Faculty Parental Leave Policy

Eligibility: Tenured Faculty, Faculty on Probationary Appointments, and Faculty on full-time renewable term contracts who have been in an eligible position for at least one year before the leave is to begin. Part-time faculty, faculty appointed as visiting faculty members, sabbatical replacements, instructors, Post-doctoral fellows, or faculty on terminal year contracts will not be eligible for this paid leave. Faculty who are otherwise eligible for FMLA leave but not eligible for paid parental leave under this policy must follow the terms of the College’s FMLA policy and, if applicable, the Tennessee Maternity Leave Policy and Faculty Illness policy.

Benefit: One semester leave of absence for the primary caregiver parent of the newborn minor child or minor child placed for adoption, twelve weeks of which will be paid leave.

Utilizing the Benefit:

• Leave under this policy must be taken in one semester and is paid up to a total of twelve weeks. A semester begins on the first scheduled day of classes and ends on the last scheduled day of classes. Leave under this policy must be taken in consecutive weeks.
• The Parental Leave under this policy may be taken during the semester in which the child is born, or first placed for adoption or during a subsequent semester that begins no later than six months after the birth or placement for adoption of the child with the faculty member. Leave under this policy will start at the beginning of an academic term. Leave under this policy is not available when a spouse adopts the already born minor child(ren) of a spouse. 
• Leave under this policy will run concurrently with any other available leave including FMLA, Faculty Illness and Tennessee Maternity Leave, to the extent applicable, and will not exceed twelve weeks of pay.
• Faculty who will be requesting Parental Leave under this policy must notify the Department Chair, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Chief Human Resources Officer as soon as the need for such leave is foreseeable. In order to request leave for the Fall Term, leave must be requested no later than June 1 of the previous term. For leave in the Spring Term leave must be requested no later than October 1 of the previous term. The College reserves the right to deny or delay the granting of paid Parental Leave where notice is not given in a timely fashion. 
• Primary caregiver is the faculty member who is primarily responsible for the day to day custody, care and control of the child. A request for Parental Leave must be accompanied by an Affidavit of primary caregiver status. The affidavit form is available in Human Resources.
• Parental Leave may be split between two eligible faculty members with approval of the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Human Resources Officer and with consideration given to the needs of the College. If approval to split the semester is given, each eligible parent must complete an Affidavit of Primary Caregiver covering that period of time during which each faculty member will be the primary caregiver for the child. Under any circumstance no more than one semester of leave will be granted per birth or initial placement of a minor child and paid leave will be limited to twelve weeks under this policy. 
• A faculty member taking Parental Leave will receive the same benefits as she or he would have received that semester if not on leave, under the same terms as though she or he was working. However, leave under this policy will not count toward sabbatical leave eligibility.
• Parental Leave is available to spouses, domestic partners, and birthparents who are otherwise eligible under this policy.
• Unless waived by the Vice President of Academic Affairs, a faculty member who takes Parental Leave is obligated to return to active status for at least an equivalent period immediately following such leave in order to retain the benefits of the leave, including salary paid. If the faculty member who has taken paid Parental Leave does not return she/he shall be responsible to return the pay received under this policy unless otherwise waived by the Vice President of Academic Affairs.