2021 Professional Development Leave Memo (Instructional Faculty)
To: Full-time instructional faculty on multi-year appointments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the MacMillan Center
Cc: FAS Department Chairs; FAS Chairs’ Assistants and Operations Managers; Members of the LSC, CAAC, and TRAC; FAS Dean’s Office; Office of Faculty Administrative Services
The Steering Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences invites members of the full-time instructional (non-ladder) faculty in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to apply for a one-semester Professional Development Leave (PDL) during the 2021-22 academic year. Policies and procedures governing these leaves are described in Section IV.L.4 of the Faculty Handbook (online at http://provost.yale.edu/faculty-handbook) and on the FAS Dean’s Office website at http://fas.yale.edu/pdl.
Eligibility: Faculty first become eligible to take a PDL after three years of full-time teaching service in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Applicants must continue to hold a multi-year appointment that extends through the academic year following the proposed leave. Faculty who have already taken a PDL become eligible for another such leave after an additional six years of full-time teaching.
FAQs: A series of FAQs that offer helpful guidance with regard to eligibility and leave proposal content are also available on the FAS Dean’s Office website at http://fas.yale.edu/pdl.
Goals: Yale values the contributions of instructional faculty to teaching our students and improving our academic departments and programs. Yale believes that PDLs improve the teaching program of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences by enhancing the professional development of its instructional faculty.
Salary and Benefits: While on a PDL, faculty receive full salary and benefits and are relieved of all teaching and administrative responsibilities.
Application Process: Applicants should submit a written proposal with a current CV and the Request for Faculty Leave form to their department or program chair by December 2, 2020. Applications must describe the proposed project and how it will advance the applicant’s teaching and professional development and serve the teaching program of the applicant’s department or program. Proposals must also include a well-developed methodology and, if applicable, research plan, including a calendar for the intended semester of leave.
Departmental Endorsement: Once submitted, all leave applications are reviewed for endorsement by the applicant’s department or program by an internally appointed committee. Departments and programs may endorse as many applications as they deem worthy. In the case of language programs based in one of the Area Studies Councils of the MacMillan Center, the Center functions as the department, and the director of the Center functions as the chair. For each endorsed proposal, the department or program must provide a brief statement specifying the feasibility and prospective value of the proposed project. The chair will forward any endorsed application to the Office of Faculty Administrative Services (OFAS), care of Diane Rodrigues (diane.rodrigues@yale.edu), by January 15, 2021.
Additional Endorsements: Once endorsed by the department or program and forwarded to OFAS, the following applications will be further reviewed as follows:
- Applications from Lectors and Senior Lectors will be reviewed for endorsement by the Language Study Committee (LSC).
- Applications in the area of arts practice will be reviewed for endorsement by the Creative Arts Advisory Committee (CAAC).
Final FAS Review: All endorsed proposals will be forwarded for final review to the Teaching Resource Advisory Committee (TRAC), a subcommittee of FAS Steering, which will render final decisions by the end of February. TRAC will judge applications on the basis of quality and feasibility and on the likelihood that the completed project would enhance the teaching program of the department or program and advance the professional development of the applicant. A limited number of PDLs are available in any given year.
Report: All faculty members returning from a PDL will be expected to provide a brief written report to the FAS Dean’s Office describing their accomplishments during the leave, and how the work completed during the leave has affected their teaching program at Yale.
Please feel free to contact Jason Zentz (jason.zentz@yale.edu), Assistant Dean of Academic and Faculty Affairs in the FAS, if you have questions.