Faculty Leave Procedures

EECS Faculty Leaves: General Information

First, please read the Department's Leave Policy Statement.

If you are planning to go on any sort of leave during the coming year, please see Debra Zaller in CS Academic Personnel (381 Soda; 3-6618), or Jean Richter in EE Academic Personnel (223 Cory; 3-8208) and fill out a Leave Request form as soon as possible.

Leave request forms are due back, for Chairs' review, no later than middle of January, before the beginning of the Spring semester.

We need to know your leave plans by January each year in order to meet tight deadlines for course scheduling and temporary academic staffing budget decisions.

Leaves requested after the deadline are subject to a much higher probability of refusal due to course staffing and other considerations. In addition, faculty members requesting leaves after the deadline must provide a suitable replacement to teach their classes.

Sabbatical Leaves: Accruing and Using Credits

One semester of sabbatical leave credit is earned in each semester that a faculty member works at least 50% time. This means that if you go on a 50% research leave (or less), you would still earn a sabbatical leave credit, but if you go on a 51% research leave (or more), you would not.

Faculty members who wish to take a sabbatical leave that would not use up all their accumulated sabbatical leave credits may request deferral of the unused credits. If the request is approved, the unused credits will remain available for use the next time a sabbatical leave is taken.

Generally speaking, the minimum sabbatical leave in EECS is one semester at 67% salary; the 44% and 56% levels are only used if the faculty member only has 4 or 5 sabbatical leave credits accumulated. Here is a table showing the number of sabbatical leave credits required for various lengths and percentages of sabbatical leaves.

A sabbatical leave is applied for, and applications are reviewed/approved by the Chair and the Dean based on Departmental academic staffing and other considerations. The application requires a Sabbatical Program Statement, which must accompany sabbatical leave paperwork.

Upon return from sabbatical leave, a brief Sabbatical Report must be filed with the Department, giving a "statement of progress on the project described in the sabbatical application.".

Your Pay During Sabbatical Leave

University policies preclude faculty members from receiving additional compensation while on sabbatical leave (e.g., from a host institution) except for nominal honoraria or travel reimbursements. The only exceptions to this rule are that faculty may receive research funds from UCB sponsored research projects (if they will be working on these projects during the leave). This is often used during a partial salary sabbatical to bring the level of salary up to 100% (e.g., a 67% salary sabbatical may be supplemented by 33% salary from ERSO funds). Salary may also be supplemented up to 100% by a host university when a faculty member is engaged in a research or teaching project at a foreign university.

Here is additional important information on Sabbatical Leave's effect on pay and benefits, and medical plan benefits when living away from home.

Research Leaves Paid by ERSO

Please note that regular faculty salary pay periods are different from the ERSO's pay periods. Your salary as an EECS professor is paid over 12 months (July 1 to June 30 each year), while funds housed in ERSO are paid out at a higher monthly rate over 9 months (September 1 to May 31).

Leave Without Pay

Going on Industrial Leave or other forms of leave can involve a Leave Without Pay from your faculty appointment. If your faculty appointment level drops below 50%, you can lose your UC benefits. At any level, Leave Without Pay reduces your retirement service credit accrual. If you are considering a period of Leave Without Pay status, see Debra Zaller (381 Soda; 3-6618) or Jean Richter (223 Cory; 3-8208). Also, review the UC Benefits Leave Without Pay Checklist (pdf).

Short-Term Leave (7 calendar days or less)

Please complete the Short-Term Leave Request at least one week before an anticipated short absence (or as soon as possible after you learn of a need to be away), and return it to your Division's Academic Personnel Office.