Sick Leave

1. A regular full-time faculty member who cannot fulfill his/her normal duties because of illness, accident, or pregnancy, shall be eligible for a sick leave period(s) during each academic year (fall, spring). The annual sick leave period may be used for several illnesses over the course of the academic year. The aggregate may not exceed the total sick leave period to which the faculty member is entitled.

2. The sick leave period shall consist of two segments. The initial segment shall be the first six weeks of his/her incapacitation in a fall or spring semester, during which time the regular full-time faculty member shall continue to receive full pay. After this six-week period he/she will be eligible for the second segment at reduced salary according to the following schedule.
   
   Years of Service                                                                                        Duration of 2nd Segment
   Greater than 1 but less than 5                                                                              7 weeks
   Greater than 5 but less than 10                                                                            20 weeks
   Greater than 10                                                                                                   33 weeks
   
   For Faculty:
   Sick leave is expended during the fall and spring semesters because annual base salary is based on those semesters. For example, sick leave commencing three weeks before the end of the fall semester would exhaust segment 1 (six weeks) three weeks into the spring semester. At that time, the leave for the second segment would begin.
   
   For Librarians:
   Sick leave is expended on a continuing basis without interruptions between semesters.
   
   During the semester which includes a sick leave, the faculty member's pay shall be calculated according to the following formula:
   
   Segment 1:
   Semester salary (defined as 1/2 of annual base) divided by 16 weeks of semester (to derive weekly pay) multiplied by 6 weeks of full pay.
   
   PLUS
   
   Segment 2:
   Reduced salary for the appropriate number of weeks based on the above table multiplied by weekly pay.
   
   Less the following calculation of salary reduction:

   Overload rate paid to a faculty member of the same rank
   x 9 credits (base load per semester)1
   - 16 (the number of weeks in a semester)
   = weekly pay rate
   x duration of 2nd segment (in weeks)
   x one-half
   = amount of reduction

   
   After exhaustion of benefits under Segment 2, the regular full-time faculty member shall be placed on leave of absence without pay. In addition, all insurance may be continued by payment of the full premium by the faculty member.
   
   The University will assist those eligible to obtain disability insurance benefits. At no time will the combination of disability benefits and sick pay exceed a faculty member's annual base salary.
   
   For regular full-time faculty members with less than one year of service, sick leave shall accumulate at the rate of three calendar days per month up to a maximum of twenty-four days.

3. Vacation periods shall not be included in any sick leave calculations.

4. A regular full-time faculty member seeking the above benefit shall notify his/her department chair, who, in turn, will transmit the request to the President through his/her academic dean and the Provost through use of the approved sick leave form.

5. If because of chronic or lingering illness any regular full-time faculty member is able to assume only part of his/her normal load, his/her salary shall be prorated in proportion to the level of load carried. This portion of the policy applies to the weeks after normal sick leave has been expended, and does not preclude the faculty member from seeking to receive partial disability payments to supplement the prorated salary.

1. 
   For Law School faculty, the appropriate base teaching load will be used in all calculations.

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FPS #20
(rev. 2016)