Joe Sakai is the Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs in the Department of Psychiatry. He came to the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado for residency in 1997 and has been interested in mentorship and education throughout his career. He was named the VC for FA for Psychiatry in 2023.  Please reach out directly to him with any questions, concerns, ideas or need for support.  He can be reached at joseph.sakai@cuanschutz.edu and 303-724-7402.

Randy Pyers is the Faculty Affairs Manager in the Department of Psychiatry.  Prior to joining the Department in September, 2022, Randy worked in the Office of Faculty Affairs at CU Boulder for eight years.  Randy is committed to supporting faculty throughout their careers.  Please reach out to Randy if you need assistance with faculty matters, randal.pyers@cuanschutz.edu.

Shala Spikes is the HR Manager in the Department of Psychiatry. Shala joined the Department in February 2020. Prior to joining the department Shala worked as a Business Support Specialist in the CU Medicine – OB/GYN Department providing multiple areas of support to faculty and that including the realm of Faculty Affairs. Shala enjoys supporting faculty and is committed to supporting faculty throughout their careers. Please reach out to Shala if you need assistance with faculty matters, shala.spikes@cuanschutz.edu.

Click here to review guidance from the School of Medicine and Department on Instructor and Senior Instructor faculty ranks.

When considering a move from Instructor/Senior Instructor to Assistant Professor, we hope that our faculty carefully consider progress in areas required for future promotion (e.g., Assistant professors generally submit a dossier for midcourse review at the end of year 3 in rank and submit a dossier for promotion to Associate Professor at the end of year 6 in rank). Thus we recommend review of the promotions matrix (Promotions criteria) and a careful discussion with your mentorship team. The processes for moving to Assistant Professor are outlined here (Faculty Affairs Intranet).  The procedures are essentially the same across disciplines, but the key individuals required to be notified differ (thus we have guidance documents for Social Workers, APPs, Psychologists, as well as a general procedures document.  The Mentor-Mentee Agreement of Roles and Responsibilities (Faculty Affairs Intranet) should be reviewed and signed by both you and your mentor and submitted with your request. A developmental guide for clinician educators on promotion has been developed and is available here. That document has helpful information that all faculty should know in advance of moving to an Assistant Professorship to help them prepare for midcourse and promotion. Similarly viewing this free video course Promotions 201 can help in understanding what is required at midcourse and promotion (also see below).

The annual evaluation process for the Department of Psychiatry uses PRiSM (link to PRiSM) and the department provides videos and guidance documents on how to complete your annual evaluation (available here -- > Faculty Affairs Intranet).  All faculty are required to submit their CV in the SOM format (and to update this annually, in part to help reduce later burden at the time of midcourse review and promotion). We hope that faculty will take the opportunity to utilize the annual performance evaluation to (1) meet with their mentors and supervisors, (2) to highlight their accomplishments, and (3) to carefully consider their passions and available opportunities for short term goal setting. Please use this process to help reflect on what is meaningful to you - in the ideal these meetings allow faculty to reflect on their priorities, ambitions and to identify, with their mentors and supervisors, achievable short-term steps in those directions. A CUSOM guide on PRiSM is available here.

Usually at the end of year 3 as an Assistant Professor, faculty are asked to submit their dossier for midcourse review. A dossier preparation guide is available from the School of Medicine here and additional documents are available on the department’s intranet. A departmental committee, well-versed in the criteria for promotion and administratively separated from Faculty Affairs, will review your dossier and provide written feedback on progress.

At the end of your sixth year as an Assistant Professor, you will be asked to prepare your dossier for promotion to Associate Professor. Specifics about how to prepare a dossier are available from the School of Medicine here and the departmental intranet also has helpful documents regarding the promotion process and timelines/due dates. It is important to explicitly demonstrate how you meet (e.g., using the matrixes) requirements for meritorious vs. excellence in each domain.  But perhaps more important is the ability to tell your story – it is not helpful to have a large number of unrelated achievements – instead one should think about how your accomplishments tie together into a narrative that undergirds your values, goals, and area(s) of focus. You are trying to describe your academic identity in a cohesive narrative statement. Dr. Anne Libby, along with Vice Chairs for Faculty Affairs from various Departments, has created a helpful video course on preparing for promotions that is available here. Dossiers are reviewed by the Departmental Promotions & Tenure Committee (which is administratively separated from our Office of Faculty Affairs) and the SOM Promotions Committees. Information regarding promotion from Associate Professor to Professor is also included in the Dossier prep materials; there is not promotion clock for promotion to full professor.

Thank you for your interest in the Volunteer Clinical Faculty program for the Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine. Our Volunteer Faculty play a critical role in helping to educate medical students and young physicians, deliver high-quality health care and are involved in other important activities that further align with the departmental mission.

Process of applying to the Volunteer Clinical Faculty:

When planning to apply, all applicants should first:

• Review the Clinical Faculty Guidelines for Psychiatry, which describes the Volunteer Clinical Faculty Program requirements. 
• Develop a plan for meeting the 30 credit per year requirement.
• Identify a faculty sponsor (in general a plan for meeting the 30 credit per year requirement can be developed in collaboration with the faculty sponsor).

To apply:

• Complete the SOM application (which requires CV, proof of malpractice insurance)

Annual survey and reappointment:

• After appointment, Volunteer Clinical Faculty are expected to complete an annual survey (survey sent by email each year)
• Volunteer Clinical Faculty are appointed for 3-year terms and reappointment is, in part, determined by demonstrated contributions to the departmental mission

At any point in the process, please reach out to Dr. Sakai, chair of the Volunteer Clinical Faculty Committee (joseph.sakai@cuanschutz.edu), with questions.