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

Applications for the mentoring program are now open (Nov. 2024 through mid-Feb. 2025)! Please scroll to the bottom of this page & click the button to apply.

Faculty planning to apply for promotion to "full" within three years: Complete the application to request mentoring. The CFDA will match you with a "full" professor mentor. Most mentors work with two to three associate professor mentees. In many cases, these mentees also find value in supporting each other.

Faculty planning to apply for promotion to "full" more than three year in the future: The CFDA hosts a community of practice and a workshop series to help faculty begin planning their path to promotion. Please send the CFDA a quick email if you would like information on the community of practice and workshop series: cfda@ucdenver.edu. 

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