in confidence.ˆ

      If promotion is denied, appeals processes are described in the Faculty Handbook. Reapplication can be made after a period of 12 months.

      The candidate being reviewed for promotion has the right to appeal a negative recommendation of the dean to the University provost or of the University provost to the president, indicating the grounds of their dissatisfaction with the negative recommendations. This right of appeal does not extend beyond the president.ˆ

      Review of all initial appointments and promotion applications is undertaken with reference to the criteria for faculty appointments and ranks as outlined in the following documents:

      Boston University Faculty Handbook (www.bu.edu/handbook)
      GSDM Bylaws

      ˆAdopted April 18, 2007, by the University Council.