Initial Appointments for Associate and Full Professors of the Practice
Faculty Handbook Information on Faculty Appointment
Final Approval Authority
Provost: Associate Professor of the Practice, Professor of the Practice
Process
When a faculty member is recruited to hold the title of Associate Professor of the Practice or Professor of the Practice, the appointment process includes a formal review of the case by the school or college APT, the Dean and the Provost. Unlike an initial unmodified Associate or full Professor appointment, an initial Professor of the Practice appointment does not include a UAPT review or a President’s review.
Required Paperwork
Overview
Note on Forms: Although the internal review forms provided for unmodified Associate and full Professor appointments or promotions may be used throughout (e.g. APT report, Dean’s report etc.), they are not required to be used for Professor of the Practice cases. Also, the form requirements and review process for AssociateProfessor of the Practice and Professor of the Practice are identical, so “Professor of the Practice” is used throughout, for simplicity.
We reserve the right to hold paperwork until all required pieces are received.
Paperwork Instructions
Recommendation for Academic Appointment Form
The most pertinent details about the appointment are listed here, such as appointment duration, work assignment, source of funding for the appointment, and a comments section. The comments section must include any special requests as outlined in the Dean’s memo. All sections of this form must be completed; areas that do not apply should be marked “N/A.” When the appointment has been reviewed and approved, a copy of the form with the Provost’s signature will be returned as official administrative approval.
Dean's Memo
This should provide a brief overview of the appointment, including the rationale for appointing the individual as a Professor of the Practice, and a review of the CV, APT report and External Letters. This memo should include the proposed rank and appointment period, courses to be offered, any additional responsibilities, and the proposed salary and funding source. It is important that all special situations, funding requests, etc., are clearly stated in this memo; they must also be noted on the initial appointment form. All information on the Dean’s memo should be consistent with the rest of the appointment package.
School or College APT Report
The Faculty Handbook requires that all appointments for Associate or full Professors of the Practice be reviewed and voted on by the APT of the School or College. The Dean collects the CV, the external evaluations and any other supporting material for the case and informs the APT of the rationale for the proposed appointment. The APT should review the candidate’s CV, the external letters of evaluation, and any supporting materials. The APT votes and writes a report summarizing their assessment of the case and sends it to the Dean.
External Letters of Evaluation
At least 5 external letters of evaluation are needed for a Professor of the Practice case. In most cases, the Dean will solicit more than 5 external experts in order to assemble at least 5 letters for the final case. The candidate may suggest 3 potential evaluators, who may or may not be solicited for letters, by the Dean. Please do not allow candidates to make more than 3 suggestions. Normally, at least one of the letters should be “arm’s length,” meaning it does not come from current or former supervisors, employees, direct collaborators, or close personal friends. Many potential Professors of the Practice are well-known in their professions and that alone does not create an “arm’s length” concern. A past or current formal professional or personal relationship is what makes the evaluator “not arm’s length.”
Please use our templates for your letters soliciting external evaluations. Information on external evaluator requests and received letters should be entered into the External Evaluator Worksheet (XLS), which will be accompany the candidate’s dossier. You can find a template for a sample external evaluation solicitation letter here.
Candidate's CV
This must be up-to-date (no more than three months old). This should be as complete as possible since it is the main record upon which evaluations will be based.
Affirmative Action Report Form (AARF)
- Applicants tab – Email addresses for all individuals who applied for a position should be entered in this tab. This will trigger the system to send them an elective, confidential affirmative action survey. Response rates to the survey are higher when email addresses are entered shortly after individuals apply.
- Candidates tab – Information for each interviewed candidate should be entered in this tab. You will be asked to identify if candidates received offers and if offers were accepted. For those who did not receive an offer, you will need to upload a CV and provide a brief explanation.
- Recruiting Sources tab – Advertisement venues and other various recruitment activities should be listed here. PDFs of job postings should be uploaded here.
- Approvals tab – When all other tabs are finished, the department chair (or representative) and dean (or representative) should approve the search to acknowledge that the information is complete and accurate.
Signed Offer Letter
Please be sure to include the signed offer letter in the final materials transmitted to the Provost. Please contact Faculty Affairs if you have any questions as you develop the offer letter.
For Paperwork Requiring Provost Approval:
Please email PDFs of paperwork to Faculty Affairs (apfac@bu.edu). You may contact them with any questions or to check the status of paperwork.
Notification:
Once paperwork has received final approval from the Provost, the Provost’s Office will send a scan of the signed initial appointment form to the school/college. Individual deans should send letters of notification to faculty. New BUIDs will be generated via the new hire form in SAP.
Please note that on the CRC no faculty member may be added to the payroll, or given an uncompensated faculty appointment prior to final approval through the regular faculty hiring process as appropriate to the proposed rank and title.