External Appointments to the Tenure Ranks

Taylor Mascari, Assistant Director of Faculty Affairs, will email the referee request email and referee instructions letter templates to the academic unit chair and staff.

Academic unit chair informs candidate of process and requests any necessary materials not submitted during the search process. Refer to the final materials section of the materials checklists.

Academic unit staff create the case in Interfolio. Refer to the FAS unit administrator guide to Interfolio RPT.

*Note: in cases involving fully joint appointments, a single academic unit takes primary administrative responsibility for the process. Please refer to the memorandum of understanding governing the candidate's case.

Academic unit chair selects faculty review committee, typically composed of three faculty members drawn from the pool of faculty members eligible to vote on the case (see Yale Faculty Handbook section IV.F.1 for FAS voting policies).

Academic unit prepares list of proposed referees and comparators, following the referee/comparator information list guidelines (FASTAP 2016). Refer to the letter requirements for FASTAP 2016 and the criteria for arm's-length and fresh statuses.  

The academic unit chair proposes the list of external referees and comparators. This proposal is sent to relevant divisional dean, with a copy to fas.dean@yale.edu. The divisional dean works with the chair to approve the list.   

Academic unit staff send the provided referee request email to the referees as soon as possible after receiving approval of the referee list from the relevant divisional dean. These initial messages must be sent by email.  

Academic unit staff track all referee responses, collect and save all referee preliminary correspondence, and send reminder emails to potential referees who have not responded as needed.  

The candidate or academic unit staff may upload the case materials to Interfolio.

Academic unit staff check that these materials are complete and fall within the required word/page counts as described on the TAC checklist and request revisions, as necessary.

Academic unit chair performs their own review and provides approval. The chair, in consultation with the faculty review committee, may adjust the scholarship selections. 

*For Humanities only: for all publications listed on the CV not already uploaded by the candidate, academic unit staff gather PDFs (using Yale Library services as appropriate) and upload to Interfolio.  

After the candidate’s dossier is complete and ready to share, academic unit staff send the provided referee instructions letter to referees who have agreed to write. These letters must be sent through Interfolio. Refer to the FAS unit administrator guide to Interfolio RPT.

NOTE: Please remember that all recommendation letters and referee letters should be held in the strictest confidence. Only those faculty members who are allowed to vote on a candidate’s case have permission to view the letters (see the Yale Faculty Handbook Section IV.F.1 for voting policy). The only document that may be shared with those not directly involved with a faculty search, appointment, or promotion is the candidate’s CV.  

The eligible voting academic unit faculty (see Yale Faculty Handbook section IV.F.1) review the file and vote on the appointment. An affirmative vote is required for the case to move forward in the review process.  

Academic unit votes may take place once all letters have been received or one week after the latest deadline given to a referee (whichever occurs first). Votes must take place at least 4 weeks prior to the TAC review date.  

In a fully joint case, an affirmative vote is required by both academic units to proceed. Academic units must meet to vote separately, and each submit a department faculty vote form. Votes should occur as concurrently as possible, and results should not be shared between academic units.  

Academic unit staff prepare the department faculty vote form.

Academic unit staff ensure all TAC checklist materials are completed and uploaded appropriately to the case prior to FAS Dean's Office review.

*Note: Refer to and download and/or print a fresh copy of the checklist for every case as updates are made periodically without announcement.

If the academic unit vote is positive, the chair and/or other representatives attend the relevant tenure and appointments committee (TAC) to answer questions. 

If the TAC approves the case, the appointment moves on to votes of the Joint Boards of Permanent Officers (JBPO) and the Fellows of the Yale Corporation.  

All offers to ladder faculty are sent from the FAS Dean's Office.

Candidate notification

Academic unit chair notifies the candidate by email or phone that a formal offer will be coming. No details of the offer should be communicated at this point.

Offer letter drafting

The academic unit chair works iteratively with the relevant deans in the FAS Dean's Office to write the offer letter. For science units and select social science units, the FAS Dean's Office will work with the Provost's Office and the academic unit chair to determine the candidate's laboratory setup package. The offer letter will specify that the appointment is contingent on upon subsequent Joint Boards of Permanent Officers (JBPO) and Yale Corporation approval. The offer letter is signed by the academic unit chair and divisional dean.

Extending the offer letter

The FAS Dean's Office sends the candidate an electronic offer letter, with a copy to the academic unit chair and divisional dean. Academic units are not authorized to extend offer letters; they must be created and issued by the FAS Dean's Office.

Offer acceptance

The candidate must send a signed copy of the letter to the FAS Dean's Office at fas.dean@yale.edu. An electronic scan of the offer letter is sufficient.

Academic unit staff refer to the FAS chart of required documents, submit the listed materials to the Office of Faculty Administrative Services (OFAS) at faculty.admin@yale.edu, and process the hire in Workday.

Complete the onboarding process for the new faculty member once the hire is completed.

Academic unit staff set final applicant statuses, disposition codes, and position status for the search in Interfolio and archive the position, referring to the Interfolio Search Position Creation and Management and OFAS Steps to Close a Posting to Archive for instructions.