From Beth Rushing:

If you are eligible to apply for study leave this year (to take study leave in the 17-18 academic year), please submit a request for study leave to your department chair no later than September 1.

Your request, along with your chair’s recommendation, will be due to me no later than September 15.

If the person requesting study leave is a department chair, they will submit their request to the most senior member of the department, who will then forward their recommendation.

From there, the requests go to Clerk’s Committee and then the President.

If you have a question about whether you are eligible for study leave next year, please contact Kelly Bull.

I’ve attached the Faculty Handbook section on study leaves, and am also happy to answer any questions you may have.

Handbook section on study leave:

5.240 Faculty Study Leaves

The College provides for full-time tenured faculty members to receive study leaves.

The following policies apply to full-time tenured teaching faculty only. Newly tenured faculty may apply for their first leave during their seventh year of full time teaching at Guilford College in order to take leave their eighth year. Faculty members who receive credit towards tenure when they are hired may apply for study leave during their sixth year of full time teaching at Guilford . Thereafter, tenured faculty may apply for leave in the sixth year of service since the academic year in which the last study leave ended in order to take leave in their seventh year. For tenured faculty with joint faculty/administrative responsibilities see “Allocation of Joint Faculty/Administrative Positions” (2.120, #7). Periods of personal leave will not count towards the six years of service, nor will they be basis for refusal of leave. Unpaid leaves of absence for grant supported research or teaching improvement purposes may count towards the six years of service. Tenured faculty members are encouraged to apply for a leave at all stages of their career. Such leaves may be taken for one or two semesters. Faculty on study leave are granted a maximum of $1000 study leave expense grant plus regular travel funds. See “Individual Grants for the Improvement of Teaching” (5.321).

Recipients of a one-semester leave will have no College duties during that period of time and will receive full salary and benefits. Recipients of a two-semester leave will have no College duties for an entire year and will receive two-thirds annual salary and will continue under the benefit plan for that academic year. These salary provisions are unaffected by external funding acquired by the faculty member.

The primary purposes of study leaves are scholarly activity and personal renewal and refreshment, benefiting the individual, the individual’s students, the teaching profession and the College. The leave may be used for the preparation of new courses, for post-doctoral study at a major university, for research and writing, for public service, for professional development, and/or for academically related travel.

The selection process is guided by an evaluation by the Clerk’s Committee of the written proposal submitted by the individual requesting a study leave. The proposal should be a detailed statement, two or three pages in length, describing specifically the nature of the contemplated plan, the methods to be used in developing and evaluating it, the time schedule for completion, and the anticipated benefit of the study leave activities to the individual, the individual’s students, the teaching profession, and the College. While study leaves are understood to be a dimension of College faculty careers, they are awarded selectively, not automatically.

Faculty members, departments, and the Academic Dean should make every effort to inform and discuss with one another the impact of anticipated faculty absences for study leaves, personal leaves, leading study abroad programs, and administrative responsibilities. When the Clerk’s Committee considers study leave proposals, the Academic Dean should inform the Clerk’s Committee about all anticipated faculty absences.

Institutional needs may take precedence over individual preferences. The Clerk’s Committee, in consultation with the Academic Dean and the President, will balance the individual request with the needs of the department and the institution. Although the quality of the faculty study leave proposal is an important component in the Clerk’s Committee’s decision, so too are other factors such as years since a prior leave, and departmental staffing needs.

Two copies of requests for study leave must be submitted to the department chairperson by AUGUST 15. Requests, accompanied by recommendations from the department chairperson, are submitted to the Academic Dean by SEPTEMBER 1. The chairperson’s (or most senior department member if the chair is submitting the proposal) recommendation should consist of at least one paragraph describing the department’s support for the leave and how the department plans to deal with the absence of the faculty member on leave and any other anticipated changes in faculty teaching responsibilities. Accompanied by recommendations from chairpersons and the Academic Dean, requests are presented to the Clerk’s Committee. The Dean forwards all recommendations to the President for final decision, after which the candidates are notified. Candidates must make a firm decision according to the stipulations of the letter recommending the leave as to whether to accept or to decline the leave. Candidates who have applied for outside funding which would affect the length of the study leave should stay in contact with the Dean and their department regarding the outcome of the outside funding request.

Upon return from the study leave, the recipient will submit a prompt written report to the Dean with a copy to the department chairperson, focusing upon the activities undertaken during the leave and projecting the benefits of those activities.

Faculty who are on study leave remain in every sense of the word employees of the College, differing from other faculty only in the duties expected of them during the leave. These duties, leading to professional growth and development, are of not less value to the institution than other faculty assignments. The decisions of the College, therefore, as to salary, raises and promotion are in no way affected by whether or not a faculty member has or has not been granted a study leave.

Individuals granted study leaves must return to the College to teach for at least one full academic year immediately following the leave year. Should the recipient choose to leave the College within one year following the study leave, repayment of all the monies advanced during the leave will be required. This will include salary, benefits and other monies including travel and other general expenses paid for or advanced to the faculty member during the leave. Normally, faculty members will be granted a study leave or a personal leave for only one year. Under unusual circumstances the college will consider personal leaves for an additional time period. The proposal will follow the procedures outlined in Faculty Personal Leaves (5.220) above. If any portion of the leave includes study leave, the faculty member must return to the college to teach for at least one year following the personal leave.

With the specific approval of the Academic Dean, part-time faculty may be employed to teach courses which cannot adequately be covered by other members of the department during the absence of a faculty member on study leave. Departments are encouraged, however, to formulate long-range curricular schedules which permit members to take study leaves with a minimum of disruption to the educational programs of the College as a whole, the departments, and students. Normally, it will be in the best interests of the College if a minimum of part-time instruction is required to fill gaps created by study leaves.