3.11.5 Faculty Paid Parental Leave

Parental leave, a type of family leave, may be taken to care for a newborn child, or placement of a child under 18 for purposes of adoption or foster care.

Faculty who have been employed by the College for at least the preceding 12 months at .75 FTE or greater are also eligible for Faculty Paid Parental Leave. Faculty on fixed-term contracts who are in the final academic year of their contract must receive permission from their dean to take Faculty Paid Parental Leave. Eligible faculty who qualify as a primary caregiver may be released from teaching two courses, at full pay and benefits, as leave associated with the birth of a child or the adoption or foster placement in their home of a child under the age of 18. Two-course leave may be taken all in one semester or over two consecutive semesters.

Eligible faculty who are not the primary caregiver may receive one-course release at full pay and benefits. This leave may be commenced during the semester that the birth, adoption, or placement occurs or any time during the following 12 months.

Coparenting is an ideal to which many of us aspire. Nevertheless, in order to allocate institutional resources for parental leave, it is necessary to distinguish between levels of child-care responsibility in the months after the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child.

For purposes of the two-course leave, a primary caregiver is an individual who for the proposed period of the leave will have principal responsibility for child care. This designation would not extend to a parent whose child is primarily in the care of another caregiver. Only one parent may qualify as a primary caregiver for a child (or children in the case of a multiple birth or simultaneous multiple placement) under this policy. The other parent is eligible for a one-course reduction to assist in child care during the first year after birth, adoption, or foster placement.

A Paid Parental Leave request must be discussed with the dean of the appropriate school as soon as practicable and, whenever possible, the timing and duration of a family leave and the workload of the individual should be based on the requirements of the educational program and individual circumstances.

The faculty member requesting family leave shall comply with the notification requirements established by the College. For specific details about family leaves, contact the Office of Human Resources.

Unpaid Family Leave may also be available under Section 3.11.4, above. Time off taken under this Faculty Paid Parental Leave may count against FMLA and OFLA leave described in Section 3.11.4. Faculty may be entitled to medical leave for pregnancy and childbirth-related medical reasons in addition to parental leave.

Approved by the Executive Council February 12, 2006