Scholarly Reassignments

Updated November 1, 2017

The college’s support for scholarly reassignments supports individual careers, departmental programs, and the intellectual climate of the college. The college offers opportunities for these reassignments consistent with university policy. See https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-05-20-24/ ​​​​​​​

Reassignments may be for two semesters at one-half pay, or one semester at full pay.

College Policies

  1. No policy can anticipate every contingency. This policy, and its implementation, will be interpreted so as to promote faculty scholarly productivity and excellence, and fairness in the application of departmental, college, and university rules. The college actively encourages faculty to seek grants, fellowships, and other support for their scholarship, both because such support provides material assistance for research costs, and because winning competitive grants, fellowships, and awards enhances the prestige of the scholar and the institution. Questions regarding scholarly reassignments should be directed to the college’s Associate Dean for Research and Engagement.

  2. Because departments need time to plan and to schedule courses, scholarly reassignment forms are typically due to the Office for Research and Engagement by November 1 for the following academic year.

    1. Faculty whose reassignments are contingent upon receiving a fellowship should submit these requests by November 1, with an indication that their reassignment request may be resubmitted or withdrawn if the fellowship is not awarded.

    2. Faculty may apply for scholarly reassignment after November 1 if they learn of a fellowship opportunity for which they wish to apply, and if the department head finds that the application is the best interest of the faculty member, the college, and the university.

    3. If an unusually large number of reassignments are requested, and if granting all these requests would harm the department’s ability to offer courses and degree programs, the department head should work with the faculty members requesting reassignment to stagger or delay some requests to minimize loss of teaching or service to these programs.

  3. Under University policy, reassignments are generally granted at intervals of approximately every seven years. There is no requirement that these reassignments must be externally funded. However, faculty may find it highly desirable to seek funding for their leave, particularly for full-year reassignments, and departments and the college encourage funded proposals for practical and scholarly reasons.

  4. A reassignment may be allowed when less than seven years have passed since the most recent reassignment.

    1. Such reassignments are typically made when a faculty member has won a prestigious fellowship that will advance  department, college, and institutional interests.

    2. This “off cycle” reassignment must be explained and justified by the department head. To request an off-cycle assignment, the department head will prepare, on departmental letterhead, a memo that explains the value and prestige of the fellowship, how the leave advances department, college, and university  strategic priorities, and how the reassignment will be funded. This memo will be attached to the scholarly reassignment form. The department head may add any additional information that will help assess the reason for the off-cycle leave. The Dean must review and approve “off cycle” requests.

    3. Off cycle requests should be submitted, even if provisional, by November 1, as described in section 2 of this policy.

    4. After a faculty member takes an “off-cycle” reassignment, the faculty member will be eligible for a reassignment in the seventh year after their most recent reassignment. Faculty may seek additional early reassignments, if appropriately justified and approved as described in this policy.

  5. No faculty member may be paid an administrative stipend while on scholarly reassignment. A faculty member with administrative duties who wishes to take a scholarly reassignment must relinquish their administrative duties during the period of the leave. The manner in which duties will be reassigned must be explained in Section 4 of the request form.

  6. By the end of the semester following the faculty member’s return, he or she must prepare and submit a written report to their department head describing the activities undertaken during the scholarly reassignment. The department head will submit this report to the Research Office. In addition, the faculty member shall prepare and present a seminar, lecture, or other presentation that is open to faculty and students in the college and the university. The announcement of this event will be sent to the Research Office and posted on the college events calendar.

Scholarly Reassignment Request Form:

https://hr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/schol-assignment.pdf