Leaves

Introduction

A faculty member accumulates an eligible "year of service" when they have completed their assigned workload over three consecutive semesters. When a study leave term is added and has been approved, the system automatically subtracts the used credits from the Total Study Leave Service Years calculated in the TTR summary card. 

Study Leave (SL)

Study Leaves provide faculty members an extended period of time to engage in scholarship or complete a project or course of study that will enhance and increase their knowledge, expertise, and professional abilities. For planning purposes, the TTR in eTRACS will allow administrators to enter the study leave ahead of time before it is approved. Once the study leave has been approved, administrators can change the process status of the study leave, and the Total Study Service Years will automatically be calculated. 

Code Abbrev.	Code	Action	Study Leave Credit	Description
Open	Study Leave	Taken	Based on leave chosen: 6.00 → A, B, C 4.00 → D  3.00 → E	Standard workload marker which deducts study leave credits based on the years of service. Instructors are able to choose the amount of study leave value taken, and value taken can be dependent on the following options (% Pay while on SL) chosen: Option A: 3 semesters of leave at 80% salary after 6 years of service Option B: 2 semesters of leave at 90% salary after 6 years of service Option C: 1 semester of leave at 100% salary after 6 years of service Option D: 2 semesters of leave at 80% salary after 4 years of service Option E: 1 semester of leave at 90% salary after 3 years of service

How to Apply a Study Leave

1. Delete any previous code in the term. 

2. Click and drag the code into the term when the study leave will be 'taken'. 

3. In the TTR profile page, scroll down to the transactions table. Click the Leave tab.

4. In the transaction table, a new row will appear indicating the study leave has been 'taken' in that term. 

   • Transaction Value will be default to 0 → must select a Leave Option

   • Process Status will be default to 'Requested' 

5. Select the leave option. The Transaction Value will automatically be filled in according to the leave option selected.

6. Once the study leave has been approved, change the Process Status to 'Approved'. This will deduct the Total Study Leave Service Years credit in the TTR summary card. 

7. If the Study Leave is for more than one term, double click End Term in the transactions table to edit. 

8. Feel free to add notes in the Notes section for future reference.

Examples:

Scenario 1: If Study Leave comes after a completed pattern

Correct (with Pattern Even): |   |   |   | Remember to change the Pattern Even value to 0 before the study leaves begin.

Correct (without Pattern Even): |    |  | 

Scenario 2: If Study Leave falls between a pattern

Correct:  |  |   |

Incorrect:  |  |  |  |  | The next Pattern Even should be inserted after the pattern has the correct requirements.

Parental Leave (PL)

The time spent on maternity or parental leave will count towards years of service and eligibility for study leave.

Code Abbrev.	Code	Action	Study Leave Credit	Description
Open	Parental Leave	Given	+ 0.33 → Paid Leave + 0.00 → Unpaid Leave Calculation applied when Process Status = Approved	Awards 0.33 study leave service years while on parental leave. For unpaid parental leave, there will be no effect on the total service years.

How to Apply a Parental Leave

1. Click and drag the  code into the term when the study leave will be 'given'. 

2. In the TTR profile page, scroll down to the transactions table. Click the Leave tab.

3. In the transaction table, a new row will appear indicating the parental leave has been 'given' in that term.

   • Transaction Value will be default to 0.33 

   • Process Status will be default to 'Requested' 

4. If the parental leave spans for more than one term, double click the End Term to modify the range. 

5. Under Leave Option, select if the leave is 'Unpaid' or 'Paid'. If it is an unpaid leave, the Transaction Value will automatically set to 0.

6. Once the parental leave has been approved, change the Process Status to 'Approved'. This will then add the Total Study Leave Service Years credit in the TTR summary card.

7. Feel free to add notes in the Notes section for future reference. 

Research (Administrative) Leave (AL)

Research (Administrative) leaves are given to Department Chairs and School Directors for two semesters after a three-year term and three semesters after a five-year term. Other academic-administrative appointments may receive research leave depending on the administrative complexity of the unit as determined by the Dean. One administrative leave may be awarded per term.

How to Apply an Administrative Leave

1. Click and drag the code into the term when the admin leave is earned. Please note that:

   • The administrative leave will NOT be visible on the TTR until admin leave is taken (must complete Step 2 and 3).

   • In the TTR summary card (top of page), notice that the Total Admin Leave value appears if there is 1 or more admin leaves that have yet to be redeemed. 

2. Scroll down to the transactions table. Click the Leave tab to find the admin leave record. 

3. Click on the Value box to modify the value.

4. When the admin leave is ready to be taken, click . The following will occur:

   • In the transaction table, a new row will automatically appear indicating that an admin leave for one term has been 'Taken'. 

   • Admin Leave badge will visually appear on the TTR based on the Start Term that you have selected. Ensure to change the Start Term to when the admin leave is used.

   • In the TTR summary card, notice that the Total Admin Leave value decreases by 1. If the person has no more Admin Leave left, the Total Admin Leave counter in the summary card will disappear.

5. Feel free to add comments in the Notes section for reference and transparency. The notes of the taken Admin Leave will be visible when you hover over in the Admin Leave badge.

