Faculty Leaves

Professoriate
Details on the sabbatical leave program can be found in the University Faculty Handbook under Chapter 3 – Sabbaticals and Other Leaves of Absence.

Clinician Educators
Details on Professional Development Leave (PDL) Program can be found in the PDL Statement.

To determine how much leave eligibility you have accrued, visit MedLeave and click on the “Check Accrual” button located near the top of the page. More detailed instructions are provided in the MedLeave User Guide under the faculty section.

Sabbaticals must be at least one month (30 days) in duration and can normally be no longer than one year (360 days) in duration and at a minimum of 50% FTE.

PDLs must be at least 2 weeks (14 days) in duration and can normally be no longer than 70 days (10 weeks) in duration.

1. Discuss with your division chief or department chair.
   
2. If necessary, consult the University Handbook for policies and information on sabbaticals and other leaves for Professoriate, or the Professional Development Leave Program Statement (PDF) for policies and information on professional development leaves.
   
3. Determine how much leave eligibility you have accrued by visiting MedLeave and clicking the "Check Accrual" button.
   
4. As part of the submission to OAA, please complete the request form in MedLeave. The MedLeave application will route the request to faculty affairs staff within your department and to department leadership.

Note: Your leave request form must be submitted to OAA by the departmental FAA. Requests will be reviewed within 60 days of receipt. Late submissions will typically be denied.  Please get in touch with your departmental FAA to understand the processing time needed internally prior to submission to OAA.

A faculty member must serve at Stanford for a period of time at least equal to the length of their most recent sabbatical prior to taking another sabbatical leave or terminating employment with the University. Failure to follow this policy will result in department financial responsibility for the time the faculty did not return to service. Sabbatical leave may not be taken during a one-year terminal extension of a regular term appointment; upon recommendation from the Dean of the faculty member’s school, the Provost may approve an exception to this policy under special circumstances. The sabbatical leave program aims to enable faculty to pursue their scholarly interests full-time and then return to their posts. Accordingly, accrued sabbatical time expires upon termination of employment with the University; there is no compensation given at that time for unused sabbatical.

Faculty are always expected to be completely relieved from all clinical, teaching, and administrative duties for the part of their FTE that is committed to sabbatical. Administrative duties, and any corresponding administrative supplement, are automatically discontinued during sabbatical unless an exception to policy is requested by the department.  If the exception is granted by the Vice Dean and the Provost, the administrative supplement must be paid by the department; it may not be charged to the sabbatical account.

Professoriate
Details specific to Professoriate Faculty can be found in the School University Faculty Handbook under Chapter 3.3: Leave without Salary.

Clinician Educators, Instructors, and Clinical Scholars
Details specific to Clinician Educators, Instructors, or Clinical Scholars can be found in the Administrative Guide, Section 2.1.8: Miscellaneous Authorized Absences.

1.  Discuss with your division chief or department chair. If your leave does not strictly follow School guidelines, discuss whether the department will request an exception to policy for you.
2. If necessary, consult the University Faculty Handbook (Professoriate) or the University Admin Guide (Clinician Educators, Instructors, and Clinical Scholars) for policies and information.
3. As part of the submission to OAA, please complete the request form in MedLeave. The MedLeave application will route the request to faculty affairs staff within your department and to department leadership.

Note: Your leave request form must be submitted to OAA by the departmental FAA. Requests will be reviewed within 30 days of receipt. Please contact your departmental FAA to understand the process needed internally prior to submission to OAA.

Any changes to dates, FTE, or purpose of the leave must be reviewed and approved by OAA in a timely manner. 

1. Discuss changes with your division chief, if applicable, and department chair. Inform your Faculty Affairs Administrator.
2. If necessary, consult the University Handbook for policies and information on sabbaticals and other leaves for Professoriate or the Professional Development Leave Program Statement (PDF) for policy guidelines and information on professional development leaves. 
3. Submit the requested change to your Faculty Affairs Administrator, for processing.

Note: Processing times will vary based on the change(s) needed.

Faculty Affairs Administrators role in supporting a leave change request.

Faculty Affairs administrators should submit the change request as a memo to the som-leaves@stanford.edu. Please ensure that all faculty leadership is aware of the proposed change and that they approve the requested change. In addition, confirm the leave start date, end date, and return to work date and that all coverage arrangements will remain the same. Memos should be submitted as soon as possible for processing.

Note: Processing times will vary based on the change(s) needed.

A faculty member must serve at Stanford for a period of time at least equal to the length of their most recent sabbatical prior to taking another sabbatical leave or terminating employment with the University. Failure to follow this policy will result in department financial responsibility for the time the faculty did not return to service. 

All Faculty
Contact your Human Resources representative to discuss Family and Medical Leaves, which are administered through HR and Benefits, not through Academic Affairs. You can find details about policy and process from the Cardinal at Work pages.

Professoriate
Details specific to Professoriate Faculty can be found in the School University Faculty Handbook under Chapter 3 : Sabbaticals and Other Leaves of Absence Applicable to the Academic Council and University Medical Professoriates.

All Other Benefits-Eligible Faculty
Details about Family and Medical Leave can be found in the Stanford Administrative Guide 2.3.5.