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Faculty Senate

Faculty Development Leave Information

Fall 2025 Application Cycle
for
Fall 2026 and/or Spring 2027 Faculty Development Leave

Important dates

  • By September 15 and prior to application, faculty must discuss FDL proposals with department chair/school director.
  • Applications must be submitted via the Faculty Requests portal, which will be active for faculty 8:00 am, August 15 through October 03 at 5:00 pm.
  • Chairs/Directors must review and route applications to the college dean via the Faculty Requests portal by October 10, at 5:00 pm
  • Deans must review and route applications to the Faculty Senate via the Faculty Requests portal by October 17, at 5:00 pm

Eligibility

  • Faculty must be tenured by the time leave begins. 
  • At the time the development leave period begins, first time applicants must have completed at least six years of full-time Texas State University service, at least two of which are consecutive.
  • At the time the development leave period begins, faculty with prior development leave(s) must have completed at least six years of university service since their last development leave.

Eligible faculty may apply for either a one-semester leave (Fall 2026 or Spring 2027) at full salary, or for one academic year (Fall 2026 and Spring 2027) at one-half of regular salary. An academic year is defined as the nine-month regular session with a fall and spring semester, as no leaves are authorized during summer sessions. Faculty may choose:

a. one semester at full pay, full benefits, and full-time assignment on FDL; or
b.  two semesters at 50 percent pay, 50 percent benefits, and full-time assignment on FDL.

Faculty with prior development leave(s) may apply for: Fall 2026 leave, Spring 2027 leave, or the 2026-2027 academic year if the last development leave was taken during academic year 2020-2021 or earlier.

Application Process and Guidance

  • ​Applications must be submitted via the Faculty Requests portal between August 15 and October 3, 5:00 pm. Once closed, the portal will not accept applications.
  • Applicants are encouraged to meet with their respective senator(s) prior to October 18 to assure that their senator fully understands the proposed project, and to provide any needed clarification. List of Faculty Senators/Faculty Advisory Group members.
  • Applicants are encouraged to update their online faculty profile, which may be referenced during evaluation of applicant’s expertise and feasibility of the proposed project. 
  • Applications should be written in plain language appropriate for a broad university faculty audience and avoid technical jargon where possible
  • Applicants may upload CV in pdf format and a document regarding previous FDL award if applicable. Additional documentation should be added to the end of the CV.
  • The online application will enforce character limits, will not allow additional documents to be submitted, and will not accept applications after 5 pm on October 03. 
  • Additional information may be found in AAPPS 04.02.02
  • Submissions will be electronically routed to the applicant’s chair/ director. After the chair/director has provided the information requested on the application, by 5 pm Friday, October 10 the chair/director will electronically forward the application to the college dean. The dean will route the application to the Faculty Senate for review by 5 pm Friday, October 17.
  • The senate, in a closed meeting, will briefly discuss the merits of each application. Senators will evaluate all applications using the rubric included below.

Application Materials:

  • A completed application form.
  • Please provide a proposal narrative that details planned leave activities and the methodology for achieving project goals (2000-character limit, including spaces).
  • Please provide a list of anticipated outcomes from the proposed FDL project in a table or bullet point format. Outcomes should be aligned with goals identified in abstract and should emphasize impact on faculty development, contribution to the applicant’s field, and/or return on university investment (e.g., alignment with university priorities/goals) (500-2000 character limit, including spaces).
  • FDL is intended to support activities that are beyond the scope of what could likely be achieved while carrying out the regular duties of a non-leave semester. Please specifically describe why FDL is necessary to complete the project (500-character limit, including spaces). 
  • If external collaborators or off-site resources are involved, please upload evidence of commitment (e.g., support letter or contract) as a PDF attached to the end of your CV.
  • An up-to-date curriculum vitae in Texas State format. 
  • If previously awarded FDL, please upload an outcomes report from most recent FDL completed. This report may be a duplicate of what was initially submitted following completion of past FDLs or, submit an updated report that provides more detail and includes outcomes that that had not yet been realized when previous FDL report was first submitted.    (Upload PDF of report)
  • If an applicant is applying for the supplemental award, he/she must complete the supplemental award questions stated in the online application

Evaluation Process

Submissions will be electronically routed to the applicant’s chair/ director. After the chair/director has provided the information requested on the application, by 5 pm Friday, October 10 the chair/director will electronically forward the application to the college dean. The dean will route the application to the Faculty Senate for review by 5 pm Friday, October 17. 

Applicants are encouraged to meet with their respective senator(s) prior to October 17 to assure that their senator fully understands the proposed project, and to provide any needed clarification.

The senate, in a closed meeting, will evaluate all applications using the following criteria.

Criteria for Evaluation
Goals/outcomes are described in plain language appropriate for a broad university faculty audience:
Project activities are beyond the scope of what could likely be achieved while carrying out the regular duties of a non-leave semester:
Outcomes will support faculty development in terms of expected impact on the applicant’s research/scholarly activity or other transformative area of applicant’s career:
Outcomes will be beneficial to the university in terms of alignment with university’s goals and return on investment:
Project is likely to be completed successfully as described in application; review of CV, faculty online profile, previous FDL report, and dean/chair comments suggest that the project is feasible in terms of time, resources, and faculty expertise.
Further, if applicable, evidence of commitment from external collaborators is provided (e.g., support letter or contract):
Adherence to application requirements (e.g., word limits, CV provided, completed application, and clarity of writing/formatting):

Supplemental Funding:

Pending the availability of funds, ten Supplemental Awards of $20,000 each are available to faculty who receive Development Leaves.  These awards are provided to assist faculty in their research efforts, and can be used to:  

fund travel and lodging costs associated with research expenses during the Faculty Development Leave

purchase equipment or materials needed for research during the leave, OR

supplement salary for those who select both the fall and spring semesters for their leave

In the latter case, the supplemental award may be combined with other funds from the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to provide up to 100% of salary for an academic-year leave.

A committee appointed by the Provost, and including representation from the Faculty Senate, will review all requests for these awards from faculty who have been approved by the President for Faculty Development Leaves. 

The committee will recommend ten award recipients to the Provost, who will make the final decisions.  Award notifications will be made by the Provost by February, 2026.