Faculty Appointments

School of Medicine faculty members whose appointments are greater than or equal to 50 percent FTE are eligible for appointment to the Full-Time Faculty and are required to sign a University of Colorado Medicine (CU Medicine)  Full Member Practice Agreement.  Go to Member Practice Agreements  for more information regarding these agreements.

School of Medicine faculty appointed to the level of Associate Professor or Professor are subject to review and approval of the School of Medicine Faculty Promotions Committee and the Executive Committee.  The term "visiting" will be used in the faculty member's title (e.g., "Visiting Associate Professor" and "Visiting Professor") until the dossier has been approved by these committees.

Faculty employed at affiliated hospitals also hold regular School of Medicine faculty appointments; the same promotions standards are applied to all faculty, whether employed by the University of Colorado or an affiliated hospital.  However, faculty employed at affiliated hospitals may be subject to different policies, including those pertaining to compensation, benefits and eligibility for tenure or sabbatical assignment.

Faculty members whose appointments are less than 50 percent FTE, including volunteer faculty, are eligible for appointment to the Adjoint Faculty.

Upon retirement, any faculty member who has given exemplary service to the School and/or continues to be active in the affairs of the School of Medicine may be allowed to retain his or her title with the description of “Emeriti.” The recommendation for this status can originate with the appropriate department chairperson, who should forward a letter detailing the faculty member's accomplishments during his or her career and a current CV to the Office of Faculty Affairs.  The Office of Faculty Affairs will then forward the recommendation to the school Executive Committee.  If approved, the recommendation will then be forwarded to the Chancellor of CU Anschutz for final approval.  The entire process generally takes 4-5 months for completion.

Faculty Appointment Types

The School of Medicine recognizes four types of faculty appointments:

• Tenured appointments continue until termination by resignation, retirement or otherwise pursuant to applicable Regent laws and policies.
• Indeterminate appointments are made for an indefinite period of time; continuance is dependent upon inclusion in the approved budget and available funding. 
• Limited appointments are for specified periods of time (from less than one year to four years).  Instructors, Sr. Instructors and Assistant Professor will usually receive one year, renewable limited appointments.  Associate and full Professors who are not tenured will usually receive renewable limited appointments of 1, 2, or 3 years.  Faculty members with limited appointments are entitled to notice of non-reappointment.  Specific guidelines for notice of non-reappointment can be found in the Standards for Notice of Non-reappointment for Non-tenured Faculty.  
• At-will appointments are made for an indefinite period of time; their continuance is at-will.  Faculty members holding limited or indeterminate appointments may not be reassigned to at-will appointments unless proper notice is provided, in accordance with school and university policies. 

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Specific Guidelines for Faculty Appointments:

• As outlined in the Rules of the School of Medicine, Instructors, Senior Instructors and Assistant Professors will usually receive limited appointments of one year.  Associate and full Professors who are not tenured will usually receive limited appointments of one, two or three years.  Limited appointments may be renewed.
• New faculty hires many hold limited, at-will or indeterminate appointments; newly hired faculty members who hold at-will appointments should be converted to limited appointments at the end of their first year of service.
• Faculty members whose salary is dependent solely or primarily on external grants or contracts, or where continued funding is uncertain, may hold indeterminate appointments for an indefinite period of time.
• Instructors and Senior Instructors holding advanced practice degrees (for example, Physician Assistants, Anesthesia Assistants and Advanced Practice Nurses) may hold limited, indeterminate or at-will appointments. 
• Information about these appointment types, and these guidelines, shall be available to all new faculty members at the time of hire.

Note: the above specific guidelines were developed by the School of Medicine Blue Ribbon Task Force on Faculty Appointment Types and were approved by the School of Medicine Executive Committee and Faculty Senate.

Faculty members whose appointments are greater than or equal to 50 percent FTE are eligible for health and life insurance benefits, as well as participation in the CU retirement program under policies approved by the Board of Regents.  If you have any questions about available benefits as a faculty member, please contact the Payroll and Benefits Service Center at (303) 860-4200 or their website: https://www.cu.edu/employee-services.