College of Agricultural & Life Sciences - Modified Duties for Faculty

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Policy Number:
CALS-7020
Responsible Office:
CALS Dean's Office

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

This policy establishes the requirements for modified duties as an option for faculty members who experience life events (e.g., becoming a parent, caregiving responsibility for an immediate family member, personal illness) that decrease their ability to meet their teaching/Extension obligations for a particular term.

Definitions:
Immediate Family Member
    • Employee's legal spouse
    • Employee’s domestic partner as explained by the UW Madison Domestic Partnership Information Page
    • Children of employee or employee’s spouse or domestic partner (biological, adopted, step or foster child, or legal ward)
    • Grandchildren of employee or employee’s spouse or domestic partner
    • Parents of employee or employee’s spouse or domestic partner (biological, adopted, step or foster parent, or legal guardian of employee)
    • Grandparents of employee or employee’s spouse or domestic partner
    • Siblings of employee or employee's spouse or domestic partner
    • Spouses or domestic partners of siblings of employee or employee's spouse or domestic partner
    • Aunts and uncles of employee or employee’s spouse or domestic partner
    • Sons-in-law or daughters-in-law of employee or employee’s spouse or domestic partner
    • Other relatives of employee or employee’s spouse or domestic partner who reside in the household of the employee
Modified Duties
Short-term modifications and/or duties that meet both the temporary restrictions and operational need.
Scope:

This policy applies to CALS faculty as defined in UW-801 Faculty Policies and Procedures Chapter 1 – The University Faculty.

Policy:
  1. Modified duties provide relief from direct teaching and/or Extension responsibilities for one academic semester per event. The faculty member is expected to fulfill their other responsibilities and maintain research activity. The faculty member cannot be employed by another institution during the period of modified duties.
  2. The faculty member must start the process by contacting the chair or human resources to request the appropriate type of leave.
    1. A faculty member who wishes to take a period of modified duties should submit a request to their chair, who will engage the college in a discussion via the associate dean for faculty affairs. 
    2. The dean (or their designate), in consultation with the eligible faculty member, will determine the ways in which the faculty member’s duties will be modified.
    3. A letter will be prepared by the college to describe the modifications to duties.
    4. As stated in CALS 7010 College of Agricultural & Life Sciences - Teaching Policy, departments are responsible for meeting instructional obligations to support their degree programs. When a faculty member modifies their teaching duties, it is the responsibility of the department to cover teaching commitments.
  3. If the person’s Extension responsibilities will be modified, the associate dean for research and extension must be included in the discussion. In some situations, a leave of absence may be the most appropriate response. It should be noted that for partial leave of absence, the duty the faculty member cannot preferentially select the duty they are “relieved” from, and selected relief of teaching is still subject to the ability of the department to cover that responsibility.
  4. A tenure-track faculty member may also wish to discuss with their chair whether a tenure clock exclusion should also be requested (see UW-881 Setting the Tenure Clock).
Related UW-Madison Policies:

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Dean and Director, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Policy Manager:
CALS Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
Contact:
CALS Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs -- Heather White, Heather.White@wisc.edu, (608) 263-7786
Date Issued:
05-09-2025
Retrieved:
06-12-2025 14:35:47