REQUIREMENTS CHECKLIST for:

Promotion to Professor
Time Frame to Approval: 9 to 18 months
(printed on 1/3/2022)

General Considerations:

Should currently have an appointment as an Associate Professor. If your current appointment is in the clinical/adjunct track, you should apply for a new appointment instead. Contact CCLCM Faculty Affairs with any questions.
Promotions no longer have a deadline. You can turn them in anytime and CCLCM Faculty Affairs will process them like all applications. Once your application is processed and approved at CCLCM it will be sent to CWRU. At CWRU it will be approved at multiple levels culminating with the CWRU Board of Trustees in either December or June. The promotion will be effective either January 1 or July 1 of whatever year it is finalized in. The timeline will range from approximately 9 to 18 months and cannot be rushed.
To effectively represent academic and professional growth, applications are generally submitted between 4-6 years from your last CCLCM appointment/promotion. However, no specific amount of time is required by CWRU – the only specification is that you have reached the required national or international reputation.
Must declare a Primary Area of Excellence and provide evidence of a reputation in this area. Please choose from:
- Professional Service (clinical & administrative) – the majority of candidates will choose this option because their primary focus is clinical along with administrative duties. National reputation is required.
- Teaching – will choose if their reputation is as an educator and education is the subject of most of their publications and presentations. Otherwise, for the majority of candidates, Teaching will be a Secondary Area of Excellence. National reputation is required.
- Research – will choose if they spend most of their time conducting research as either an independent or team scientist.
  - Independent scientist: you must have two RO1 Grants or equivalent and 50 or more publications with many as primary, secondary, or senior author. If you are in the Lerner Research Institute, you should be full staff, and it is best to start your CCLCM application immediately after your LRI promotion. International reputation is required.
  - Team scientist: there is no minimum of FTE or funding and usually there are more publications with 65+ being average, and it is more usual to be a middle author. Although no minimum funding is required, participation in other investigators’ grants is expected. Your Personal Statement and chair nomination letter should note “team scientist” and how integral you are to the papers and projects you are involved with. If you are in the Lerner Research Institute, you should be full staff, and it is best to start your CCLCM application immediately after your LRI promotion. International reputation is required.
Must also provide evidence of acceptable contributions in a Secondary Area of Excellence. This should be noted in your Personal Statement and possibly in a Teaching Portfolio.
Promotions will reflect your documented fulfilment of the qualifications as outlined in the CWRU Appointment and Promotion Standards, please read for more detailed information.

