Non-Tenured Faculty Leave Applications (FASTAP 2016)

[Summary: Non-tenured ladder faculty governed by FASTAP 2016 are eligible for three semesters of leave at full salary. The details of leave eligibility and the procedure and schedule for leave applications are outlined below. To begin the application process, eligible faculty should submit their CV and leave proposal to their department/program in November 2023.]

To: FAS Department and Program Chairs
Cc: FAS Non-Tenured Ladder Faculty on FASTAP 2016, FAS Chairs’ Assistants and Operations Managers, FAS Steering Committee, FAS Dean’s Office Staff, OFAS
 

Overview

I write with details on procedures for leave applications for the 2024-2025 academic year, or 2025 calendar year, for non-tenured ladder faculty governed by FASTAP 2016. (Note: Throughout this memo, “assistant professors” includes the few faculty governed by FASTAP 2016 who hold the courtesy title of associate professor on term; policies and procedures for their reappointment, promotion, and leave eligibility are identical to those of assistant professors.)

• Assistant professors governed by FASTAP 2016 who have not yet undergone their reappointment review are eligible for up to two semesters of Initial Appointment Leave, typically to be taken during a single academic year during the second or third year of their initial appointments. (In the case of faculty whose work is laboratory-based, the faculty member may, with the approval of the department/program and the FAS Dean, take one semester of their first leave during their first semester at Yale in order to set up their laboratory.)
• Assistant professors governed by FASTAP 2016 who have been reappointed in their rank are eligible for up to two semesters of Post-Reappointment Leave prior to their tenure review, typically to be taken during a single academic year during the fifth or sixth year on the tenure clock. The total number of semesters of leave taken prior to the tenure review (whether paid or unpaid) cannot exceed three.
• At the request of the candidate, and with the permission of the department/program and the FAS Dean’s Office, pre-tenure one-semester leaves may be taken as full-year, half-time teaching.

Schedule

1. November 2023: The assistant professor submits their current CV and a leave proposal to their department/program. The proposal should describe the project that will be undertaken during the leave and how it will contribute to the candidate’s growth as a researcher and teacher. The proposal should explain the significance of the project to the candidate’s field of study, the methods to be used in undertaking the project, and a plan to achieve publication or dissemination. (Proposals should not exceed 5 pages.)
2. November 2023: The department/program chair’s assistant (or equivalent) (the “staff member”) creates a case in Interfolio using the template Non-Tenured Faculty Leave Request [Relevant Division] and the Sabbatical case type and uploads the candidate’s leave proposal and CV. The staff member shares the Interfolio case with the assistant professor so they can complete the Faculty Research Leave Request Form within Interfolio.
3. November 2023: The department/program chair appoints a departmental committee of permanent officers to evaluate proposals for leaves for non-tenured ladder faculty. The staff member adds these committee members onto the relevant step in the Interfolio case and forwards the case to that step for review.
4. November 2023: The departmental committee reviews the candidate’s materials in Interfolio and assesses the proposal’s strengths, weaknesses, and feasibility. One or more of the departmental committee members then meets with the candidate to provide feedback on the proposal. The candidate may then revise and resubmit the proposal, if needed. Once the proposal is final, the chair of the departmental committee prepares a short report (typically less than one page) detailing the committee’s evaluation of the proposal and summarizing the discussion with the candidate and sends it to the staff member. The staff member uploads the report to Interfolio and forwards the case to the department/program chair.
5. By December 1, 2023: The department/program chair reviews the materials in Interfolio and sends their recommendation to the staff member to upload to Interfolio. The staff member then forwards the case in Interfolio to the cognizant dean for review. [Thereafter, the FAS Dean’s Office manages the case.]
6. January-February 2024: After the leave proposal is reviewed and approved by the cognizant dean, OFAS, and the FAS Dean’s Office, the FAS Dean’s Office notifies the faculty member, department/program chair, and relevant staff (via email) of all decisions regarding requests for leaves for non-tenured ladder faculty.

Additional information

Timing of Initial Appointment Leaves

Assistant professors should be encouraged to take Initial Appointment Leave when it best advances their research programs. Except in unusual circumstances, we recommend taking the leave in the second or third year. This schedule provides the faculty member an opportunity to become integrated into the department/program and University and to develop a strong teaching record prior to the first review. We value high-quality teaching not only for its importance to our undergraduate and graduate students but also because it enriches the scholarship of our faculty members. In the sciences, where setting up a new laboratory may be time-consuming, assistant professors may wish to take one semester of the leave in their first semester at Yale for this purpose and take the remainder of their pre-tenure leave in a later year. Except in exceptional circumstances, a full-year leave should be taken over an academic rather than a calendar year, to allow the candidate to participate fully in the life of the University.

Timing of Post-Reappointment Leaves

Faculty members who wish to take their Post-Reappointment Leave in the first year following reappointment (typically this would be year five, the final year of the first assistant professor appointment) must apply for the leave during the same academic year as the reappointment review. In such cases, the approval of the application will be offered contingent upon successful reappointment. Faculty members should not wait until the review is completed before applying for the Post-Reappointment Leave for the following year.

External funding

We encourage non-tenured ladder faculty members who are applying for leave to also apply for external fellowships at the same time. Winning an external award is, of course, beneficial for one’s career, but even submitting such a proposal may raise a scholar’s visibility among the senior scholars in the discipline serving on awards committees. If a member of the FAS faculty who has been granted a paid leave is also successful in obtaining from outside sources any portion of the salary that they are eligible to receive from Yale for the term of that leave, one half of the resulting salary savings to the University up to $25,000 will be used to create an individual research account, which may be used for any legitimate research expenses.

Review process and mentoring

Implementation of these leave procedures requires the energy and cooperation of the tenured members of the FAS faculty, but we know that the permanent officers share our commitment to enhancing the scholarly productivity of our non-tenured colleagues.

The review and evaluation of proposals for leaves for assistant professors is an important component of a broader mentoring plan for non-tenured ladder faculty.

Faculty Handbook

Leave descriptions and policies are available in the Faculty Handbook (section XIX, Leaves of Absence and Teaching Relief: University-wide; section IV.L, Faculty of Arts and Sciences: Leaves).

Please feel free to contact the FAS Dean’s Office at fas.dean@yale.edu if you have questions or need additional information.

Best wishes,

Tamar

Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy
Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science