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Full-Time Faculty Handbook - 10. Leave Policies

The New School believes that it is essential to the achievement of its mission to encourage the scholarly, artistic, and public service work of its faculty members, as well as to acknowledge that there will be times when personal circumstances will limit a faculty member’s ability to attend to their responsibilities as a scholar, artist, teacher, mentor, or colleague. The university has therefore developed a variety of paid and unpaid leaves, as well as a course-release plan, to meet the needs of its full-time faculty. (See also Policy on Clock Relief and Contract Extension.)

The leaves available to full-time faculty are of two types.

  1. Leave for Professional Development (generally handled by the Provost Office)
    1. Academic leave for creative or scholarly purposes (including unpaid leave and pre-promotion leave)
    2. Public service leave
  2. Leave for Personal Circumstances (generally handled by Human Resources)
    1. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave
    2. Childcare leave (including childcare disability leave)
    3. Medical leave (including short- and long-term disability)
    4. Military leave

Leave for Professional Development

The New School is committed to the encouragement and support of faculty professional development. Recognizing that extended periods of leave from regular university duties will enhance the professional effectiveness of full-time faculty members, the university has developed a variety of paid and unpaid leaves to meet those needs. The availability of these leaves should be viewed as a complement to other compensation, benefits, and funds for full-time faculty.

The central purpose of these leaves is to provide faculty members an opportunity to increase scholarly activity, creative production, and public service by offering relief from teaching and departmental responsibilities. The professional activity these leaves foster enables faculty to contribute in a substantial way to the world of scholarship, art, and activism, and thus to the overall intellectual resources and educational enterprise of the university. It also enhances the visibility and reputation of the institution and improves the prospect of recruiting and retaining highly qualified students and faculty.

The New School’s policy is based on the general academic practice of paid and unpaid leaves for full-time faculty after a certain number of years of service. The policy is nevertheless adapted to the particular circumstances of the university and the special concerns of the distinct types of appointments provided for faculty in the different academic colleges. Although The New School’s leave policies are not identical for each appointment type, there should be reasonable parity in the guidelines for leaves and their procedures.

The general criteria for leaves of absence are as follows.

  • Faculty members should be able to demonstrate a need for uninterrupted time to accomplish a stated goal. Leaves should not be construed as “free time” to which a faculty member is simply entitled after a stated period of service, but rather as released time from routine teaching and university service obligations to make research, scholarship, and artistic pursuits possible.
  • The faculty member’s contributions to the institution should be enriched as a result of the research project. Thus, the institution’s own intellectual resources will benefit and its role in the general scholarly and creative community will be further developed.
  • The number of years of service of the faculty establishing eligibility for paid leaves is clearly specified. If the number of paid leaves available in a given year is not sufficient to respond to all the requests for paid leave, proposals should be submitted, and there should be an established procedure for choosing among the proposals. When judging between requests in a college for paid academic leaves, the contributions of each faculty member to the academic program (in terms of teaching, advising, and scholarship) and to the institution as a whole should be considered, as should the quality of the research proposal.
  • Faculty members applying for paid leaves should be responsible first for serious attempts to fund leaves with outside grants. The university encourages and supports faculty members’ efforts to obtain grants and fellowships from outside sources. We are committed to helping faculty members maximize the use of such resources and to provide clear incentives to faculty for raising such funds. The university’s Office of Research Support (ORS) can assist in this process. It will regularly circulate information regarding funding opportunities to each of the colleges. (Additional information on research support can be found on the ORS website.)
  • Faculty members should not be absent from their positions for any kind of leave (paid or unpaid) more frequently than one year in a three-year period. Each college should be willing to look at each request individually, and exceptions to this rule should be granted when necessary as discussed with the dean and the provost. All academic leaves are granted with the assumption that the faculty member will return to the university and resume regular teaching duties.
  • The academic college should be able to plan for and adequately manage the faculty member’s absence at the particular time requested. Leaves are therefore only authorized when the faculty member’s absence will not adversely affect the staffing needs of the college, program, or department. It is the responsibility of the faculty member to submit a request for the leave to the chair and/or director, dean, and provost sufficiently far in advance to allow the department to plan for a replacement.
  • When a faculty member completes an academic leave, they will write a report on the activities pursued and specific accomplishments achieved during the leave that shall be sent to the dean and to the provost. Decisions regarding subsequent leave requests will be contingent on evidence of accomplishments and significant production achieved in prior leaves.

The leaves for professional development available to full-time faculty members—academic leave, leave for creative or scholarly purposes (including unpaid leave and pre-promotion leave), and public service leave—are described below.

Paid Academic Leave

All principal full-time faculty members are entitled to apply for a paid academic leave every six years. Academic leaves may be for one semester at full pay or two consecutive semesters at half pay. Faculty members on academic leave continue to participate in the benefit programs available to full-time faculty.

For faculty members whose appointments include a teaching load of five courses per year, the distribution of duties will be configured in conjunction with the chair or director. For a one-semester academic leave at full pay, for example, in consultation with the chair and dean, the faculty member can choose, for the opposite semester, either to teach two courses with additional advising and service responsibilities or to teach three courses with reduced advising and service responsibilities.

