Faculty Development Leave Program
UH has a Faculty Development Leave (FDL) Program that is described in the Faculty Handbook. The FDL program is meant to provide faculty and departments with a mechanism to facilitate the improvement of faculty professional effectiveness through a one or two long-semester leave from the University.
Faculty who are awarded an FDL typically spend one or two long semesters in a different research setting in order to gain new skills, initiate new collaborations, and benefit from other professional development opportunities. Professional development leaves (sometimes called sabbaticals) can be very beneficial to the faculty and the institution.
The college funds approved one-semester FDLs at full salary and approved two-semester FDLs at 50% salary. FDLs are not automatic and are granted after review/approval of the department, college, and Provost. FDLs may only be granted once every six years (e.g., a candidate becomes eligible on/after the seventh year following a prior FDL).
NSM’s Faculty Development Leave Policy
NSM has an FDL policy that details the procedures to follow for preparation and review. ONE SEMESTER (Fall or Spring) leave requests are handled at the department level. TWO SEMESTER (Fall and Spring) leave requests are subject to the NSM FDL policy.
Such requests are due on/before the last day of February each year for Fall→Spring requests and on the last day of September for Spring→Fall requests. Interested faculty are encouraged to talk with their department chairs and also to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs prior to preparing an application and perhaps even prior to seeking outside support for a two-semester leave.
Applicants are directed to provide a cover sheet, CV, detailed description of the activities to be undertaken and their benefit to the candidate and institution, information about the FDL support, and one or more supporting letters. All details about what is needed in the application are provided in the NSM FDL policy and can be clarified by the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Jim Briggs (jbriggs@uh.edu). Applications are first reviewed by departments, then by the NSM Promotion and Tenure Committee, the Dean, and finally the Provost’s Office.
Please consider ways in which you can improve your scholarly competitiveness through an FDL! Please contact your department chair or the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs to discuss.