V605.17 Short-Term, Non-Medical Faculty Leave
As professionals in Higher Education, faculty have a primary responsibility for providing high quality, rigorous education for students who register for their courses. The on-going presence of faculty during the academic term and continuity of instruction for students is therefore of significant importance.
We acknowledge, however, that individuals may occasionally need to be absent for personal, family, or medical reasons. To help manage these types of absences, the following policies may apply:
- Short and long term faculty/dependent sick leave (V607.04)
-
Developmental leave (V701.02)
- Leave without pay (V701.01)
- Faculty Absence Reporting (V605.14)
In addition, while faculty do not accrue days of annual leave, they are not expected to be on campus when students have scheduled “breaks,” including holiday vacations and spring break, all of which adds up to about 20 days during the academic year when campus is open but classes are not in session.
Furthermore, faculty schedules are flexible, and most personal absences for family, medical appointments, etc., can be scheduled around campus duties.
However, when personal leave cannot be scheduled around campus duties, faculty may request short-term, non-medical leave.
Procedure:
- For single or partial day absences, please follow Policy V605.14 (Faculty Absence Reporting).
- When the need for a short-term, non-medical absence that will span multiple sessions of a single course arises, or which disrupts synchronous interaction with students and colleagues for three or more days in a 7-day period, the faculty member should consult individually with the department chair to develop a written plan for continuity of instruction.
- The department chair will confer with the VPAA prior to approving the leave request. The VPAA or the Department Chair will communicate the result of this conversation to the faculty member.
- After receiving chair approval, the faculty member should follow the reporting procedure outlined in policy V605.14
- Absences of this nature should be infrequent and typically a week or less.
- Absences of a non-emergency nature should be planned and approved well in advance.
Sponsored by: Vice President for Academic Affairs
Created: Spring 2022