For information about expectations of faculty, including attendance, please click here.
The following Frequently Asked Questions were gathered by the ADVANCE Program and are intended to address topics of general interest to faculty at the University of Maryland at College Park. For further information about the University of Maryland ADVANCE Program for Inclusive Excellence and our activities, please see their website at www.advance.umd.edu.
Which faculty are eligible for Family and Medical (FML) leave?
All faculty members (tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure track) who have been employed by the University during the 12 months prior to the date of the requested leave on a 9, 9.5 or 12-month contract are entitled to 12 work weeks or 60 days of job-protected family and medical (F&M) leave. Faculty members who have been employed for at least 12 months (which need not be consecutive) and have worked 26 weeks during the 12 months preceding the leave request are also eligible.
Is F&M leave paid or unpaid?
F&M leave is designated by federal law as unpaid leave of up to 12 work weeks or 60 days which may be used for certain F&M qualifying reasons. While on F&M leave, the faculty member's job is protected. Faculty who wish to be paid while on F&M leave may use available accrued paid leave (e.g., sick leave, annual leave or personal leave) subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable leave policy*. Paid leave applied to the F&M leave period runs concurrently with the unpaid F&M leave period. Instructional faculty may use also use collegial leave during F&M leave after they have exhausted all other sources of accrued leave, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable leave policy. If the F&M leave period exceeds the number of accrued paid leave days available, the remaining F&M leave is unpaid leave.
* For example, faculty may use accrued sick leave (a) for their own personal illness, (b) for the birth of the faculty member's child or (c) placement of the child with the faculty member for adoption or foster care, subject to the provisions of II-2.25(A) University of Maryland Policy on Faculty Parental Leave and Other Supports. Faculty may also use up to 15 days of accrued sick leave each year to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition. See II-2.30 BOR Policy on Sick Leave for Faculty Members.
Under what circumstances may I take 60 days of F&M leave?
Faculty members are entitled to take F&M leave for the following reasons:
May I take F&M leave to care for my school-aged child during school vacations?
Faculty may use F&M leave to care for a school-aged child under the age of 14 during the child's school vacations, provided the leave does not create a hardship for the operational needs and work schedules of the department/unit. If the faculty member wishes to be paid during this leave, he or she may use available accrued annual leave or personal leave. However, accrued sick leave may not be used for this type of F&M leave.
When do I need to request F&M leave?
When the need for F&M is foreseeable, faculty members should complete the application for the use of F&M leave at least thirty calendar days before the leave is to begin. Faculty must provide adequate documentation for F&M leave, the form of which may vary depending on the specific circumstances for the request. All leave requests must be approved by the unit Chair or Director, Dean and Provost or designee.
What if I need to take F&M leave that was unexpected (thirty days notice not possible)?
When possible, the faculty member should apply for leave within two working days of the need for leave. In emergency circumstances, the faculty member (or designee) may give notice and apply for F&M leave as soon as is practical.
What happens if I need to take leave within the first year of my appointment?
While new faculty are not eligible to take the 60 days F&M leave, and will not have accrued any significant amount of annual or sick leave, instructional faculty may request to use collegial leave through their academic unit.
May I take F&M leave more than once?
Yes, provided it is for an F&M qualifying reason. Fulltime faculty members are eligible for up to 12 work weeks or 60 days of F&M leave each calendar year. Part-time faculty are entitled to a pro rata share of the 12 work weeks or 60 day maximum.
My spouse/partner is also a faculty member at UMCP, can she/he also take F&M leave?
Yes.
Do I have to take my 60 days of F&M leave all at once?
No. F&M leave can be taken continuously, on a reduced leave schedule, or intermittently over the course of a calendar year.
Does the F&M entitlement "roll over" from one calendar year to the next?
No. F&M leave is not earned, and does not "roll over". If the faculty member does not use all 12 workweeks or 60 days in one year, it is simply unused. A full-time faculty member is entitled to a new allotment of 12 workweeks or 60 days of F&M leave each year. This new period of F&M leave is available beginning in January of the next calendar year even if the faculty member used all 12 workweeks or 60 days of F&M for the same qualifying reason in the previous calendar year.
What happens to my health benefits during my F&M leave?
