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Office of Provost and Vice President
For Academic Affairs

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

Academic Operating Policy and Procedure

PURPOSE

The purpose of this Academic Operating Policy and Procedure (AOP) is to insure an understanding of the faculty leave policies.

REVIEW

This AOP will be reviewed by April 1 of every odd numbered year (ONY) by the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. Recommendations will be offered by May 1.

POLICY/PROCEDURE

A.  Nine-Months Faculty

    1. Formal Personal Leave: Policy provisions are not applicable for nine-months faculty members. Duty and non-duty requirements for these faculty members are determined by individual assignments, annual academic calendar, related activities, and special conditions as may be determined by university and department programs.

Upon retirement from active employment each faculty member who is employed on a nine-month basis shall receive credit and be paid for not more than thirty (30) days of unused major medical leave for service as a state employee. Unused major medical leave in excess of thirty (30) days shall be counted as creditable service for the purposes of the retirement system.

    3. Military Leave: Regular employees who are called to active military duty on a short notice as a result of national emergencies may be granted military leave of absence without pay beginning on the date of the call to military service. A leave of absence with pay, not in excess of 15 days during a fiscal year (October 1 - September 30), may be granted to a regular employee who, as a member of the National Guard or official militia of Mississippi or as a member of any of the reserve components of the armed forces, is ordered to active duty.

    4. Sabbatical Leave: Application for sabbatical leave is made through departmental and other administrative channels for recommendation of the President to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning for final approval. Standard application forms may be obtained for this purpose from the Department of Personnel Services (for a full statement of the State law on sabbatical see Faculty Handbook page 73.)

    5. Leaves of Absence: When leaves of absence without pay (maternity, educational, and personal) are granted, the employee is removed from payroll for the period of the approved leave of absence.

A. Maternity Leave of Absence - Maternity leave of absence, without pay, will be granted a female employee for a reasonable period of time under the following provisions:

(i) An employee who expects to take maternity leave must request such leave by arrangement with the unit head (in writing), specifying the dates of leave.

(ii) The maternity leave will terminate when it is medically determined by her physician that the employee is able to resume her employment.

(iii) If the employee wishes to return to employment at the end of the leave, she is entitled to her former position or to another position as good as or better than the one held prior to the leave.

    6. Educational Leave of Absence: The University provides for approval of leaves of absence without pay for graduate and post-doctoral study or other approved programs for professional improvement. For this purpose, leave may be granted for a semester; or, on occasions, a part of a semester; or for no more than one school year (two semesters). No salary is paid by the institution for an entire semester or for a longer leave time except under the provisions for a sabbatical leave.

    7. Personal Leave of Absence: A personal leave of absence without pay may be arranged through unit heads subject to approval by the President. Employees on leave without pay do not earn personal or major medical leave credit while on leave from duty; however, their earned cumulative leave is not forfeited provided they return to duty after the approved leave of absence.

B.  Employees Other Than Nine-Months Faculty

C.  Status of Benefits of Employment While on Leave

    1. While On Sabbatical Leave With Pay: (See Faculty Handbook, page 66.)

    2. While On Personal Leave of Absence Without Pay: (See Faculty Handbook, page 66.)

    3. While On Professional Leave Without Pay: (See Faculty Handbook, pages 66-67.)

RESPONSIBILITIES

Position                              Section     Month          Day

Associate Vice President    Review    April (ONY)    1
for Academic Affairs

AOP 13.13

For information about this policy, contact the responsible/reviewing department hyperlinked above.