The term during which an individual is eligible for an academic leave is determined by the individual’s appointment history. The provost’s and deans’ offices track eligibility for consideration for academic leave, including the projected date of the next academic leave and information on how that date was determined. Faculty members with questions about their academic-leave eligibility should consult with their dean or their designee.

A faculty member may request that their academic leave (in full or in part) be postponed or advanced for a compelling scholarly, artistic, or personal reason. Such an arrangement requires the prior approval of the chair and/or director and dean. Furthermore, faculty members may be asked to postpone their academic leaves or advance their start dates if the number of requests for leaves in a given year will adversely affect the instructional, administrative, and advising/mentoring work of the department or program.

Faculty submit requests for academic leave to their dean’s office using the Provost’s Office form designated for this purpose. Applications for academic leave should include a statement of a well-considered plan for spending the leave in a manner calculated to contribute to the professional effectiveness of the applicant and the best interests of the university indicating the specific outcome and/or deliverables expected to be produced during the leave. Also included in the request for academic leave (for those with prior academic leaves) would be accomplishments achieved during prior leaves including evidence of completed projects for which leaves were awarded. Faculty must return completed applications to their dean’s office by the date noted on the application. Academic leaves approved by the appropriate college officers (chairs, directors, and the college dean), are forwarded to the provost for consideration and approval.

A faculty member on academic leave may not teach or undertake any full-time employment at another institution, since the primary purpose of such a leave is to provide an uninterrupted opportunity for artistic and scholarly pursuits. This does not preclude, however, the acceptance of a fellowship, a research position at another institution, or other assistance for research and/or creative endeavors. In this case, the source of additional funds and the fact that their use materially aids the planned program of the faculty member must be fully set forth in the request for academic leave, or if not known at that time, before the effective date of the academic leave. In every case any employment, arrangements, or activities outside the scope of the requested academic leave must be reviewed and approved in advance by the dean or executive dean and the provost.

A faculty member granted an academic leave is required to return to the university for a period of at least one year following the completion of the academic leave, except for faculty members eligible for an academic leave during the year in which they will retire. In the event the faculty member does not return to the university following a university-sponsored academic leave, they will be expected to reimburse the university for the funds contributed to the leave or have the new institution reimburse the university for that cost.

Leave for Creative or Scholarly Purposes

Leaves for creative or scholarly purposes are granted when full-time faculty members, with the exception of those with a visiting title, wish to be relieved of their normal responsibilities, in full or in part, to conduct research or otherwise engage in a scholarly or artistic activity. Leaves may not exceed one year.

Unpaid Leaves
Unpaid leaves are available to faculty members at all ranks and in all types of appointments as long as the criteria for leaves of absence listed above are met. These leaves may be granted to permit acceptance of fellowships or grants or to permit acceptance of a temporary appointment at another institution when this appointment would, in the interest of the university, permit engagement in scholarly activities that are not otherwise practicably available and that will significantly enhance the individual’s professional effectiveness. The university will pay premiums for health insurance of a faculty member who is on an unpaid leave. The required reimbursement of the faculty member’s portion of health insurance premiums must be paid to the university by the first of each benefit month by the faculty member. Faculty requesting such leaves must use the Provost’s Office form designated for this purpose and submit to their dean’s office. The school/college must seek approval from the provost, who will notify the human resources office of the employee’s approved unpaid leave; the faculty member must contact the Department of Human Resources to arrange for the continuation of the health insurance benefit. If the award or available salary is less than the instructional faculty member’s regular salary, a supplement may be provided at the dean’s request to maintain the staff member’s regular salary or a portion thereof if funds are available for this purpose. Supplements may be provided only if permitted by the rules of the fellowship or the other institution involved.

Pre-Promotion Leave
Pre-promotion leaves are meant to accommodate career development opportunities and review requirements for junior faculty on tenure-track or extended-employment contracts. A pre-promotion leave involves a one-semester leave at full salary or two semesters at half pay. A faculty member is eligible after their first four years of service, provided that the faculty member has passed the post-probationary review (PPR), been approved to continue on a tenure-track or extended-employment-track contract, been reappointed for the period during which the leave will be taken, and intends to return to the university for at least one year of full-time service after its completion. Since faculty members receive salary from the university during a paid leave, all benefits are continued.

The decision regarding when these leaves are taken requires the approval of the chair and/or director and dean, as well as the provost. Pre-promotion leaves must be recommended by the appropriate chair and/or director and dean and approved by the Provost’s Office. Faculty should submit requests to the dean’s office using the Provost’s Office form created for this purpose. The application should include a statement of a well-considered plan for spending the leave in a manner calculated to contribute to the professional effectiveness of the applicant and the best interests of the university indicating the specific outcome and/or deliverables expected to be produced during the leave. A faculty member must return the completed application to the dean. All forms must be returned according to the timeline indicated on the Provost’s Office form (generally in the fall of the year prior to the one in which the leave is to take place) and generally faculty will be notified by their dean’s office at least six months before the beginning of the desired leave.

Public Service Leave

Full-time faculty may be granted unpaid leaves to serve the public interest at a local, state, national, or international level. These leaves are granted for up to 12 months at a time. Exceptions require the prior special permission of the provost.

Leave for Personal Circumstances

Please see the below for information:

Contact Human Resources at benefitshelp@newschool.edu with questions regarding leaves for personal circumstances.

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