If the faculty member is on paid F&M leave, health benefits continue per usual (and employer and employee insurance premium contributions continue to be made). If the faculty member is on unpaid F& M leave, he or she may elect to continue employer-subsidized health benefits by contacting the University Benefits Office and making arrangements for payment of the employee contribution to the insurance premium.
Will I accrue annual or sick leave during my F&M leave?
No. Faculty do not earn annual or sick leave while they are on unpaid F&M leave. They will continue to accrue annual and sick leave if they are using accrued paid leave during a period of F&M leave.
The University will be closed for a holiday during the period of my F&M leave. Does that extend the period of the leave?
No. Holidays that occur during a period of F&M leave do not extend a faculty member’s leave beyond the 12 work weeks. However, if the faculty member is using accrued unused leave to be paid while on F&M, that accrued leave balance will not be reduced if the holiday is one for which the faculty member would ordinarily be paid because the University is officially closed. For example, if Spring Break occurs during a faculty member’s F&M period, the faculty member’s accrued paid leave balance will not be charged for the two days when the University is officially closed. (This same rule, however, does not apply, in the case of Paid Parental Leave.)
As a faculty member at UMCP, what other types of leave are available to me?
Full-time 12-month faculty members earn 22 days of annual leave and 3 days of personal leave, and accrue sick leave at the rate of 1.25 days per month. Nine-month faculty members do not earn annual leave or personal leave but do accrue sick leave at the rate of 1.25 days per month. Leave is earned on a proportional pro-rata basis for faculty on partial appointments (of 50% or more).
Faculty who have been employed full-time for at least one year may request a full or partial leave without pay in circumstances involving poor health, family obligations, or professional obligations that support the mission of the University and do not significantly disrupt the program of the faculty member's academic unit. Instructional faculty may also request collegial leave in situations where the faculty member must be absent from class as a result of short-term illness or injury.
Finally, there are certain "special situation" types of leave (e.g., jury duty, professional leave for librarian faculty, etc). For a complete list of leave policies, see the links to the left.
What is the relationship between Parental Leave and F&M Leave?
Parental Leave is paid leave. Since the reason Parental Leave is granted is also a qualifying reason for use of F&M leave, Parental Leave and F&M leave run concurrently. That means when a faculty member uses Parental Leave, it is counted against the total of up to 12 work weeks or 60 days of F&M leave available per calendar year. F&M leave is adjusted automatically when Parental Leave is used. For example, if a faculty member uses all 8 workweeks of Parental Leave in one calendar year, his/her F&M leave request would note that 40 days of F&M were used during Parental Leave, and the faculty member is now requesting an additional 20 days of F&M leave.
I am taking F&M leave for childbirth. How will that affect my access to Assured Parental Leave, as described in the University's policy on Faculty Parental Leave and Other Family Supports?
Your F&M leave for childbirth will be counted as one of the three Parental Leaves to which you are entitled, under the University of Maryland Policy on Faculty Parental Leave and Other Family Supports.
In order to facilitate applications for leave without pay, administrators and faculty members must now use an on-line application and approval system, which we hope will streamline the process. If after using this new system, you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know. Faculty procedures appear below; click here for administrative procedures.
The following instructions are based on the University System of Maryland's Policy on Leave Without Pay for Faculty and the University of Maryland, College Park's Guidelines and Procedures for Faculty Leave of Absence Without Pay.
The University's Leave Without Pay policy is intended to allow you to pursue activities that will support UMCP's "missions of teaching, scholarly and creative activity, and University, professional, or public service." It can also be used for personal reasons at the President's discretion.
There are a few ways you can take Leave Without Pay:
You are eligible if you are a faculty member who is tenured, tenure-track, or non-tenure track and employed on a full-time term or continuing contract and have been actively employed for at least one year prior to the beginning of the proposed leave.
You initiate the request by logging into the Leave Without Pay system and completing the online submission form. The form has space for you to include:
You should complete the online submission form at least six months in advance of the proposed professional leave. When the need is not foreseeable, the application should be made as soon as practicable. If your leave puts you below 50% FTE, you must contact the Personnel Benefits Office at least 60 days before the effective date of the leave to complete and submit the COBRA/LAW Election Form.
