Leaves and Course Reductions

Law School Policy on Course Reductions, Visits Away, Family Leaves, and Other Leaves

Course Reductions

Definition

A course reduction releases a research-intensive faculty member from teaching one, three credit general demand course in an academic year.

Research-intensive faculty members may request to organize their teaching obligations into one semester, annually.  This is not considered a course reduction under Law School policy but does require approval of the Associate Dean in charge of curriculum and the Dean. Faculty not considered to be on formal leave (e.g. an approved visit away, unpaid leave, or medical leave) during the academic year, and regardless of their teaching schedule, must continue to carry out their University and Law School service obligations during both semesters of the academic year. This includes faculty with course reductions approved under this policy. These obligations include, but are not limited to: attending meetings, workshops, and colloquia; serving on committees, as assigned; and being generally available to students and colleagues.

Eligibility and Expectations

Untenured, tenure-track, full-time research-intensive faculty receive one general demand course reduction during the first, third, and sixth year of their appointment at the Law School. Alternatively, junior faculty may request an alternative course reduction schedule for review and approval of the Associate Dean in charge of curriculum.

Tenured, full-time, research-intensive faculty members who maintain a productive research agenda may request one general demand course reduction once every four years (i.e., tenured faculty are eligible for one general demand course reduction after seven semesters of full-time teaching).

Faculty members with a partial appointment in the Law School and a partial appointment in a non-teaching institution that provides course reductions, such as the American Bar Foundation or the Institute for Policy Research, are not typically eligible for Law School-provided course reductions, unless otherwise stipulated in writing by the Dean. Eligibility for course reductions for faculty with joint appointments in teaching units should be stipulated in writing by the Dean.

All faculty members are required to teach at least one general demand course per academic year unless they are approved for a formal leave of absence for an entire academic year. In some cases, this minimum teaching requirement may prevent a faculty member from taking a Law School-permitted course reduction. For instance, a faculty member who receives a general demand course reduction for administrative service would typically be unable to take a standard three-credit general demand course reduction within the same academic year. In these cases, the faculty member is permitted to request the standard course reduction and request to defer use of the course reduction to a future academic year. Typically, these types of special arrangements will not impact a faculty member’s eligibility to request course reductions according to the standard eligibility clock. As with any course reduction request, these arrangements require the review and approval of the Associate Dean in charge of curriculum and the Dean.

Externally-Funded Course Reductions

Faculty members may request course reductions outside of the standard schedule if they obtain adequate funding from a non-University entity to support a release from teaching obligations. Please contact Derek Gundersen for details.

Procedure to Request a Course Reduction

The Office of the Dean will send annual email communication noting a specific deadline for course reduction requests.

Visiting at an External Institution

Definition

Faculty members may be asked to join other educational institutions as visiting faculty or scholars for all or part of the year.  During a formal visit away, the host institution will enter into an agreement with Northwestern University to reimburse for the faculty member’s services.

Eligibility

Formal visits away are typically requested of research-intensive faculty.

While visits away from time-to-time are valuable to the individual and to Northwestern for the exposure that they provide to our faculty and the Law School, in the interest of encouraging and maintaining a cohesive Law School community, the following frequency guidelines apply:

• Untenured, tenure-track faculty members:  in order to allow for an informed tenure review, no more than two terms away at another educational institution will be approved during the probationary period.
• All faculty members:  generally, after visiting away, faculty will be expected to be in residence with a full teaching load at the Law School for two consecutive teaching terms before another visit can be undertaken.

Requirements

The faculty member will remain on the payroll at Northwestern University and will continue to receive benefits from Northwestern. The faculty member should receive no compensation from the host institution unless otherwise agreed to by the Northwestern, other than direct reimbursement by the host institution of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the faculty member.

Northwestern will invoice the host institution directly for the services of the faculty member during that period. Northwestern must either:

• work with the host institution to produce an agreement, signed by both institutions, which states the terms of the visit and payment, or
• receive full payment from the host institution at least one month prior to the start of the visit.

The Associate Dean of Academic Programs must approve the courses to be taught at the host institution in order to ensure that the faculty member's teaching load at the host institution would not significantly exceed what he or she would have, were he or she to remain in residence at the Law School during the periods in question. The invoice to the host institution will reflect the portion of the faculty member's teaching that occurs at the host institution.

Procedure to Request a Visit at an External Institution

Visit away requests must be submitted by February 24th of the previous academic year. Before accepting a visit at an external institution, the faculty member’s request must be approved by the Associate Dean of Academic Programs, the Dean, and the Office of the Provost.

Faculty should complete a Visit Away Request form. This form will be directed to the Associate Dean of Academic Programs and to the Dean for approval. Once approval has been granted by the Associate Dean and Dean, the Office of the Dean will submit your request to the Office of the Provost. 

Family and Medical Leaves

Effective October 1, 2014, the University initiated changes regarding the administration of medical leaves of absence for benefits-eligible instructional faculty. The University made these changes to comply with state and federal requirements, including the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), which entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. The University has partnered with MetLife to facilitate these leaves. This process is also intended to protect the privacy and confidentiality of individuals' medical information.

Definitions, eligibility, and requirements for childbearing, adoption, and childrearing leaves may be found at the Office of the Provost website.

Procedure to Request a Family and Medical Leave

Please initiate your leave request with MetLife online or by phone (800-396-8876). Please also notify Elizabeth Fritz, Director of Faculty Affairs, about your intention to take a leave to ensure that it is properly recorded in the University's systems and to address any other matters (e.g., tenure clock extension, etc.). Please contact the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs to manage your academic commitments during the period you are expected to be on leave.

Other Leaves

Subject to University policies, a faculty member may take an unpaid leave of absence with the approval of the Dean and Provost to serve in significant governmental or public interest positions, to facilitate his or her professional development, or for personal reasons. In such a case, the leave period cannot exceed one year. Please contact the Associate Dean of Faculty and Research for further details.