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Faculty Development Leave Program

The mission of the Faculty Development Leave Program is to provide regular tenure-track faculty members with opportunities to pursue activities that would enhance both their individual careers and their contributions to the broader mission of Loyola University Chicago.

A faculty development leave may either be a single semester at full pay or an entire academic year at half-pay and is intended to give the recipient the freedom to focus on important projects without the normal responsibilities associated with teaching and other university assignments. The goal of the program is ultimately to expand the number of leaves given to LUC faculty members pursuing research and artistry as well as other career-related endeavors. While the top priority for leaves remains the pursuit of research and creative artistry, other types of leave applications are also encouraged and will be funded as resources allow.

The Faculty Development Review Committee (FDR) reviews paid leave applications and makes recommendations to the Provost regarding their funding as resources are available. The FDR committee is an elected committee of the faculty governance system. There are three categories of faculty leaves: unpaid leaves, paid leaves and subvention leaves.

Paid Leaves

Paid faculty development leaves may be granted for one of two different purposes:

  1. Research/creative activity - This category includes basic research projects resulting in books or articles, creative artistic work (exhibits, works of art, performances, music or poetry compositions or the like) or any product which materially and significantly enhances one's field of professional expertise. It can include the generation of research results and artistic endeavor and/or the analysis and presentation of such results or endeavors.
  2. Faculty professional development - This category includes leaves that would allow faculty to develop additional expertise related to future career plans at Loyola and/or improving particular programs currently offered at or planned for Loyola.

    Questions about applications for paid leaves should be directed to the department chair. Additional help is available from Timothy O'Connell, Acting Director of the Center for Faculty Professional Development: call: 773.508.7478; e-mail: toconne@luc.edu.
     

Subventions

Faculty members are encouraged to apply for fellowships and personal development grants offered by foundations and federal agencies, irrespective of whether and when a faculty member may previously have taken a Paid Leave.  Faculty who are seeking either of these grants should apply for a salary subvention in the event that they are awarded the fellowship or personal development grant from the outside agency.   It is the policy of Academic Affairs to make every effort to provide subvention sufficient to "make whole" the faculty member's salary. 

UNPAID LEAVES

Unpaid leaves may be granted by the Provost at any time in consultation with the department/unit and college/school. Requests for unpaid leaves are not reviewed by the FDR Committee. A faculty member's request for full or partial unpaid leave of absence for professional development purposes can be submitted at any time. In each case, the candidate's dean and chair shall make their recommendations on the merits of the request. Those recommendations and the request itself are to be forwarded to the Provost or the Vice President of Health Sciences for a decision. Decisions regarding full or partial unpaid professional leaves are made on a case-by-case basis.

Application Process

Complete applications must be received at the Office of Faculty Administration (Granada 400 or 25 EP 717) by November 3, 2008.. Paid leave applications must be reviewed within the school before they are submitted to the FDR Committee for review, and they require Chair and Dean review and signature. Please consult your department/unit for due dates within the school. Proposals considered by the FDR Committee must first be evaluated on the department/unit and school/college levels.

Applicant Materials -- NOTE: This information is revised for 08-09.  Please read carefully.

Applicants must provide 15 copies of the application materials for review by the FDRC. All applications for paid leaves of absence must contain the following materials from the applicant:

  1. A completed cover sheet (PDF).
    To fill out the application online, you must use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or later. To download the free Adobe Reader, click here.
  2. A summary letter, which includes all of the following information:
    • Name and faculty rank
    • Department/affinity group and school affiliation
    • Purpose of the paid or subvented leave being requested: research/creative activity; curricular innovation (including teaching); career development (including leadership, and additional formal or informal training)
    • Requested percentage, period and dates of leave. Two options are generally available:
      • Release from all ordinary faculty responsibilities for one semester (specify the semester desired) at full pay;
      • Release from all ordinary faculty responsibilities for an entire academic year at 50% of one's academic year salary.
        In unusual cases of critical school or university need that make complete absence undesirable, a faculty member may petition for release from half one's ordinary faculty responsibilities for an entire academic year at full pay. But because this arrangement often complicates pursuit of the research agenda, these petitions are approved only for very serious reason.
    • Complete list of previous paid and unpaid leaves (Dates of leaves and titles of previous projects).
    • The year of your appointment at Loyola University Chicago.
  3. Non-technical summary of the proposed scholarship activity. This should be a brief statement that will be understandable to educated non-specialists, describing both the nature of the activity and its significance for the applicant's career, as well as its broader value to Loyola. Applicants should limit this abstract to 300 words.
  4. Technical description of project. Describe in appropriate detail the proposed activity, including the significance to the field and importance of the proposed outcomes. For research/ creative activities, it is essential to include a discussion of the theoretical approaches, methodologies, types of data/information, and a discussion of how this work will contribute to the broader discipline. For all categories of projects, the technical description should include the applicant's qualifications to conduct the project and should be developed in a form consistent with applications for external support or another form appropriate for the specific discipline. The application should be supported by appropriate citations and a bibliography. Applicants should limit the body of this statement to no more than 4000 words, delivered in double-spaced format.
  5. Statement of individual, programmatic and institutional impact. Discuss the benefits of the proposed activity to you, your unit within the university and to Loyola as a whole. Indicate how the proposed activity relates to your previous work and how it will contribute to your future work. If possible, comment on how this leave might enhance potential for future extramural support of your research or other creative endeavors. Also, please comment on why a leave is necessary to accomplish this project rather than doing it as a part of the normal workload expected of all faculty. Applicants should limit this section to no more than 800 words, delivered in double-spaced format.
  6. Extramural resources. If the proposed activity includes and/or requires resources other than receipt of a leave from Loyola (e.g., laboratories or facilities of other institutions, acceptances in programs offered at other institutions, additional funding by outside agencies), specify those resources and indicate what advanced preparation you have made to secure these resources. Also indicate what alternative means will be employed to complete your project if outside resources are not forthcoming. Applicants should limit this section to no more than 800 words, delivered in double-spaced format.
  7. Previous leaves. If you have had any paid leave from LUC over the past five years (excluding disability leaves), detail the professional accomplishments that resulted in full or in part from your activity during the leave(s).
  8. Up-to-date curriculum vitae
  9. Appendices, if appropriate. These may contain any supporting material deemed necessary to adequately explain the planned activities during the leave. Particularly relevant and welcome would be copies of pending or planned grant applications (summaries, project descriptions and the like), research project protocols, evaluations of previous extramural grant submissions, copies of reviews of the candidate's work published in professional outlets, reviews of book proposals, book contracts, or any other materials that would help the appropriate LUC evaluating individuals and committees place the applicant's work in the broader context of appropriate disciplines.

  • School/College Materials
    An evaluation of the proposal from the Chair or Program Director, as appropriate, and from the school-level FDR committee and the Dean of the school or college is required. This evaluation should comment on the technical merit of the proposal, as well as the importance of the leave for the faculty member's professional development. As applicable, these recommendations should also comment on the importance of this proposed work for the academic program and the university.

    A timeline for these levels of review should be established by the Deans' Offices, working backward from the November 2, 2007, deadline for university-level review by the FDR Committee.

    University-level Proposal Review
    The following criteria/information will be used in evaluating this proposal at the level of the Faculty Development Review Committee:

    1. The quality of the project as judged from the proposal and supporting materials.
    2. The potential promise of the project in terms of advancement of the applicant's career and the interests of the appropriate department or unit, school or college, and Loyola University Chicago. This would include the likelihood of significant publications or other creative activity, receipt of extramural support for further research and/or artistry, and enhanced professional visibility for the applicant and institution.
    3. Evidence of productivity from previous leaves or other types of internal support (summer research stipends, internal fellowships and the like). Does not apply to first-time applicants who have received no such support from Loyola.
    4. The evaluations received by the committee from the department/unit and school/college.

    Provisions and Additional Information
    The following provisions apply to this program:

    1. To be eligible for a paid faculty development leave, an individual must have completed a minimum of three full years of service (six semesters) as a tenure track or tenured faculty at Loyola between the end of any previous paid (research or administrative) or subvented leave and the anticipated beginning date of the new leave.
    2. A recipient of a probationary faculty development grant (PFDG) must have served an additional four years at Loyola from the end of his/her PFDG until the anticipated beginning of a faculty development leave. For information about PFDGs, please contact the Center for Faculty Development.
    3. Faculty development leaves shall be granted only in connection with activities that promise to enhance the recipient's professional competence and contributions in accordance with her/his present or future position at Loyola University Chicago.
    4. The FDR Committee will not review proposals requesting paid or subvented leaves for: (a) any activity primarily related to positions other than the individual's current or future professional position at Loyola; (b) performing full-time duties at another institution similar to those performed at Loyola; (c) completing a doctorate or other terminal degree; (d) primarily visiting various locations of general or professional interest.
    5. Within 90 days of the completion of a leave, a report must be filed with the individual's department, college or school, and the Office of Faculty Administration (312.915.7585) describing the professional activities accomplished during the leave and outlining future plans (publications, creative activities, grant applications, curricular innovations, etc.) deriving from leave activities.
    6. Unsuccessful applications will not be automatically rolled over into subsequent competitions. Applications must be re-filed by those wishing to be considered in subsequent years.
    7. Unsuccessful applicants will receive a brief summary of the FDR Committee's feedback and comments. An applicant may request a meeting with the chair of the FDR Committee (or the chair's delegate or delegates) to receive feedback on how to improve their application for subsequent competitions. Please note: This is not an appeals procedure but a means to help faculty possibly improve their submissions in subsequent years.
    8. A faculty member receiving a paid leave of absence from Loyola is expected to complete two semesters of service to Loyola following completion of the leave.