The information and links here have been gathered for the Faculty Mentoring page as a convenience; statements here about where to find information are intended as a guide to primary documents, not as independent statements of university policy.
The Marquette links that follow are presented in three sections because faculty members who want to take a family leave must make decisions and notifications in the following three distinct categories:
- Paid and Unpaid Leave: Human Resources handles arrangements for the leave itself, when it begins and ends, how much of it will be paid, and so forth.
- Alternative Duties: If paid leave will end during a semester, at a time when returning to teaching is not feasible, you need to make arrangements for alternative duties with your department head and dean. See Plan 2 under Family Leave (Faculty).
- Extending the Time Period for Conferral of Tenure: Guidance for one-year extension of the time period for conferral of tenure for a faculty member who becomes the parent of a child (either by birth or adoption) can be obtained from University Policy and Procedures (UPP-4-03 /Leaves of Absences).
These categories define three separate processes that must be arranged separately. None automatically follows from the other.
Paid and Unpaid Leave
In a nutshell, federal and state law mandate “job protection entitlement”—i.e., you can come back to your job—for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. For faculty, only days that fall between the official academic year contract dates (August through May) count toward leave. Thus, a 12-week maternity leave that begins with a baby born in April may extend into the fall. Women must begin their medical leave at the time of the child's birth or adoption (unless otherwise arranged with a dean); men may begin their leave at any time within the first 12 months of the baby's birth or adoption. Within these 12 weeks, individuals must work out with Human Resources their eligibility for paid leave and benefits. If the mother and father both work at the university, they are entitled to 12 weeks combined.
Marquette’s policies regarding Leaves of Absence, effective 7/27/07, are available on the Web in the University Policies and Procedures (UPP) manual, section 4-03.
The specifics about Parental Leave for faculty begin toward the bottom of the second page of the UPP 4-03 document, Section I.B, Parental Leave (Faculty), where the following three options are discussed:
- Take the paid leave to which you are entitled and return to regular faculty duties, including teaching.
- If the paid leave ends at a time when it would be disruptive for you to return to teaching, you may assume “alternative duties” (“Plan 2,” top of p. 3). These are arranged through and with the approval of your dean and are fully compensated.
- Be relieved of all duties for the semester, receiving compensation for as much of it as the Marquette medical leave policy allows (given your length of service).
Additional Resources
Contact Person in Human Resources:
- Emily Chardac, Benefits Specialist, Human Resources
Straz Tower, Room 185;
Phone: (414) 288-7496
Alternative Duties
The University Policy and Procedures manual gives deans authority for establishing guidelines for alternative duties and for making individualized arrangements. A general description of alternative duties is laid out in the July 27, 2007 University Policy and Procedures document "UPP 4-03." Look at pages 2-3 of this PDF document. (Pages are not numbered on the document itself.) Specific guidelines are determined by dean and are typically a function of departmental and college needs.
See Plan 2 under the Family Leave section of the University Policies and Procedures manual.
Important point: Regardless of the extent to which the initial leave is fully or partially compensated, full compensation resumes when the alternative duties begin.
Alternative Duties: Exemplary Practices
The following people have agreed to serve as resources regarding their experience with developing plans for Alternative Duties:
Dr. Belen Castenada, Chair, Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, 2000-present
Dr. Tim W. Machan, Professor, Department of English
Dr. Rebecca Nowacek, Assistant Professor, English
To volunteer or recommend someone for this list of Exemplary Practices consultants, please contact the Program Director.
Stopping the Tenure Clock, that is, Extending the Time Period for Conferral of Tenure
On the third page of the UPP 4-03 document, the last three paragraphs of Section I.B, Parental Leave (Faculty), read as follows:
Upon completing and submitting to the Office of the Provost the Parental Extension Form, a tenure track faculty member who becomes the parent of a child (either by birth or adoption), shall be eligible for an automatic one-year extension of the time period for conferral of tenure. This automatic extension, however, may be waived if the faculty member so desires and so indicates by selecting the appropriate block on the Parental Extension form.
No more than two extension requests will be granted, however, the second extension request (for the birth or adoption of a subsequent child) must be submitted in writing to the Office of the Provost. Such request will not be automatically granted but rather is subject to approval of the Provost.
The Parental Extension Form for the automatic extension of the time period for conferral of tenure may be downloaded from the Provost web page and must be filed with the Office of the Provost no later than the beginning of the academic year following the date of the birth/adoption. No request may be made after June 15 preceding the time-bound year.
SUGGESTED STRATEGIES FOR BOTH MENTORS AND MENTEES
Guidelines and tips to download 
~Second-year Assistant Professor
