Senate Faculty Affairs Committee
Hofstra University
The Faculty Affairs Committee encourages all eligible full-time faculty members to apply for a Special Scholarly Leave, a Special Teaching Leave, or both. According to Faculty Policy Series #22, "members of the instructional staff with five years of continuous full-time service at Hofstra University shall be eligible. They become eligible for subsequent Special Leaves five years from the start of the previous leave." By contract, the total number of leaves (Scholarly and Teaching) allowed each year shall be 13.5% of the number of full-time faculty in the bargaining unit who have completed five years of service at the commencement of the fall semester in which the leaves are granted. Leaves are distributed proportionally throughout the various academic units.
Applicants for a Special Scholarly Leave or a Special Teaching Leave submit their proposals to their chairs, whose recommendations are forwarded to the appropriate deans. The Faculty Affairs Committee reads all applications and recommendations and submits its recommendation for the dispersal of all scholarly and teaching leaves to the Provost.
Eligibility. Full-time faculty of any rank may apply in their fifth year of continuous service for their first proposed leave. Faculty seeking a subsequent leave may apply no sooner than the fourth academic year after their last leave for a proposed leave in the following year. If your last leave was in 2020-21, you are eligible to apply in 2024-25 for a leave to be taken in 2025-26.
The Application. You may submit separate and distinct proposals for both Scholarly and Teaching leaves; however, applicants can be awarded only one leave. Your application should consist of a Special Leave Application Cover Sheet, the proposal itself, and your vita.
- Special Leave Application Cover Sheet – this is a fillable PDF form that should be saved to your computer with your name and date once you have completed all the sections.
- The focus of your application should be a project proposal of about 4-5 single-spaced pages. It should be a concise and clearly written explanation intelligible to colleagues, most of whom are likely to be non-specialists in your field. Indicate the importance of your project, its possible impact on your field of study, how far along you are in the project, and what you hope to accomplish during your proposed leave. Applicants proposing collaborative projects should provide details of their particular involvement.
- Your current vita should include a publication history and a summary of service at the University. Special Teaching Leave applicants should include evidence of a commitment to good teaching (CTRs, peer evaluations, etc.).
Criteria. In compliance with FPS #22, the Committee ranks proposals according to the significance of the proposed project as a contribution to knowledge, curricular developments, and the reputation of the University. It also considers the time since your last special leave; the degree to which the goals of previous special leaves were met; the likelihood of significant progress in or completion of the project as a result of the special leave; the applicant's service to the University; and (in the case of Special Teaching Leaves) evidence of good teaching.
Special Leaves Timetable
Special Leaves, Special Teaching Leaves, Special Leaves Law School,
Administrative Special Leaves
2025-2026 AWARDS TIMETABLE
| Due Date | |
|---|---|
| October 16, 2024 | Special Leaves (including Law School) + Special Teaching Leaves Proposalsdue from faculty members to their Department Chairs |
| October 30, 2024 | Special Leaves + Special Teaching Leaves Recommendations due from Department Chairs to their Dean |
| November 15, 2024 | Special Leaves + Special Teaching Leaves Recommendations from Deans are due to the Faculty Affairs Committee at proleaves@hofstra.edu |
| November 15, 2024 | Administrative Special Leaves Proposals from the Department Chairs due to their Academic Dean |
| January 8, 2025 | Special Leaves, Special Teaching Leaves Recommendations from the Faculty Affairs Committee due to the Provost’s Office at provostfpa@hofstra.edu |
| January 8, 2025 | Administrative Special Leaves Recommendation from the Academic Dean to the Provost |
| February 5, 2025 | Special Leaves, Special Teaching Leaves, Administrative Special Leaves Recommendations due from the Provost to the President |
| February 27, 2025 | Special Leaves, Special Teaching Leaves, Administrative Special Leaves Announcement of Recipients to the Deans |
Criteria for Special Teaching Leaves
Purpose: The Special Teaching Leave will provide faculty members time away from regular responsibilities to develop ideas and methods related, in any way, to the enhancement of teaching excellence. Recognizing the tremendous breadth of insight, innovation, and research that may be stimulated during a Teaching Leave, there is no attempt to limit application to any particular set of topics or fields. Faculty may, for example, use the time to investigate larger pedagogical theories, devise instructional methods, or study problems and crises in education.