By submitting the form, you indicate that you agree to comply with the University's Leave Without Pay policies. After you submit the form, notification of your request will be emailed to your department chair and his or her designee if one has been named.
If you are a tenure-track faculty member, you are not entitled to an automatic extension of time before mandatory tenure review, unless your request is due to childbirth or adoption. Your tenure review date will remain the same unless you request a delay by checking the appropriate box on the Leave Without Pay Form, and then completing the additional explanation required for tenure delay. There is also an option on this part of the form for you to attach other relevant documentation, in either PDF or Word format. Your request for Delay of Tenure Review will be evaluated separately from your request for Leave Without Pay.
If you are a tenured faculty member,
Note: Faculty on leave without pay who are above 50% FTE continue to have the same benefits coverage. They also continue to accrue annual and sick leave, prorated by FTE, when they are on partial leave.
LWOP LoginAdministrative log in is available to department chairs and their designees and to deans and their designees. Use the same link below for administrative log in; the system will direct you to the appropriate menu.
When a faculty member applies for leave without pay, you will receive an email notification of the request. Use the link below to log in to the on-line approval system. After you have logged in, you will see a list of leave requests with status indicators. In addition, you will see a link to request your own leave without pay.
Clicking the "view" button next to a faculty member's name will display the information in his or her request. Clicking on the "approve" button will open a form where you have the option to enter comments about the request. If you feel the request needs more information before you can approve it, you can enter your comments in the text box labeled "Request Changes," and then click the "Return" button. The faculty member will receive confidential email notification of your comments as you type them on this form. Following his or her revision, you will receive another email notice about the request.
If the faculty member's request seems fine as it is, there are spaces on the form below for you to comment on the request, as well as to comment on how it conforms to the University's mission and how the faculty member's workload will be covered. This information is required before your approval of the leave can be recorded. Finally, your name and the date appear, along with an attestation regarding the University's leave without pay policy, and radio button choices labeled "I approve" and "I disapprove." Make the appropriate choice and click the submit button. After you have submitted your review of the application, notification of your action will be emailed to the faculty member. If appropriate, the dean will also receive email notice that the application is ready for his or her review.
When a department chair approves a faculty member's application for sabbatical leave, you will receive an email notification of the approval. Use the link below to log in to the on-line approval system. After logging in, you will see a list of sabbatical requests for the college, with status indicators.
Clicking the view link next to a faculty member's name will display the information in his or her application, as well as the department chair or designee's comments. If you feel the request needs revision before you can approve it, you can enter comments in the text box labeled "Request Change," and then click the "Return" button. The department chair and designee will receive confidential email notification of your comments as you've typed them on this form. Following revision, you will receive another email notice about the request.
If the application seems fine as it is, simply indicate your approval by checking the appropriate radio button next to your name and the date. Click the "submit" button, and both the department chair and the faculty member will be notified of your approval, as will the Faculty Affairs Office.
Note: Faculty on leave without pay who are above 50% FTE continue to have the same benefits coverage. They also continue to accrue annual and sick leave, prorated by FTE, when they are on partial leave.
LWOP LoginThe University's Paid Parental Leave policy is intended to support faculty as they balance professional and family duties before and after the birth or adoption of a child. Several measures are available:
Eligible faculty are tenured, tenure-track, or non-tenure track, with appointments of at least 50% FTE, who have been employed by the University for at least one full semester or six months.
To apply for paid parental leave, you must complete the Faculty Parental Leave Request form, at least two months in advance of your expected leave. Parental leave is charged to your accrued annual, creditable sick and personal leave. Instructional faculty will also rely on collegial leave, once their accrued leave is exhausted. The University will supplement the balance, as needed, to ensure up to eight weeks of paid leave. Parental leave is charged concurrently toward Family Medical Leave.
You may also request a modification of work duties without a reduction of salary during the same semester you are on Parental Leave. This is known as the Modified Duty Family Support Plan. The Plan should be developed in collaboration with your chair and dean, and might include elements such as:
If you have developed a Modified Duty Family Support Plan, it should be attached to your Faculty Parental Leave Request form. A Modified Duty Family Support Plan may be available from six months prior to 12 months following the birth or placement of your child for adoption or foster care.
