Promotion to Full Professor: information for faculty
Overview
OnFebruary 11, 2026, CETLL and the Provost’s Office hosted a panel discussion about guidance for faculty who are interested in applying for promotion to full professor.The goals of the discussion were to review the promotion process, discuss expectations and evaluation criteria, andidentifybest practices for documenting scholarly impact, teaching excellence, and service contributions to build a strong and compelling case.
Panelists included:
- Ashima Kant (Professor and Chair, Department of Family, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences)
- Emilia Lopez (Professor, School Psychology)
- Michael Nelson (Associate Professor and Department Chair, Art History)
- Kate Pechenkina (Professor, Anthropology; Dean of Faculty Social Sciences)
- Larissa Swedell (Professor and Department Chair, Anthropology)
- Maria DeLongoria (Moderator) (Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Graduate Studies)
The panel discussion and the open Q+A that followed emphasized the following points:
- The rank ofFullProfessorreflects sustained leadership and impact across research, teaching, and service. Successful candidates demonstrate continued growth beyond tenure through an evolving scholarly trajectory, effective teaching and mentorship, and meaningful service contributions at multiple levels.
- Faculty are encouraged to begin planning early—well before they feel ready—by consulting mentors andchairs, as expectations vary by fieldand there is no fixed timeline.
- The process typically takes over a year and centers on a comprehensive portfolio, including a CV, a concise personal statement, and strong letters from external reviewers, which are critical to evaluation.
- Clear, accessible documentation of impact is essential, along with careful preparation of materials and alignment between the CV and statement.
- Mentorship and institutional resourcescansupport the process. Candidates may reapplyiftheir application is not successful.
Why pursue promotion to Full Professor?
Full Professorship signals leadership and impact in your field. This promotion recognizes sustained contributions to scholarship, teaching, and service. There isadditionalcompensation tied to promotion as well.
Promotion also strengthens the department and college overall, increasing visibility through uplifting the impact of faculty work.
When should you start thinking about promotion?
Start before you feel ready. Begin conversations with your department chair a few years after tenure.Speakwith your mentor and colleagues who have already gone through promotion for guidance and feedback.Look at examples within your department for useful guidance about what constitutes a solid case, since expectations vary across fields and institutions. Early discussions can help clarify benchmarks and expectations for a “solidcase,”so you understand what will be needed and make a realistic plan.
While you are encouraged to move towards the goal of Full Professor, there isno fixed timeline.Not everyone pursues promotion immediately—and breaks or nonlinear trajectories are normal.
Speak with your mentor and colleagues who have already gone through promotion for guidance and feedback.
What does the process and timeline look like?
The promotion process typically unfolds over the course of a year or more.
Candidates prepare a portfolio inInterfoliothatrepresentstheir scholarship, teaching, and service activities as well as a two-page personal statement describing the arc and impact of thedifferent aspectsof their work.
External reviewersare invited to evaluate the candidate’s scholarly contributions.External letters are central to the evaluation soaim to have your materials ready by late spring.This allows review requests to go out in late summer and responses to be received by late fall.
The review proceeds through several stages: the department’s Personnel and Budget Committee (PNB), the department chair, the divisional/school caucus (made up of chairs from your school), the Committee of Eight (made up of chairs), the college-wide PNB (all chairs), the provost and president, and the CUNY Chancellor and Board of Trustees. Your chair will present your case at the divisional level and your dean presents to the Committee of Eight.
What kind of record is expected for this promotion?
The balance across research, teaching, and service does not need to be perfectly equal, but all three areas are carefully reviewed.
Across fields, promotion to full professor requires a body of work thatdemonstratescontinued growth and recognition beyond what was achieved for tenure. There is an expectation of evidence of an evolving scholarly trajectory that is broader in scope or deeper in impact through meaningful contributions to the field.
As one panelist said:
“Your research can be on the same topic or area, but you have to demonstrate the growth you have made as a scholar: what did you do and what contribution are you making in your field to move the needle.”
There is an understanding that standards vary across fields (e.g., books, grants, exhibitions, reports).
Teachingevaluations and observation reports will be reviewed in this process. Mentorship counts; you can name specific students and describe your impact.
You should be able todemonstratesubstantial or sustained service at multiple levels: departmental, divisional, college-wide, university-wide,andprofessionalorganizations.
How should you prepare your materials?
The candidate statement is a document that is a maximum of 2 single-spaced pages, with a minimum of11 pointfont.The divisional caucus will return your statement and ask for revision if it exceeds this limit.
The statement should clearly describe the arc of your work, growth since tenure, and your contribution to the field. It should be carefully crafted so that it is accessible to readers both within and outside your discipline. In your statement, you should explain any field-specific practices around authorship conventions or collaborative work (e.g., what was the nature of the collaboration and what did you contribute?) The statement can also contextualize gaps in productivity (e.g., pandemic disruptions, political conditions).
Make sure your statement offers an authentic and fair representation of you and your work. Get feedback on your statement, from colleagues, mentors, chairs, and yourDean.
External reviewers and internal reviewers will compare your statement to your CV. Make sure your CV is clear and consistent.Show your CV to a mentor within your field as well as a colleague outside your fieldfor review and feedback.
All of your materials will need to be uploaded to.Include all your work since you completed your Ph.D. Follow naming conventions carefully. Everything uploaded intoInterfolio(exceptyour teaching portfolio) may be sent to reviewers (including works in progress).
You can include supplemental materials,such as support letters from students or community members, but note that they are given far less weight compared to external reviewer letters.
External Reviewers
Candidates submita list of potential reviewers. The department’s PNB also generates a list.The candidate can submit a do-not contact list as well. From these lists, as with tenure and promotion to Associate, thedepartmentP&Bdeterminesthe final list of external reviewers and the order in which they will be sent requests for letters.
External reviewers must be respected scholars,generally fullprofessorsor beyond, who can speak to the significance of the candidate’s work. They may be from peer institutions, but all reviewers are given institutional context (e.g., teaching load at QC).Check with your chair about the expectations in your field. For example, for practice-based fields, evaluators may be from museums, archives, or other institutions—but,it is important tomaintain balance (e.g., not all non-academic). In other fields (e.g., education),all reviewers must befullprofessors; any letter from a professor with a lower rank will not be accepted.
These external reviewers must be different from tenurereviewers, andcannot be someone with whom you have a close professional relationship (such as a collaborator or co-author) or personal relationship. External reviewers cannot be from CUNY.
The process is confidential: you will not see letters or know who declined.
What guidance and support are available?
Chairs, deans, and senior colleagues can provide valuable mentorship throughout the process—from reviewing CVs and statements to helping frame scholarly contributions for audiences outside the field. Teaching observations, annual evaluations, and ongoing conversations about research progress can also help candidates assess readiness.
There are also institutional resources and opportunities that may be useful, including: research enhancement grants, book completion awards, chair support funds, and post-tenure release time grants available through CUNY:
Early planning, open conversations with mentors and chairs, and careful preparation of materials can help clarify the path to a successful application for Full Professor.However, if your case is not successful, you can reapply. You will need to assemble a new file with new external reviewers.
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