CVPA  Guidelines for Faculty Educational Leave Applications Submitted in AY 2025-2026

Applications for Educational Leave during the 2027-2028 academic year will open in summer 2026. 

Purpose

The College of Visual and Performing Arts at James Madison University offers Educational Leaves to provide faculty members with opportunities to expand their research and/or teaching abilities and/or to foster intellectual growth. The ultimate purpose of these leaves is to sustain vigor, especially in the College’s academic instructional programs, and to ensure that faculty members have the opportunity for professional development.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for an Educational Leave, a faculty member must meet the following qualifications:

1. The candidate must be a full-time faculty member or school director in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
2. The candidate must occupy a renewable term appointment (e.g. lecturer), a tenure-track position or have tenure at the time of application.
3. The candidate applying for the first time must be in at least the third year of full-time service at James Madison University.
4. A previous recipient of an educational leave must complete five full academic years of teaching before he or she is eligible for another leave. Those who last received a leave in 2024-2025 are eligible to apply for a leave for the 2030-2031 academic year.
5. The candidate must not be serving as a member of the College's Professional Development Committee.
6. The candidate must have the written endorsement of their academic unit head (AUH).

Application Submission Procedures

Written application for Educational Leave must be submitted on the attached forms and forwarded to the applicant’s school AUH in advance of the due date. The proposal must be reviewed and endorsed by the school director. The original application and endorsement must be submitted via email to the Interim Associate Dean no later than 4 pm on Friday, October 10, 2025 . Only applications received by this date will be accepted for consideration by the CVPA Professional Development Committee .

Terms of Leave

The terms of the Educational Leave enable a faculty member to elect to use one full academic year (nine months) at one-half salary or one semester (fall or spring) at full salary (with either option, the university contributes its full share of all established fringe benefits). If the one semester option is taken, the remaining semester of that year may not be applied to the accumulation of the five years of service required for Educational Leave eligibility. A faculty member who elects the option of one full academic year should also indicate whether a single semester is a reasonable alternative.

An applicant is expected to follow through with an Educational Leave once the application is approved and the leave is awarded. If your Educational Leave plans change, notify the Interim Associate Dean immediately. By accepting an educational leave, the recipient agrees in good faith to return to full-time service at the University for at least one academic year after the leave is completed.

Educational Leave may be withheld whenever it is felt that the absence of the candidate for leave would be seriously detrimental to the interest of the academic unit or University.

Reports and Acknowledgements

At the completion of leave activities, a written report summarizing project accomplishments must be submitted to the Interim Associate Dean and your AUH. The due dates for these reports are Friday, March 12, 2027 for fall recipients and Friday, July 9, 2027, for spring and full academic year recipients. The faculty member will be expected to provide, in reasonable detail, a summary of their activities during the leave period and to address the extent to which the experience contributed to their teaching effectiveness and professional development. Failure to file this report may impede the award of future educational leave. This written report will constitute a major portion of the faculty member's evaluation for that academic year.

When the faculty member returns from Educational Leave, recipients will be asked to present the results of their leave at the Sparks Research Symposium on the afternoon of Friday, February 20, 2026. Any publication or exhibition resulting from activity assisted by these grants shall indicate: "This work was supported by the James Madison University Program of Grants for Faculty Educational Leaves."

Proposal Format

THE CVPA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE WILL NOT CONSIDER PROPOSALS THAT DO NOT CONFORM TO THESE FORMAT GUIDELINES.

Project Summary

The proposal is to be directed toward independent study, research, creative work, and/or graduate/postgraduate study that will enhance the applicant's teaching abilities and foster professional growth and development. Include a short and descriptive project title and a one paragraph abstract. A second paragraph should indicate all support (including time such as release time, dates and amounts) granted by CVPA in the last 5 years.

