Faculty Leaves
All leaves, sponsored or unsupported, personal or professional, are subject to the approval of the Campus Dean and the Provost.
University leaves include but are not limited to:
1. Research Leave. A special research leave may be granted to Faculty members without pay who are authorized to take a leave of absence with approval of the Campus Dean, the department chairperson, College Dean and the Provost. This special research leave may be granted when the Faculty member has been approved for leave based on an offer of a research fellowship or other research appointment, for which no university financial support is requested, at another university, research center, institute, or recognized research or scholarly organization.
2. Faculty Professional Improvement Leave (FPIL). The University may permit a tenured Faculty member who has completed at least seven (7) years of full-time service to the University to be freed of instructional or official responsibilities and granted a Faculty Professional Improvement Leave for purposes of:
(a) Upgrading professional skills;
(b) Acquiring new skills; or
(c) Intellectual and professional development that will be of benefit to the Faculty member and to the University.
3. Research/Creative Activity Appointments. Paid appointments for summer and semester research are available through the University Research Council. Summer research grants may also be available on a competitive basis for the purposes of improving instruction or developing scholarly/research skills.
4. Professional Development Time. The Tuscarawas Campus Faculty Professional Development Time program is designed to enable Faculty to apply for workload equivalency to pursue scholarly activities during the academic year. The program does not support overload.
Each spring the Campus Dean shall solicit requests for workload equivalency in the form of formal proposals from Faculty. All tenured and tenure-track Faculty who are not applying for workload equivalency will review the proposals. In the event that the Faculty Chair has submitted a proposal, a senior Faculty member shall be chosen by the FC Chair to assume this responsibility. The Faculty Chair or his/her designee will forward the recommendations of the tenured and tenure-track Faculty to the Campus Dean, who may award up to eighteen (18) hours of workload equivalency dependent upon budgetary resources. If a Faculty member requests a preference for a particular semester, the Campus Dean shall consider the request but shall not be restricted by such preferences. Up to three (3) credit hours of workload equivalency may be requested for the subsequent academic year.
Traditionally, these awards are used to support the careers of junior Faculty who are working towards tenure as well as tenured Faculty who seek to enhance their applications for promotion, especially to Professor status. Thus, both probationary tenure-track Faculty and tenured Faculty should note the criteria used to evaluate the Professional Development Time applications listed below:
* Relevance and significance of the project to the candidate’s program of scholarship.
* Focus of the project and likelihood that it could be accomplished during the time proposed.
* Relevance of the project to the Campus and University mission.
* The need to balance requests among the widest number of Faculty.
* The inclusion of undergraduate student research into the Faculty project.
Proposals are to be no longer than two (2) pages, single-spaced, with 10- or 12-point font and should generally follow the format used by the University Research Council and the University Teaching Council. Each proposal should include five (5) components: 1) a statement of goals, 2) a description of the procedure to be used, 3) a method of evaluation of success for the project, 4) a method for communication of results, and 5) a statement of the facilities and/or equipment required. Faculty members who receive workload equivalency through this program are required to submit a two-page summary report to the Campus Dean at the end of the semester during which the workload equivalency was assigned.
5. Faculty Leaves without Pay. The University does not provide leaves of absence with pay for faculty. Leaves of absence on a one-year (or less) basis without pay may be arranged through the Campus Dean with the approval of the Provost. The Campus Dean must give in writing reasons for recommending and individual's request for leave without pay to the Provost.
6. Sick Leave. Faculty members are required to report sick leave online within seventy-two (72) hours after an absence, whenever possible.