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Special Leaves

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Special Leaves include: Leaves for Renewable Term Faculty Members (including Librarians), Pre-Retirement Leaves, Faculty-in-Residence, Unpaid, and Academic Leaves.

Leaves for Renewable Term Faculty Members (including Librarians)

Purpose:A major purpose of Leaves of Absences is to provide time away from the normal routine of institutional responsibilities for professional growth and development. These purposes include:

  • Promoting growth of professional expertise and experience in areas of responsibility or interest.

  • Providing research opportunities in areas of job-related expertise or scholarly interest.

  • Broadening the areas of interest and expertise of faculty members.

Eligibility: Full-time leaves - A full-time renewable-term faculty member above the rank of instructor may apply in his or her seventh year of service at DePauw for full-time leave for a period of up to one semester (defined as: four months=16 weeks) for part or all of the eighth year or thereafter. After the initial leave, the renewable-term faculty member is eligible to apply for the next semester-long full-time leave in the sixth year of additional full-time service.  A renewable-term faculty member who does not seek or who is not granted a leave after the minimum period of eligibility remains eligible in each succeeding year.

Salary during leave periods: Renewable-term faculty members will receive full pay for leaves up to one semester (4 months=16 weeks). Longer leaves may be approved for reduced pay depending on the length of leave approved by Academic Affairs.  In general, renewable-term faculty members will not be replaced during their leaves. Careful planning should be done with the Department Chair, administrative supervisor, and Director of Librarians during the leave proposal process to determine coverage solutions. Renewable term faculty members are strongly encouraged to plan on taking leaves in the summer when coverage issues are less of a hardship on the other faculty employees.

Proposal Review: Proposals for semester leaves must be submitted through the Faculty Development Committee for mentoring and review. Applications must be submitted at least eight months before the proposed leave begins. Following a positive recommendation from the Faculty Development Committee, the proposal and the supervisor's recommendation will be forwarded to the Vice President of Academic Affairs for final approval.

Proposal Review/ranking criteria: Proposals for leaves are ranked as follows:

  • Those who have never had a leave have priority over those who have had leaves.

  • Leaves which benefit both the employee's area of professional responsibility and the individual's professional growth, have priority over those leaves which only benefit the individual.

  • Quality of proposal - evidence of advanced planning, evidence of prior work, objectives, clarity of project, etc.

  • Product produced and results that will be shared with colleagues.

  • The professional development benefits to the person requesting the leave.

  • Number of simultaneous leaves - Only one faculty member per area may be on full-time leave during any period of time.

Submission Deadline/Decision Deadlines: The faculty member's supervisor must be notified by the faculty member applying for leave, at least one semester (four months) prior to submission of the leave proposal so that discussions of the timing of the leave coverage issues may begin promptly. The Vice President of Academic Affairs, in consultation with the supervisor, must approve the timing of leaves and the coverage of duties.

Time-Out Leaves - After a successful initial term review, a full-time renewable-term faculty member may apply for a one-quarter time leave (10 hours per week for up to 16 weeks; or 5 hours per week for up to 32 weeks) to complete a professional project, take further graduate work, develop web projects, develop instruction projects, write an article, etc. A faculty member planning to apply for such a time-out must work with the supervisor to arrange for coverage at least one semester prior to submission of a time-out proposal. The proposal is submitted through the regular Faculty Development procedures eight months before the start of the requested leave. Following a positive recommendation from the Faculty Development Committee, the proposal and the supervisor's recommendation will be forwarded to the Vice President of Academic Affairs for final approval.

Final report/obligation: All recipients of leaves are required to submit reports of their leave activities and evaluations of accomplishments of the goals and objectives set forth in the proposal. Reports are normally due for fall leaves - by the first Monday of the following spring semester, and for year long and spring leaves - by the first Monday of the following fall semester. All faculty members receiving leaves must agree as part of their application to return for at least one year of service after completion of the leave.

Pre-Retirement Leaves

Any faculty member who is eligible for a sabbatical leave and is nearing retirement may apply for a pre-retirement leave. A faculty member considering a pre-retirement leave must discuss this with the Vice President of Academic Affairs.  The pre-retirement leave offers an opportunity to explore areas of personal development outside the normal requirements for a sabbatical. This leave is an attempt to facilitate a colleague's moving into productive retirement and the time may be used to prepare for relocation, retrain, try a career alternative, etc. Applicants should note, however, that when the pre-retirement leave is granted, the faculty members should recognize that this is their final sabbatical.

Faculty-in-Residence

The Faculty-in-Residence leaves are special leaves secured by faculty members who will teach in a particular off-campus program or at another institution. These positions are outside the regular sabbatical leave cycle and include full-time teaching and administrative responsibilities. Requests for replacements are made through the Academic Affairs Office. Compensation (salary and benefits) from DePauw for faculty members on special leaves is not guaranteed, but DePauw may contribute compensation to support particular opportunities.

Unpaid

Special unpaid leaves are available to faculty members for personal or professional reasons. Special leaves for personal reasons are arranged with the Vice President for Academic Affairs.  Faculty members on a special personal leave at no pay will be required to pay the employee portion of their premium for insurance coverage. Arrangements are made by application and may be granted for a period not to exceed two years. Requests for this arrangement will be reviewed and considered on an individual basis by the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Academic Leaves

Outside invitations to full-time faculty members sometimes offer extraordinary academic opportunities requiring leave time, but at a time when the faculty member is not eligible for sabbatical leave. Faculty members may, for example, be invited to participate in a program such as the Institute for Advanced Study, or to publish a book if they complete essential parts immediately. When such opportunities simply can't be missed, faculty members may request a special academic leave for one semester through the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Faculty members who are approved for a special leave at no, or minimal, pay from DePauw (for academic purposes) may apply for continuation of insurance benefits for a period not to exceed two years. Requests for this arrangement will be reviewed and considered on an individual basis by the Vice President of Academic Affairs.