I. General Policy
The university provides for faculty leave for faculty to address family and personal medical situations in keeping with federal and state laws. Additionally, when faculty members desire to pursue non-traditional leaves to explore professional development and scholarly opportunities that advances the mission of the university, the university supports those efforts. This policy is intended to cover temporary leaves for faculty member who intend to return as a fully engaged member of the Rice community.
This policy governs leaves for tenured and tenured and track faculty members (TTTs). This policy generally outlines the length of time, frequency and compensation associated with both paid and unpaid leaves of absence for TTTs. This policy is separate and distinct from the policies that govern leave for non- tenure track faculty and staff.
II. Roles and Responsibilities
Deans and Department Chairs – Deans and Department Chairs are responsible for managing instruction workload during leaves of absence of faculty. Deans and Department Chairs are also responsible for ensuring that paid leaves of absence under this policy are appropriately funded.
Human Resources – The Office is responsible for establishing the process for requesting leave. They also make initial determinations of faculty eligibility for particular types of leave covered under this policy.
Provost’s Office – The Provost’s office is primarily responsible for approving faculty leaves. If a faculty member wishes to appeal any decision made by Human Resources with respect to a requested leave; such decisions are appealable to the Provost’s office where a final decision can be rendered.
III. Definitions
Birth/Adoption Event – This is the birth, adoption, or fostering with the intention of adoption (provided that fostering is a statutorily mandated pre-requisite to adoption) of one or more children. Any birth/adoption event that take place within three months of one or more other birth/adoption events is considered one birth/adoption event.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) – This is a federal regulation that requires certain employers to provide access to unpaid leaves for employees.
Paid Parental Leave (PPL) – Is a form of paid leave granted to an eligible faculty member as a result of a birth/adoption event.
Professional Leave – Encompasses all paid and unpaid leaves available to faculty for professional development, expansion of scholarly work, and pursuit of academic and non-academic professional opportunities.
Tenure, and Tenured Track Faculty (TTTs) – These faculty Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, or (Full) Professors (as defined in Policy 201) who either have tenure or are eligible to attain tenure.
Tenure Clock - the maximum time for reaching tenure from the date of initial employment. See Policy 201.
IV. Elaboration of Policy
A. Family Leaves
Family leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act for eligible faculty may be granted for a period of up to 12 weeks during any annual period of employment from July 1 through June 30.
Family leave is unpaid leave and is granted upon request with appropriate documentation for any of the following situations: birth of a child of the faculty member; the placement of a child with the faculty member for adoption or foster care; a serious health condition that makes the faculty member unable to perform the essential functions of their job; in order to care for a spouse, child, domestic partner or parent with a serious health condition; and the extension of a medical leave in which case the 12-week limit may be applied to the entire period of absence.
A faculty member using family leave may return to their position held before the leave was taken or be placed in an equivalent position with the same benefits eligibility, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment as in place before the leave. Any benefits accrued under Rice policies and approved prior to the leave are not forfeited. Any paid medical leave (such as paid parental leave or short-term disability) that also qualifies as family leave shall count toward the 12-week annual family leave allotment. If the husband and wife or both domestic partners are employed by the University and both eligible for family leave due to care for a child or parent with a serious health condition, the two individuals are limited to a combined total of 12 weeks of family leave during each annual period for any single occurrence/illness (this limitation excludes Birth/Adoption Events).
B. Paid Parental Leaves
The paid parental leave (“PPL”) policy covers full-time benefit-eligible faculty members in the following categories: 1) birth parent; 2) adoptive parent of a child under the age of eighteen years old (excluding the children of spouses); 3) spouse or domestic partner of birth parent; and 4) having a foster child placed in your home if you intend to adopt the child. This only applies when fostering the child is a requirement for adoption (any other placement of foster children does not apply). Note, however, PPL shall not be granted for the adoption of a stepchild by a stepparent.
A full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member in one of these categories will be entitled to one full semester leave at full pay. During this semester, the faculty member will be free of teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities. The semester covered by this leave will be chosen at the discretion of the faculty member, as long as it is completed by the end of the second full fall/spring semester after the birth/adoption event. There shall be only one PPL entitlement per faculty member per birth/adoption event and it may not be divided. Multiple births or adoptions (e.g., the birth of twins or simultaneous adoption of siblings) constitute one birth/adoption event and do not increase the total PPL granted for that birth or adoption.
Upon written request to the Provost, the tenure clock and contract terms of a faculty member who has taken a PPL while holding an appointment without tenure will be extended by one year. The maximum number of extensions an untenured faculty member may receive for PPL is two.
When reasonably possible, a faculty member planning to take a PPL under this plan should inform their Department Chair and Dean in writing (with a copy to the Provost), ordinarily at least three months before the expected start of the leave and in all cases no later than 30 days before the start of the leave, or as soon as practical if less than that. Failure to provide timely notice may result in a denial or delay of the PPL. Note, however, that due to the unpredictability of adoption and birth timelines, a faculty member may meet this notice requirement by giving notice of an anticipated adoption or birth even when the exact dates are unknown.
Faculty members covered by outside grants or contracts during the period of the PPL will normally arrange no-cost extensions of grants where possible. If a faculty member does not wish to be released from the obligations of a grant or contract, the faculty member may nonetheless be relieved from other administrative or teaching duties in conformity with the PPL policy.
