Release From the Instructional Budget (RFIB)
Overview:
A faculty member who receives external funding to cover part of their regular salary (usually to do research), and that funding is routed through UT Austin, will need to be 'released' from the instructional budget (a.k.a., Release Time). This is also the case for various internal awards, usually through an academic center in the college, or a central research office (such as VPR), administering programming designed to support faculty research. A faculty member’s Release Time request is final-approved at the college level (COLA). There are different leave types that may include a partial or full release from the instructional budget; you can navigate to the appropriate leave type to see the applicable leaves process. This page only pertains specifically to when and how to release a faculty member from the instructional budget.
Relevant Definitions:
Instructional Budget (IB): for purposes of this process, the IB is the budgeted account from which tenured or tenure-track (TTT) faculty salaries for an academic unit are paid.
Return Rule: A requirement related to certain research-related faculty awards (e.g., CSEF) in which a faculty member is released from teaching but remains on the instructional budget; specifies that when the faculty member’s award period is over, they will return to their normal work hours and teaching load in COLA for a required amount of time (more details on return rules available on the Faculty LWOP page)
Release Time (RT): Release time refers to the release of some (or all) of a faculty member’s salary from the instructional budget for a given time period, where the ‘released’ salary is paid instead by one or more other UT accounts. The most common form of release time is a “course buyout,” which is when an external award (or an approved university source of research support) pays a portion of the faculty member’s salary in return for a reduction in the faculty member’s teaching obligations.
Example 1: One-third of Prof. X’s Fall salary is paid by his Cybernetics grant, so that he can devote more time to his 'brain-bot' project and also teach one fewer class that Fall.
Example 2: Prof. X receives a Phoenix Fellowship covering his salary for Spring, and the Phoenix award is paid via UT.
Example 3: The Center for Mexican American Studies uses Center funds to award a fellowship to Prof. X that comes with a reduction in teaching for the semester.
EVPP: The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, a.k.a. the Provost’s Office. Faculty Affairs is the area of EVPP which helps to oversee many/most processes related to academic staff and faculty, such as hiring, leaves, promotions, and related matters. Academic Personnel Services (APS) is a team within the larger umbrella of EVPP Faculty Affairs area; they typically help with processing faculty leaves, among many other things.
COLA HR: The human resources team in the Dean’s Office which supports the faculty, staff, and students of COLA. Contact us at COLA_HR@austin.utexas.edu
Process:
COLA Deadlines:
June 30 – Fall Semester Requests
October 31 – Spring Semester Requests
Faculty member reaches out to department staff--typically the department manager or whomever is responsible for supporting faculty HR within the unit--and Chair to request leave.
Faculty member ensures they follow guidelines established by COLA’s Research & Scholarship Office.
Department staff should discuss with faculty member:
How faculty member is paid by UT:
The award may be routed through the university. External funding that is routed through UT will often route through the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP). If so, the COLA Grants Services Office (laresearch@austin.utexas.edu) will serve as your primary liaison to OSP, and you will want to contact them.
If receiving an external fellowship that will pay the faculty member directly, the faculty member may need to go on a partial or total LWOP (See also Faculty LWOP.)
They may also wish to apply for a CSEF. (For more information, check out the CSEF wiki.)
Previous leaves and any previously committed return rules; (see LWOP page)
If the faculty member is an Assistant Professor: Probationary status/promotion & tenure "clock". See more information on tenure-track probationary period here.
Teaching responsibilities:
What courses the faculty member would be teaching without the RT;
how the RT will change their teaching load during the academic year;
how the RT will impact the course/s the faculty member will no longer teach;
what will happen to the courses the faculty member would have taught.
Any departmental responsibilities the faculty member will retain while on leave.
Release time is requested using the course buyout request form: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/0198667649d77a8ebd0a427c3b81d9d2
Please complete forms as completely and accurately as possible. COLA HR will follow up with any questions.
Following approval, COLA HR will create a leave record in the CLASP database.
Once academic rates are known for the applicable academic year COLA HR will complete a Job Costing Tool for the Release Time and send to COLA Finance.
Finance will complete the costing allocation BP in Workday when required and will also complete instructional budget transfer(s).
If any changes occur to your faculty’s funding amounts, funding source, or leave dates, we ask the department staff to please contact COLA HR with these changes as soon as possible.
Related Policies and Information:
HOP 2-2210: Faculty Leaves and Special Academic Assignments
Faculty Leaves and Related Information (EVPP)
Family Medical Leave Act (Central HR)
Faculty LWOP (COLA wiki)
COLA Research and Scholarship Office (wiki)
Other Related Links:
Faculty Forms (for Course Buyout Release Form)
COLA CLASP database (web access)