Part I: Introduction

Our Mission
The mission of the Geisel School of Medicine (Geisel[1]) is to address the world’s health problems through research and discovery, the evaluation and improvement of systems of healthcare, and the education of the best future physicians and scientists.

Our Vision
Our vision is to be the medical school

  • That sets the standard for educating physicians, scientists, and teachers who will act in concert to improve health locally and globally
  • To build a diverse and inclusive community in order to enrich learning, foster innovation and tackle the most vexing challenges in health care
  • To generate and disseminate new knowledge through research and education that leads to new and more effective therapies and to systematic improvement of health care delivery

This mission rests on our ability to appoint and advance faculty and non-faculty academics (NFAs) who excel in teaching, research, scholarship, engagement, and the promotion of wellness of the population, as well as excellence in clinical care. Geisel grants these academic appointments to qualified health science professionals in recognition of the diverse contributions they make to the mission of the school as educators of students of many types, as scientists who create an environment of discovery, as clinicians who excel in promoting health, and as professionals who implement change that advances academic medicine and biomedical research. Academic titles are awarded on the basis of qualifications, experience, and achievement.

Our Expectations
The expectations for how each member of our academic community will commit their time and the criteria they will need to fulfill for academic advancement will depend on the faculty/NFA line, the track, and the rank of each individual. However, scholarship in its broadest definition to “think, communicate and learn”[2] is fundamental to the endeavors of all members of Geisel, and both appointments and promotions are granted in recognition of excellence in scholarship.

Criteria for Excellence
The specific criteria for excellence may vary, but key elements relate to

  • Intellectual productivity
  • The development and dissemination of new knowledge
  • Advances in one’s field or discipline leading to recognition by peers, students, patients, and the broader community

We also value and recognize innovation in and leadership of programs that advance our shared academic mission beyond the lab, the clinic and the classroom to our academic community and to society as a whole.

The information in this document pertains to those precepts and guidelines that govern academic appointments and advancement in different academic track and lines. There are many other important documents that govern the expectations, responsibilities, and protections of our academic community. Documents which are specific for the Geisel School of Medicine may be found on the website for the Office of Faculty Affairs. All members of the Geisel community have an obligation to familiarize themselves with these documents, as well as the institutional policies that govern expectations across all of Dartmouth, and to follow that guidance.

[1]Geisel is one of five schools that comprise Dartmouth College "Dartmouth":  Arts & Sciences, Geisel, Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, Thayer School of Engineering, and Tuck School of Business.  The preponderance of non-volunteer faculty members of Geisel are employees of Dartmouth and its major clinical partners, Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) and the White River Junction Veterans' Affairs Medical Center (WRJ VAMC).

[2]Boyer, Ernest L. Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1990.