Faculty Development Leave (FDL)
- Karla Steffen
For information on Faculty Development Awards (FDA), available only to professional-track faculty, see Faculty Development Award.
What is FDL?
See EVPP: Faculty Development Leave.
The Provost's Faculty Development Leave (FDL) program provides tenured faculty members the opportunity of paid leave from teaching and service responsibilities to allow them to focus on research, scholarship, and creative endeavors. At other universities, this type of leave is commonly called a "Sabbatical". The FDL replaces the former Faculty Research Assignment (FRA) program.
The FDL may be taken as either:
Full-time leave for one semester in either the fall or spring long semesters, or
Half-time (50%) leave during each long semester during the nine-month long session
If half-time leave for the full academic year is chosen, and the remaining 50% of the appointment is committed effort on grants (i.e. course buyout), the faculty member will still be responsible for service activities associated with the 50% grant-funded portion of their appointment.
The number of FDLs to be awarded per year is limited, and faculty to receive FDLs will be selected through a review process outlined below.
Timeline for application year 2024-25
(For FDLs effective in 2025-26)
September 3-October 1: Application system open
October 4: COE Faculty Affairs completes applicant eligibility review
October 9-November 8: COE committee review of FDL applications
November 9: Deadline for COE review committee to forward recommendations to Dean
November 10-17: Dean review
November 18: Dean sends FDL awardee recommendations to EVPP
December 18: EVPP notifies awardees
February 17: FDL recipients’ acceptance forms due to COE Faculty Affairs
Eligibility
Faculty are encouraged to confirm their eligibility prior to applying.
To be eligible to apply for an FDL, a faculty member must meet all of the following criteria at the time of application:
Has been awarded tenure.
At the time of application, has completed at least five full academic years (i.e. beginning in AY 2019-20 or earlier) working as a UT Austin faculty member. (FDL can start only after completion of six full years of service at UT Austin.)
Will have served as a full-time faculty member of UT Austin for at least two consecutive full academic years during the six years before the start of the proposed FDL (i.e. two consecutive years between 2019-20 and 2024-25).
See impact of certain leave types on this count at UT FDL Guidelines 2024-25.pdf > B.2. UT-FDL Timing
Has met or exceeded expectations in at least three of the most recent full academic years preceding their FDL application (i.e. in 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24).
There has been a minimum of six full academic years of full-time service at UT Austin between the end of the academic year of a prior FDL (or its predecessor the FRA), and the start of the academic year of the proposed next FDL.
Department chair and/or immediate supervisor approve the proposed timing of the FDL.
All requirements described at the following:
"Eligibility" section of EVPP: Faculty Development Leave
UT FDL Guidelines 2024-25.pdf, especially the following sections:
B.1 UT-FDLs Eligibility
B.2 UT-FDL Timing
2024-25 COE guidelines at EVPP: Faculty Development Leave > "College and School FDL Guidelines" in right-hand side bar > "College of Education"
Application process
Before applying, please carefully review the "Eligibility" and "Conditions for recipients" sections on this page.
COE application process:
Responsible party | Step | Action |
|---|---|---|
Applicant | 1 | a) Discuss the timing of the proposed FDL with their department chair. (Note that a 100% award during one semester includes release from both teaching and service commitments.) b) Review all University and College eligibility requirements for the award. See FDL > Eligibility on this page. |
2 | Initiate and route COE FDL Timing and Eligibility Checklist: a) Answer all questions in the "Applicant completes" section and sign. b) Department chair completes and signs the appropriate section of the form. c) Applicant forwards form to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu for review and completion. | |
COE Faculty Affairs | 3 | Review COE FDL Timing and Eligibility Checklist, completes, and returns to applicant. (Applicant must include completed form in their application materials.) |
Applicant | 4 | Submit application including all requested materials through the Provost's online system prior to the deadline. Note that extensions to the stated deadline will not be granted. Applications must include all of the following documentation in order to be considered complete:
|
Provost’s Office | 5 | Online application system closes. |
COE Faculty Affairs & Provost’s Office | 6 | Review each applicant's materials and confirm their eligibility in the application system. |
Department chair | 7 | Receive an email notification that applicants are awaiting their review. Only materials from eligible applicants will be made available. |
8 | Review applications online and makes recommendations. | |
COE FDL committee | 9 | Review applications based on APS and COE policies, and sends recommendations to Dean. |
Dean | 10 | Review applications based on COE FDL committee recommendations, and forward final recommendations to Provost's Office |
Provost’s Office | 11 | Review Dean's recommendations and make final decisions according to CSU allotment. Notify applicants of their decision. |
Conditions for recipients
UT-FDL is given in support of the activities described in the recipient’s application. Any major changes in the proposed activity require prior approval from the Provost's Office. Requests for changes should be first approved by the UT-FDL recipient’s supervisor (department chair, where relevant, and dean), and then submitted to the EVPP’s Faculty Affairs team for EVPP approval.
A faculty member on faculty development leave may not accept employment from any other person, corporation, or government, unless the governing board determines that it would be in the public interest to do so and expressly approves the employment.
Upon completion of the FDL the faculty member must submit a report documenting FDL activities and products (where relevant) and the impact of the FDL on the faculty member’s professional development. A failure to submit the report will make the faculty member ineligible to receive another FDL.
The recipient of an FDL is expected to return to normal fulltime professional duties at the University of Texas at Austin for at least the academic year (fall and spring long semesters) of Academic Year following their award. A recipient who elects not to return to the university after holding an UT-FDL is obligated to reimburse the university for funds (gross salary plus fringe benefits) expended in support of the UT-FDL. This applies even when the recipient chooses to retire, or to resign from the university for some reason. (See Section 2-2210 of the Handbook of Operating Procedures).
Based on Section 51.105 (b) of Texas Education code, a faculty member on FDL “may accept a grant for study, research, or travel from any institution of higher education, from a charitable, religious, or educational corporation or foundation, from any business enterprise, or from any federal, state, or local governmental agency.” Such funding must be approved by the Dean and governing board.
Processes for awardees
To accept the FDL
The Provost's Office will notify awardees via email just prior to the winter break. Notification emails will include an attachment: page 1 will be the award letter, and page 2 will be an Acceptance Form.
Recipient should sign the Acceptance Form and return to
COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu. Please note the deadline to return the form, stated on the form itself.
COE Faculty Affairs will obtain the Senior Associate Dean's signature, record relevant award info, and add the fully-signed form to the faculty member's Dean's Office personnel file on Box.
COE Faculty Affairs will forward the fully-signed form to the Provost's Office and will cc the recipient's department Chair and Administrative Manager.
Upon completion of the FDL
The faculty member must submit a report documenting the following:
Activities and products
Impact of the FDL on their professional development
Accounting of all grants supplemental to the FDL
A report template is available at EVPP: Faculty Development Leave > "Post-FDL Requirements." Failure to submit the report by the deadline will make the faculty member ineligible to receive another future FDL.
For fall FDLs, the report prompt will come no later than the start of the following spring term.
Information for administrative staff
A faculty member on FDL remains on the instructional budget. No Faculty Request for Leave form is required, and no costing allocation change is needed.
APS will record FDLs in the faculty member's Workday profile. Go to "Academic" > "Current Appointments." In the "Identifier" column, look for FD (Faculty Development). "Track Type" will be FDL (Faculty Development Leave).
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is FDL new?
A. FDL replaces the FRA (Faculty Research Award) program, and took its first applications in fall 2022, for awards beginning in AY 2023-24. Any prior FRAs awarded will be counted as FDLs for purposes of eligibility.
Q. When should a faculty member apply for FDL?
A. Apply during the Academic Year prior to the one in which the FDL would be taken. Example: apply in fall 2024-25 for an FDL to be taken in AY 2025-26.
Q. How much of a faculty member's regular salary is covered by FDL?
A. All salary is covered, unless the faculty member has an external fellowship covering some portion of salary.
Q. Can an FDL be combined with an external fellowship to create a year-long research leave?
A. Yes, it can.
Q. Is a course release the same as FDL?
A. A course release is not an FDL in and of itself. Faculty with approved course releases, for instance, are still expected to be available for service and research responsibilities.
Q. If an FDL is taken as half-time leave during each long semester, what would service expectations be?
A. Service should be proportional to the remaining half-time appointment.
Q. How does FDL work for faculty with joint appointments?
A. Joint-appointed faculty will follow the rules and programming for their primary department.
Q. Can FDL be deferred if circumstances change?
A. Deferrals, with justification, are at the discretion of the Dean.
Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.
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