Research Faculty Promotion Guidelines

Research Professorial Faculty

Research faculty may be promoted into or within the professorial ranks to reflect increasing levels of responsibility, skills, and scholarship consistent with the professorial rank descriptions in section 6.2.3 of the Faculty Handbook.

Promotions in rank are generally requested in accordance with the Research Faculty Promotion Guidelines and approved concurrent with the Board of Visitors meeting in June. Typically, a salary adjustment for promotion commensurate with the salaries of similar promoted research faulty in the department will accompany a promotion. 

Research faculty promotion packets should be submitted to the Office of Research and Innovation according to the following guidelines:

• Research Faculty Promotion Guidelines FAQs
• Faculty Promotion Process 2024-25 (PDF)
• Research Faculty Promotion Overview and Important Deadlines Summary 2024-25 (PDF)
• Research Faculty Ranks Matrix (PDF)
  
• Research Faculty Promotion - Approval Level Summary (PDF)
• Position description entered/updated in the position management system, www.jobs.vt.edu/hr

 The following templates are provided to assist research faculty in preparing their dossiers:

• Research Faculty Promotion Dossier Template 2024-25 (PDF)
• Research Faculty Promotion Cover Page 2024-25 (DOCX)

Departmental promotion committees should follow these guidelines when requestings external reviews:

• Research Faculty Promotion Guidelines for External Reviews (PDF)

Research Faculty in Non-Professorial Ranks

Non-professorial research faculty may be promoted in rank to reflect increasing levels of responsibility, skill, or scholarship consistent with the rank descriptions in sections 6.3 and 6.4 of the Faculty Handbook,and promotion in rank may occur at any time throughout the year. 

For example, a postdoctoral associate who has exceeded its time in rank (four years) must be promoted in rank in order to continue employment with Virginia Tech; or a research associate whose position has changed to include a significant increase in responsibilities and supervision, may be promoted in rank to more effectively align with the expectations of the position.

To request a promotion in rank for a non-professorial research faculty, please submit the following to the Office of Research and Innovation Human Resources:

1. Personnel action form for faculty (P3A-F) to include justification for one of the four acceptable reasons for a salary adjustment. Where appropriate, please provide comparison to external market data.
   
2. Position description entered/updated in the position management system, www.jobs.vt.edu/hr.
   
3. Attach candidate's updated CV/Resume.
   
4. New Terms of Faculty Offer may also be required where the terms of employment have changed, such as change in FTE, restricted to regular appointment.