Each faculty member is expected to meet regularly assigned classes, scheduled examinations, posted office hours and other assigned duties and commitments. However, an occasional brief absence may be necessary, and each faculty member will make suitable arrangements in the event of such absence.
Authorized absence from duty may include but are not limited to:
Absence from duty must be approved by the department head or immediate supervisor as appropriate. Unapproved any absences from duty may be considered unauthorized.
Requests for absence from duty in emergency situations must be made as soon as possible so the department head or dean can assure that the faculty member's responsibilities will be handled in an appropriate manner. Faculty should make every effort to communicate attendance and work expectations as appropriate and to make suitable arrangements available to students via campus email or the course D2L shell.
Similarly, faculty who need to miss or adjust office hours should post adjusted office hours and notify students of the adjustment with suitable advanced notice.
For work-related travel, visit the Faculty Travel section of this handbook and/or the University Travel Office webpage.
The university promotes the development of its faculty through the implementation of a faculty development leave program. The program is designed to assist faculty members to develop and pursue worthy academic study, research, writing, field observation or other suitable purposes that require significant time and the absence of distractions. Faculty members (a) whose full-time duties are specified as primarily teaching and/or research (not administrative), and (b) have served as members of the East Texas A&M University faculty for a minimum of two consecutive, full-time academic years, are eligible to be considered for faculty development leave.
Additional information is available on the Faculty Development Internal Resources webpage and in Campus Procedure 12.99.01.R0.01.
The university president or his or her delegate approves requests for leaves of absence without pay. Except for disciplinary suspensions, active military duty, and leave covered by workers’ compensation benefits, a faculty member must exhaust accumulated paid sick leave and sick leave pool time before a leave of absence without pay will be granted. Such leaves may be designated as unpaid parental leave or unpaid family and medical leave if the faculty member meets eligibility requirements. Except for military training and duty, unpaid leaves of absence will be limited to 12 months in duration. The president may grant exceptions to the above limitations in certain circumstances (See System Policy 31.03.04 for more information).
A faculty or staff member may be granted a leave of absence without pay for foreign service with the United Nations, the United States Government, international development foundations or other recognized international technical assistance agencies. Such a leave of absence may be granted for up to one year, and the employee may request extensions on a year-to-year basis.
An employee in a budgeted position appointed for 50 percent or more time for a period of at least four and one-half months, excluding an employee in a position for which student status is a requirement for employment, is entitled to leaves of absence with pay. Approved leaves as described in System Regulation 31.3.03 are not charged against an employee’s vacation, sick leave or compensatory time accruals, but a record of any leave taken as other paid leave is required.
Visit System Regulation 31.03.03 for a full list of approval leaves with pay.
Faculty members at East Texas A&M are covered under Titles I and IV of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) if they meet the requirements for eligibility (length of time employed and number of hours employed during the period immediately preceding the beginning of the leave). An eligible faculty member may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a fiscal year for one or more specified family or medical emergencies. The faculty member is required to take all accumulated paid leave, including approved leave from the sick leave pool, as part of the 12 weeks. A faculty member who takes FMLA leave is entitled to return to the same position held when the leave commenced or to an equivalent position with equivalent benefits, pay, and other terms and working conditions of employment.
See A&M System Regulation 31.03.05 Family and Medical Leave
For more information, visit the FMLA Internal Resources page, or contact HR.Leave@tamuc.edu.
Faculty members who meet all system regulation requirements are eligible to sick leave with pay. A faculty member employed full time earns eight hours of sick leave for each month of employment, beginning on the first day of employment and ending on the last day of duty. Accumulation of sick leave is unlimited. Unused sick leave is carried forward on the first day of the next fiscal year.
Sick leave may be taken when sickness, injury, or pregnancy and confinement prevents the employee from performing the employee’s job or when the employee is needed to care for and assist a member of the employee's immediate family who has a sickness. An employee who is the legal guardian of a child by court appointment may use sick leave to care for the child. The employee must notify the employee’s supervisor or have the supervisor notified of that fact at the earliest possible time. The employee must notify the employee’s supervisor of the expected date of return, check in periodically as scheduled by the supervisor and notify the supervisor if the expected date of return changes.
Per System Policy 31.03.02 Sick Leave, requirements apply to all employees including faculty, whether working remotely or on-site, if the absence occurs during the normal work day for the employee, even if no classes are missed.
Sick Leave Pool
An employee is eligible to request and receive Sick Leave Pool hours if the employee suffers a catastrophic illness or injury for which the employee:
Faculty may also voluntarily contribute hours to the sick leave pool; they may designate their donation for use by a specific individual. A faculty member may transfer one day or more of his or her accrued sick leave to the pool. A retiring faculty member may designate the number of his or her accrued sick leave hours to be donated upon retirement. Some donations may be subjected to tax implications.
For more information refer to
Visit the Sick Leave Internal Resources webpage, or contact HR.leave@tamuc.edu
The federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) protects the job rights of individuals who voluntarily or involuntarily leave employment positions to undertake military service in the uniformed services and prohibits employer discrimination based on military service or obligation.
System Regulation 31.03.06 explains the specific circumstances in which an employee who undertakes military service is entitled to paid emergency leave, paid leave of absence, or unpaid military leave of absence; and describes benefits, and restoration and reemployment rights.
Faculty appointments can terminate for a variety of reasons. Whatever the situation, East Texas A&M University seeks to conclude the employment relationship in a way that fairly and appropriately recognizes the needs of both the faculty member and the university. Faculty are to encouraged to review the definitions as described in the related system and campus documents (below) and take appropriate action as necessary upon permanent separation from East Texas A&M University.
Retirement
Visit System Regulation 31.07.01 Retirement and Employment After Retirement, and contact HR.benefits@tamuc.edu for additional information.
Termination of Employment
The following campus and System documents contain information pertinent to permanent separations or terminations: