Sabbatical Leave:

Sabbatical Leaves, available to tenured faculty who hold one or more of the following titles: Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor, provide one semester at full pay or one full year of leave at half pay for the primary purpose of increasing the value of one's further services to the University. To qualify one must have completed at least twelve semesters of continuous University employment. Application, benefits, and post-sabbatical service requirements are also discussed under Sabbatical Leaves.

If there is uncertainty as to whether or not you accrued the required semesters, contact the Administrative Service Center. That Office is responsible for tacking credits and for oversight for administrative processing of all leaves.

Leaves of Absence:

The University also offers other Leaves of Absence - Personal Leaves, Study Leaves, Prestigious Fellow Leaves, Military Leaves, Parental Leaves, and Family and Medical Leave (F&ML). For more information on these, go to http://www.policy.cornell.edu/vol6_2_1.cfm.

Parental Care Leave comes up most frequently. Highlights of the policy are as follows:

Up to one semester of partial relief with full pay for the primary care-giving parent is provided. This relief may pertain during the semester when a child is born or an adopted or foster child joins the household or during a contiguous semester. The start and end dates of a semester are defined by the Dean of Faculty and pertain even for those whose duties are not on a semester basis.

The intent is to provide relief primarily from the particular and expansive pressures of teaching and program presentations. It is not possible for central policy to determine the exact nature of relief under Cornell Academic Parental Leave because the nature of academic activity varies so greatly across the campus; thus it is the prerogative of each dean to establish guidelines for relief under this policy. The decision of that is final in terms of guidelines as well as individual arrangements. For professors with a mix of teaching and research duties, the policy is designed to provide teaching relief. Analogous levels of relief would be arranged for other academics.

For a parent of a newborn or during an adopted or foster child's first year in the household, when duties as primary care-giving parent call tenure-track faculty members away from their work, Cornell will provide, on request, an automatic extension of the tenure clock for up to one semester. The Dean or Associate Dean for Academic Affairs must file tenure clock extensions with the Academic Personnel Policy Office. Additional extensions for the primary care-giving parent may be requested through the Dean and the Provost.

Retirement:

Retirement policies and benefits differ from endowed to contract units and from those offered to regular full time employees. Faculty should consider attending one of the Pre-Retirement Planning Seminars offered by Benefit Services in the Spring and Fall of each year. The seminar is a series of meetings anchored by a full day of planning advice delivered by registered financial planners from an independent company with no products to sell. For more information on Retirement, go to http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/benefits/programs/retireCURP.html.

Phased Retirement Program:

The Phased Retirement Program permits eligible Professors and Associate Professors with full-time appointments to reduce their teaching, research, and administrative duties prior to retirement by allowing a gradual transition of a specific duration of time. For more information on the Phased Retirement Program, go to http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/benefits/programs/retirePhasedEndow.html.

Emeritus Status:

Emeritus status is not automatic. A faculty vote is required and only those individuals who have enjoyed ten plus years at a tenured rank and elect actual retirement are eligible. Resigning and leaving the University is not an option.

To learn more about Emeritus Status, refer to the Provost's Policy Statement on the Transition of Faculty to Emeritus Status at http://forum.johnson.cornell.edu/AdministrativeServiceCenter/TransitionEmeritusStatus.pdf or go to http://www.emeritus.cornell.edu/EmerPolicies.revApril.pdf.

Last Modified: January 22, 2007