In order to provide relief to Tenured/Tenure-Track and Full Time Continuing Contract Faculty members faced with the additional demands of being the primary care-giver to a newborn child, newly adopted child, new foster care or guardianship placement, or newly-established legal custodial care, New York University's workload relief policy grants one (1) semester of workload relief from classroom teaching and administrative committee work or two (2) semesters of half relief from such duties based on the individual's normal yearly workload at full salary. Workload relief is not considered a leave as faculty members are expected to make themselves available to the extent reasonable and practicable for their customary responsibilities of research, student consultation and advising.
To qualify for workload relief, the faculty member must be the parent primarily responsible for the care of a newborn child, newly adopted child, new foster care or guardianship placement, or newly-established legal custodial care. In all circumstances, only one (1) parent may be considered primarily responsible for the care of the child. If both parents could be eligible under this policy because they are both Tenured/Tenure-Track and/or Full Time Continuing Contract Faculty, each such eligible faculty member could qualify sequentially for a half semester if the designation of primary responsible parent changed, but the total amount of workload relief would not increase.
Normally the first semester of workload relief will be the semester in which the temporary disability leave for childbirth is completed (please refer to Illness/Disability, Personal and Maternity Leave for details; see also Faculty Handbook, p. 26); the semester in which the adoption, foster care or guardianship placement takes place; or the semester in which the birth takes place. If the primary caregiver taking workload relief is the non-birth parent, only the latter two (2) situations are relevant. If these events occur between semesters when classes are not in session, the first semester of workload relief will typically be the following semester.
In the case of childbirth, at least five (5) months before the start of the proposed first semester of workload relief, a faculty member should apply for Workload Relief via OASIS, certifying that she/he is the primary caregiver and stating her/his intentions to take one (1) full semester or two (2) half semesters of relief. Details of workload relief arrangements must be decided in consultation with the Department Chair; all requests are subject to approval by the respective Divisional Dean and the Provost’s Office of Academic Appointments. In the case of adoption, foster care or guardianship, the faculty member should alert the Department Chair as early as possible.
Tenure clock stoppage will be granted for up to two semesters or one academic year per qualifying event, for a cumulative maximum of two academic years or four semesters, during the probationary period to a faculty member who is the primary caregiver of a child, whether or not the faculty member avails herself or himself of workload relief (see Faculty Handbook, p. 48). The one (1) full semester or two half semesters of relief will count as credit toward a faculty member's sabbatical leave. Note: if no tenure clock stoppage is requested, please clearly indicate as much on the Workload Relief Form. The tenure clock will stop by default for the period of workload relief unless otherwise noted. Additional details are available via Tenure Clock Stoppage for Personal Reasons.
The faculty member's School shall remain financially responsible for her/his full salary during the workload relief period. Funding support for hiring appropriate adjunct replacements for Workload Relief of classroom teaching is provided by a University workload relief fund.
This policy is not intended to replace leave available to faculty members who are eligible for leave for the birth of a child, an adoption, or foster care placement under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 ("FMLA"). FMLA shall run concurrently with workload relief as either intermittent or reduced workload leave. An FMLA certification must be completed and submitted the Provost’s Office of Academic Appointments (peter.gonzalez@nyu.edu) to determine FMLA eligibility. Eligible faculty members may still elect to take unpaid FMLA leave if they wish to provide no service while providing care for their newborn child, newly adopted child, or foster care or guardianship placement.