C. Medical Leaves
Faculty members who are benefits-eligible may request personal medical leaves for any medical reason, including pregnancy, for any period of time that the faculty member is unable to work as determined by their physician. The faculty member or Department Chair may request such a leave. The leave request with appropriate documentation, including a physician's statement, should be processed through the Department Chair, the Dean of the academic division, and the Provost for approval, and to the Associate Vice President of Human Resources for processing.
In the case of faculty who undergo pregnancy and childbirth, the faculty member will also be eligible for the PPL (see above).
Faculty on medical leave, including pregnancy and childbirth not covered by PPL, may receive up to 50 percent of their academic year salary based on the length of their leave under short term disability, after which continuing disability payment at partial salary may be requested and approved under the University's long-term disability insurance program. Faculty are expected to apply through their departments to Human Resources for short-term disability leave benefits, where appropriate, to pay for salary continuation.
D. Teaching Assignments Affected by Family, Parental and Medical Leaves
When reasonable and possible, faculty members that anticipate taking a leave from teaching assignments should inform their Dean and Department Chair with enough advanced notice to find suitable coverage for their classes and/or remove their classes from the course offering during their leave.
PPL - While faculty seeking PPL are expected to provide adequate notice to the Department Chair and the Dean prior to the expected start of the leave, faculty approved for PPL will not be responsible for finding replacements for courses they normally teach, nor will they be required subsequently to compensate for teaching release granted as part of the PPL. Faculty will be expected to cooperate fully with the Department Chair and Dean to identify ways to meet curricular and departmental needs and issues that may arise due to the PPL.
Family Leave & Medical Leave - Faculty on extended family or medical leaves during the academic semester will make a reasonable effort to work out suitable alternative ways to complete their teaching assignments with Department Chairs and the appropriate Dean. If it is anticipated that family or medical leaves will be sufficiently long that students will be unable to complete the courses offered by the faculty member on leave, a Department Chair may decide to relieve the faculty member from teaching for an entire semester and find acceptable substitutes. If a faculty member on extended family or medical leave who has been relieved from teaching is able to return to work full time during a semester, the Department Chair may assign other duties to compensate for the lack of teaching duties; if the faculty member prefers not to assume such duties, the Department Chair may recommend an adjustment of the faculty member's salary to the Dean who may, in consultation with the Provost, adjust the faculty member’s salary based on the reduced effort.
E. Extension of Contract Affected by Family, Parental and Medical Leaves
Upon written request to the Provost, the contract terms and tenure clock of a full-time faculty member who has taken a PPL while holding an appointment without tenure may be extended by up to one year. The maximum number of extensions an untenured faculty member may receive for PPL is two. The contract of a faculty member who has taken approved medical or family leave of fewer than 120 days during a summer or semester may be extended for one semester for each such leave, for a maximum extension of one year per contract. Upon written request to the Provost, the contract and tenure clock of a faculty member who has taken an approved medical or family leave of 120 days or more in any twelve-month period may be extended by one year.
PPL and approved medical or family leaves will not count as service periods for sabbatical purposes.
A faculty member who is eligible to request paid parental, family, or medical leave but elects not to do so, may, at the time they are eligible for the leave, request a contract extension equivalent to that which the leave would provide.
Extensions to the tenure clock or contract length will not be granted retroactively; it must be requested and approved at the time of the paid parental, family, or medical leave or within thirty (30) days of when it ends.
A combination of contract extensions and renewals will have the effect of extending the 8-year limitation on service at the rank of assistant professor.
F. Professional Leaves
Professional leaves may either be paid or unpaid leaves. However, all Professional leaves are granted with the expectation that the faculty member will return to Rice at the conclusion of such leaves for a sufficient period of time so that the Rice community can benefit from the knowledge gained and research and scholarship conducted while on leave.
Professional Leave, even if it is without salary, will not extend a faculty member’s tenure clock nor will it extend a faculty member’s contract. Additionally, leave periods with or without salary, regardless of the type of leave, do not count toward a sabbatical.
Two forms of professional leave provided for by the university and approved through the Provost’s office are Sabbatical (See Policy 208) and Junior Leave (See Policy 201). The processes for requesting those leave and them being approved are outlined in their respective policies. All other forms of professional leaves are processed and approved on the school level and at the discretion of the Dean in consultation with the Provost and Department Chair.
V. Cross Reference to Related Policies
Policy 201 - Faculty Appointments, Promotions and Tenure
Policy 208 - Sabbatical Leaves of Absence
Policy 417 - Family/Medical Leaves
Policy 420 - Personal Leaves
Policy 423 - Short-Term Disability Pay Continuation
Policy 407 - Workers' Compensation
VI. Responsible Official and Key Offices to Contact Regarding the Policy and its Implementation
Responsible Official: Executive Vice President for Research
Other Key Offices: Office of the Provost, Academic Departments, Office of Research Integrity, Office of Sponsored Programs
VII. Procedures and Forms
Procedures for Family/Medical Leave
Signatures
Reginald DesRoches, President
Policy History
Issued
June 23, 1993
Revised
May 30, 2024
September 1, 1996
September 9, 1997
February 11, 2003
Clerical Changes
January 31, 2023