If your spouse is also a faculty member at the University, Modified Duty Family Support and Paid Parental Leave are available to both of you, on a sequential basis, provided that the faculty member on leave is the child's primary caregiver during the period of the leave or modified duty.
You are also entitled to two automatic extensions of time before your mandatory tenure review. Click here for more information.
Also see the Policy on Family and Medical Leave.
What is Parental Leave?
Parental Leave is a policy intended to support faculty in balancing professional and family demands before and after birth, adoption, or foster care placement. The intent is to foster a family friendly environment.
Who is eligible to take Parental Leave?
All full- and part-time tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty with appointments of at least 50% FTE are eligible to take parental leave, upon written affirmation that the faculty member will be the child's primary caregiver during the parental leave period. Also, the faculty member must have been employed by the institution for at least six months. The FTE of an appointment is calculated differently from one department to the next, so check with the business manager of your department to verify your FTE.
When can I use Parental Leave?
This leave can be used for the birth of a newborn or the placement of a child under the age of six for adoption or foster care. Parental Leave can be used from six months prior to 12 months after the birth / adoption / placement event. Your leave must begin and end on a weekday.
How long a period of time can I take for Parental Leave?
If you are a full-time faculty member, a total period of eight work weeks of paid parental leave will be assured, as follows:
If you are a part-time faculty member, you are eligible for a period of Parental Leave that is pro-rated according to your FTE. For example, if your appointment is 75% FTE, you are eligible for 30 days of Parental Leave. During the period of your leave, you will receive your normal pay.
For full-time or part-time faculty, if a holiday occurs during the period of your Parental Leave, you or your department will not be charged for that day, but the holiday does not extend the eight-week period.
Does the period of my Parental Leave count toward sabbatical eligibility?
Yes, it does.
Can I use my Parental Leave intermittently?
No. The intent of the Parental Leave policy is that it must be taken continuously. Even if you are a part-time faculty member working only a few days a week, your Parental Leave period will be eight continuous weeks.
What if my spouse or partner is also a faculty member?
If both parents are employed as faculty members at the same institution, they both may be eligible for paid parental leave up to eight weeks maximum, as follows:
When and how do I apply for Parental leave?
A request form and instructions are available from the Faculty Affairs website. To minimize hardship to the department / unit, faculty are expected to notify their chair or unit head, and, if applicable, the dean, at least two months in advance of the date of expected use of paid parental. Notice should include the projected date of birth of the child or expected date of the child's placement through adoption or foster care, as feasible.
I am unable to work due to health complications from my pregnancy. Should I use Paid Parental Leave or Family and Medical Leave?
Paid Parental Leave runs concurrently with Family and Medical Leave. So, after Paid Parental Leave is exhausted, you will be eligible for up to four additional weeks of unpaid Family and Medical Leave.
How do Paid Parental Leave and Family Medical Leave combine?
Paid Parental Leave and Family Medical Leave run concurrently. That means when you take Paid Parental Leave, you are also depleting your available Family Medical Leave (60 days per calendar year) for the same number of days. After forty days of Paid Parental Leave, you will have only twenty days of available Family Medical Leave remaining. Further, Family Medical Leave is adjusted automatically. If you will need to take both Paid Parental Leave and Family Medical Leave, your Family Medical Leave request should indicate a leave period beginning just after your Paid Parental Leave ends, and the request must be for no more than twenty days.
How do I enter Paid Parental Leave on my time sheet?
Choose any available leave from the dropdown list when you complete your timesheet. Paid Parental Leave should be visible on the dropdown list, but it will not be enabled until you have exhausted all your other leave. At that point, you will be able to choose Paid Parental Leave as your leave type for the remainder of the leave period.
There was a snow day during my paid parental leave period. Will this extend the period of my leave?
No. Employees who were scheduled for approved annual leave, sick leave, personal leave, compensatory leave, or approved leave without pay during the period of closure are considered "in a prior leave status" under applicable policy, and as such, do not receive administrative leave for the snow day or other university closure. These employees shall have their leave charged according to what had been approved/scheduled on these days.
What is the modified duty family support plan?
Modified duty family support is an option that allows faculty eligible for Parental Leave to request time during which their duties are reduced or modified without a reduction in salary. Modified Duty Family Support is only available to faculty in conjunction with Paid Parental Leave; you cannot use a modified duty family support plan by itself.