Required application materials: expand all

Open Online Application (required)
1. Choose the most appropriate rank, and use our Comparison Tool to review the requirements.
2. Open your application right away and begin completing it.
CV (required)
1. NEW! Your CV MUST BE IN THE CCLCM TEMPLATE 2021! You are no longer permitted to use an old version, and your CV must exactly match the template (font, font size, date order, section format, etc.). Please don't submit your application until it does.
2. CV should be up-to-date and include your current role at Cleveland Clinic and when you started the position. When applicable, it should also include education, licensure, and certificate information.
Helpful Links
1. NEW! Download CCLCM CV Directions, Example & Template 2021
Chair's Nomination Letter (required)
1. Your nomination letter can only be requested through a link in your online application. Your chair will receive directions on what to put in the letter. Note the letter is confidential and can no longer be shared with you.
2. By requesting a nomination letter, you are agreeing that you have read the requirements for this rank and know that you have the needed reputation in your Primary Area of Excellence.
3. Your Chair, who writes your nomination letter, may NOT also serve as a referee.
Declaration of Candidacy for Promotion (required)
1. Read it thoroughly, complete the checkboxes, sign it, have your CCLCM Academic Chair sign it, and upload it into your application. Please note that the Academic Chair is often different than your Department or Institute Chair.
Journal Publications (3-5 documents only)
1. Only upload publications that were completed AFTER your last appointment/promotion. Do NOT use publications written previously as they were counted towards your last appointment/promotion.
2. When possible, ALWAYS choose publications that feature you as first, second, or senior author.
3. Do not upload a list of your publications.
4. Do NOT upload copies that are password protected!
Personal Narrative Statement (required)
1. You have up to 3 pages to explain to your referees and the review committee why you have the reputation required to support the Primary Area of Excellence you have chosen. You should clearly explain the following:
  1. Your Primary Area of Excellence (Professional Service, Teaching, or Research); what you have achieved, your goals for the future, and what you have done that shows you meet the needed reputation.
  2. Your other Areas of Excellence; explain the same information about the other two areas by breaking them down into sections. Explain how you excel in these other areas even though they are not your Primary Area. Even if Research is your Primary Area, you should also have some Professional Service (it won''t be clinical, but it should be administrative in your institute and societies in your specialty) and Teaching (this is a broad area that includes all levels of trainees, CME teaching, lectures, etc.).
  3. Any other achievements or specifics that are not easily derived from your CV and can help explain your full professional story. This is the time to give details on your successes and explain why you are qualified for this rank.
2. Anyone who reads your Personal Statement should be able to easily determine the evidence that supports your Primary Area of Excellence and why you are deserving of this rank! Do not make the referees and reviewers figure it out - spell it out in detail for them!
3. Use layman''s language and avoid using acronyms from your specialty. Anyone should be able to read and understand it.
4. Does NOT need to be on letterhead or signed. Do put your name and date at the top and number each page.
Teaching Evaluations and Summary (required)
1. NEW! Promotion candidates must provide a Teaching Evaluation Summary along with their teaching evaluations from the past 3 years, or 3 of the most recent years available. Everything should be combined into one PDF with the Evaluation Summary as the top page and uploaded into your application.
  1. The Evaluation Summary must be written by either your department or institute chair, institute administrator, or your institute education administrator. If you chair/administrator isn’t completely familiar with your teaching, you should provide them with a bio on your activities along with your 3 years of evaluations for them to review. The Summary should be signed/dated/letterhead, be 1-3 paragraphs long, and include:
    - Summary of your teaching evaluations, how you are doing, and teaching goals that are planned for you in the future.
    - What teaching you do in the department, institute, Cleveland Clinic, CCLCM, CWRU, CME courses, etc. (this should NOT be a list of each individual course you taught).
    - Who are the learners you teach (medical students, residents, fellows, post-docs, staff, other trainees at various levels).
2. If you must skip a year because the program doesn''t have enough trainees to trigger an evaluation report, insert a note to explain (add a page in the PDF that says "Not enough trainees to evaluate and the year.")
3. Evaluations must only cover yourself and NOT other staff; if needed, highlight the sections of the evaluation that pertain to you or the group at large. Do NOT include pages that don’t mention you.
4. The CCLCM and CWRU review committees heavily consider poor evaluations: low scores and negative comments. If your scores are below the departmental average or you have negative comments, it may jeopardize your promotion. To address the situation, you MUST do the following:
  1. Create a Teaching Portfolio – use it to address the issues and layout the plan you have in place to rectify the situation now and going forward. You should also explain how the issue started. Please see Teaching Portfolio section for information and note you would not need to create a long portfolio, 3-7 pages would be adequate.
  2. Have your chair update your nomination letter to highlight the steps you are or have taken to correct the situation. Have your chair explain how they are working with you on the solution.
5. Evaluations may come from many types of Teaching, including CME courses, training, lectures, grand rounds, presentations, etc. You can use evaluations from MedHub, CCLCM Courseval, other programs, or evaluations created by your department. Ask your Administrator (institute or education) to create, send/hand out, and collect evaluations. Evaluations are very important, and every effort should be made to collect them.
6. If you cannot find any evaluations and it will not be possible to have your Administrator create and collect them, you can still submit a promotion application. Note, you will still need to submit a Teaching Evaluation Summary (see above) that details your teaching. The CCLCM Faculty Affairs Office will try to solicit extra trainee referee letters to compensate for the lack of teaching evaluations. If you have any questions, contact CCLCM Faculty Affairs.
Teaching Portfolio (optional, recommended, or required)
1. CWRU has a broad definition of Teaching that covers many different audiences, subjects, and situations. All are important and should be noted.
2. Primary Area of Excellence in Teaching – a Portfolio is required. It should not exceed a maximum of 25 pages but can be shorter. Read instructions carefully and do NOT include teaching evaluations or trainee letters; instead, comment on how you have used these to improve your instruction.
3. Secondary Area of Excellence in Teaching – a Portfolio is recommended. In this scenario, the size can be smaller, maybe 3-7 pages. Read instructions carefully and do NOT include teaching evaluations or trainee letters; instead, comment on how you have used these to improve your instruction.
4. All others – a Portfolio is allowed. Any candidate can submit a Portfolio, and the size can be smaller, maybe 3-7 pages. Many choose to complete a Portfolio to expand upon their teaching contributions without taking space in their Personal Statement. Read instructions carefully and do NOT include teaching evaluations or trainee letters; instead, comment on how you have used these to improve your instruction.
Helpful Links
1. Teaching Portfolio; Video, Consultants, Directions, and Samples.
Referee Names (total input: External-14 names, Colleague-5 names, Trainee-8 names)
1. Referee letters and the names of those who provide them are confidential and can never be disclosed, even to your chair.
