Department of English
University of Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Acknowledging that time away from one's teaching responsibilities often leads to increased scholarly productivity, the English Department encourages its tenure-track faculty members to pursue opportunities for paid research leave during the five-year probationary period. Assistant professors interested in taking research leave should explore funding opportunities from University sources, such as the UM Research Board, as well as from outside granting agencies. If these attempts are unsuccessful, the assistant professor may apply to the Department for one semester of paid research leave. The following procedures for administering such leaves were approved on 16 April 2002, with revisions approved on 14 October 2008.
The applicant shall apply for funding of the leave to the English Department Chair and the UM Research Board and the applicant is encouraged to also apply to an outside granting agency. The applicant must write directly to the Chair of the English Department requesting the Assistant Professor Leave at least one month before the other grant application is submitted* and indicate how the Assistant Professor Leave would directly benefit her/his progress toward tenure and promotion. The request should be accompanied by a draft of the application for funding from other sources. In preparing their applications for funding assistant professors are encouraged to seek the advice of senior colleagues. [*Normally, the deadline for submitting materials to the Chair will be 1 September in the applicant's second year.]
The English Department Assistant Professor Leave shall be granted to an assistant professor ONLY when other grant applications are not successful and ONLY if the Chair and a majority of the Personnel Committee agree that the submitted research proposal is worthy of support.
Assistant Professors who accept the English Department Assistant Professor Leave shall provide for the Chair, in writing, an agreement to teach a full load of courses during the two semesters subsequent to the departmentally funded Assistant Professor Leave.
To ensure that all courses are properly staffed, the Chair of the English Department reserves the right to determine the semester during which the applicant can take the Assistant Professor Leave. In rare circumstances, curricular needs may even necessitate the Chair suggesting the leave be taken during the fourth year, rather than the third.
No departmentally funded Assistant Professor Leave may be taken prior to the third year. The maximum amount of research leave allowed during any five-year period, including the probationary period, is four semesters: this includes leaves that are funded by the Research Council, the Research Board, and most outside agencies (since most outside funding entails some supplementary funding from the department), but not unpaid leave. However, assistant professors who intend to take more than one full year of leave (two semesters) during the probationary period should consult with the Chair and their departmental mentors regarding the impact this decision is likely to have on their prospects for promotion and tenure.
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