About Faculty Leaves
The primary objective of the University’s leaves policies is to temporarily relieve its academic officers from their teaching duties to conduct research, write, or otherwise engage in scholarly or professional activity. There are three primary types of faculty leaves for scholarly and professional purposes: sabbaticals, research leaves, and exemptions from teaching duties (ETDs). In addition, faculty may take leaves for medical reasons, child care, military or public service, and compelling personal need. All faculty are expected to be in residence for at least two years of full-time service between leaves of any kind.
Full-time faculty are entitled to both sabbatical and research leaves as outlined below. All leaves and any exceptions must be approved by the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and the Dean. Additional leave types are also granted on a case-by-case basis with the approval of the Dean and Office of the Provost (where applicable). Leave policies and procedures are outlined in full in the Columbia University Faculty Handbook. Questions about Law School faculty leaves should be directed to Michael Patullo at [email protected].
Leave Types and Information
The administration of sabbatical leaves is overseen by the Office of the Provost. Tenured faculty are entitled to a sabbatical leave of one year at half base salary or a half year (one semester) at full base salary after completing 12 semesters of full-time teaching (including teaching done as a nontenured associate professor).
Semesters of non-sabbatical leave (whether full or partial), or a semester of full-time teaching during the sabbatical year do not accrue sabbatical credits. A professor may not teach at another institution during a sabbatical but may accept a research position at another institution.
A sabbatical may be postponed with the prior approval of the Dean. If it is postponed for personal reasons, only one year of full-time teaching during the period of the postponement will accrue sabbatical credits. If it is postponed in the interest of the department or school, the period of the postponement will accrue sabbatical credits. If faculty leave the University within a year of taking a sabbatical, they are expected to reimburse their sabbatical salary to the University.
The Office of the Provost distributes an electronic application to each faculty member who is due a sabbatical annually. A professor who intends to take a sabbatical should return the completed application directly to the Office of the Provost by April 1. Requests for postponement need the approval of the Dean before being submitted to the Office of the Provost.
Full-time faculty are eligible for a one-semester research leave at full salary, intended to be taken at the midpoint between sabbatical leaves. Research leaves are granted at the discretion of the Dean, following coordination with the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs.
Tenure-track faculty are entitled to one pre-tenure research leave to be taken
following the completion of six semesters of full-time teaching. Subsequent research leaves are earned after the completion of 12 semesters of full-time teaching.
Tenured faculty who join Columbia from another institution are entitled to one research leave following the completion of six semesters of full-time teaching. Subsequent research leaves are earned after the completion of 12 semesters of full-time teaching.
Law School research leaves do not require approval from the Office of the Provost. The period during which a research leave is taken does not affect the accrual of sabbatical leaves. Credit toward subsequent research leaves is not accrued during the year in which a research leave is taken.
Exemptions from teaching duties (ETDs) are granted for periods during which a professor is excused from teaching. An ETD is appropriate, for example, when an external agency gives the University funding for a faculty member to complete a paid research leave or visiting professorship at a different school. An ETD may be partial or full, depending on the percentage of normal responsibilities performed and the amount of salary received.
The Parental Workload Relief Plan is designed to assist faculty caring for newborn or newly adopted children. Eligible faculty members may receive workload relief for one term at full salary or for one year at half salary. The period of workload relief must begin within the first 12 months after the birth or adoption of the new child. During the period of workload relief, faculty are excused from teaching and from serving on administrative committees. They are, however, expected to make themselves available for consultations with students and to continue their research.
Full-time faculty may be granted leaves for public service. These leaves are granted for up to 12 months at a time. The Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs may approve a second consecutive year on the recommendation of the Dean and after conferral with the Provost.
Full-time officers of instruction who cannot perform their responsibilities because of illness or injury are given leaves of absence with full salary for up to six months from the onset of the disability. If the disability continues for a longer period of time, the faculty member should apply to the University’s insurance carrier for long-term disability. If approved, he or she is given a medical leave without salary and may receive a portion of his or her salary from the University’s insurance carrier according to the terms of the University’s long-term disability program. Officers who are able to perform some of their normal responsibilities will be given a leave of absence with partial salary that may be supplemented with prorated disability payments from the insurance carrier.
Information on the long-term disability program may be obtained from the annual publication Benefits in Brief, which can be accessed through a link on the web site of the Office of Human Resources at www.hr.columbia.edu/hr/benefits/page-section.html or by contacting a counselor in that office.