2. All referee requirements are the same for Associate Professor and Professor – there is no difference.
3. The CCLCM Faculty Affairs Office and NOT the candidate will solicit the referee letters. If a referee contacts you during the application process, please let them know that all questions must be referred to CCLCM [email protected].
4. Lerner Research Institute – LRI CAP referee letters (external, colleague, and trainee) can be used for your promotion if the letters are no more than 2 years old. This is why it is essential to apply for your CCLCM promotion, immediately upon receiving your LRI staff promotion. Your Administrator should send one email with each letter as a separate PDF to [email protected].
5. External referees (input 14 names)
  1. CCLCM Faculty Affairs will solicit the referees and needs a total of 6 good external letters to move your application forward. If more letters are received, they will be used.
  2. Need to put a minimum of 14 external names into your online application. You are allowed to put in extra names so your letters are received quicker.
  3. External referees will receive your CV and Personal Statement (and your Teaching Portfolio, but only if Teaching is your Primary Area of Excellence).
  4. Must discuss only the external referee names with your nominating chair.
    - Your chair will pick and give you 6 external referee names, and you will pick the remaining 8 names.
    - Your chair should provide you with the name, rank, email, etc., of their selections (open application to see more details).
    - You will put all the names into your online application and indicate which 6 names your chair provided (there is a box to check).
  5. Must choose names that hold the faculty rank of Professor (full-time) or work at the National Institutes of Health with the title of NIH Senior Investigator, NIH Senior Scientist, or NIH Senior Clinician. They can be national or international.
    - Letters from Associate Professor, Clinical Professor, Research Professor, Directors, Chairs, Presidents, etc., will be discarded!
    - You may choose one Professor Emeritus (if retired for less than 3 years and still academically involved).
  6. Submit verification in your application that each external referee holds the required rank by providing one form of proof:
    - Link to faculty website that shows external referee holds the rank of Professor, NIH Senior Investigator, NIH Senior Scientist, or NIH Senior Clinician (social media sites do NOT qualify as proof). This is the easiest way to show proof, but read the website carefully to make sure they still have the professor rank.
    - CV or biosketch that you were able to find online.
  7. NEW! Search your CV for each external referee's name to ensure you have never collaborated with them on any paper, project, or presentation within the past 7 years! See page 6 of the CWRU Appointment and Promotion Standards for official details.
  8. "Arm's Length" rules to follow so your application doesn’t have avoidable issues:
    1. MUST NOT...
      Have a close familial/friend relationship with you or be anyone who is likely, or perceived to be likely, to be predisposed, positively or negatively, about you.
      Have served as your doctoral or postdoctoral supervisor, or your mentor.
      Have been someone you supervised (former mentee, trainee, or student).
      Be serving as your supervisor or received compensation from or on behalf of you (in any type of employment relationship).
      Be a former institution, departmental, or school colleague within the past 7 years (even if you didn’t work directly with them). Visiting professor is fine.
      Have a close research/project collaboration with the candidate within the past 7 years, or actively planning to collaborate with you.
      Have coauthored with you within the past 7 years, or actively planning to coauthor with you – other than those produced by membership on a committee, consortium, or task force.
      Have participated in a large presentation/project that you both created within the past 7 years, or are actively planning with you.
      Pick more than ONE referee from the same institution or same city as it weakens your application.
      Pick anyone from Northeast Ohio academic institutions, Cleveland Clinic (all enterprise locations), CWRU, or CWRU-affiliate institution as it is not allowed.
    2. MUST...
      Be "arm's length" and should NOT have a close personal relationship with you, other than an acquaintance.
      Be a recognized expert in your field or a related field and be affiliated with an academic institution.
      Be in your subspecialty, or, if it is small, from a broader field or a related subspecialty.
    3. MIGHT...
      Have asked you to write a chapter in a book they edited or reviewed your manuscript for publication.
      Be aware of your work through publication, presentation, invitation to present at a conference they organized, or visiting professor at their institution.
      Have participated with you in a panel or large committee, or personal exchange.
      Ask them at a conference if you can have their business card so they can serve as an external referee for your future application.
      Consider leaving out any referee you are unsure about or might be too close to you – when in doubt, leave them out!
  9. NEW! Allowed contact with External Referees by your Department Administration, but these rules must be followed:
    1. You can ask your Department or Institute Administration office to reach out to your selected external referees.
    2. Department/Institute Administration must use the CCLCM provided email template to contact external referees.
      To request template and instructions, have your administration email [email protected].
    3. Your Administration will let you know if you need to add in more names, but will never tell you who declined or the reason.
6. Colleague referees (input 5 names)
  1. CCLCM Faculty Affairs will solicit the referees and needs a total of 2 good colleague letters to move your application forward. If more letters are received, they will be used.
    - Research - Team scientist: you must put in 5 extra team colleague names that can vouch for your valuable input to their papers and grants (how you are indispensable). Your application will need 2 extra team colleague letters to move forward (for a total of 4 colleague letters). Email [email protected] with the names of the 5 team colleague referees.
  2. Are current or former colleagues or supervisors that can comment on your administrative service role in a committee, project, or activity in which you were both engaged; and/or any of your teaching activities. The referee will be asked to draw upon their personal experiences with you and will usually not receive your CV. They can be national or international.
  3. You are allowed to contact your colleagues before submitting your application. You may ask if they are available to write a reference letter in the future when you apply for promotion. If they are too busy, that is fine, move on to another person. Once you submit your application, you can no longer speak with your colleagues about the letter.
  4. It is preferable, but not required, that colleague referees have an academic appointment and are in a position to evaluate you at your current level.
7. Trainee referees (input 8 names)
  1. CCLCM Faculty Affairs will solicit the referees and needs a total of 4 good trainee letters to move your application forward. If more letters are received, they will be used.
  2. Are any current or former students/trainees at any education level that you taught here or at another institution. They can be national or international and will usually not receive your CV.
  3. You are allowed to contact your trainees before submitting your application. You may ask if they are available to write a reference letter in the future when you apply for a faculty appointment. If they are too busy, that is fine, move on to another person. Once you submit your application, you are no longer allowed to speak with your trainees about the letter.
Submit Online Application (required)
1. You must SUBMIT your application so CCLCM Faculty Affairs can begin processing it.
2. Your application will be reviewed, and Faculty Affairs will contact you if any documents need to be updated.
3. Anytime you update your CV, you should upload a new version into your application with the current date, making sure it is in the 2021 CCLCM TEMPLATE and accurate

