There are five tracks available for faculty in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington:
- Academic clinician
- Research faculty
- Teaching faculty
- Clinician scholars
- Faculty scientists
The last two tracks are tenure track positions.
Tenured positions at the University of Washington, which is a state school, are positions in which there is a state-supported tenure line which is awarded to the individual. While this is routinely awarded to faculty in the liberal arts schools of UW when they are promoted to associate professor, this is not the case in the UW School of Medicine. The reason for this is that state funds make up only approximately 2% of the budget for large clinical departments such as the Department of Pediatrics which has 600+ members but only has about 12 tenure lines. Thus, for individuals who are in tenure-track positions, the appointment letter reads, “without tenure due to lack of funding.”
However, the Department of Pediatrics is committed to all faculty, whether someone is a faculty member in a tenure-track position, but without tenure, or in a position that is non-tenure-track. We are dedicated to their career success and are committed to using the resources we have to ensure that success. That is an implicit and explicit commitment when any faculty member is recruited and appointed to our faculty.