(See also Section 11.1 “Sabbatical Leaves”.)
This policy applies to full-time tenure-track faculty who receive academic-year contracts. Arrangements to provide for classes to be taught by a faculty member on leave will be made by the faculty member, upon approval of the department chair/school director, or by the department chair/school director, as appropriate. In colleges where there is no department or school, the dean will function as department chair in these processes.
Faculty will be granted time to serve on juries or to appear in court as witnesses if subpoenaed by anyone empowered by law to compel attendance by subpoena, all without loss of pay. The University will continue its normal contributions to insurance and other fringe benefits during such leave.
Related NKU policy: Jury & Court Duty
Faculty in the National Guard on in military reserve units of the United States shall be granted up to 10 working days of military leave each year. Insofar as possible, faculty shall attempt to have the leave scheduled at some time other than the academic year by making such a request of their military superiors. The University will pay the difference between the faculty member’s normal salary and the military salary during this leave.
Related NKU policy: Military Leave
Military leave of absence will be granted to any faculty member in the event of induction or voluntary enlistment. No salary or collateral fringe benefits of any kind shall be paid to the faculty member during the term of this leave. Upon return to the University position, the period of military service will be added to the length of service credit that the faculty member may have accumulated prior to induction or enlistment, except that time spent on extended military leave shall not be counted toward mandatory tenure consideration.
Related NKU policy: Military Leave
Leaves of absence to attend professional meetings or other professional activities may be granted to faculty upon request. Such leaves shall not exceed five (5) consecutive working days. Requests must be filed with the department chair/school director at least five (5) working days in advance of the anticipated leave.
Leaves of absence to carry out official University business, e.g. official visits to other campuses, off-campus meetings, etc., may be granted to faculty upon request. When possible, requests must be filed with the department chair/school director at least five (5) working days in advance of the anticipated leave.
Continuing faculty earn and accumulate sick leave with pay on the basis of one day per month credited on the first day of the contract year (twelve (12) days per contract-calendar year). An unlimited number of sick-leave days may be accrued. Records regarding faculty sick-leave accumulation are maintained in the office of Human Resources.
New faculty having no accrued sick leave will have one-half the yearly total credited to them at the beginning of their annual appointment; the remaining six (6) days will be credited as they accumulate monthly for the remaining half of the contract year.
Faculty who suffer temporary illness or disability, thus making them unable to perform assigned duties, will be granted paid leave for the necessary period, not to extend beyond the period that can be covered by accumulated sick leave days or ninety (90) calendar days, whichever is greater. A physician’s written statement may be required by the faculty member’s department/school and/or the Office of the Provost at any time during a temporary disability leave.
Faculty on paid leave will receive their regular compensation during the period of leave, as well as any salary increases, promotion, award of tenure, or any other rights that they would have received individually or as a member of the faculty had they not been on such leave.
On the first day of the month following the completion of six (6) months of continuous total disability, the faculty member is eligible for benefits under the University’s group total disability insurance plan.
A maximum of five (5) accumulated sick days per contract-calendar year may be used for absences necessitated by emergency or serious illness of an immediate member of family (parents, brother, sister, spouse, child, or other persons for whom the faculty member is responsible). Faculty may use accrued sick leave for childbirth, adoption, or attending childbirth in the immediate family.
If a faculty member is ill, he/she is required to call the department chair’s/school director’s office as early as possible to report the absence and to make provisions to have his/her classes notified. If a faculty member anticipates an illness in excess of three (3) consecutive teaching days, the department chair/school director must be notified so that provisions can be made for covering the classes.
Unused faculty sick-leave allowance will not be paid upon termination or resignation.
Related NKU policies: Family and Medical Leave; Sick Leave; Parental Leave
After exhausting accrued sick leave, a faculty member may request additional unpaid sick leave. A request form for unpaid, extended sick leave must be filed and approved by the department chair/school director, the dean, the provost, the president, and the Board of Regents.
Approval for unpaid extended sick leave will normally be granted to tenured faculty for up to two years. A non-tenured faculty member’s request for unpaid extended sick leave will normally be granted for a period at least equal to the period specified for probationary faculty members in the termination policies of this Handbook.
Initial requests for extended unpaid sick leave will be granted for up to one year of unpaid sick leave. Extensions of unpaid sick leave beyond one year require submission and approval of an additional request. Unpaid sick leave will not normally be granted to any faculty member for more than two consecutive years. After two consecutive years, if the case warrants, the University administration may implement the procedures for termination for medical reasons.
The University will continue its normal contributions to insurance and other paid fringe benefits up to one year of unpaid sick leave if permitted by the contract with the insurance carriers. (The University does not continue its contributions to TIAA in instances of unpaid leave.)
Accrual of sick-leave time does not continue during unpaid sick leave. Unpaid sick leave will not count toward tenure accrual.
Related NKU policy: Sick Leave
Leaves of absence without pay may be granted to faculty for up to one year at a time. A request must be filed with the department chair/school director at least two months in advance of the date upon which unpaid leave would begin except in case of emergency. Granting of unpaid leave requires the approval of the department chair/school director, the dean, the provost, the president, and the Board of Regents. A second consecutive year of unpaid leave may be granted upon request. In no case will a second year of unpaid leave be automatically granted. Unpaid leaves may be requested for the following purposes:
Specific conditions applying to recipients of unpaid leave:
Exceptions to this policy must be agreed to by the administration and affected faculty, and they must be stated in writing before the unpaid leave is granted.
It is recognized that from time to time it may be advantageous to faculty and to the University to grant special or emergency leaves for purposes, for time periods, and under circumstances other than those described in the prior provisions of this Handbook. Such leaves may be granted, for example, to respond to personal emergencies, family responsibilities, or bereavement. Special or emergency leaves may be requested by the faculty member and granted upon approval of the department chair/school director, the dean, and the provost. The provost may also initiate and approve a special or emergency leave for faculty. The terms and conditions of such leaves will be mutually agreed upon by faculty and administration. All normal compensations will continue during the special or emergency leaves.
The president may place a faculty member on temporary, paid mandatory leave under appropriate circumstances.
(See also Section 11.1 "Sabbatical Leaves".)
Full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty on fiscal-year contracts, except for chairs/school directors, deans, vice presidents, the president, and any other administrative officer who holds faculty rank, may request all the leaves set forth above. In addition, these faculty accrue annual leave at the same rate as other fiscal-year employees, i.e. an average of 16.25 hours each month for a total of twenty-six (26) working days for a calendar year. These faculty members may use no more than twenty (20) working days of annual leave in any calendar year. No more than twenty (20) working days of annual leave may be carried into any calendar year. The dates of annual leave shall be mutually agreed upon by faculty and immediate supervisors. Annual leave time does not accrue while a faculty member is on any unpaid leave. Fiscal-year faculty should be on campus when the University is open for business after the end of the semester and prior to commencement.
Faculty who anticipate termination due to resignation, retirement, or other reason must use all accumulated annual leave prior to the date of termination. In the event of death of a faculty member who has accumulated annual leave, the final salary payment will include payment for such earned annual leave. Other payment of annual leave time will not be made in the event annual leave time is unused at termination unless use of the annual leave would result in undue hardship to the University.