REQUIREMENTS CHECKLIST for:

Promotion to Associate Professor
Time Frame to Approval: 9 to 18 months
(printed on 1/3/2022)

General Considerations:

You should currently have an appointment as an Assistant Professor, if your current appointment is in the clinical/adjunct track, you would apply for a new appointment instead. Contact CCLCM Faculty Affairs with any questions.
Promotions no longer have a deadline. You can turn them in anytime and CCLCM Faculty Affairs will process them like all applications. Once your application is processed and approved at CCLCM it will be sent to CWRU. At CWRU it will be approved at multiple levels culminating with the CWRU Board of Trustees in either December or June. The promotion will be effective either January 1 or July 1 of whatever year it is finalized in. The timeline will range from approximately 9 to 18 months and cannot be rushed.
To effectively represent academic and professional growth, applications are generally submitted between 4-6 years from your last CCLCM appointment/promotion. However, no specific amount of time is required by CWRU – the only specification is that you have reached the required Regional / Midwest to emerging national or national reputation.
Must declare a Primary Area of Excellence and provide evidence of a reputation in this area. Please choose from:
- Professional Service (clinical & administrative) – the majority of candidates will choose this option because their primary focus is clinical along with administrative duties. Regional / Midwest to emerging national reputation is required.
- Teaching – will choose if their reputation is as an educator and education is the subject of most of their publications and presentations. Otherwise, for the majority of candidates, Teaching will be a Secondary Area of Excellence. Regional / Midwest to emerging national reputation is required.
- Research – will choose if they spend most of their time conducting research as either an independent or team scientist.
  - Independent scientist: you must have one RO1 Grants or equivalent and 25 or more publications with many as primary, secondary, or senior author. If you are in the Lerner Research Institute, you should be full staff, and it is best to start your CCLCM application immediately after your LRI promotion. International reputation is required.
  - Team scientist: there is no minimum of FTE or funding and usually there are more publications with 35+ being average, and it is more usual to be a middle author. Although no minimum funding is required, some participation in other investigators’ grants is expected. Your Personal Statement and chair nomination letter should note “team scientist” and how integral you are to the papers and projects you are involved with. If you are in the Lerner Research Institute, you should be full staff, and it is best to start your CCLCM application immediately after your LRI promotion. International reputation is required.
Must also provide evidence of acceptable contributions in a Secondary Area of Excellence. This should be noted in your Personal Statement and possibly in a Teaching Portfolio.
Promotions will reflect your documented fulfilment of the qualifications as outlined in the CWRU Appointment and Promotion Standards, please read for more detailed information.

