Promotion Guidelines: to Associate and Full Professor

Each promotion cycle is 18 months, beginning in January and ending with promotion effective July 1 of the following year.

Academic promotion at the University of Toronto is based on accomplishments in scholarship (research and/or creative professional activity), teaching, and administrative service to the University:

• Research (as demonstrated by a Curriculum Vitae and supporting documents)
• Creative Professional Activity (as demonstrated by a CPA Dossier and supporting appendices; candidates should also reference the following CPA documents:  CPA Promotion Considerations for Applicants and CPA Promotions Committee Reviewer Guide )
• Teaching – this is mandatory for all applicants; one cannot teach poorly and achieve promotion (demonstrated by a Teaching Dossier, teaching evaluations, unsolicited teaching-related testimonials, etc.)
• Administration (if applicable, and as demonstrated through the Administrative Dossier and supporting documents)

We urge candidates to carefully consider completion of each of these dossiers, where applicable. Note that the greatest weight will be given to excellence in scholarly achievement (research and/or CPA), and to excellence in teaching:

“The successful candidate for promotion will be expected to have established a wide reputation in his or her field of interest, to be deeply engaged in scholarly work, and to show himself or herself to be an effective teacher. These are the main criteria. However, either excellent teaching alone or excellent scholarship alone, sustained over many years, could also in itself justify eventual promotion to the rank of Professor. Administrative or other service to the University and related activities will be taken into account in assessing candidates for promotion, but given less weight than the main criteria: promotion will not be based primarily on such service.” ( Policy and Procedures Governing Promotions, 1980, paragraph 7)

The term “wide reputation” is typically interpreted as the achievement of national recognition for promotion to Associate Professor, and international recognition for promotion to Full Professor (Manual for Academic Promotion to Associate Professor and Professor).

Most successful candidates will demonstrate sustained excellence in scholarship or teaching, accompanied by competence in the other area. Some candidates may claim and demonstrate an excellent level of achievement in both areas.

Some candidates may achieve promotion based on excellence in scholarship (research and/or CPA) alone or teaching alone, sustained over many years. This is uncommon in the University as a whole, but occurs occasionally in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine because of the centrality of clinician-teachers to our educational mission. Promotion based on one criterion anticipates sustained performance and will be necessarily slower than promotion based on combined criteria. Although the length of time is not specified, recent Decanal Promotion Committees view the term ‘sustained’ as it applies to promotion based on one criterion, to normally mean at least ten years.

Successful promotion is not based on longevity. It is based on merit as described above. Usually a request for promotion prior to five years since the last promotion is considered an accelerated promotion by the DPC. The dossier, including the Chair’s letter should clearly explain why there is a request for an accelerated promotion. 

Promotions at these ranks are reviewed first by the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC). They are then forwarded to the Decanal Promotion Committee (DecPC) for review, and finally, the Dean and Provost for final approvals. From the first deadline, the promotions process in the Department of Psychiatry takes 18 months to complete.

The table below provides an outline of the responsibilities and departmental deadlines for candidates requesting promotion to Associate Professor or Full Professor. These deadlines are firm.

Psychiatry Promotion Timeline

Department of Psychiatry Departmental Promotions Committee (DPC) Membership 

Simone Vigod, Professor, Chair, DPC

Alastair Flint, Professor, Vice Chair Research

Raj Rasasingham, Assistant Professor, Director, CPPD

Adrienne Tan, Assistant Professor, Director, PGME

Carla Garcia, Assistant Professor, Director, UGME

Amer Burhan, Associate Professor, Ontario Shores

Crystal Clark, Associate Professor, Women’s College

Carole Cohen, Professor, Sunnybrook Heatlh Sciences Centre

Anthony Feinstein, Professor, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Sophie Grigoriadis, Professor, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Benjamin Goldstein, Professor, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Zoe Hilton, Professor, Waypoint

Meng-Chuan Lai, Associate Professor, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Sakina Rizvi, Associate Professor, Unity Health Toronto – St. Michael’s Hospital

Kathleen Sheehan, Associate Professor, UHN

Daisy Singla, Associate Professor, CAMH

Rima Styra, Associate Professor, University Health Network

Benoit H. Mulsant, Professor and Labatt Family Chair of the Department of Psychiatry (ex-officio)

Contact Us

For information regarding the senior promotions process, please contact Rachel Delaney at rachel.delaney@utoronto.ca