When is Modified Duty Family Support used?
Modified Duty Family Support can be used during the period beginning six months prior to and ending 12 months after the birth / adoption / placement event. The combined period of Paid Parental Leave and the Modified Duty must be concluded within twelve months of the birth or placement of the child for adoption or foster care.
Who is eligible for a Modified Duty Family Support plan?
Modified Duty Family Support is available to all faculty who are eligible for Paid Parental Leave. Faculty with instructional responsibilities are entitled to a release from classroom teaching duties and service responsibilities during the semester in which parental leave and the modified duty family support plan are used.
How do I create a modified duty plan?
You should work with your chair, your chair’s designee, or the dean to develop your plan.
What should be in a modified duty plan?
Workload modifications, which may include part-time employment, spreading the semester’s teaching responsibilities over multiple terms that precede and succeed the parental leave period, redistributing teaching duties with other departmental or academic service, and or other options to the extent authorized by the institution and feasible within the department.
How does a modified duty plan work for Instructional Faculty?
During the Modified Duty period, faculty members who ordinarily have instructional responsibilities are expected to continue non-classroom instructional duties, such as advising graduate students, as well as to sustain their research / creative activities as applicable. Instructional faculty on a modified duty plan will not be required to “make up” for their reduced teaching load in other semesters.
How does a modified duty plan work for non-instructional faculty (i.e., research titles)?
Research faculty are always subject to the limits established in the contract or grant by the funding agency responsible for the faculty member’s salary support. Research faculty are entitled to Modified Duty for a period of up to six weeks in addition to the eight weeks of paid parental leave.
My spouse or partner is also a faculty member. Can we each have a modified duty plan?
Both faculty parents make take modified duty, on a sequential basis. The faculty member who is currently on modified duty / paid parental leave must be the child’s primary caregiver during normal working hours during the period of that faculty member’s leave. Both faculty parents are expected to coordinate leave arrangements so that the combined period of Paid Parental Leave and the Modified Duty Family Support Plan is not exceeded.
What should I do to arrange for lactation facilities? There are none available in my building.
Contact your department head or administrator to be sure that he or she is aware of the policy and its requirements regarding lactation space.
Also see the Policy on Family and Medical Leave.
The following instructions are based on the University's Policy on Professional Leave for Librarians.
Note: Faculty on professional or sabbatical leave continue to have the same benefits coverage. They also continue to accrue annual leave and sick leave at either full rate (if receiving full pay) or half rate (if receiving half pay).
In order to facilitate sabbatical leave applications, administrators and faculty members must now use an on-line application and approval system, which we hope will streamline the process. If after using this new system, you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know. Faculty procedures appear below; click here for administrative procedures.
Before beginning your application, you should have the following information available:
Faculty who are not yet tenured, but who expect promotion to tenured rank within the next six months must complete the Contingent Sabbatical Leave Request, rather than using the online application. The completed form and requisite supporting documentation (most current CV and brief summary of planned sabbatical project) must emailed as a searchable PDF to Faculty Affairs (5-6803). After the Contingent Sabbatical Request has been received by the Office of Faculty Affairs, the chair will receive an email request for appraisal of the project.
After logging in with the link below, you will see a form that has been pre-populated with information about your college and department. If there are any errors in this information, you should contact Faculty Affairs or your department administrators.
Enter the required dates or indicate the appropriate semester for your leave, and then paste your project summary in the summary text box. If you are requesting an academic or calendar year sabbatical, please first confer with your unit's budget or payroll officer to find out how your sabbatical request may affect your benefits. Also note that you must request your sabbatical leave at least six months in advance.
Use the browse button below the project summary to upload your CV file. Check the box labeled "I attest," which will indicate your acceptance of the University sabbatical leave policy, and then click the button labeled "Attest and Submit" to submit your application. After you have submitted the application, notification of your request will be emailed to your department chair and his or her designee if one has been named.
You can check the status of your application by logging in to the system a second time. Logging in a second time will also give you the opportunity to update or cancel your application. You will also need to return to the system to upload your sabbatical report.
If you should need to cancel or update your sabbatical application, you may do so at any time until the sabbatical has received full campus approval. Following campus approval, you must email your request to cancel or update, with a full explanation of the circumstances, to the Office of Faculty Affairs.
