The Big "P"

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The Big "P"

Or, Why Faculty Promotion Really Matters

Tom Chau, Courtesy E. Vollick Lidan You

21 June 2012

Being promoted in rank is a big deal in the career of a professor—but it could be an even bigger deal for the reputation of the departments doing the promoting. For the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME), this year's promotions mean all the more: this is the first time since the signing of a historic Memorandum of Understanding with the Faculties of Applied Science and Engineering, Medicine, and Dentistry, that the Institute has promoted and awarded tenure to its own core faculty.

Tom Chau , core faculty at IBBME and Director at the Bloorview Research Institute , and Warren Chan , core faculty at IBBME, have both been awarded the rank of Full Professor, while Gang Zheng , cross-appointed to IBBME from the Department of Medical Biophysics in the Faculty of Medicine, has also been awarded the title Full Professor. Lidan You , core faculty at IBBME and the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, was awarded tenure along with the rank of Associate Professor.

But what do these promotions really mean?

Faculty promotions are a reflection of a professor's overall excellence, says Professor Paul Santerre , Director of IBBME. "The awarding of the rank of full professor is the recognition that the individual has become an internationally recognized leader in their field."

And the rank of Associate Professor and the awarding of tenure? This is a "critical turning point in a young faculty member's career," states Santerre, "It's an acknowledgement by international and institutional peers that the individual now has a strong, independent research program supported by an excellent track record, and furthermore, that they are contributing in a significant manner to the education mission and to the growth of the community."

"I’m extremely happy to receive my tenure and promotion award [and] I’m very thankful that I have received tremendous support from both MIE and IBBME in the past five years," says Lidan You of this milestone.

But it's not just a question of rank—faculty promotion has a direct relation to international reputation. "The more full professors that there are in a unit, the greater the critical mass of talent and international recognition exists for that unit," Santerre explains.

The rank of full professor is often accompanied by factors important to national and international benchmarks between educational institutions, such as strong "h-factors" (an indexical system by which professors' influence is measured), awards, and a strong supervisory track record.

So exactly how do rising professors figure out how to get from "A" to "P"? The answer: Institutional support.

"We have the pre-tenure breakfast monthly in IBBME where we discuss things we need to work on toward our promotion," Lidan You explains. "We also have pre-tenure workshops in MIE where we were offered practical tips and strategies to improve on our teaching, grant applications, and research publications."

University of Toronto Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering

The Big "P"

Or, Why Faculty Promotion Really Matters