CHSS is committed to providing resources to support faculty research, scholarship, creative activities and teaching. As outlined in Mason’s Faculty Handbook, tenured and term instructional faculty who meet eligibility criteria as outlined in the call for applications may apply for Faculty Study Leaves.
If you are interested in pursuing personal professional development and supporting the mission of your department or program during the 2024-2025 Academic Year, please submit your application for faculty study leave by email to the college by Friday, October 13, 2023, by 5:00 p.m. Information about both faculty study leave programs, eligibility criteria, application materials and how to submit applications is outlined below.
Study Leaves for Tenured Instructional Faculty, funded by the Provost, are intended to provide paid temporary leave for the support of advancing scholarly research, teaching, and/or creative activity, including the development of innovative teaching approaches and methods. Applications submitted in October 2023 are for Faculty Study Leaves for Academic Year 2024-2025, which may be taken for one semester at full pay or two semesters at half pay, with approval by the department chair and Dean.
To ensure eligibility, potential applicants should review the complete application guidelines, submission information and eligibility criteria here. In brief, eligibility criteria require (6) years of completed service at the time of application, which means faculty must have fulfilled this criterion by the fall 2017 semester. Faculty who were awarded previous tenured instructional faculty study leaves may only receive a leave every seven years. This means that the latest faculty study leave would have been awarded for the 2017-2018 academic year or earlier. Pre-tenure faculty study leaves are not included in the calculation of previous faculty study leaves. Any time spent on leave of absence, leave without pay, or time worked at another agency or institution may count towards the six (6) years, but only if authorized by the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Questions regarding the tenured instructional faculty study leave program should be directed to Michele Schwietz, the college's Associate Dean for Research. Applications for tenured instructional faculty study leave for the 2024-2025 academic year must be sent by email to the college (at chssadr@gmu.edu) by Friday, October 13, 2023.
Study Leaves for Term Instructional Faculty were established by Faculty Handbook revisions approved by the Board of Visitors in July 2021. The purpose of this leave program is to support professional development initiatives designed to advance scholarly research, teaching, and/or creative activity, including the development of innovative teaching approaches and methods. Please see the guidelines for information regarding study leave activities and eligibility criteria. A faculty member who receives study leave must agree to remain a full-time employee of the University for at least one academic year after the conclusion of the leave, submit a study leave report which describes the accomplishments made possible by the study leave, and serve as a reviewer of future applications for the college.
Term faculty interested in applying for faculty study leave for 2024-2025 and other funding should refer to complete materials on the Term Faculty Study Leave page and may also review the college's research and teaching resources web pages for information about opportunities. Questions regarding the term faculty study leave program should be directed to Mohammad Salama, the college’s Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. Applications for term faculty study leave for 2024-2025 academic year must be sent to the college (at facchss@gmu.edu) by Friday, October 13, 2023.
September 27, 2023