Required application materials: expand all

Open Online Application (required)
1. Choose the most appropriate rank, and use our Comparison Tool to review the requirements.
2. Open your application right away and begin completing it.
CV (required)
1. NEW! Your CV MUST BE IN THE CCLCM TEMPLATE 2021! You are no longer permitted to use an old version, and your CV must exactly match the template (font, font size, date order, section format, etc.). Please don't submit your application until it does.
2. CV should be up-to-date and include your current role at Cleveland Clinic and when you started the position. When applicable, it should also include education, licensure, and certificate information.
Helpful Links
1. NEW! Download CCLCM CV Directions, Example & Template 2021
Chair's Nomination Letter (required)
1. Your nomination letter can only be requested through a link in your online application. Your chair will receive directions on what to put in the letter. Note the letter is confidential and can no longer be shared with you.
2. By requesting a nomination letter, you are agreeing that you have read the requirements for this rank and know that you have the needed reputation in your Primary Area of Excellence.
3. Your Chair, who writes your nomination letter, may NOT also serve as a referee.
Declaration of Candidacy for Promotion (required)
1. Read it thoroughly, complete the checkboxes, sign it, have your CCLCM Academic Chair sign it, and upload it into your application. Please note that the Academic Chair is often different than your Department or Institute Chair.
Journal Publications (3-5 documents only)
1. Only upload publications that were completed AFTER your last appointment/promotion. Do NOT use publications written previously as they were counted towards your last appointment/promotion.
2. When possible, ALWAYS choose publications that feature you as first, second, or senior author.
3. Do not upload a list of your publications.
4. Do NOT upload copies that are password protected!
Personal Narrative Statement (required)
1. You have up to 3 pages to explain to your referees and the review committee why you have the reputation required to support the Primary Area of Excellence you have chosen. You should clearly explain the following:
  1. Your Primary Area of Excellence (Professional Service, Teaching, or Research); what you have achieved, your goals for the future, and what you have done that shows you meet the needed reputation.
  2. Your other Areas of Excellence; explain the same information about the other two areas by breaking them down into sections. Explain how you excel in these other areas even though they are not your Primary Area. Even if Research is your Primary Area, you should also have some Professional Service (it won''t be clinical, but it should be administrative in your institute and societies in your specialty) and Teaching (this is a broad area that includes all levels of trainees, CME teaching, lectures, etc.).
  3. Any other achievements or specifics that are not easily derived from your CV and can help explain your full professional story. This is the time to give details on your successes and explain why you are qualified for this rank.
2. Anyone who reads your Personal Statement should be able to easily determine the evidence that supports your Primary Area of Excellence and why you are deserving of this rank! Do not make the referees and reviewers figure it out - spell it out in detail for them!
3. Use layman''s language and avoid using acronyms from your specialty. Anyone should be able to read and understand it.
4. Does NOT need to be on letterhead or signed. Do put your name and date at the top and number each page.
Teaching Evaluations and Summary (required)
1. NEW! Promotion candidates must provide a Teaching Evaluation Summary along with their teaching evaluations from the past 3 years, or 3 of the most recent years available. Everything should be combined into one PDF with the Evaluation Summary as the top page and uploaded into your application.
  1. The Evaluation Summary must be written by either your department or institute chair, institute administrator, or your institute education administrator. If you chair/administrator isn’t completely familiar with your teaching, you should provide them with a bio on your activities along with your 3 years of evaluations for them to review. The Summary should be signed/dated/letterhead, be 1-3 paragraphs long, and include:
    - Summary of your teaching evaluations, how you are doing, and teaching goals that are planned for you in the future.
    - What teaching you do in the department, institute, Cleveland Clinic, CCLCM, CWRU, CME courses, etc. (this should NOT be a list of each individual course you taught).
    - Who are the learners you teach (medical students, residents, fellows, post-docs, staff, other trainees at various levels).
2. If you must skip a year because the program doesn''t have enough trainees to trigger an evaluation report, insert a note to explain (add a page in the PDF that says "Not enough trainees to evaluate and the year.")
3. Evaluations must only cover yourself and NOT other staff; if needed, highlight the sections of the evaluation that pertain to you or the group at large. Do NOT include pages that don’t mention you.
4. The CCLCM and CWRU review committees heavily consider poor evaluations: low scores and negative comments. If your scores are below the departmental average or you have negative comments, it may jeopardize your promotion. To address the situation, you MUST do the following:
