Subappendix C: Chair Letter Instructions

  1. The Chair’s letter included for reviewers (below) should only briefly and factually summarize the candidate’s portfolio (e.g., to indicate their relative distribution of effort to teaching, clinical care or research, their area of expertise; whether they were hired mid-rank from another institution; or other pertinent factual information). This letter should not provide an assessment or other subjective measures of the candidate or indicate whether or not the candidate has (has not) been unanimously recommended by the departmental committee for promotion.
  1. The Chair’s letter to the APT Committee that accompanies the candidate’s full portfolio (Chair’s letter to Dean) should provide a full summary of the candidate’s contributions, especially noting salient comments by the outside reviewers and aspects of the candidate’s professional performance that may not be evident from their CV alone and should indicate whether or not the promotion was unanimously supported by the department committee.

 

Chair Letter to External Reviewers

«today»

«name»

«address»

Dear «lttrname»:

The promotion and appointment process of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (Geisel) involves review of each nominee's curriculum vitae and other selected material by acknowledged academic leaders outside of the Dartmouth community. You have been identified as an authority in field of endeavor related to those of the candidate, and I write to ask if you would be willing and able to provide a critique of Dr. XXXX’s qualifications for this [appointment/promotion] at the rank of Associate Professor/Professor in [Tenure-track/tenure, Nontenure-track, or Academic Medical System (AMS) Faculty Line] in the [relevant track, e.g., Clinician-Scholar Track]. Please note that it is not essential for you to know the candidate personally.

[If AMS]: Information on criteria for appointments or promotion in the AMS Faculty Line may be found at the link provided below for our document entitled, Academic Appointments Promotions and Titles at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/ofa/document/appointments-promotions-titles/part-ii-academic-titles/full-voting-members-of-the-professoriate/). This is a non-tenure appointment.

[If Nontenure Line]: Information on criteria for appointments or promotion in the Nontenure Faculty Line may be found at the link provided below in our document entitled, Academic Appointments Promotions and Titles at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/ofa/document/appointments-promotions-titles/part-ii-academic-titles/non-tenure-faculty-line/). This is a non-tenure appointment.

[If Tenure-track/Tenure Line]: Information on criteria for appointments or promotion in the Tenure-track/Tenure Faculty Line and for tenure may be found at the link provided below for our document entitled, Academic Appointments Promotions and Titles at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/ofa/document/appointments-promotions-titles/part-ii-academic-titles/tenure-track-tenure-faculty-line-2/). As Dr. XXXX is also being considered for an [appointment/promotion] to Professor with tenure, please also indicate

i) does the candidate warrant tenure at Geisel?

ii) would the candidate be likely to be awarded tenure at your own institution?

Should you provide it, your letter of reference, along with those of other external and internal referees, learner evaluations, and the candidate’s CV will be provided to  Geisel’s APT Committee, the Dean of Geisel, the Dean’s Advisory Board, the Provost of Dartmouth College [and, if tenure, The Dartmouth College Board of Trustees]. The APT Committee comprises ten members of the Geisel faculty at the rank of Professor whose expertise reflects the distribution of clinical and foundational departments at Geisel and the Dean of Faculty Affairs.

To inform your assessment, we provide the following material:

1) Dr. XXXX's current curriculum vitae.

2) Links to 3-5 publications that Dr. XXX considers their most significant. Please let us know if you cannot access the publications through these urls (i.e., your library does not have a subscription to the referenced journals).  We will send the pdfs.

Against this background, I ask if you would provide a brief synopsis of your expertise as it relates to the candidate and then emphasize your detailed assessment of the following areas of endeavor as defined at the link provided above for the XXXX Faculty Line/ XXXX Track:

  • The candidate's scholarship, both conventional and non-conventional, and their position as a leader in their field.
  • The candidate’s contributions to specific areas of research/inquiry.
  • If you are able to do so, the candidate’s teaching and pedagogical accomplishments: you may not have heard the candidate lecture or provide individual instruction to learners, but have perhaps heard the candidate speak at a regional, national or international venue, and you have perhaps observed them on a national panel or study section or the equivalent. Please use such observations where applicable.
  • [If relevant; i.e., mainly AMS Line] If you are able to do so, on the candidate’s expertise in their specific area of clinical care.
  • Finally, please comment if you know the applicant through work they have done with respect to engagement: those activities of the candidate that incorporate how we put into practice the results of our scholarly enterprise and extend our academic efforts beyond the university to have a direct impact on the way people live.

We are providing a template that you may use to guide your responses to these questions (it is similar to the template used by our Appointments, Promotions and Titles Committee).  As noted, in all relevant areas, we would appreciate it if you could provide a narrative summation of the significance and impact of the work that would be understandable to an informed, but non-expert audience and whether or not you feel that the candidate demonstrates national/international statue in their given field(s).

We recognize that such assessments are not trivial commitments and, if you are able to provide this reference, we would be extremely grateful for it and if we could receive it by  «date». Needless to say, your comments will be held in the strictest confidence. Please feel free to reach out to me should you have any questions or concerns.

With many thanks again for assisting us in this important process.

Sincerely,

Department Chair

External Review Template (Geisel APT Promotions/Appointment Process)