Developmental Leave

Proposals for faculty developmental leave in the 2025-2026 academic year are invited for submission to the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs on or before December 2, 2024.

UND Guidelines for Developmental Leave

State Board of Higher Education Policy 701.2 allows for “[d]evelopmental leave for retraining or professional development.”

A faculty member is awarded developmental leave on the merits of a specific proposal for professional development. The award is an investment by the University with the expectation that the leave will enhance the faculty member’s ability to contribute to the objectives of the University and its mission to serve the state of North Dakota as well as the individual faculty member’s professional development plan.

Developmental leave is designed to give faculty the time and flexibility to achieve the goals and outcomes outlined in their developmental leave proposal; therefore, faculty on developmental leave shall not engage in any teaching, advising, service or research assignments (outside of those outlined in the approved developmental leave proposal) unless specifically approved by the department chair and dean.

Eligibility to Apply for Developmental Leave

• At least six years of full-time continuous service has passed since hiring or since the last developmental leave;
• Intent to return to the University for a period of further service equal to or greater than the length of the proposed leave;
• At the time of application, the faculty member received ratings of meets expectations or higher in all areas in the past three annual evaluation cycles.

Considerations for Approval

• Proposals should address how the activities conducted during the developmental leave benefit the individual faculty member, students, department, college/unit, and help UND achieve its mission to serve the state of North Dakota.
• A strong developmental leave proposal should identify concrete scholarly and creative outcomes such as publications, curriculum development, software, exhibitions, etc., and address how these outcomes relate to UND’s mission as a state-funded, public university. Clear outcomes and deliverables are key components of a successful developmental leave proposal.
• Proposals should also indicate how, if the leave is approved, the individual’s teaching and administrative responsibilities will be covered while on leave. Faculty should work with their department chair and/or dean to determine how their teaching and responsibilities would be covered.

Developmental leave requests should not be denied for administrative convenience; however, they may be delayed or restructured for up to one year in order to relieve constraints upon department or unit budgets or to ensure that key courses remain available to students. The granting of a developmental leave should not hinder the university from meeting its obligations or prevent a department from providing necessary educational opportunities to students.

Length of Leave

Developmental leave may be granted for one or two semesters. A leave of more than one semester is normally taken in consecutive (fall, spring) terms.

Stipend

• Developmental leave may not exceed 12 months. For developmental leave that is more than 6 months in duration, the institutionally funded base stipend for the leave period may be up to, but not in excess of, 75% of the salary scheduled; developmental leave up to 6 months or less may provide an institutionally funded base stipend up to, but not in excess of, 100% of the salary scheduled.
• Faculty members are encouraged to seek funding from non-university sources to cover the portion of salary not provided under this leave. An institutionally funded developmental leave stipend may be supplemented with non-appropriated funds which may bring the total stipend up to an amount equal to but not normally to exceed the salary scheduled for the leave period.
  • A faculty member on developmental leave may utilize grant funding to cover costs for study, research, or travel from: any institution of higher education, a charitable entity; or any federal, state, or local governmental agency.
  • A faculty member on developmental leave may not accept employment from any other person, institution, corporation, or government, unless the University determines that it would be in the best public interest to do so and expressly approves the employment. Any such additional compensation must be explained on the proposal form and may not unduly interfere with the objective of the leave or create a conflict of interest or commitment with the University.
  • If additional funds become available or if changes occur to the information provided in the proposal, then the faculty member must submit this updated information to their Department Chair, Dean, and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
• Travel expenses, relocation expenses, and/or educational costs incurred during the leave shall not be considered as part of the base stipend and will normally be the responsibility of the faculty member and/or department.