  1. Create a Teaching Portfolio – use it to address the issues and layout the plan you have in place to rectify the situation now and going forward. You should also explain how the issue started. Please see Teaching Portfolio section for information and note you would not need to create a long portfolio, 3-7 pages would be adequate.
  2. Have your chair update your nomination letter to highlight the steps you are or have taken to correct the situation. Have your chair explain how they are working with you on the solution.
5. Evaluations may come from many types of Teaching, including CME courses, training, lectures, grand rounds, presentations, etc. You can use evaluations from MedHub, CCLCM Courseval, other programs, or evaluations created by your department. Ask your Administrator (institute or education) to create, send/hand out, and collect evaluations. Evaluations are very important, and every effort should be made to collect them.
6. If you cannot find any evaluations and it will not be possible to have your Administrator create and collect them, you can still submit a promotion application. Note, you will still need to submit a Teaching Evaluation Summary (see above) that details your teaching. The CCLCM Faculty Affairs Office will try to solicit extra trainee referee letters to compensate for the lack of teaching evaluations. If you have any questions, contact CCLCM Faculty Affairs.
Teaching Portfolio (optional, recommended, or required)
1. CWRU has a broad definition of Teaching that covers many different audiences, subjects, and situations. All are important and should be noted.
2. Primary Area of Excellence in Teaching – a Portfolio is required. It should not exceed a maximum of 25 pages but can be shorter. Read instructions carefully and do NOT include teaching evaluations or trainee letters; instead, comment on how you have used these to improve your instruction.
3. Secondary Area of Excellence in Teaching – a Portfolio is recommended. In this scenario, the size can be smaller, maybe 3-7 pages. Read instructions carefully and do NOT include teaching evaluations or trainee letters; instead, comment on how you have used these to improve your instruction.
4. All others – a Portfolio is allowed. Any candidate can submit a Portfolio, and the size can be smaller, maybe 3-7 pages. Many choose to complete a Portfolio to expand upon their teaching contributions without taking space in their Personal Statement. Read instructions carefully and do NOT include teaching evaluations or trainee letters; instead, comment on how you have used these to improve your instruction.
Helpful Links
1. Teaching Portfolio; Video, Consultants, Directions, and Samples.
Referee Names (total input: External-14 names, Colleague-5 names, Trainee-8 names)
1. Referee letters and the names of those who provide them are confidential and can never be disclosed, even to your chair.
2. All referee requirements are the same for Associate Professor and Professor – there is no difference.
3. The CCLCM Faculty Affairs Office and NOT the candidate will solicit the referee letters. If a referee contacts you during the application process, please let them know that all questions must be referred to CCLCM [email protected].
4. Lerner Research Institute – LRI CAP referee letters (external, colleague, and trainee) can be used for your promotion if the letters are no more than 2 years old. This is why it is essential to apply for your CCLCM promotion, immediately upon receiving your LRI staff promotion. Your Administrator should send one email with each letter as a separate PDF to [email protected].
5. External referees (input 14 names)
  1. CCLCM Faculty Affairs will solicit the referees and needs a total of 6 good external letters to move your application forward. If more letters are received, they will be used.
  2. Need to put a minimum of 14 external names into your online application. You are allowed to put in extra names so your letters are received quicker.
  3. External referees will receive your CV and Personal Statement (and your Teaching Portfolio, but only if Teaching is your Primary Area of Excellence).
  4. Must discuss only the external referee names with your nominating chair.
    - Your chair will pick and give you 6 external referee names, and you will pick the remaining 8 names.
    - Your chair should provide you with the name, rank, email, etc., of their selections (open application to see more details).
    - You will put all the names into your online application and indicate which 6 names your chair provided (there is a box to check).
  5. Must choose names that hold the faculty rank of Professor (full-time) or work at the National Institutes of Health with the title of NIH Senior Investigator, NIH Senior Scientist, or NIH Senior Clinician. They can be national or international.
    - Letters from Associate Professor, Clinical Professor, Research Professor, Directors, Chairs, Presidents, etc., will be discarded!
    - You may choose one Professor Emeritus (if retired for less than 3 years and still academically involved).
  6. Submit verification in your application that each external referee holds the required rank by providing one form of proof:
    - Link to faculty website that shows external referee holds the rank of Professor, NIH Senior Investigator, NIH Senior Scientist, or NIH Senior Clinician (social media sites do NOT qualify as proof). This is the easiest way to show proof, but read the website carefully to make sure they still have the professor rank.
    - CV or biosketch that you were able to find online.
  7. NEW! Search your CV for each external referee's name to ensure you have never collaborated with them on any paper, project, or presentation within the past 7 years! See page 6 of the CWRU Appointment and Promotion Standards for official details.
