HRCR 1
Office of the President October 14, 2008
Members, Board of Trustees:
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO GOVERNING REGULATIONS: FACULTY VACATION LEAVE, SABBATICAL LEAVE, AND DELAY OF
PROBATIONARY PERIOD
Recommendation: that the Board of Trustees receive the attached revision of Governing Regulation, Part X, which was received for preliminary consideration as PR 4 by the Board of Trustees on June 17, 2008 and was submitted for a second reading as HRCR 1, on September 9, 2008. As a result of the discussion on September 9, 2008, the Board agreed to delay the final reading until the October 14, 2008 meeting in order to respond to concerns raised by the faculty.
The proposed revision relates to the university's policy on vacation leave for faculty. The revision will change the current policy that allows 12-month faculty to automatically carry forward unused vacation leave. The revision will change the process whereby individual 10-month and 11-month faculty can request approval to carry forward unused vacation leave. The criteria and the process for exceptions, applicable to 10-month, 11-month, and 12-month faculty, are provided in Administrative Regulation II-1.1-7, Faculty Assignment and Vacation leave Policy. The policy change is effective for fiscal year 2008-2009.
The proposed revision to GR X will also clarify the eligibility requirements for sabbatical leave and the processes by which various categories of events are reviewed and approved for a delay of the probationary period.
Background: The current university policy for faculty with 12-month appointments is that they accrue 22 days of vacation each fiscal year, which they can carry forward automatically to the next fiscal year. The current policy for faculty with 10-month or 11-month appointments is that they accrue 22 days of vacation each fiscal year, which cannot automatically be carried forward, but an individual can request approval to carry it forward. In principle, such individuals could be eligible for 44 vacation days of leave in a fiscal year. Further, at the time of retirement or departure from the university, the accrued vacation leave translates into a cash benefit. The faculty vacation accrual is considered a recordable fiscal liability according to the Government Accounting Standard Board (GASB) and must be funded by the university (as it does staff vacation accrual) with a cash reserve. In order to reduce future fiscal liability for accrued faculty vacation leave, the attached revision to GR X.B.2(b) requires 12-month faculty to use vacation