The first 12 weeks of medical leave, with or without salary, are deemed to meet the requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (see “FMLA Leaves,” below).
A faculty member requesting a leave of absence for medical reasons is expected to provide documentation from a physician specifying the nature and anticipated duration of the disability. Faculty may submit this documentation to their department chair or dean. If they wish to keep information about their disability confidential, they can direct it to the Manager of the Return to Work Program in the Office of Human Resources who will advise the dean or vice president and the Provost on how long the faculty member will be unable to perform his or her normal responsibilities. The University, at its expense, may have the individual examined by a physician of its choosing if there is any question about whether a disability exists.
The University, at its expense, may also require a faculty member to undergo a medical examination by a physician of its choice when the individual contests the existence of a disability that prevents the performance of his or her academic duties. Should the physician confirm that the faculty member is disabled, the University reserves the right to relieve the officer of all responsibilities.
A faculty member who wishes to return to active service after recovering from a disabling illness or injury should submit a letter from a physician stating that he or she is physically capable of returning to work. If special working arrangements are needed for the individual to return from the disability, the physician should also specify the nature of the accommodations required. This information may be submitted, at the faculty member’s discretion, to either the department chair or dean or to the Manager of the Return to Work Program in the Office of Human Resources. The University may have the individual examined by a physician of its choice before agreeing to the reinstatement.
The appropriate department chair, dean, or vice president may notify a nontenured faculty member at any point during a period of disability that his or her appointment will not be renewed after the end of the leave of absence, provided that the leave extends beyond the minimum period specified by the University Statutes for notice of nonrenewal (see “Termination,” below). Such notice is given in writing. In the absence of a letter of nonrenewal, a nontenured faculty member will be returned to active service at the end of a medical leave.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) gives certain full- and part-time employees of the University the right to unpaid leave to deal with the following:
- the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child;
- a medical disability;
- a serious illness of a spouse, child, or parent; or
- a qualifying exigency, as defined by the federal Department of Labor, arising from a spouse, child, or parent serving on or being called to active military duty.
An eligible employee with a family member in the military is entitled to 26 weeks of FMLA leave. The maximum period of FMLA leave for other purposes is 12 weeks in any 12-month period.
To be eligible for an FMLA leave, faculty must have been employed and paid by the University for at least 12 months immediately preceding the commencement of the leave. In addition, they must have provided at least 1,250 hours of service during that 12-month period. Any compensated employment – regardless of title and including periods on the casual payroll – counts in determining if the officer meets these requirements. Leaves with salary also count, but those without salary do not.
The leaves full-time faculty may take under University policies for the purposes covered by the FMLA are considerably more generous than those required by the Act, with the exception of certain benefits provisions. Consequently, the University considers the first 12 weeks of any such leave as fulfilling the requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act, except for leaves arising from a family member’s military service in which case it counts for the first 26 weeks.
A further description of the Family and Medical Leave Act and the University’s policies and procedures for implementing its provisions may be obtained from the web page of the Office of Human Resources at www.hr.columbia.edu/hr/policies/ fmla/fmla/index.html or by contacting one of its counselors.
Full-time faculty are entitled to leaves of absence to fulfill their military obligations under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994. Part-time faculty are also entitled to these leaves if they meet the eligibility requirements specified in the Act. During the first 15 days of such leave each year, the faculty member receives full salary. Thereafter, they are placed on a leave without salary. For information on the policies governing military leaves, officers should consult with a counselor in the Office of Human Resources.
Full-time members of the special instructional faculty – senior lecturer, senior lecturer in (discipline), lecturer, lecturer in (discipline), associate, associate in (discipline), and assistant – and faculty with “clinical” in their titles – professor of clinical, associate professor of clinical, assistant professor of clinical, clinical professor, associate clinical professor, and assistant clinical professor – may apply for personal leaves of absence for professional development. Such leaves are granted only when their purposes are directly related to the officer’s instructional or clinical responsibilities. Full-time faculty in a professorial rank ordinarily may not take a leave to enroll in an educational program.
Full-time faculty may request a leave of absence without salary to deal with a compelling personal need. Faculty who take such leaves to care for seriously ill family members are entitled under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to at least 12 weeks of unpaid leave, subject to the requirements described below under “FMLA Leaves.” Longer periods of leave for that purpose and all other types of personal leave are granted at the discretion of the Provost on the recommendation of the appropriate department chair, dean, or vice president. Personal leaves are generally limited to a maximum of one year, but the Provost may authorize extensions on the recommendation of the department chair, dean, or vice president.