  8. "Arm's Length" rules to follow so your application doesn’t have avoidable issues:
    1. MUST NOT...
      Have a close familial/friend relationship with you or be anyone who is likely, or perceived to be likely, to be predisposed, positively or negatively, about you.
      Have served as your doctoral or postdoctoral supervisor, or your mentor.
      Have been someone you supervised (former mentee, trainee, or student).
      Be serving as your supervisor or received compensation from or on behalf of you (in any type of employment relationship).
      Be a former institution, departmental, or school colleague within the past 7 years (even if you didn’t work directly with them). Visiting professor is fine.
      Have a close research/project collaboration with the candidate within the past 7 years, or actively planning to collaborate with you.
      Have coauthored with you within the past 7 years, or actively planning to coauthor with you – other than those produced by membership on a committee, consortium, or task force.
      Have participated in a large presentation/project that you both created within the past 7 years, or are actively planning with you.
      Pick more than ONE referee from the same institution or same city as it weakens your application.
      Pick anyone from Northeast Ohio academic institutions, Cleveland Clinic (all enterprise locations), CWRU, or CWRU-affiliate institution as it is not allowed.
    2. MUST...
      Be "arm's length" and should NOT have a close personal relationship with you, other than an acquaintance.
      Be a recognized expert in your field or a related field and be affiliated with an academic institution.
      Be in your subspecialty, or, if it is small, from a broader field or a related subspecialty.
    3. MIGHT...
      Have asked you to write a chapter in a book they edited or reviewed your manuscript for publication.
      Be aware of your work through publication, presentation, invitation to present at a conference they organized, or visiting professor at their institution.
      Have participated with you in a panel or large committee, or personal exchange.
      Ask them at a conference if you can have their business card so they can serve as an external referee for your future application.
      Consider leaving out any referee you are unsure about or might be too close to you – when in doubt, leave them out!
  9. NEW! Allowed contact with External Referees by your Department Administration, but these rules must be followed:
    1. You can ask your Department or Institute Administration office to reach out to your selected external referees.
    2. Department/Institute Administration must use the CCLCM provided email template to contact external referees.
      To request template and instructions, have your administration email [email protected].
    3. Your Administration will let you know if you need to add in more names, but will never tell you who declined or the reason.
6. Colleague referees (input 5 names)
  1. CCLCM Faculty Affairs will solicit the referees and needs a total of 2 good colleague letters to move your application forward. If more letters are received, they will be used.
    - Research - Team scientist: you must put in 5 extra team colleague names that can vouch for your valuable input to their papers and grants (how you are indispensable). Your application will need 2 extra team colleague letters to move forward (for a total of 4 colleague letters). Email [email protected] with the names of the 5 team colleague referees.
  2. Are current or former colleagues or supervisors that can comment on your administrative service role in a committee, project, or activity in which you were both engaged; and/or any of your teaching activities. The referee will be asked to draw upon their personal experiences with you and will usually not receive your CV. They can be national or international.
  3. You are allowed to contact your colleagues before submitting your application. You may ask if they are available to write a reference letter in the future when you apply for promotion. If they are too busy, that is fine, move on to another person. Once you submit your application, you can no longer speak with your colleagues about the letter.
  4. It is preferable, but not required, that colleague referees have an academic appointment and are in a position to evaluate you at your current level.
7. Trainee referees (input 8 names)
  1. CCLCM Faculty Affairs will solicit the referees and needs a total of 4 good trainee letters to move your application forward. If more letters are received, they will be used.
  2. Are any current or former students/trainees at any education level that you taught here or at another institution. They can be national or international and will usually not receive your CV.
  3. You are allowed to contact your trainees before submitting your application. You may ask if they are available to write a reference letter in the future when you apply for a faculty appointment. If they are too busy, that is fine, move on to another person. Once you submit your application, you are no longer allowed to speak with your trainees about the letter.
Submit Online Application (required)
1. You must SUBMIT your application so CCLCM Faculty Affairs can begin processing it.
2. Your application will be reviewed, and Faculty Affairs will contact you if any documents need to be updated.
3. Anytime you update your CV, you should upload a new version into your application with the current date, making sure it is in the 2021 CCLCM TEMPLATE and accurate