Sabbatical LoginAccording to University policy, you are eligible for sabbatical leave if you have six years full-time service or service of at least 50% FTE as a tenure-track or tenured faculty member, and you are tenured at the time the leave commences. If you have already had a sabbatical leave, you must have completed an additional six years at full-time or at least 50% FTE to qualify for another leave. Please note that semesters where you are on leave without pay or working at less than 50% FTE are not included in the calculation of your sabbatical eligibility.
The sabbatical report should be a brief summary of your accomplishments during the sabbatical period. If you completed or made progress towards the completion of the project(s) outlined in your sabbatical request, you should indicate that in the report. If you found yourself moving in a new direction, you should explain that in the report. While there are no limits on the length of the report, it need not be longer than a page.
When your sabbatical report is ready to be submitted, use the button below to log in to the system. You will then see a menu that includes a link for uploading the report, which must be a PDF file. Once you have uploaded the report, it will be automatically forwarded to the relevant parties, including your department chair and the Faculty Affairs office. Be sure to submit your report within three months of the completion of your sabbatical leave.
If it should be the case that you are taking a semester-long sabbatical first, and then a semester for RASA-funded work, you will need to prepare two reports. Your sabbatical report, potentially a brief interim report of progress on your project, will be due before the end of your RASA-funded semester.
Administrative log in is available to department chairs and their designees and to deans and their designees. Use the same link below for administrative log in; the system will direct you to the appropriate menu.
When a faculty member applies for sabbatical leave, you will receive an email notification of the request. Use the link below to log in to the on-line approval system. After you have logged in, you will see a list of sabbatical requests with status indicators. In addition, if appropriate to your position, you will see a link to request your own sabbatical.
Clicking the "view" link next to a faculty member's name will display the information in his or her application, including the project summary. If you feel the project needs revision before you can approve it, you can enter your comments in the text box labeled "Request Changes in the Proposal," and then click the "Return" button. The faculty member will receive confidential email notification of your comments as you type them on this form. Following his or her revision, you will receive another email notice about the application.
If the faculty member's application seems fine as it is, there are spaces on the form below for you to appraise the project, as well as to comment on how it conforms to the University's mission and how the faculty member's workload will be covered. This information is required before your approval of the leave can be recorded. Finally, your name and the date appear, along with an attestation regarding the University's sabbatical leave policy, and radio button choices labeled "I approve" and "I disapprove." Make the appropriate choice and click the submit button. After you have submitted your review of the application, notification of your action will be emailed to the faculty member. If appropriate, the dean will also receive email notice that the application is ready for his or her review.
Sabbatical reports are linked at the bottom of each faculty member's sabbatical request. To view the sabbatical report submitted by a faculty member, "View" next to the faculty member's name on your sabbatical listing and scroll to the bottom of the request to see the report link.
When a department chair approves a faculty member's application for sabbatical leave, you will receive an email notification of the approval. Use the link below to log in to the on-line approval system. After logging in, you will see a list of sabbatical requests for the college, with status indicators.
Clicking the view link next to a faculty member's name will display the information in his or her application, as well as the department chair or designee's comments. If you feel the project needs revision before you can approve it, you can enter comments in the text box labeled "Request changes in the proposal," and then click the "Return" button. The department chair and designee will receive confidential email notification of your comments as you've typed them on this form. Following revision, you will receive another email notice about the application.
If the application seems fine as it is, simply indicate your approval by checking the appropriate radio button next to your name and the date. Click the "submit" button, and both the department chair and the faculty member will be notified of your approval, as will the Faculty Affairs Office.
Sabbatical reports are linked at the bottom of each faculty member's sabbatical request. To view the sabbatical report submitted by a faculty member, "View" next to the faculty member's name on your sabbatical listing and scroll to the bottom of the request to see the report link.
Faculty on professional or sabbatical leave continue to have the same benefits coverage. They also continue to accrue annual leave and sick leave at either full rate (if receiving full pay) or half rate (if receiving half pay). Faculty on professional or sabbatical leave with FTE of less than 50% (that is, faculty with a part-time appointment before going on sabbatical) will not be eligible for benefits while on sabbatical, and will not accrue annual leave and sick leave.
Sabbatical Login