Faculty Leaves of Absence (LOA) and Reductions in Load (RIL)

Policies and Timeline

College policies regarding full-time faculty LOAs and RILs are stated in the Policy Manual sections 4.8, 3.9.14, and 3.9.15.

Timeline:

  • Applications for Fall semester leaves/reductions should be submitted to the Provost’s office by the preceding February,
  • Applications for Spring semester leaves/reductions should be submitted to the Provost by the preceding September.

[Naturally circumstances prompting the application may not always be foreseeable on this timeframe, particularly in the case of medical leaves/reductions.]

Process

  • Faculty considering applying for an LOA/RIL for medical and/or family reasons should first make an appointment with the HR Employee Benefits team. The Benefits team will review the details of your request and follow up with you about eligibility. If you proceed with the application, you will then open the LOA/RIL application form and submit electronically to the next signatory. If the requested leave/reduction would be for professional/personal reasons, the HR Benefits team can explain the impact on benefits. You would use the same form linked above to submit your application.
  • The application form will ask you to explain what your workload was originally projected to be, and what changes to your workload you envision associated with the LOA/RIL request. Full-time faculty with academic-year appointments have 24 credit workloads; certain full-time faculty have 30-credit workloads. For positions that explicitly require scholarship/creative activity, 3 credits per year are standardly allocated to those activities, and the balance of workload credits constitute teaching load. 
  • If the LOA/RIL has an impact on the faculty member’s salary, HR and the Provost’s Office will collaborate on that calculation.
  • Once all parties have approved the LOA/RIL application, each signatory will receive a copy of the executed application.
LOA/RIL Application Form