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UT policy

See HOP 2-2210: Faculty Leaves and Special Academic Assignments.

What is Faculty Leave of Absence (Unpaid Leave)?

A Leave of Absence is a period of leave during which the faculty member does not receive compensation from any source of funds administered by the University for either all or part of their regular appointment. The time off may be requested for either professional reasons when the faculty member will receive no UT-administered pay for all or part of their regular assignment, or for personal reasons where no paid leave balance is applicable or available.

Leave of Absence requests are final-approved by APS, and the leave is processed by APS in Workday.

The maximum leave that can be approved is one academic year, i.e., through the end of the fiscal year in which the leave begins. Leaves without pay for up to one year are granted under most circumstances, provided the department so recommends and can make satisfactory arrangements for staffing any classes the faculty member is scheduled to teach. Except for reasons of health, continued graduate study, and public service or other activity that reflects credit on the institution and enhances an individual's ability to make subsequent contributions to the institution, a second consecutive year of leave will not be granted. Requests for extensions of a leave without pay for a second academic year must be fully justified, and in no case should a faculty member assume approval of an extension of more than one year. Except in very unusual circumstances, a third consecutive leave of absence for one year will not be granted and must be approved by UT System. For more information, see Board of Regents: Rule 30201: Leave Policies.

University policy does not limit the number of non-consecutive Leaves of Absence that may be approved for a faculty member, but that number may be limited by a department chair or the Dean.

For tenure-track faculty, any amount of Unpaid Time Off in a long semester will stop their probationary clock for that full year.

Release Time vs. Leave of Absence

a) Release Time (Release From the Instructional Budget): Also sometimes referred to as “course buyout” or “research buyout.”

Part of the faculty member’s salary is temporarily transferred from department instructional funding to a grant administered through UT, such as a 26-account through OSP. There is no corresponding change in the faculty member’s overall FTE.

For request instructions and additional information, see COE: Release Time (Leave From the Instructional Budget).

b) Leave of Absence: Period during which all or part of a faculty member’s pay is NOT administered through UT. All or part of the FTE on their faculty position is reduced for the duration of the leave. APS will process the reduced hours as an absence request on the faculty position. The faculty member might be paid directly by a grant or fellowship with no funding going through UT (they are paid directly by the external organization), or they may use personal funds.

There are two types of Leave of Absence:

• Professional Leave of Absence: Academic activities related to their faculty position continue, but pay is NOT administered through UT.

• Personal Leave of Absence: Leave is requested for personal rather than professional reasons. For instance, personal unpaid leave might be requested for a medical reason, but only after any paid sick leave balances have been exhausted.

Instructions for requesting Leave of Absence are on this page at Leave request process.

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Unpaid leave types

Two types of Leave of Absence are available to faculty, detailed below.

Professional Leave of Absence

In a Professional Leave of Absence (formerly known as “Leave-Academic”), the faculty member continues to perform duties that are academic in nature (teaching, research, or service), but pay is NOT administered through UT. The faculty member might be paid directly by a grant or fellowship with no funding going through UT or will be using personal funds. The FTE on their faculty position is reduced for the duration of the leave. APS will process the reduced hours as an absence request on the faculty position.

Example: Faculty member will serve as a Visiting Faculty member at another institution and will be paid directly by that institution. 

Note that per UT System: Rule 31007: Tenure > Section 7, a tenured UT Austin faculty member may not hold a concurrent tenured position at another institution without the written permission of the appropriate Executive Vice Chancellor.

Personal Leave of Absence

Personal Leave of Absence (Unpaid Leave) might be requested for a medical reason, but only after any paid sick leave balances have been exhausted. If appropriate, it may be used in conjunction with Family Medical Leave (FML). Detailed personal and/or medical information should not be included in the formal request.

Example: Faculty member is temporarily unable to perform their duties as a faculty member due to a medical condition and has exhausted their sick leave balance. 

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Important information for tenure-track faculty

Per HOP 2-2210, an academic year during which a faculty member is on leave without pay from the University for all of the fall and/or spring semester(s) is not counted as part of the probationary period related to the acquisition of tenure. An approved Leave of Absence of any duration will stop the tenure clock.

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Considerations of unpaid leave

See HOP 2-2210: Faculty Leaves and Special Academic Assignments  - see section I. A. for LWOP.

• Benefits: Faculty members who will be on partial or full-time leave without pay should contact the appropriate Rewards Team member in the Office of Human Resources to ascertain the effect of the leave on their medical insurance and retirement benefits (HR representative lookup). Review HR: Insurance Options While on LWOP. 

• Principal Investigators: Faculty who will be absent from campus and who serve as Principal Investigators also should determine whether any arrangements need to be made with their funding agencies for disposition of their grant(s).

• Supplements: Individuals on leave without pay for personal reasons may not continue to receive their supplement during the period of leave. The Dean's Office, however, may choose to allow exceptions in certain cases.

• Contact Academic Personnel Services for additional guidelines that may pertain to unpaid leave status.

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Leave request process

1. If the leave is for personal reasons (e.g. medical leave after paid leave balances have exhausted), proceed to step 2.
   If the leave is for professional reasons: Faculty member submits a prior approval request for the leave activity through the UTRMS Conflict of Interest module: https://coi.research.utexas.edu/.

   1. Department AM should confirm with the faculty member that this has been completed before proceeding with the leave request.

   2. See guidance at Disclosure_Profile_User_Guide.pdf.
      
      

2. Department AM completes form "Request for Leave" at Faculty Affairs/APS ServiceNow: Complete Forms.

   1. For guidance, see COE: ServiceNow Forms

   2. In the section "Required Approval Routing," add the following:

      1. Dean's Staff: Karla A Steffen (steffek). This field is required in COE.

      2. Dean or Dean Designate: Beth Maloch (malochb)
         
         

3. The Provost's Office will also share the leave request with the Office of Research and Compliance for review of any potential Conflicts of Interest.
   
   

4. Once the Leave of Absence request has been final-approved by the Provost, APS will process appointment adjustments as absence requests in Workday. (See "Leaves of absence and timesheets" below.)
   
   

5. Requests for tenured/tenure-track faculty only: Department AM should forward a copy of the automated email confirming approval to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu for the faculty member's personnel file.

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Leaves of absence and timesheets

For an approved leave of absence, the faculty member's FTE will not be reduced; rather the leave will show up on the "Absence" tab of the faculty member's Worker Profile as "Leave - Academic." These absence requests are processed by APS upon approval of the Leave of Absence request form.

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Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.