III. E. PART-TIME LEAVES AND APPOINTMENTS

Faculty Handbook

(Source: Minutes of the Faculty, November 25, 1996; amended by the Faculty July 16, 2023)

Reed College is committed to excellence in undergraduate education. Although in general faculty on full-time appointments best achieves this, there are circumstances in which part-time appointments are necessary or appropriate. When asked to authorize part time appointments, CAPP will consult with affected departments and programs so as to minimize disruption to students, curriculum, and colleagues, and to avoid situations that have the potential of exploiting the appointee. A statement must accompany the request for leave from the department responding to the request and stating how the required coursework and advising will be covered. With this in mind, CAPP has adopted the following guidelines:

Part-Time Leave for Regular Faculty.¹ Note that full-time leave for one semester or more is covered by other College documents, and is not at issue here. Requests for part-time leave will be considered under the following circumstances:
1. Leave consistent with the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Oregon Family Leave Act, and/or Paid Leave Oregon
  Faculty members granted part-time leave under categories 1-3 are eligible under some circumstances for remuneration; further details are available from the Dean of the Faculty and Human Resources.
  1. Medical. A faculty member experiencing temporary or chronic medical problems may apply for part-time status. Consistent with the requirements of doctor/patient confidentiality, the faculty member must assure CAPP both that the condition is serious enough to warrant this remedy and that it is not so debilitating as to compromise performance at the reduced level. Such leaves will be granted for a fixed term only, but may be renewed, when appropriate, in the case of chronic illness.
  2. Pregnancy. Pregnant faculty members may request part-time status for one semester or in some cases a full year, in conjunction with their legally-required leave entitlements following the birth of a child.
  3. Parental. Faculty members with young children may request part-time leave for purposes of child care. Such leaves will be granted for a fixed term, but may be renewed when appropriate.
  4. Family. Faculty with elderly parents or other family members—including spouse-equivalents—requiring special care may request part-time status and/or leaves of absence under OFLA, FMLA, and Paid Leave Oregon (effective September 3, 2023). Such leaves will be granted for a fixed term only (typically one semester), but may be renewed when appropriate.
2. Pre-Retirement Leave
  In the years immediately preceding a scheduled retirement, a faculty member may request part-time status. This is particularly appropriate in cases where it permits the early appointment of a replacement, affording a period of overlap with maximum curricular continuity.
3. Professional Leave
  Faculty members may request part-time leave for research or other professional activities. Such leave may be requested for one or both semesters in an academic year. The faculty member requesting part-time professional leave must demonstrate that the project is of clear professional benefit to the individual and to the College. The leave must be of fixed duration; salary and benefits will be subject to negotiation with the Dean. Part-time leaves for administrative service to the College will be considered under the same conditions as Professional leaves.
Part-time Faculty Appointments
1. Temporary Part-Time Faculty.
  Requests for special temporary faculty appointments will be considered under the following circumstances (note that items 1 through 3 fall outside the affected department's normal FTE allotment, whereas 4 and 5 come within that allotment):
  1. Unanticipated Overenrollments. Departments are expected to plan ahead, and to make internal staffing adjustments in the face of short term overenrollments. Part-time appointments for this purpose are strongly discouraged, and will be considered only when no other reasonable remedy such as class capping, replication, or temporary overloads is available. In particular, departments seeking such relief must demonstrate that no other department member is in a position to alleviate the problem. Such emergency appointments will be of limited duration, and never for more than one academic year. Chronic over-enrollments will not be covered by temporary part-time appointments; for these, long-term staffing solutions are more desirable.
  2. Post-Retirement. The Faculty Constitution (Article IV, Section 8) provides that ``Upon recommendation of the President, the Board may appoint a retired Faculty member for a limited period to perform limited duties, normally not full time, on special salary arrangements." (Further specifications appear in the Rules of Procedure, Section E, items 2 and 3, and in footnote 2 of this document.)
  3. Extraordinary Opportunity. In rare circumstances an extraordinary opportunity may arise to enrich the College's academic program by a special part-time appointment, or by authorizing an individual who is not a member of the regular faculty to teach a course. Both CAPP and CAT must approve any such arrangement.
  4. Staffing Emergency. In the case of death, resignation, or unanticipated leave, where a normal search and regular replacement is impossible, a temporary part-time appointment to fill the vacancy may be considered. Such emergency appointments will be of limited duration, and never for more than one academic year.
2. Long-Term Fractional Appointments. In rare cases, because of unusual disciplinary requirements or enrollment patterns that do not justify a full-time appointment, a department's regular FTE allotment may include long-term fractional appointments. Such cases must be approved by CAPP, the Dean of the Faculty, and the President.

NOTES:

¹ The effect of part-time status on tenure is governed by Section B-7 of the Rules of Procedure: "Normally, academic tenure will apply only to full-time academic members of the Faculty, but it may occasionally be desirable to accord it to personnel having additional employment outside the College. A Faculty member having academic tenure who reduces his or her employment at the College to a continuing part-time basis shall not necessarily lose his or her status of academic tenure as a result. All special cases involving part-time employment shall be accepted or rejected on their individual merits."

² Per-course compensation for "emeritus faculty and faculty hired to fill sudden vacancies because of medical or parental leaves" was established by CAPP in June of 1993 (pursuant to a recommendation from the CAPP Budget Advisory Subcommittee dated 6/9/93) at "1/9 the starting salary for a new assistant professor"-or, more generally, at 1/9 the salary for a full-time faculty member at the appropriate rank. (For emeriti this means 1/9 the regular salary at the rank held at the time of retirement.) Temporary part-time faculty receive no extra compensation for thesis advising. These policies govern normal compensation under items 1-4, but leave to the Dean of the Faculty some discretion in handling special cases.

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