2.2.060 Severance Leave Policy

Severance leaves are designed for those situations in which it is of mutual benefit to the individual and the university to reallocate or diminish the number of assigned staff.

Any tenured faculty member may apply for a severance leave for the following academic year by writing a letter of application to his/her department chair. Such letters must be initiated in time to arrive in the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs by March 1 of the year prior to the academic year in which the leave is requested. If the chair in consultation with the discipline/department planning committees determines that academic and program integrity can be maintained if the faculty member is not replaced, the chair shall forward the application with his/her recommendation to the appropriate academic dean. The dean will forward it to the provost with his/her recommendation. After consideration of the university's staffing needs, the provost will forward his/her recommendations to the president. The president will submit those applications which he/she approves to the Board of Governors for final action.

A faculty member holding a severance leave shall receive full pay for one academic year, excluding summer teaching. The amount shall be determined by the faculty salary schedule as though the faculty member were teaching full-time. The faculty member may elect to have his/her leave payments made over a 10-month or 12-month period, and he/she shall enjoy all normal fringe benefits for that year. A faculty member holding a severance leave shall be entitled to office space, the use of the library, and other normal faculty rights and privileges. Further, such a faculty member may take courses up to and including a full load at the university without paying incidental fees. Such a faculty member shall be entitled to use of the university's job placement and counseling services without charge. At the end of the severance leave period, employment of the faculty member shall be terminated by resignation or retirement.

Tenured faculty members assigned full-time in administrative positions may apply for severance leaves through the appropriate vice president. Each request will be considered on an individual basis with severance leave pay based on the faculty salary schedule which would be the amount paid as though the individual were a full-time teaching faculty member for an academic year, exclusive of summer teaching.