Faculty Leave of Absence Policy

2008-2009 Academic Year (July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009)

The leave of absence policies for sabbatical and triennial leaves described here apply to faculty in the Traditional Track, Investigator Track, Clinician-Educator Track, and Clinician-Scholar Track. Note that the Leave of Absence policy for the School of Medicine differs from the policy set forth on page 86 of the 2002-2003 Yale University Faculty Handbook.

Click here to download an Application for Leave of Absence.

School of Medicine Sabbatical and Triennial Leave Policy:

Sabbatical Leave – up to one semester at full salary or up to a full year at half salary.
Triennial Leave – up to 4 months at full pay.

Faculty members become eligible for an Initial Sabbatical or Triennial Leave after having taught at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor for two years. The Initial Leave of Absence may be a triennial or a sabbatical.

Sabbatical Leave

After the Initial Sabbatical or Triennial Leave of Absence, faculty members are eligible for sabbatical leave after six full years of full-time faculty activity from the end of the previous leave, whether the previous leave was a triennial or sabbatical.

A sabbatical leave is considered on record to be up to a full year in length and to coincide with the academic year (July 1-June 30). The year count for a subsequent leave does not begin until the end of the academic year in which the sabbatical leave is taken, as in the following examples:

Example 1

Sabbatical approved for the academic year 2008-2009. Faculty member takes the leave from July 1, 2008 until December 31, 2008, and resumes department and university activity on January 1, 2009. Sabbatical year end will be June 30, 2009. Eligibility for next sabbatical leave begins six years from that date, July 1, 2015.

Example 2

Sabbatical approved for the academic year 2008-2009. Faculty member takes the leave from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009, and resumes department and university activity on July 1, 2009. Eligibility for next sabbatical leave begins July 1, 2015.

Triennial Leave

After the Initial Sabbatical or Triennial Leave of Absence, faculty become eligible for a triennial leave after 2 1/2 years of full-time faculty activity from the end of the previous leave. The end of a triennial leave is considered on record to be the January or July following the leave, as in the following examples:

Example 1:

Triennial approved for the academic year that begins July 1, 2008. Faculty member takes the leave from July 1, 2008 through October 31, 2008, and resumes department and university activity on November 1, 2008. On record the end of the leave is December 31, 2008. Eligibility for next triennial leave begins July 1, 2011.

Example 2:

Triennial approved for January 1, 2009. Faculty member takes the leave from January 1, 2009 through April 30, 2009, and resumes department and university activity on May 1, 2009. On record the end of the leave is June 30, 2009.

Please submit your leave of absence request on time. The deadline for submitting a request for Sabbatical or Triennial Leave of Absence beginning on or after July 1, for any academic year, is JANUARY 3 of the previous academic year. This is an absolute deadline. There can be NO EXCEPTIONS made to this policy.

The request forms may be obtained from the Office for Faculty Affairs, SHM L206, 785-4670, or printed from the Faculty Affairs website. The forms must be received by the Office for Faculty Affairs, SHM L206, by January 3.

The deadline is January 3, 2008 for sabbatical and triennial leaves effective during the 2008-2009 academic year.

This Leave of Absence Policy is certified by Carolyn M. Mazure, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs.