Modified Instructional Duties (MID)

Purpose:

To provide college-specific procedures and policy information about the Modified Instructional Duties (MID) process.

Relevant Definitions:

MID: Modified Instructional Duties; when a full-time faculty member is unable to provide regular classroom teaching due to specific qualifying personal circumstances and is approved to perform an alternative set of instructional and/or research duties for one semester.

• MID assignments must be approved at the department, college, and provost levels in advance of the semester for which the MID is being requested.
• Faculty on MID remain on the instructional budget during their MID semester.
• Faculty on MID assignment are not on leave, though they may have made arrangements to limit their presence on campus, due to the qualifying personal circumstances. However, they are expected to fulfill all other additional faculty duties (along with their alternate assignment).

EPP: Extension of the tenure-track probationary period; please see this article.

Full-time faculty member: for purposes of this article, this refers to someone who is appointed to (i.e., paid in) 40 hours per week in one (or two) faculty position(s) at UT during a long semester (Fall or Spring). 

• Per the HOP, this individual must be paid full-time (40SWH) from an instructional budget or budgets. (See HOP for definition of "instructional budget".)

Qualifying personal circumstances: a.k.a., eligibility requirements; per HOP, a faculty member is eligible if they are full-time (see above) and "a principal caregiver of a healthy pre-school child (or children), or who are required to care for or assist a member or members of their immediate family, who although not ill or disabled, needs the help and attention of the faculty member."

•  The policy makes specific note that "MID is not intended for situations where sick leave use is appropriate", but recent communication with APS (Academic Personnel Services in the Provost's Office), they clarified that this should be read as MID is not intended to substitute for qualifying FMLA and/or sick leave use. In other words:
  • If a faculty member is approved for MID for a semester, they would still use and report sick leave when appropriate, and also,
  • If a faculty member anticipates the need for FMLA and/or sick leave during a long semester, and if this faculty member has a qualifying personal circumstance for MID, it may be appropriate for them to apply for MID as well as FMLA so as to clarify their job responsibilities during the periods they are able to work (not while on FMLA) during that semester. e.g., as when anticipating the birth of a child. 

COLA HR: Liberal Arts Human Resources team

Dean: Dean Stevens

Process:

1. A faculty member who believes they are eligible must formally request the MID assignment in writing–via email is fine.
   1. The request needs to include:
      1. the specific semester for which MID is being requested (e.g., Spring 2023)
      2. statement of need for request (consistent with the eligibility criteria presented in HOP 2-2240, (see Qualifying personal circumstances, above); if primary caregiver of newborn or expected child, it would be helpful to provide the date (or expected date) of birth.)
         1. The faculty member should not provide medical documentation as part of their request, simply a brief, sufficient description of the qualifying circumstances.
         2. The faculty member should check to confirm whether they would also wish to apply for Family Medical Leave for that time period.
      3. a detailed proposal of the work they will do in place of their normal classroom duties, which itself needs to include a description of the work to be performed, a defined work product, and a method by which the Chair could evaluate the work during the semester.
      4. If the faculty member is an Assistant Professor, the request must also state whether they are requesting an extension to their probationary period (EPP) as part of the MID request. Requesting an extension is not required, but the MID request does need to state whether or not an EPP is also being requested. (The extension can always be revoked later, if desired).
2. The Department Chair(s) shall review the request and, within two weeks of receipt of this request, prepare a memo addressed to the dean, which they (or their Department Manager) should send to COLA HR, along with a copy of the faculty member's original MID request. 
   1. The Chair memo should include:
      1. Chair’s determination as to whether or not faculty member is eligible for MID; 
      2. Chair’s assessment as to whether the planned work, work product, and evaluation method seem reasonable; 
      3. Chair’s determination as to whether the proposal is in the best interest of the department’s instructional program; 
      4. Chair’s determination as to whether the department can meet its instructional responsibilities during the requested semester without needing additional resources from the college. 
      5. Statement of faculty member’s normal workload, 'normal workload' for the academic year (AY) including the semester being requested (accounting for recruitment offers or similar--for example, if there is a reduced workload), and also confirming the projected workload for AY if the MID is granted. e.g., Normally teaches 2/2, but, if approved, workload for 2022-23 would be 2/0.
      6. Restatement of whether Extension of Probationary Period is being requested (if applicable).
3. COLA HR will verify that the faculty request and Chair memo have all of the necessary information mentioned above; if not, COLA HR will reach out for additional/amended documentation.
4. COLA HR will facilitate the Dean's review of the request and Chair's note, and, when Dean has made a decision, will forward a memo from the dean, the Chair's memo, and the faculty request to the Provost's Office. This is supposed to happen within 30 days of the Chair receiving the faculty member's original request. (Hence asking for the Chair to respond within two weeks...)
5. The Provost Office will review the request and notify the Dean's Office of the decision. The Dean's Office will then notify the faculty member and their department(s). 
   1. If the MID request included an EPP, the faculty member will receive an EPP memo that they have to sign and return to COLA HR. (Please see also the EPP process)

Policies:

HOP 2-2240 Modified Instructional Duties

Provost Office Leave and Related Policies Page

Other Links:

Faculty Request for Sick Leave (WIG)