Massachusetts Society of Professors

Upon hire, the following MSP bargaining-unit members who become biological or adoptive parents of a child under the age of five are eligible to receive a one-semester paid leave (24 weeks for librarians).

• All full-time tenure and tenure-track faculty members;
• All non-tenure-track faculty members who are not funded by grants, contracts, or gifts; and who have appointments that make it possible to fulfill the one-year return obligation;
• All librarians.

Parental leave must be taken during the semester in which the child's birth or adoption occurs or an immediately adjacent semester.  A bargaining unit member wishing to take parental leave must apply at least one semester prior to the proposed start of the leave or when the faculty member/librarian has knowledge of the impending birth or adoption, whichever is later.  Reach out to MSP if you missed the deadline.

During the parental leave, the individual is required to use their own sick leave accruals.  If sick leave accruals are insufficient to cover the entire leave period, MSP sick leave bank time can be used.

The tenure decision year (TDY)/continuing appointment review can be delayed for one year upon written notification by the faculty member/librarian to the Department Chair no later than six months after the birth/adoption.  Postponed TDY/continuing appointment reviews can be restored to their original date as long as the faculty member/librarian provides written notification to their Department Chair no later than three months prior to the start of the original date of the review.

To apply for parental leave, submit an APPLICATION electronically to your Department Chair via email.  Be sure to attach a scan of your child's birth/adoption certificate, or a letter from your physicial indicating the expected/actual date of birth.