RESULTS

Given the high status of science and knowledge in Iran’s culture and civilization and the need to protect the high dignity of the higher education institutes and given the critical and constructive role of faculty members and the need to use the knowledge of well-educated, efficient and committed professors, and in order to create a unified process in evaluating the qualifications of those who are candidates to be faculty members, executive boards of recruiting faculty members of universities and higher education institutes were established in Science, Research and Technology Ministry, and Health, Medical, and Education Ministry of Iran. Given unoccupied posts and according to the employment permission obtained annually from the Ministry of Health, Iran medical sciences universities can recruit faculty members twice per year, usually in September and March months in the form of recruiting faculty member recall. Faculty members of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Iran are recruited first in the form of contractual recruiting through recruiting the faculty members recall in a competitive space among qualified applicants who have at least a specialized Ph.D. degree or higher (Master degree is also allowed in exceptional conditions and for universities having less numbers of faculty members). At time of recruitment, faculty members recruited as assistant professors or higher will be full time geographically and educators will be full time. A geographically full-time faculty member is a person who works for a university full-time and at least 54 hours per week and he/she is not permitted to perform profit-making activities out of university (including work in personal office, personal pharmacy, laboratory, personal diagnostic centers, educational centers, charity and private hospitals, etc.). A full-time faculty member (non-geographically full time) is a person who works for a university for at least 40 hours per week according to the university program. In exceptional conditions, when universities and higher education institutions have urgent need, the recruitment of non-geographically full time faculty members will be feasible with the approval of the Board of Trustees and with conditions determined by University Council. Currently, faculty members are “contractual and formal” (geographically full time) in terms of type of recruitment. In order to recruit and for continuous service of faculty members, a notarized pledge is taken from them for at least 5 years based on the University Council diagnosis. The contract term of faculty members will be between 1 and 3 years at first, and in the case of university satisfaction of their educational, research and therapeutic activities, it can be extended. If promoted to higher ranks (assistant professors and associate professors), faculty members’ contracts can be transformed to experimental formal contract by observing the relevant rules and standards, and after 3 years, their recruitment status will be transformed to permanent formal contract in the case of acquiring the base annual qualifications. In addition to recruiting faculty members, universities and higher education institutes under the Ministry of Health can compensate a part of their requirements for faculty members with the framework of rules and through recruiting people with legal services (committed to service, K coefficient, human resource design, and faculty member soldier). After beginning of the commitments, these people can participate in the recruitment recall of the university for which they serve. Participation in recall of other universities will be possible by approval of the Source University and Ministry of Health. Participation in recruitment recall of a faculty member soldier is possible after 20 months of military training. Specialist performing their K coefficient obligations as medical staff they can participate in the recruitment recall of the university for which they served after one year of serving at the university and approval of the same university. In addition, universities and higher education institutes under the Ministry of Health can recruit temporarily, at most up to 18 months, faculty members with at least specialized PhD degree and higher in the contractual from. Finally, non-faculty member employees of universities and higher education institutes can become a faculty member, in the case of having qualifications and participating in recall.

The seven activities of faculty members that they are obliged to perform include educational, research, and cultural activities, individual development, executive and managerial activities, providing health and medical services, health promotion, and specialized activities outside of university specified by the university. Acceptable service also refers to active presence of faculty member at university or higher education and research institute and performing the seven activities and participating in committees and councils of institute and other executive affairs assigned for him/her by the university or institute.

General conditions required to recruit a faculty member:

A) Nationality of Islamic Republic of Iran
B) To complete military service or having legal exemption or completing the necessary period (for men)
C) Non-convicted to being deprived of government employment and lack of effective criminal conviction, and lack of dismissal and termination of service under legal authorities verdict
D) Non-addiction to tobacco, narcotics and psychotropic substances.
E) General and scientific qualifications of candidates approved by the executive board of the university and approved by the central board of the Ministry of Health, according to standards approved by the Supreme Council of the Iranian Cultural Revolution.
F) Aged less than 35 years at time of recruitment to acquire the educator rank and 45 years for educational degrees of Ph.D., specialist encyclopedia and higher (in exceptional conditions and in the case of having educational, research and management experience of candidates to be recruited as faculty member and with approval of Central Board of Trustees established in the Ministry of Health for up to 5 years will be added to age limit). Special privileges have been considered for those injured (referred to as warriors) in the war between Iran and Iraq that occurred from 1970 to 1988, in recruiting the faculty member. The conditions for their entry and recruitment as faculty members have been facilitated.

Table 1: Academic ranks of educational and research faculty members


Click here for Figure: Conceptual model of recruiting contractual faculty member in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education