Leave types and procedures

Dean's Office contacts: Ivy Mason-Sharrah and Susan Miller

• Sabbatical leave
• Leave of absence without salary
• Sick leave
• Family leave
• College leave policy

The Dean's Office distributes information and application instructions concerning sabbatical leaves (formerly paid professional leave) to departments at the beginning of Autumn Quarter. The total percentage of leaves with pay in any one year is limited by the Legislature. Applications are prepared by the individual faculty members and are approved or denied by the department chair; the approved applications are forwarded to the Dean's Office for competitive review. There is one consideration period for review of leave applications by the Dean's Office, normally occurring at the end of Autumn Quarter (see Calendar of annual due dates).

For policy and eligibility information, please visit the AHR website regarding sabbatical leaves.

All sabbatical applications will be submitted via Interfolio.  Departments will need to create a case (using the Sabbatical Request_Interfolio Walkthrough) for each faculty member interested in requesting a sabbatical in the upcoming year.  Once the case is created and sent to the faculty member, they will need to submit the following:

• The Application for Sabbatical Leave (now a form within Interfolio)
• A detailed statement describing the scholarly or artistic work to be undertaken during the period of leave, including:
  • its nature and focus
  • its purpose or objectives
  • the site, collaborators, and cooperating institutions (e.g., laboratories, museums, libraries, etc.), if relevant
  • the source and amount of any supplementary grants or salary known or likely to be available
  • the scholarly or artistic product anticipated (e.g., a research monograph)
  • the value or significance of the scholarly/artistic product anticipate
  • the benefits to the University of the proposed leave (e.g., improved scholarly visibility, enriched undergraduate courses, etc.)
• An updated bibliography or curriculum vita 
• (optional) Supporting letters from University or non-University persons

Upon confirmation that the faculty member has provided the proper documents within Interfolio, the Department chair must then decide whether or not to approve.

• If the decision is to approve, the chair should prepare a letter of recommendation approving the leave.  The letter should state the merits of the applicant’s project, his/her ability to accomplish it successfully, and the benefits which will accrue to the University as a result of the proposed leave. This letter must be uploaded to Interfolio before the case is sent to the Dean's office.
• If the decision is not to approve, the chair should inform the Divisional Dean but still move the case forward to the Dean's Office review stage. The chair should prepare a letter outlining why they do not approve the case and upload to Interfolio in lieu of a recommendation letter.

Send all of the Interfolio cases forward to the Dean's Office.  Note that no applications will be accepted outside of Interfolio.

NOTE: If a department is submitting more than one application, the chair or director should send the Divisional Dean and email that ranks the leaves in order of priority.

The department should retain local copies of all submitted applications and letters.

After reviewing the materials, the Divisional Dean will approve or deny the request and the Dean's office will notify the applicant and the chair of the decision.  An approved application will be forwarded to Academic Human Resources. 

A faculty member may apply for a full or partial leave of absence without salary. Applications should be submitted in Workday by the faculty member or the unit's Academic partner - for details, please see the Leave of Absence - Leave Without Pay user guide. Note that you must enter the leave percent as a comment on the initial absence request.  The Academic Partner must also upload a copy of the Leave Without Pay request form  to Maintain Worker Documents.  Supplemental documentation is not required unless requested by the department chair, however the leave FTE must be entered into the comments section of the process.  A faculty member buying out his/her time on grant or contract funds does not need to file a leave application.  Once the absence request has been approved, the Academic Partner must enter the associate time off for the employee to reach the correct paid FTE. 

A partial leave of absence without pay may be requested when a faculty member receives a fellowship or award that does not pay full salary or when he/she is working outside the University at less than 100% time.

When a full leave without pay is taken, the faculty member should consult with the Benefits Office about insurance coverage during the leave. The retention of at least 5% of University salary will allow the person to stay on University-paid benefit programs. The University duties to be performed for the paid portion should be negotiated with the department chair and should be stated on the leave application form or in an attached memo.

If an Assistant Professor takes a leave of absence without salary that is (1) more than 50% time and (2) six months or more in length during an academic year, the mandatory promotion/tenure date is extended by one year. Note that this extension must be initiated in Workday by the unit's Initiate 2 or Academic Partner - for instructions, please see the Maintain Promotion Clock user guide.

For policy and eligibility information, please see the AHR website regarding leave without pay.

Faculty members are expected to be in residence during the year of their mandatory review for promotion/tenure. No leaves will be approved by the Provost's Office for Assistant Professors during the sixth year of appointment.

Eligible faculty, academic staff and senior fellows/trainees are eligible to use up to 90 calendar days of paid sick leave each academic year.  For more information, see the user guide or visit the Academic HR website.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law which provides job protection and benefits coverage to eligible employees. FMLA may cover employees for up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave from work during the applicable 12-month period. For elegibility and policy infromation, please see the AHR FMLA website. This process should be initiated by the employee - see the user guide for details.

When occasional faculty absences are necessary for health or research purposes, the department chair must be informed and ensure instructional integrity for students and, if appropriate, approve the appointment of substitute instructors. Faculty absences in excess of eight successive university instructional days must be formally presented by the Department Chair to the Divisional Dean for approval.