Eligibility: Members of the instructional staff with five years of continuous full-time service at Hofstra University shall be eligible (see FPS #22).
Procedures: The application for a Special Teaching Leave consists of two parts: (a) a proposal, and (b) supporting materials. Both parts shall be submitted through the applicant's department chair in accordance with the timetable distributed by the Provost’s Office.
Proposal: Applicants should submit a detailed project proposal that should include (a) objectives and goals, (b) methodology, (c) time frame, (d) anticipated outcomes, (e) previous or current related work, and (f) assessment of the project’s importance. Since the committee that reviews the proposals (i.e., Faculty Affairs Committee of the Senate) consists of faculty from diverse constituencies, applicants are urged to make their proposals as explicit as possible. In addition, if they are proposing a joint project, applicants need to specify their particular involvement in the project.
Supporting Materials should include a curriculum vita, course and teacher evaluations, peer evaluations, and other evidence demonstrating commitment to good teaching.
Proposals will be judged on intrinsic and extrinsic criteria, including (a) quality of the proposal, (b) teaching relevance, (c) generalizability, (d) evidence of good teaching, (e) likelihood of completion, (f) whether any progress has already been made, (g) potential utilization and dissemination, and (h) length, amount, and quality of service at the University.
3-Credit Load Reduction Opportunities
Guidelines for 3-Credit Load Reduction
Senate Faculty Affairs Committee
6.19 Teaching Load Reduction to Promote Research and Scholarship. To encourage faculty research and scholarship, the University will award a minimum of 30, three (3)-credit load reductions to eligible faculty in each of the academic years commencing on September 1, 2023, September 1, 2024, and September 1, 2025, subject to the following terms and conditions:
- All full-time tenured faculty who have not filed an irrevocable agreement to terminate employment shall be eligible to apply for the load reduction. Although eligible faculty may apply in multiple years, no faculty member may receive the load reduction under this Article more than once during each of the three (3)-year periods. In order to demonstrate eligibility to apply for a reduced load under this Article, a faculty member who has previously received a grant of a reduced load or stipend pursuant to the terms of Article 6.18 or 6.19 of the prior Agreements or a special leave pursuant to Article 6.17 must submit at the time of the application a copy of the completed work or works as appropriate.
- A proposal that is not approved may be resubmitted in a subsequent year but is required to be reevaluated and ranked anew. The application process for a reduced leave under this Article shall follow the procedures in FPS 22, C and D, which apply to special leaves.
- Eligible faculty members seeking a reduced load must present a proposal for a scholarly publication or project, consistent with department guidelines based upon the particular discipline, including peer review where appropriate for such disciplines. In cases where the nature of the project exceeds the extent of a project that can be completed during a three (3)-credit load reduction, such as an extensive empirical project or a book, the proposal should describe with particularity the portion of the work to be completed during the load reduction and the appropriate benchmarks to measure such completion. Projects already completed at the time of application (manuscripts ready for submission/already submitted/already published and/or artistic works ready for performance, exhibition, etc.) will not be eligible for load reduction.
- The faculty member is responsible for the completion of the work specified in the approved proposal.
- Faculty awarded a reduced load hereunder cannot teach overload in either semester of the academic year that they are on reduced load.
- Faculty will also not be eligible for a load reduction hereunder in the same academic year as the faculty member has been awarded a special leave.
- Any publication or public dissemination of the work accomplished must include a Hofstra affiliation and/or an acknowledgment to the effect that the research was in part supported by Hofstra University.
3-Credit Load Reduction
2025-2026 AWARDS TIMETABLE
| Due Date | |
|---|---|
| October 16, 2024 | 3-Credit Load Reduction due from faculty members to their Department Chairs |
| October 30, 2024 | 3-Credit Load Reduction Recommendations due from Department Chairs to their Dean |
| November 15, 2024 | 3-Credit Load Reduction Recommendations from Deans are due to the Faculty Affairs Committee at proleaves@hofstra.edu |
| January 8, 2025 | 3-Credit Load Reduction Recommendations from the Faculty Affairs Committee due to the Provost’s Office at provostfpa@hofstra.edu |
| February 5, 2025 | 3-Credit Load Reduction Recommendations due from the Provost to the President |
| February 27, 2025 | 3-Credit Load Reduction Announcement of Recipients to the Deans |