Faculty Family Support

UMBC is committed to working in partnership with the Office of the Provost and campus leaders
to effectively support our community members with caregiving responsibilities.

At UMBC, we offer faculty a variety of support and leave options to help you balance your professional and family responsibilities, including caring for a child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, or managing their own serious health condition.

We provide a number of ways to support faculty, including the following:

• Annual and Personal Leave: Leave earned by faculty members on 12-month appointments.
• Collegially Supported Leave: A faculty member’s academic responsibilities may be covered by colleagues, on a voluntary basis, for a period of time.
• Creditable Sick Leave: Sick leave accrued by faculty members based on the nature of their contract.
• Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML): This benefit provides eligible employees with fully paid, job-protected leave for qualifying family, medical, and certain military-related reasons.
• Redistribution of Duties: Adjustment of faculty members’ responsibilities among the three usual areas of their job – teaching, service, and research through the development of a Family Support Plan.

Paid Family and Medical Leave

Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) is a new leave program effective July 1, 2026. The PFML covers:

• Bonding with a new child through birth, adoption, or placement
• An employee’s own serious health condition
• Caring for a family member with a serious health condition
• Certain military-related situations

USM’s previous parental leave policies have been replaced by PFML. Employees who are planning to take qualifying leave should review the UMBC PFML Employee FAQs and contact Human Resources and Strategic Talent Management’s–Talent Engagement and Labor Relations team at hrfmla@umbc.edu with questions or for guidance on eligibility and the process.

 

Please note that this webpage is merely an overview and introduction to our family support practices. Faculty considering Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) should review PFML guidance for questions. Faculty may also review the applicable our Faculty Handbook for additional information about faculty leave options and Family Support Plans.

To learn more about our resources and policies, visit provost.umbc.edu/policies.

Throughout this webpage, we’ve referenced both our University System of Maryland Policies and our UMBC Faculty Handbook. The following sections may be of particular importance:

UMBC Faculty Handbook, Leave Policy Section 11

• 11.6 Creditable And Non-Creditable Sick Leave
• 11.7 Annual Leave
• 11.9 Family and Medical Leave — for current PFML information, review PFML guidance 
• 11.9.1 Policy on Parental Leave and other Family Supports for Faculty

We are here to provide guidance as you explore your leave and support options. If you have specific questions, please contact the people and offices listed below:

Faculty Family Leave and Support Plans

If you’d like to learn more about taking family leave or creating your support plan, contact your department, program Chair, Director, or your Dean’s Office.

Medical Leave for a Health Condition

If you need to take leave for your own health condition, you should contact Human Resources and Strategic Talent Management at 410-455-2337 or hr.umbc.edu.

Leave alone may not be enough to support you during a time of need or change. That’s why faculty may also work with their department, program, Chair, Director, Dean’s Office, or other academic affairs administrators to plan for continuity in teaching, service, research, and other academic responsibilities.

A Family Support Plan may help address academic and workload planning while a faculty member is preparing for or returning from qualifying leave. Questions about leave eligibility and how PFML applies to a faculty member’s specific situation should be director to HRSTM’s Talent Engagement and Labor Relations team at hrfmla@umbc.edu.

Steps to Creating Your Plan

You will develop your Family Support Plans in partnership with your department Chair, Dean, or —at your request— a designee of the Chair or Dean.

If you and your department Chair are unable to finalize your plan, or if your agreed-upon plan requires additional resources, your Dean or other academic affairs administrator can provide support in the development of the plan.

Once your plan is finalized, it will be shared with your Dean or designated academic affairs administrator.

Here are a few examples of what a plan might look like:

• Adjusting the balance of responsibilities among teaching, research, and service to allow greater flexibility in a faculty member’s schedule.
• Assuming instructional responsibilities other than classroom teaching for a semester (e.g., developing a new course or program).
• Using collegial coverage for the end of one semester for teaching duties and using creditable sick leave or a redistribution of duties for the following semester.
• Continuing normal research and service responsibilities while using intermittent sick leave for teaching days for one semester.
• Arranging for a colleague to cover a portion of your course (collegial coverage).
• Requesting the postponement of tenure review. This request should also be made in writing to your department Chair, who will then forward it to your Dean, and the Provost.