THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE FACULTY SENATE Senate Document Number 2593S Date of Senate Approval 5/6/93 Signature of Senate Chair _______________________________ Date _________________ Action of Vice Chancellor: Approval ________________________________________ Date ____________________ Denied _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Reasons for denial and suggested modifications: - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Statement of Faculty Senate Action: FWDC Document # 4: Policy on Extended Illness and Disability for Faculty of The University of North Carolina at Asheville In Faculty Handbook, Section VII. Policies Affecting Faculty Delete all of section x) Policy on Sick Leave. Replace with: x) Policy on Extended Illness and Disability for Faculty of The University of North Carolina at Asheville Unlike other full-time permanent employees of The University of North Carolina at Asheville, members of the faculty are not eligible to receive sick leave or vacation leave. Thus, faculty have no way of accumulating leave time to help them maintain pay status during the sixty-day waiting period for the short-term Disability Insurance Program provided by the State of North Carolina. While brief absences from faculty duties, including teaching, can usually be accommodated informally, those that involve prolonged illness and/or disability can result in significant burdens to colleagues, especially in small departments. Furthermore, the faculty person who must call upon that assistance may face uncertainties and discomforts concerning the employment situation at a time of great personal stress. This policy has been designed in recognition of these factors. It seeks to balance the faculty member's interest in having a reliable, though brief, period of salary continuation, and the department's interest in having the means for hiring replacement personnel during a longer-term absence. It is consistent with both The Code of The University of North Carolina and Faculty Handbook of The University of North Carolina at Asheville. I. Coverage This policy applies to all persons holding regular faculty appointments (professor, associate/assistant professor, lecturer, instructor) who are also eligible for participation in either the North Carolina State Retirement Program or the Optional Retirement Program. It does not apply to persons with adjunct faculty appointments. This leave under this policy becomes available immediately upon appointment to a regular faculty position. II. Benefit A faculty member who has a medically verifiable extended illness or serious disability may request salary continuation for up to sixty calendar days. The sixty- day period begins with the first day of the absence. Another sixty-day period of leave with pay may be granted so long as the illness or disability is not related to or contracted during the first illness or disability, and provided the individual has returned to work for a minimum of one working day. Unused leave shall not accumulate nor be carried forward from academic year to academic year. III. Use of Leave The period of leave provided under this policy may be used for medically verifiable sickness or injury which prevents the faculty member from performing usual duties. It may be used for the actual period of temporary disability connected with childbearing and recovery. A faculty member may request that the leave be used for the medically verifiable illness/disability of a member of the immediate family (defined as spouse (domestic partner), parents, children including step relationships) who resides (or must reside because of the illness) in the faculty member's household. This leave is not allowable as terminal leave payment when the faculty member leaves the employment of the University. It may not be used to extend years of creditable state service for retirement benefits. However it may be exhausted prior to participation in the Disability Income Plan. A Special Note Concerning the Use of This Policy for Pregnancy Female faculty shall not be penalized in their condition of employment because they require time away from work caused by or contributed to by pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, childbirth, or recovery. Disabilities resulting from pregnancy shall be treated the same as any other temporary disability. Limitation of employment by the employer before childbirth is prohibited. The type and nature of the faculty member's duties during pregnancy shall be determined by the department head* in consultation with the faculty member and upon advice she has received from her physician. A faculty member who expects to require a leave under this policy for maternity purposes should notify in writing her department head as soon as possible. IV. Administration of Benefit It is the responsibility of the faculty member to request the use of leave provided by this policy as soon as possible upon learning of the need for the leave. This request should be made in writing, if possible, addressed to the department head. When the request is for the faculty member's illness or disability: The department head may request medical verification of the faculty member's illness or disability, including a physician's statement about the probable length of absence from normal duties. Such leave will be granted unless it is not supported by medical evidence. The department head will provide a written response to the faculty member's request for the use of leave, with copies to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. *"Department head" is to be interpreted as "department chair" in appropriate departments, or as program director in university programs. The department head will grant the use of paid leave for up to the period stated by the physician (to sixty days) and may extend such leave to the full sixty days when needed. To facilitate the gathering of necessary verification, the department head may request the services of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. When the request is for the faculty member's family member or dependent: The department head may request medical verification of the illness or disability of the faculty member's family member or dependent, and may also request information about the circumstances which make it impossible or difficult for the faculty member to carry on with normal duties. In reaching a decision on whether or not to grant the request for leave, the department head has discretion to weigh the faculty member's personal situation and the needs of the department, and to take into account such things as the timing within the academic year, effect on students, ability of the department to absorb the absence, etc. The department head will provide a written response to the request for leave, with copies to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The department head may grant the use of paid leave for up to the period stated by the physician (to sixty days) and may extend such leave to the full sixty days when needed. To facilitate the gathering of necessary verification and for advice on University-wide application of this policy to similar situations, the department head may request the services of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Whenever the department head grants use of leave under this policy, he/she is responsible for securing coverage for the absent faculty member's duties. Whenever additional personnel must be employed or regular faculty members choose to take over the absent faculty member's duties, the additional cost shall be borne by the University rather than the absent faculty member. If the illness or disability requires an absence from faculty duties of longer than sixty calendar days, the faculty member can petition for a leave of absence without pay under the procedures described in the Faculty Handbook. The faculty member may also apply to the Office of Academic Affairs for salary continuation through the Disability Insurance Plan (DIP) provided to state employees or another disability program offered to University employees on an optional basis. V. Appeals A decision of a department head to deny a request for leave or an extension of leave under this policy may be appealed to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and the Chancellor in that order. No appeal may be taken beyond the Chancellor. VI. Confidentiality Communications concerning the use by a faculty member of leave granted under this policy shall be regarded as confidential to the same extent of any other personnel record. VII. Record-Keeping Because this policy provides an important financial benefit, accurate records on its invocation must be maintained. The Office of Academic Affairs will maintain the official records and, from time to time, will make general reports on its use to other University administrators and to the Faculty Senate. VIII.Coordination with Other Policies The Tenure Policies and Regulations Section III. F. provide that leaves of absence during probationary terms "will not be counted as part of the faculty member's probationary service, the term of his or her probationary contract will be extended accordingly...." The terms of this policy pertain only to a leave with full pay for a specified period because of illness or disability. This policy has no effect on provisions for leave without pay as described in the Faculty Handbook (Section VII, xviii). The leave with full pay provided for under this policy shall have no effect on the faculty member's other employment benefits.