School of Public Health (SPH) tenured, tenure-track and contract faculty may request development leaves in order to focus more intently on significant work already in progress or pursue new studies, investigations, research, scholarly writing or artistic projects. Leaves may also be used for curriculum development and work on improvements to teaching.
Senior leaders returning to the faculty may request a development leave to refresh and increase expertise in teaching and research in their discipline following a significant period of administrative service. While development leaves for entrepreneurial work will typically involve ventures related to the development of University intellectual property, other types of activities that demonstrate substantial institutional benefit or that constitute an innovative and collaborative project relating to the public good are also eligible for consideration.
Leave request form submission deadline for the 2025-2026 academic year
Friday, May 2, 2025.
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More information available
UMN Faculty Development Leaves Policy
Contact
Office of Faculty Affairs at sph-ofa@umn.edu
Faculty are provided with the following types of leaves, based on their faculty appointment and other eligibility requirements:
- Tenured faculty – single semester, sabbatical and entrepreneurial leaves
- Tenure-track faculty – single semester and entrepreneurial leaves
- Contract faculty – single semester and sabbatical leaves
See UMN Faculty Development Leaves Guide for full details.
Leave request form submission deadline for the 2025-2026 academic year: Friday, May 2, 2025.
Application Process
Faculty candidates meet with their division head to discuss the faculty development leave, including leave activities, available division financial support, and specific funding sources for faculty effort, before submitting the form for decision.
If the leave request is recommended by the Division Head:
- Faculty candidates complete the appropriate leave form. (If additional space is needed, please include it as a separate attachment.) Ensure the start and end dates align with the pay period.
- Create a salary support addendum.
- State exact funding sources and amounts during leave.
- State how much of your effort will be covered by your existing commitments vs. support from the division over the duration of the leave.
- Obtain your Division Head’s signature in the “Department Head” field. Do not obtain the Dean’s signature, this will be done by SPH OFA.
- Submit your form with additional documentation to the SPH OFA by the deadline for the final review/decision process.
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If provost or other central funding is available to support leaves in a given year, SPH OFA will work with divisions to distribute available funds.
Forms
Sabbatical Leave
- Following review of the Faculty Development Leave form and additional documentation, SPH Dean sends written notification of the final decision to OFA.
- Written notification of the final decision is sent by OFA to the faculty candidate with required reporting expectations.
Single Semester Leave
- Review of the Faculty Development Leave form is conducted by the SPH Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee (i.e., the college screening committee).
- The SPH Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee forwards their recommendations for decision to the SPH dean.
- Following review by the SPH Dean, written notification of the final decision is sent to OFA.
- Written notification of the final decision is sent by OFA to the faculty candidate with required reporting expectations.
As part of the application process, discuss leave activities and determine specific sources of funding for faculty effort during the leave with the division head before submission of form for decision.
Recipients of a faculty development leave are required to submit a brief summary report (1-2 pages) of the development activities while on leave. The summary report is to be submitted within 90 days of returning to service to OFA at sph-ofa@umn.edu.
