Professional Leave
Ranked faculty members (including ranked faculty members who are serving in administrative
positions) are eligible to apply for leave to engage in professional development activities
not
covered by sabbatical or educational leaves. Eligibility is established by completing
12
semesters of service to Missouri State University (summer teaching excepted). The
activity for
which leave is requested must be beneficial to both the faculty member and the University.
The
professional leave will provide opportunities such as educational experiences for
enhanced
expertise within the faculty member’s academic discipline or in another discipline,
curriculum
development projects, expanded use of instructional technologies, or similar activities
not
directly related to research or the acquisition of an advanced degree.
A faculty member granted a professional leave will be entitled to university support
amounting to
full pay for a half-year’s leave and no less than one-half pay for a full year’s leave.
Faculty
members on professional leave will receive salaries in 12 monthly payments. They will
participate in the retirement program and will have their fringe benefits paid by
the University.
A professional leave is not an automatic right; applications must be submitted according
to the
deadline specified in the Academic Work Calendar prior to the academic year for which
the
leave is requested. Applications will be submitted to the Faculty Leave Committee
for its
recommendation to the Provost. All applicants must be notified of the final decision
regarding
their applications by the end of the first complete week of February. Only one proposal
from a
faculty member is to be considered during a single academic year.
Following the professional leave, the faculty member is obligated to return to Missouri
State
University for at least one year. Within 30 days after the leave period, the faculty
member will
submit to the Provost, appropriate Department Head and college Dean, and to the chair
of the
Faculty Leave Committee a report of professional activities conducted while on leave.
In computing years of service that will apply toward eligibility for promotion, time
spent on
professional leave will be counted. A faculty member who has taken a sabbatical or
professional leave is not eligible for another paid leave until the completion of
12 semesters of
service to Missouri State University subsequent to the paid leave.