Example Scenario:

A School Director has been awarded administrative leave for two consecutive semesters (Summer 2020 and Fall 2020) after a three-year term: 

1. Drag  code into Summer 2020. Change End Term to Fall 2020 in transaction table.

2. Modify 'Value' box to 2. 

3. Click . This must be done twice - one for Summer 2020 and Fall 2020.

4. Ensure to change Start Term for each 'Taken' row. 

Leave (L) and Personal Leave (PL)

The Leave and Personal Leave code is used as a placeholder to indicate that a faculty member is on leave for medical or other personal purposes. It will not effect the teaching workload or study leave service years.

How to Apply a Leave/Personal Leave

1. Click and drag the code into the applicable terms.

2. In the TTR profile page, scroll down to the transactions table. Click the Leave tab.

3. In the transaction table, a new row will appear indicating when the leave is occurring.

4. If the leave spans for more than one term, double click the End Term to modify the range in the transactions table. 

5. Feel free to add notes in the Notes section for future reference. 

Modified Appointment (MA)

Modified Appointment is applied when a faculty "member wishes to reduce the overall level of their appointment, [and] the University recognizes that it would benefit from a carefully considered modification of an appointment through enhancement of staffing flexibility. Faculty members must be in a continuing/tenure role, having passed probation or achieved tenure, to request this modification. NOTE: there is no presumption of a member's entitlement to have this request granted." For more information, refer to https://www.sfu.ca/faculty-relations/appointments/academic/joint--modified--and-part-time-appointments.html.

This code reduces the study leave service year and 1 in 9 credit by the same percentage that the standard workload is reduced to.

How to Apply Modified Appointment

1. Click and drag the code into the applicable start term.

2. In the TTR profile page, scroll down to the transactions table. Click the Leave tab.

3. In the transaction table, a new row will appear indicating when the modified appointment is starting and ending. 

   • Start Term will be the term that the modification starts; ideally, it should be the term that contains the First Day of Modification (as specified in the Modification of Appointment Application Form)

   • Process Status will default to 'Requested' 

   • Start Date should be the First Day of Modification

   • End Term should be the term that contains the Last Day of Modification

   • End Date should be the Last Day of Modification

4. Select the Options to indicate the reason and purpose of the modification of appointment.

   • Please also let us know if any other options is used for Modified Appointment. We are happy to add them in for your use.

5. Modify Value to match the workload reduced to in decimals.

   • Transaction Value should be the value in decimals that is specified in the Workload Reduced To (%) column in the Modification of Appointment Application Form

6. Once the modification of Appointment has been approved, please update the following:

   1. Change the Process Status to 'Approved'.

      • Research Faculty: This will reduce the study leave service year by the percentage of the modified appointment value entered 

      • Teaching Faculty: This will reduce the study leave service year and 1 in 9 credit by the percentage of the modified appointment value entered 

      • Total Study Leave Service Years and Total 1 in 9 in the TTR summary card will then change accordingly to reflect the modification of appointment

   2. Change the workload value in the Pattern Even transaction to best reflect the actual teaching workload for the given terms.

Phased Retirement (PR)

Eligible Continuing Faculty instructors are able to apply for Phased Retirement to reduce their workload or their responsibilities in the last few years before they retire. Instructors are required to apply with at least 12 months' notice (18 months preferred) to the Chair/Director or Dean. By inserting in the Phased Retirement code, this will help faculties plan for the reduced workload capacity six semesters ahead. The Phased Retirement code will take the standard workload in the TTR and apply the specified percentage to calculate the reduced workload. This is why it is important to also be inserting or planning teaching patterns in the TTR as well ('s, 's, and 's). This code will allow you to plan the percentage of reduced workload for a set of terms which closely aligns with the Phased Retirement form here: https://www.sfu.ca/content/dam/sfu/faculty-relations/leaving-sfu/Phased%20Retirement%20Notice-Acknowledgement%20Form-fixes.pdf. For more information on the Phased Retirement options, please visit Faculty Relation's website: https://www.sfu.ca/faculty-relations/leaving-sfu/retirement.html.

How to Apply Phased Retirement

1. In the TTR profile page, click and drag the code into the applicable start term (when Phased Retirement begins).

2. Scroll down to the transactions table. Click the Leave tab to see the new Phased Retirement row.

3. In the transaction table, please make edits to the following columns accordingly

   1. End Term: Marks the end of the Phase Retirement plan.

   2. Process Status: Default to 'Requested' and will not automatically show up in the TTR upon adding PR code. Once it has been approved, change the status so that it can appear in the TTR.

   3. Options: Reduced Scope, Reduced Scope/Workload, and Reduced Workload are the options that can be selected based off the SFU/SFUFA Collective Agreement. 

   4. Notes: You may add notes for reference (e.g. 3-year phased retirement, reduced workload).

4. Once all this information has been edited, click  to define reduced workload percentages:

   1. Value: Enter in the percentage of workload that it is being reduced to (e.g. 0.75 means that 75% of the workload needs to be fulfilled)

   2. Start/End Term: Default to a range of 3 semesters. Change the start and end term based on each case.

5. Continue to use  to include more reduced workload percentages until the end of the Phased Retirement. Here is an example of how a typical Phase Retirement scenario might look like:

We can see here that there is a gradual reduction in workload capacity. Originally, this instructor had a standard teaching workload of 4. Take note of how the Pattern Even balance changes when the PR code is applied and approved:

• Fall 2021 to Summer 2022 - Workload = 3 (75%)

• Fall 2022 to Summer 2023 - Workload = 2 (50%)

• Fall 2023 to Summer 2024 - Workload = 1 (25%)