Number of External Letters Required for Faculty Appointments/Promotions in the FAS
| FASTAP 2016 | |||
| Appointment/Promotion | Number of Letters Required | Arm's-Length* Letters Required | Fresh** Arm's-Length* Letters Required |
| Initial Appointment as Assistant Professor (AP1) | 3 | N/A | N/A |
| Reappointment as Assistant Professor (AP2) | 3-5 | 2-5 | 2-5 |
| Promotion to Associate Professor on Term (AOPN) | There is no promotion to AOPN rank in FASTAP 2016 | ||
| Initial Appointment/Promotion to Tenure (Associate Professor with Tenure (AOPT) or Professor (PROF)) | 10-13† | 10-13† | 7-13† |
| Promotion from Associate Professor with Tenure (AOPT) to Professor (PROF) | 3-5 | 3-5 | 2-5 |
*To qualify as arm's length, a referee must not have been the candidate's teacher, mentor, advisor, or collaborator, and must not have a close personal relationship with the candidate.
**To qualify as fresh, a referee must not have written a letter for the candidate for a prior appointment or promotion at Yale.
†In rare cases, there will be an acute trade-off between the requirement that referees be arm's-length and the need for referees who are among the foremost experts in the relevant areas. In these cases, the divisional dean, in consultation with colleagues in the FAS Dean's Office, may adopt a looser interpretation of arm's-length and/or grant that up to 4 letters may be non-fresh.
Please refer to the Guidelines for Arm's-Length and/or Fresh Statuses.