February 24, 2006

TO:Deans and Department Chairs

FROM:Elizabeth Lord, Vice Provost for Academic Personnel

Re: Leaves of Absence (Reference APM 750-760)

Please remind your faculty of the importance of prior approval from the Academic Personnel Office for leaves of absence. It’s not just a bureaucratic detail – besides the legitimate need to know what our faculty are doing, there are insurance issues involved. Faculty injured or incurring some form of liability while on approved leave are covered by Workmen’s Compensation or University liability insurance. Those faculty members on leave without an approved leave of absence form on file are at considerable risk of non-coverage.

  1. Leaves of seven days (APM 752)

Submission of a leave form to this office is not required for leaves of seven consecutive calendar days or less. However, any time there is a leave, the Department Chair should be made aware of it. Procedures for approving and monitoring these leaves are left to the Department Chair. Any leave longer than 7 calendar days requires prior approval of the Chair, Dean and EVCP or designee.

  1. Leaves of 30 calendar days for Scholarly purposes

An itinerary is required for leaves of thirty calendar days.

Fiscal Year Faculty (11 month) (APM 758-16): No leave of absence with pay shall be granted to a fiscal-year appointee for more than 30 calendar days for the purpose of attending international conferences and related scholarly activities. Time required beyond 30 calendar days for this purpose by fiscal-year appointees will be charged against accrued vacation. Should it be necessary for a fiscal-year appointee to be away from campus for a time beyond that allowed by the 30-day leave with pay plus accrued vacation time, such further leave, if approved by the Chancellor, shall be granted only as a leave without pay. .

Academic Year Faculty (9 month) (APM 700-0 & 730-0): Faculty appointed at 100% time are expected to be present on campus all three quarters. There is, therefore, no provision at all for leaves of 30 days. However, when there are cases where an academic year appointee has received grant funds to do research and is requesting a leave or reduction in teaching duties, appropriate consultation with the Dean’s office and other administrative offices should be sought in advance, possibly at the time of grant approval. Faculty who request to be released from regular teaching duties for research purposes should determine what percent of effort and what research funds are to be used to cover their salary during this time so a Research title code can be assigned.

3.Vacation Leaves (APM 730)

Fiscal Year: Vacation is not reported on a leave form unless vacation is taken in conjunction with another leave that results in an absence from the campus of more than seven consecutive calendar days. In this case the days to be reported as vacation should be listed in the remarks section of the leave form. Absences during quarter break are not vacation leaves (APM 720-4). Fiscal year appointees earn 2 days per month vacation leave (this is considered the 12th month).

Academic Year: Faculty members are not required to submit this form during the period between the end of the Spring quarter and the start of the Fall quarter. They do not accrue vacation during the academic year. Absences during quarter break are not vacation leaves.

I trust that you will make your faculty aware of the need for adherence to these regulations.