Academic Leave Without Pay or at Reduced Pay

Policies and Procedures

The College of William and Mary encourages leaves without pay or at reduced pay for academic reasons because such leaves are beneficial to the faculty member, specifically, and to William and Mary, generally. Such leaves offer opportunities for faculty to develop professionally and to acquire new ideas which are shared with the university community. Persons hired to replace those temporarily on leave add to the diversity of academic life, a particularly important consideration for a heavily tenured faculty. Faculty travel and residence at other institutions also bring credit to William and Mary and extend its reputation.

Academic leave may involve teaching at another institution, or engaging in research supported by a grant, by another institution or by the faculty member. The general criterion for, a leave to be considered academic, and hence covered by this policy, is that its primary purpose is to extend the scholarly and teaching skills of the faculty member. If there is uncertainty about the primary purpose of a proposed leave, the Provost will request an opinion from the Committee on Faculty Research. One-year reduced pay research assignments awarded by the Committee on Faculty Research are not covered by this document.

The following Policies and Procedures are established to encourage such academic leaves through reimbursement of certain expenses related to leaves without pay. The university recognizes that exceptional circumstances may arise which require departure from these procedures and policies. Such departures are to be approved by the Provost in consultation with the appropriate dean.

Eligibility
This policy applies to members of the faculty as defined by the By-Laws of the faculties who are not emeritus and who hold full-time, tenured or tenure-eligible positions.

Approval and Timing
All such leaves must be approved in advance by the appropriate dean and the Provost. Requests for such leaves should be received in sufficient time to enable the department to hire a satisfactory replacement. In practice requests made less than one semester in advance of the leave period can cause considerable hardship on departments or schools and will not be approved without declaration of prior intent. All such leaves must be at least one semester in duration.

Medical Insurance
For persons whose medical insurance is not paid fully by another institution and who wish to continue coverage under William and Mary's group contract, the university will provide the difference up to the amount normally contributed by William and Mary.

Life Insurance
Group life insurance may be continued for the period of the leave up to 24 months.

Retirement
For persons whose retirement benefits are not paid fully by a grant or by another institution, the university will provide the difference up to the amount normally contributed by William and Mary. Persons on leave at less than 50% pay are not eligible to earn retirement service credit while on leave. Therefore such leaves require special arrangements in the year subsequent to the leave.

Supplemental Funding
The university will offer a supplement of 10% of the difference between the base salary an individual would have received from William and Mary and the actual amount being paid by William and Mary during the period of leave in order to defray special expenses such as travel, higher living costs or duplicate housing costs.

Extraordinary Supplemental Funding
For nationally prestigious awards which are distinguished both by their competitiveness and by the honor they bring to the university, the dean may recommend to the Provost that supplemental university funds be provided up to the difference between the amount of the external award and the salary the individual would have received from William and Mary during the period of the leave. These university supplements shall be recommended and made available at the discretion of the dean and Provost based on the merit, competitiveness and honor of the award as well as the availability of funds. Requests to the dean for a university supplement should be endorsed by the department chair and must be made in advance of the application for the external award. In deciding to offer such assistance, the dean and Provost will consider 1) whether sufficient funds will remain to allow a school or department to fund a suitable replacement during the proposed period of leave; 2) the impact of the proposed leave on the university's approved employment levels; 3) the importance of the proposed leave activity to the university; and 4) equity among other comparable supplemental awards.

Relationship to Semester Research Assignment
Should the amount of the university supplement equal or exceed the salary for one semester, the award of such supplement will constitute the award of a faculty semester research assignment, and credit for future research assignments shall begin with the year following the year the award was made. For university supplements greater than 10% of one semester's salary, but less than a full semester's salary, the number of eligible years upon return from leave shall be reduced by the percentage of the university supplement exceeding 10%.

Replacements
A faculty member on academic leave without pay or at reduced pay normally will be replaced upon reasonable demonstration of need by the appropriate dean. The salary, rank and status of such replacements shall be approved by the Provost in consultation with the dean and the factors described above shall be considered in such cases.

Return to Service Expected
It is understood that anyone who accepts funds under this program will return as a full-time member of the faculty for at least one academic year immediately following the leave. Reimbursement for all costs borne by William and Mary during the period of leave will be sought should the faculty member not return.