Academic Personnel Office

What To Do If You Are a Taking a Leave to Attend Professional Meetings or For University Business:

• Finding Out About The Leave Provisions That Apply To You

  Absences Fewer than Seven (7) Calendar Days
  These do not require a leave form with the exception of a medical leave. However, any time an academic appointee is absent from campus the Department Chair (or equivalent) must be informed. Additionally, the academic appointee is expected to arrange for his/her university responsibilities to be appropriately covered. The chair is responsible for ensuring that these arrangements have been made.

  Short Term Leave (between seven (7) and thirty (30) calendar days)
  Effective April 1, 2015, these leaves are now delegated to the Deans (or equivalent) for approval. All such requests must be submitted to the Dean via the Department Chair well before the actual leave dates on a UPAY 573 Leave of Absence Form for review and final decision. Per APM 752-6 “if an appointee is granted this type of leave, the appointee’s department chair shall be responsible for adequate replacement of the faculty member during the period of the leave, except that the appointee receiving the leave shall be responsible for the submission of any course reports, etc., required during the period of the absence.” Thus, as with shorter leaves, approval of the leave requires that the faculty member’s university responsibilities are covered. Signature of the chair on the approval leave form verifies that this is the case. All senate leaves over 30 days require the approval of the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel (VPAP). Refer to the Delegation of Authority Chart for final approval authority.

  Research Leaves Greater Than 30 Calendar Days
  Senate leaves proposed for longer than 30 calendar days that are not sabbatical leaves require the approval of the VPAP. All such requests must be submitted to VPAP via the Dean’s office well before the actual leave dates on a UPAY 573 Leave of Absence Form for review and final decision. Department Chairs should be aware that the campus has begun to operate under the following guidelines with regard to leaves greater than 30 days:

  1. If the leave is a one-time event, allowing one to focus on scholarly pursuits, it will be considered a sabbatical leave except for the following: Some Colleges/Schools may have provisions and/or policy for Fellowship Leaves. Approval of such leaves will require a clear description on the UPAY 573 to differentiate the leave from a sabbatical. The burden of proof rests with the academic appointee. Consult with your Dean’s Office for more information.
  2. If the leave is being requested in order to carry out a sponsored research project approved by the Office of Research or is an approved Hatch project and if the approved research project contains objectives that explicitly require extended off-campus travel (e.g., to study sediment loads in different parts of the Colorado River), and is a recurring feature of the approved research project (e.g., requiring two or more seasons to complete), then it would qualify as an exceptional leave. Approval of such leaves will require a clear description on the UPAY 573 to differentiate the leave from a sabbatical. The burden of proof rests with the researcher.
  3. In some cases, a faculty member may need to be away from campus for an extended period of time (e.g. research cruise scheduled to study Antarctic currents in the spring with graduate students, or astronomers gathering data at southern hemisphere observatories who need to study the sky in relation to the position of the Earth at a specific time) to carry out extensive research that involves graduate students or others. Such leaves (occurring during the academic year for an academic year employee or anytime during the year for a fiscal-year employee) may qualify as a “change-of-duty-station” (a.k.a. CODS) if the faculty member's regular, ongoing University duties (student mentoring, research, and service) may be performed at a location other than the campus. The request must have some time aspect; in other words, the material to be studied is only available at certain periods of the year, or the facilities to be employed are only available at certain times. The faculty member is not relieved of teaching, research, or service duties, but carries out these responsibilities at a different location. The burden of proof rests with the researcher and, in the absence of a clear description of how the faculty member’s duties will be carried out, the leave may be classified as a sabbatical.

  In all cases, (normal or exceptional leaves) the leave form (UPAY 573) must be submitted early enough to allow the appropriate, thorough review by the Department Chair, Dean and VPAP before the traveler departs. Requests that are received late may be denied. Travelers should be aware that it is not unusual for the approval process to take up to one month for completion, depending on how the forms are transmitted and the availability of key individuals. Travelers should file the leave request forms before making travel arrangements.

  In addition, faculty members are strongly encouraged to become familiar with APM 025, Conflict of Commitment and Outside Activities of Faculty Members and APM 671, Conflict of Commitment and Outside Activities of Health Science Compensation Plan (HSCP) Faculty. The APM 025 and APM 671 policies regarding reporting of Conflict of Commitment and Compensated Outside Activities affirms faculty responsibilities as members of the University of California and provides mechanisms to ensure that activities outside the University do not interfere with the fulfillment of these responsibilities. The policy specifies limits on the time that can be devoted by faculty members to certain types of compensated and non-compensated outside professional activities. APM 025 applies only to Academic Senate members (full-time or part time) and APM 671 applies only to faculty who are members of the HSCP.

  For faculty who are members of Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP), refer to Section VII of the HSCP: http://medschool.ucr.edu/pdf/UCR_HSCP_implementing_procedures_2015.pdf.

  For leaves requested by represented academic appointees, refer to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  for leave information: http://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/labor/bargaining-units/index.html.

• Complete The Appropiate Leave Forms

  Depending on the type of leave, the following forms may need to be completed. Your department head can help you fill out appropriate forms.

  • UPAY 573, Sabbatical and Leave of Absence Form - this is required for all leave requests
  • Change of Duty Station (CODS) Request Form, when applicable; contact your Dean’s office for assistance.
  • APM 025 - Category I Prior Approval Form, when applicable; contact your Dean’s office for assistance.
  • APM 671 - Conflict of Commitment and Outside Activities of Health Sciences Compensation Plan Participants, when applicable; contact your Dean’s office for assistance.
  • Fellowship Leave with Salary Supplement Form:, when applicable; contact your Dean’s office for assistance.

   

• Request Approval

  See above or refer to the Delegation of Authority Chart for final approval authority.

• Make Sure Benefits Are In Order

  During a paid leave of absence, most of your benefits continue as usual, unless you cancel them. Refer to the Leave Without Pay fact sheet and the Paid Leave fact sheet for information about benefits during your leave period. You may wish to consult with the Benefits Office ( 2-2636 or benefits@ucr.edu) regarding continuation of benefits while you are on leave.

• Review Your Deposit Statement Carefully

  It’s your responsibility to let your benefits or payroll representative know about any mistakes.

• If Unforeseen Circumstances Should Prevent You from Returning to UC

  Contact your Department Chair or Dean’s Office if you have questions.

• If You Decide to Retire

  Contact the Retirement Administration Service Center (RASC) at 1-800-888-8267

  You should do so before you elect to retire, since a leave of absence may affect your retirement benefits. It’s also a good idea to review the Retirement Handbook.