Summary of the Basic Provisions of the Faculty Medical Leave and Parenting Leave Policies

The basic provisions of the medical leave policy are as follows:

Available to full- or part-time faculty with at least a one-year appointment

Available for medical leaves of at least eight weeks but less than a full semester

Requires supporting documentation from a physician

One semester teaching leave at full pay, with any additional time to be used to accomplish research, scholarship, and/or administrative goals, if medically able to do so

Requests for a semester teaching leave should be made to the Dean of the Faculty as early as possible

If medical leave starts during an academic semester, teaching leave must be taken during that semester

If medical leave starts between semesters (e.g., summer), teaching leave must be taken during the immediately following semester

Medical leave will not count for purposes of calculating sabbaticals or other leaves of absence (i.e., a semester on medical leave will neither reset the clock for accumulating the teaching semesters needed to be eligible for sabbaticals or other leaves of absence nor will it count as a teaching semester for these purposes) 

Tenure-track faculty members may elect, at the time this leave is requested, to have the year in which the leave is taken not count toward service for tenure (i.e., the tenure clock may be delayed by one year)

The basic provisions of the parenting leave policy are as follows:

Available to faculty who have a tenure-track appointment, tenured appointment, or a continuing appointment of at least two years

Only available to primary caregiver; must be completed within twelve months of the birth of a child or the arrival of an adopted child

If both parents are Amherst employees, only one parent is eligible for a parenting leave

Not available to a parent who takes a paid medical leave for the same child

Benefit options are (i) continue work for regular compensation; (ii) teach one less course for the semester at full compensation; or (iii) take one semester leave from teaching at 72% of compensation

Requests for a parenting leave should be made to the Dean of the Faculty as soon as possible

Any semester in which the parent taking the leave teaches at least one course will count as regular teaching time for purposes of calculating sabbatical or leave of absence eligibility.  Alternatively, if a parent taking the leave elects not to teach during the leave semester, that semester will not count for purposes of calculating sabbaticals or other leaves of absence.

Tenure-track faculty members may elect, at the time this leave is requested, to have the year in which the leave is taken not count toward service for tenure (i.e., the tenure clock may be delayed by one year)

*Faculty who do not meet this criterion may be eligible for unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

In effect as of July 1, 2011; View full policies at: H. Leaves, Fellowships, and Research