Family and Medical Leave
The Family and Medical Leave (FML) Policy for Faculty provides full pay for full-time and intermittent leaves for a period of up to 12 weeks or its equivalent during any 12-month period. The leave is available to a faculty member who gives birth to a child and/or serves as the primary care giver of the child within twelve months of the child's birth or adoption. In addition to submitting the Human Resources FML Request Form and other required certification to Human Resources, the faculty member should submit the Provost's Office FML Accommodation Form to his or her Department Chair, who will forward the form to the College Dean. The purpose of the Accommodation Form is to assist in academic planning. The Provost's Office provides $7,500 to the department for each FML leave to help defray the cost of adjunct salaries for course replacement. For more information, please see FMLA Policy.
Full Time Leave
The full-time FML for parenthood normally coincides with an academic semester. The faculty member fulfills the responsibilities of the remaining three weeks with research, scholarship, advising, committee service, or curricular development.
Intermittent Leave (Modified Duties)
A faculty member may take the FML on an intermittent basis. This arrangement releases the faculty member from teaching and service responsibilities during one semester, but allows the faculty member to remain research active and to supervise graduate students on campus several days per week. The faculty member should consult with the Department Chair and, if more information is needed, the Deputy Provost for Faculty Affairs.
Tenure-Clock Extension for Parenthood
An untenured faculty member (assistant, associate, or full professor) who becomes the parent of a child by birth or adoption will automatically receive a one-year extension of his/her appointment by the Provost. The faculty member's service will be extended by one year for each child, by birth or adoption, with a limit of two one-year extensions of the probationary period. This provision is implemented flexibly so that a faculty member may accept the extension at any time before his or her tenure package is sent to external evaluators for review.
This provision will also apply to an untenured faculty member who, at the start of his or her tenure-track position, has a child or children under six years old; in this case, the first appointment may be extended by no more than one year. If the newly hired faculty member has more than one child under age six years when hired, the second extension may be taken during the second or third appointment.
The faculty member also has the option to refuse the extension(s). Tenure candidates who receive extensions will be evaluated with the same academic standards as candidates who do not receive extensions. The maximum length of the probationary period with all extensions is eight years. Refer to the Rules and Procedures of the Faculty section 2 for detailed information or contact the Deputy Provost for Faculty Affairs.
Lehigh Sloan Research Grants
Pre-tenure faculty who take an FML leave for parenthood or care of a family member are eligible for a Lehigh Sloan research grant. Please see Research Grants for more information.
Child Care
Bright Horizons at Lehigh serves Lehigh University faculty, staff and students. The center is located on Lehigh University's Goodman Campus: 5 Duh Drive Bethlehem, PA 18015.