Guidelines for Proposals

• Discuss planned leave with department chair and/or dean.
• Prepare a proposal (2-5 pages) that describes the benefit of the proposed outcomes and activities to your career in departmental, university, disciplinary and other appropriate contexts.
• The proposal should include and address the following 6 sections:
  1. Project and Activities:
     • Nature and scope of Developmental Leave project.
     • Timeline and description of activities.
     • Specific outcomes anticipated such as development of additional expertise, publications, curriculum development, etc.
     • If applicable, list any teaching, advising, research or service duties expected to be maintained during the developmental leave period.
  2. Project’s Relationship to Scholarly and/or Creative Agenda and Professional Development Goals:
     • Relationship between proposed developmental leave project and previous and ongoing scholarly and/or creative activity.
     • If relevant, how developmental leave will help faculty member successfully apply for promotion in the future.
  3. Project’s Benefits:
     • Benefits of the proposed developmental leave project to you, your department/program, and UND’s mission as a state-funded, public university.
  4. Project Resources and Preparation:
     • If relevant, advanced preparation made in order to secure resources/facilities, fellowships, etc.
     • If your project includes travel, indicate the funding source for the travel.
  5. Resource Contingency Plan:
     • Alternative means to complete proposed developmental leave activity if necessary external resources/facilities are not available. For example, if there is a pending fellowship or grant application, how will goals of the leave be adapted or accomplished if the application is not granted?
  6. Presentation and Publication:
     • Plans for sharing the results and benefits of your leave on and off campus.

Submitting your Proposal

• Complete the Developmental leave proposal cover sheet
• Save the following documents as one PDF in this order:
  • Developmental leave cover proposal cover sheet;
  • Proposal;
  • Current curriculum vitae
• Route the above packet as one PDF to:
  • Department chair
  • Dean  (The Dean’s approval should confirm the stipend amount and any UND-related activities that will be maintained if the Developmental Leave proposal is approval.)
  • Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and President signatures not needed at this point
• Send packet to Faculty Affairs, taylor.hansonwald@UND.edu 

Final Step for Approved Proposals

• If approved, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and the President will sign the previously submitted proposal cover sheet. 
• The Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will route a final developmental leave agreement through DocuSign to all parties. 

Return to Employment at UND After Completion of Developmental Leave

• As a condition of developmental leave, faculty agree to return to UND upon completion of the leave for a period of time at least equal to the leave time or refund the institution’s stipend payments.
• If a faculty member accepts other employment during developmental leave, then, unless such employment is approved as part of the developmental leave program, the University’s obligation under the developmental leave agreement is terminated and the employee’s resignation becomes effective immediately upon such employment during the development leave.
• Reimbursement of the stipend payments made during the period of developmental leave prior to the date of employee’s resignation shall be made within a reasonable time and in no event later than 60 days after written notice is given to the University of intent to not return for the specified period of leave.

Delays or Changes After Developmental Leave Approval

If a candidate withdraws their application after it has been approved, the approval will not be extended to the next application cycle.  The candidate will be required to update and resubmit their developmental leave proposal.

Required Report

Upon the faculty member’s return from developmental leave, the faculty member is required to submit a report on their study and travel during the leave period that will be reviewed by the same approval levels as the initial developmental leave proposal. The report will address the following:

• Brief description of activities and outcomes. Specifically, what did you plan to have accomplished by the end of the developmental leave? Did you accomplish these outcomes?
• In what way(s), if any, did your developmental leave goals and outcomes change over time? If they changed, please explain the reasons.
• List all scholarly accomplishments during your developmental leave including: completed or draft versions of book, book chapters, edited books, special issues of journals, peer-reviewed articles, grant proposals, conference papers, presentations, exhibitions, invited lecture or workshops, research activities such as data collection, courses developed or revised, public engagement activities, or works in progress.
• Describe in what ways you feel the developmental leave activities/accomplishments have contributed to your professional development goals and your contributions to your discipline, department, and the University’s mission to serve the state of North Dakota.
• Plans for sharing the results and benefits of your leave on and off campus.

Additional Reference

State Board of Higher Education Policy 701.2

If you have questions about developmental leave, please contact:

Forms and Resources

DEVELOPMENTAL LEAVE PROPOSAL COVER SHEET

Developmental Leave Agreement Sample