Streamlining Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Procedures to Promote Early-Career Faculty Success

A critical component of the progression of a successful academic career is being promoted in rank. Early-career faculty are required to have an understanding of appointment, promotion, and tenure (APT) guidelines, but many factors often impede this understanding, thwarting a smooth and planned promotion pathway for professional advancement. This article outlines the steps taken by an APT committee to improve the promotion process from instructor to assistant professor. Six sigma's DMAIC improvement model was selected as the guiding operational framework to remove variation in the promotion process. After faculty handbook revisions were made, several checklists developed, and a process review rubric was implemented; recently promoted faculty were surveyed on satisfaction with the process. Faculty opinions captured in the survey suggest increased transparency in the process and perceived support offered by the APT committee. Positive outcomes include a strengthened faculty support framework, streamlined promotion processes, and improved faculty satisfaction. Changes to the APT processes resulted in an unambiguous and standardized pathway for successful promotion. •Promotion in rank is an important component of a successful academic career for nursing faculty.•A strong framework to support early-career nursing faculty success should be integrated to help sustain nursing education's workforce.•The appointment, promotion, and tenure committee used six sigma's define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) model to implement a process improvement project to revise the promotion process, eliminating variation and adding clarity.•Five of six new career faculty have sought and attained promotion after implementation of the revised appointment, promotion, and tenure processes.