Request Leave/Plan Travel

If you are planning on traveling to a workshop, conference, or for other professional reasons while working for UGA, first, use the mileage tool (PDF) (opens new window) to determine if a rental car or your personal car is the most economical form of travel.

The mileage tool must be attached to an expense report that contains a justification if the most cost-effective form of transportation is not used. Please complete the form before submitting the travel authority (opens new window) because this helps determine how much transportation costs will be.

Please note: The results of this form are important and will be required to show proof of your transportation choice when you submit for reimbursement, so please print a copy and/or screenshot the page for your records. Additionally, the OneSource Training Library (opens new window) is a great tool for students and employees to learn more about OneSource and OneUSG Connect. Please contact your departmental business manager if you have any questions or need help.

For full state travel policies and guidelines, including mileage reimbursement rates, please visit the State Accounting Office's website (opens new window).

Note for Faculty

Managing Faculty Responsibilities During Leave

Faculty members may seek funding from all three sources simultaneously, but they may only receive funding once per fiscal year.

Note for Staff

The Staff Resources Group has limited funds of up to $500 per person, per year, to offset costs related to professional development. To apply, please complete the Professional Development Form (PDF) (opens new window), print it for necessary approvals and signatures, and submit a copy to Kendra Goode in Aderhold Hall Room G3 at least two weeks before the professional development activity, when possible.

To support faculty members in their lifelong development as scholars, the College of Education provides an opportunity for faculty members to engage in pursuits that enhance their scholarship, revitalize their creative energy, and inform them of new and innovative knowledge and practices with the ultimate goal of developing and maintaining their scholarship through a research semester.

To support this development, a faculty member may request one semester for intensive research in which s/he is released from instruction (up to two courses) and institutional service activities. Where needed, the College will replace the instruction to avoid the loss of credit hour production, and the department head will coordinate the coverage of other duties.

Who is Eligible?

Tenured faculty members who have been employed by the University of Georgia College of Education for at least five years are eligible to apply. Administrators (department heads, associate deans) are not eligible.

Please note that an individual may receive only one research semester every five years.

Certain conditions apply: Prior to departure, the faculty member will work with the department head to facilitate a smooth transition of instruction and service responsibilities to others. This may include the sharing of syllabi, reading lists, lectures, and other materials necessary to teach the courses and records related to student advisement and committee responsibilities, as appropriate. It is expected that the faculty member will continue to work with doctoral students for whom they are a major professor.

A faculty member who is granted a research semester under this policy will not be paid by another institution during that period, except as allowed under the university's consulting policy. The faculty member may not earn extra compensation (in the form of salary or a draw account) during the research semester (e.g., First-year Odyssey, outreach workshops, Peabody Awards judging).

After completion of the research semester, the faculty member must submit a written report to the Office of Research and Graduate Education. This two-page report is due one month after the start of the next academic semester following the research semester.

Application Information

Application deadline: Proposals for a Fall research semester must be submitted by Feb. 1, and proposals for a Spring research semester must be submitted by July 1. All proposals from a department must be rank-ordered and submitted by the department head to the Office of Research and Graduate Education (opens new window).

Proposal requirements: The proposal components must be written in 12-point font with 1-inch margins. A complete proposal consists of the following elements:

Cover sheet: The first page of each proposal must be the Faculty Research Program Cover Sheet (PDF) (opens new window).
Proposal: Limit of three single-spaced pages. The prospectus explains the project in terms that an educated reader from outside your field can understand and must include:
- Purpose and significance: Describe the nature and significance of the work to be undertaken.
- Work to be accomplished: Describe specifically what you plan to do during the research semester and where you will do the work. Identify persons, if any, with whom you will work.
- Projected outcomes: What tangible results will your research semester have, what form will they take, and how and where will you share your results with others? Expected outcomes include publications or creative works submitted to high-impact, peer-reviewed venues, and/or proposals for extramural funding.
Justification: Limit of two single-spaced pages addressing how does the research semester fit into the arc of your career? How does it build on or take a new direction from your prior work, and what are the projected near-term and long-term benefits to your career? How would time away from the normal activities of teaching and service enable you to meet your goals?
Other sources of funding: Limit of one single-spaced page. Detail any additional funding from other sources as a part of the research semester activities. This includes the use of grant funds awarded to UGA as well as funds received from other institutions or organizations during the period of the research semester.
Curriculum vita: The proposal should include a list of your professional publications, creative and/or professional works, and any other information relevant to appraising the proposed research objectives.
Statement from the department head: The department head must provide a written statement or chart explaining how the faculty member's instructional and service responsibilities will be covered. When more than one faculty member is applying for a research semester, describe the total impact on the department and its instructional needs, and rank order applications if more than one is submitted.
University leave paperwork: If the research work is to be done at another location, the request falls under the University's Educational Leave Policy. In this case, applicants should submit Form A and Form B with the College paperwork. If you are selected, the relevant paperwork will be forwarded to Faculty Affairs by the Office of Faculty and Staff Services.