REQUIREMENTS CHECKLIST for:

Promotion to Assistant Professor
Time Frame to Approval: 6 to 9 months
(printed on 1/3/2022)

General Considerations:

You should currently have an appointment as an Instructor. If your current appointment is in the clinical/adjunct track, you would apply for a new appointment and not a promotion. Contact CCLCM Faculty Affairs with questions.
Promotions no longer have a deadline. You can turn them in anytime and CCLCM Faculty Affairs will process them like all applications. Once your application is processed and approved at CCLCM it will be sent to CWRU. At CWRU it will be approved at multiple levels culminating with the CWRU Board of Trustees in either December or June. The promotion will be effective either January 1 or July 1 of whatever year it is finalized in.
To effectively represent academic and professional growth, applications are generally submitted between 4-6 years from your last CCLCM appointment/promotion. However, no specific amount of time is required by CWRU. For Lerner Research Institute – check with your institute chair for departmental promotion specifics.
Must declare a Primary Area of Excellence. Please choose from:
- Professional Service (clinical & administrative) – the majority of candidates will choose this option because their primary focus is clinical along with administrative duties.
- Teaching – will choose if their reputation is as an educator and education is the subject of most of their publications and presentations.
- Research – will choose if they spend most of their time conducting research as either an independent or team scientist. If you are in the Lerner Research Institute, it is best to start your CCLCM application immediately after your LRI promotion.
Promotions will reflect your documented fulfilment of the qualifications as outlined in the CWRU Appointment and Promotion Standards, please read for more detailed information.

Required application materials: expand all

Open Online Application (required)
1. Choose the most appropriate rank, and use our Comparison Tool to review the requirements.
2. Open your application right away and begin completing it.
CV (required)
1. NEW! Your CV MUST BE IN THE CCLCM TEMPLATE 2021! You are no longer permitted to use an old version, and your CV must exactly match the template (font, font size, date order, section format, etc.). Please don't submit your application until it does.
2. CV should be up-to-date and include your current role at Cleveland Clinic and when you started the position. When applicable, it should also include education, licensure, and certificate information.
Helpful Links
1. NEW! Download CCLCM CV Directions, Example & Template 2021
Chair's Nomination Letter (required)
1. Your nomination letter can only be requested through a link in your online application. Your chair will receive directions on what to put in the letter. Note the letter is confidential and can no longer be shared with you.
2. By requesting a nomination letter, you are agreeing that you have read the requirements for this rank and know that you have the needed reputation in your Primary Area of Excellence.
3. Your Chair, who writes your nomination letter, may NOT also serve as a referee.
Referee Names (total input: Colleague-6 names)
1. Referee letters and the names of who provide them are confidential and cannot be disclosed.
2. The CCLCM Faculty Affairs Office and NOT the candidate will solicit the referee letters. If a referee contacts you during the application process, please let them know that all questions must be referred to CCLCM Faculty Affairs Office.
3. Lerner Research Institute – LRI CAP referee letters (external, colleague, and trainee) can be used for your promotion if the letters are no more than 2 years old. This is why it is essential to apply for your CCLCM promotion, immediately upon receiving your LRI staff promotion. Your Administrator should send one email with each letter as a separate PDF to [email protected].
4. Colleague referees (input 6 names)
  1. CCLCM Faculty Affairs will solicit the referees and needs a total of 3 good colleague letters to move your application forward. If more letters are received, they will be used.
  2. Are current or former colleagues or supervisors that can comment on your administrative service role in a committee, project, or activity in which you were both engaged; and/or any of your teaching activities. The referee will be asked to draw upon their personal experiences with you and will usually not receive your CV. They can be national or international.
    - Important: if you are less than 2 years out of post-grad training (intern, resident, fellow, post-grad doc, etc.) you MUST choose supervisors from your training and NOT current coworkers.
  3. You are allowed to contact your colleagues before submitting your application. You may ask if they are available to write a reference letter in the future when you apply for a faculty appointment. If they are too busy, that is fine, move on to another person. Once you submit your application, you can no longer speak with your colleagues about the letter.
  4. It is preferable, but not required, that colleague referees have an academic appointment and are in a position to evaluate you at your current level.
Submit Online Application (required)
1. You must SUBMIT your application so CCLCM Faculty Affairs can begin processing it.
2. Your application will be reviewed, and Faculty Affairs will contact you if any documents need to be updated.

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

Faculty Applications

Office of Faculty Affairs

Education Institute; 9500 Euclid Avenue, EC40 (HEC Bldg); Phone: 216-442-5627; Email: CCLCM Faculty Affairs Manager

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

Faculty Applications

Office of Faculty Affairs

Education Institute; 9500 Euclid Avenue, EC40 (HEC Bldg); Phone: 216-442-5627; Email: CCLCM Faculty Affairs Manager

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

Faculty Applications

Office of Faculty Affairs

Education Institute; 9500 Euclid Avenue, EC40 (HEC Bldg); Phone: 216-442-5627; Email: CCLCM Faculty Affairs Manager