Associate to Full Professor Program Overview

The Associate to Full Professor Program supports tenured mid-career faculty who are ready to explore the path to promotion. Tenured associate professors are often deeply engaged in the campus community. They’re experienced researchers and teachers, and dedicated members of committees and professional organizations. It can be challenging for these faculty members to know when they’re ready for promotion, and to set aside the time to prepare.

CFDA Director Karen Sobel leads this program.

The Associate to Full Professor Program has three main parts:

• A mentoring program for tenured associate professors on the Denver Campus
• A monthly community of practice where program members can meet to connect and support each other)
• An online workshop series, targeted to potentially interested faculty (open to all faculty, whether enrolled in the program or not)

Register for workshops on the CFDA's program calendar.

Past workshops have included:

• Assessing the number of years you need to prepare yourself for promotion
• Deciding what you need to accomplish before applying for promotion
• Learning about life as a full professor
• Preparing to make your best possible case for promotion in your dossier
• Discussing your individual questions with current full professors

Mentoring for Associate Professors

The Associate to Full Professor Mentoring Program supports tenured associate professors in planning their paths forward to promotion. In this program, each associate professor is matched with a tenured full professor. They may also spend some time with the additional one or two associate professors who share their mentor so that all may learn from each other. Associate professors are welcome to join the program at any point between receiving tenure and applying for promotion. Applications are open from November through January each academic year; matches are made in early February,

At present, the Associate to Full Professor Mentoring Program is limited to faculty on the Denver Campus.

Each mentee-mentor pair will craft several goals to help the mentee move forward toward promotion. 

Applications for the program's 2025 cycle will open in November 2024. Tenured associate professors are welcome to participate in the program's workshops and community of practice regardless of whether they participate in mentoring.

Questions: Contact us at cfda@ucdenver.edu