Project Description

This description is the only demonstration that the CVPA Professional Development Committee will have of the substance and potential of your project. It is important that the proposer not presume extensive knowledge on the part of the reviewers. Because members of the review committee may not have a specialized knowledge of the proposer's field, the proposal must be sufficiently detailed to describe the project in nontechnical language. The most successful proposals include an itemized budget for projects that include travel, equipment supplies, commissions, etc. You may choose to write a narrative addressing the following points or address them each individually:

1. State the objectives of the leave. Clearly describe the specific program of study or research, and explain the basic ideas, problems, or questions intended to be examined. Explain the planned approach or line of thought.
2. Explain the significance of the project to your own scholarly development.
3. Indicate the project's relation to long-range teaching (including impact after the applicant returns to the classroom) and scholarly/artistic objectives. If applicable, include the impact on undergraduate or graduate student research projects or how it might lead to external funding opportunities.
4. Explain the significance of the project to your field. Incorporate a statement about the need for and the contributions of the project to teaching and scholarship/artistic development in the particular field of study. Include a concise review of relevant literature or state of affairs. (Attach bibliography of no more than two pages, if applicable.)
5. Indicate all support (including time such as release time, dates, and amounts) granted by CVPA in the last five years.
6. If you are applying for both an Educational Leave and a Faculty Professional Development Award, please prioritize the proposals and provide justification for why you believe you need both awards.

If you have previously received an Educational Leave from James Madison University, please include as an appendix a copy of the written report of project accomplishments that you submitted to the Dean and your AUH upon completion of your leave activities, and briefly describe the significant ways in which your scholarship or creative activities, and/or teaching have been affected. Include a copy of the appropriate IRB or IACUC approval form, if applicable.

Length

The project description may not exceed 1,250 words; please include the word count at the end of the proposal. (Bibliography is not included in page count.)

Professional Resume

Applicants should include a current curriculum vitae which conforms to the conventions of their discipline. Be sure to list dates of conferral of degrees earned and dates for academic honors, awards or fellowships received. Note that the CVPA Professional Development Committee will evaluate leave applications first and foremost on the merit of the proposal. Professional credentials will be considered when reviewing proposals of equal or comparable merit and when determining the applicant's potential for successful leave activities.

Criteria/Governing Policies

The CVPA Professional Development Committee will make recommendations based on the following criteria and governing policies:

1. The proposal must demonstrate a positive effect on the teaching quality and scholarly achievement of the applicant and of the College and University's academic programs. Graduate or postgraduate work encompassing activities that enhance the teaching effectiveness of the applicant through formal course work and related direct experience will warrant the consideration of the selection committee.
2. Competition is limited to full-time faculty and school directors who have completed a minimum of three years of service at James Madison University and who are tenured or on tenure track or in renewable-term appointments at the time of application. An additional five full years of continuous service must be completed before a subsequent Educational Leave may be awarded to the same individual with the leave activities to be pursued during the sixth year.
3. Proposals should be written in a clear, coherent, and concise manner, expressing the concept and organization of the project.
4. The applicant must show commitment to work full-time on the project during the leave.
5. If projects involve research or data collection using human subjects, the proposer must include a copy of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, according to JMU policy number 1104. For more information see the JMU Office of Research Integrity.
6. If projects involve research or data collection using live, vertebrate animals, the proposer must include the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval, according to JMU policy number 2202. For more information see the JMU Office of Research Integrity.
7. Final choices will be based upon the recommendations of the College Professional Development Committee as they determine the relative merit of each proposal. All things being equal, preference will be given to those who have significant impact in the classroom and senior applicants who have demonstrated a high quality of service to the College and University.

Evaluation Procedures

The College Professional Development Committee will review all proposals eligible for consideration for funding. The committee is composed of six experienced faculty members, two appointed from each school within the College, based on their knowledge, teaching effectiveness and scholarly accomplishments. The Interim Associate Dean of the college serves as non-voting chair of the committee. The committee will rank proposals and the committee chair will present the list to the Dean who will make the final funding decision.

Notification of Leave Award

The Dean will notify the recipients of an Educational Leave award in writing by January 16, 2026.