Criteria for Selection

Applications will be reviewed based on the following criteria:

Adequacy and feasibility of the project in relation to the length of the research semester
Project's potential for contributing to the faculty member's development
Likelihood the project will contribute to the quality of the research and instructional program in the faculty member's discipline and/or to the implementation of the College and University's strategic plans
Quality, quantity, and consistency of academic products in relation to the field and years of academic service
Traveling for vacation/personal reasons?

Personal Time Off

You can request time off through OneUSG Connect (opens new window), the online portal that connects you with vacation requests as well as sick leave, past paychecks, tax downloads, and more.

Visit the UGA Finance and Administration website for information about annual leave policies (opens new window).

If you have questions about UGA's general leave policies, you can read the general policy online (opens new window).

Extended Leave/Medical Leave

Sick Leave

For individual sick leave days, use OneUSG Connect (opens new window) to log your time.

For circumstances requiring extended leave, you may qualify for extended leave time. Any employee (including part-time and temporary) of the University of Georgia, who has...

Been employed by the University of Georgia for at least 12 months total (not necessarily the last 12 months)
Worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave

...is eligible to be granted family leave for conditions authorized by the Family and Medical Leave Act (opens new window).

The Act provides that employees may be granted up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave during a 12-month period, or 26 workweeks in the case of qualifying exigencies related to certain military-related situations. (opens new window)

If you are part of UGA's shared sick leave program, you may request extended sick time through that program. Download the official UGA policy (opens new window) or visit the Shared Leave Program website (opens new window) for more information.

Comp Time

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (or "FLSA") is a federal law which requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at time and one-half the regular rate of pay, or provided compensatory time-off in the case of government employees, for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. All University System of Georgia Institutions shall establish a standard 40-hour workweek and abide by the Fair Labor Standards Act provisions.

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(PDF) (opens new window) (XLSX download)

Employees are prohibited from working overtime or working any hours outside of the scheduled workday unless a supervisor has authorized the unscheduled work in advance. Any employee who fails to report or inaccurately reports any hours worked will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including discharge.
Each institution in the University System of Georgia has a responsibility to minimize overtime work to the extent possible. Overtime work shall be authorized for non-exempt employees only when the work is deemed necessary and is approved by the institutional assigned individuals authorized to make such decisions. Approved compensatory time is subject to a 240-hour maximum accumulation. Employees who have reached the compensatory time maximum must receive a cash payment for any additional overtime. Additionally, all compensatory time balances on record as of May 31 must be paid out no later than the final bi-weekly pay period in June each fiscal year. Such payment shall be at the employee's regular earnings rate at the time the payment is made. Compensatory time earned in June will carry forward into the upcoming fiscal year.

Implementation in the College of Education

Compensatory time off will be the standard method of compensating non-exempt employees for work exceeding 40 hours in a workweek. Supervisors will have the discretion to approve comp-time for individual employees up to a threshold of 75 hours, and it is expected that any comp-time balances will be fully expended by May 31st (see spend-down schedule below). As the USG policy states, any comp-time earned in the month of June will carry forward to the new fiscal year. Because there will be no budgeting for additional overtime compensation at the College or unit levels, a more limited threshold will allow for a reasonable accrual of time that can be expended by May 31st.

Comp time should be pre-approved by supervisors—download the Comp Time Approval Form (PDF) (opens new window) (XLSX download)—and submitted to the Business Office/Office of Research and Graduate Education along with any approved leave forms for a given pay period. In cases where an emergency or other significant situation requires that an employee exceed the hours of their standard daily schedule, they should notify their supervisors afterward and when needed provide an explanation on the comp-time approval form. Where possible, this additional work time should be accounted for by adjusting their work schedule in the same workweek (Thursday-Wednesday). When this is not possible, a comp-time approval form will be needed.

Spend-down of compensatory time: The maximum accrual threshold for individual employee compensatory time balances will incrementally regress in the months prior to May 31.

February 28 – 75 hours
March 31 – 50 hours
April 31 – 25 hours
May 31 – 0 hours

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