51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ

Academic and administrative faculty who have been employed by 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ as full-time (i.e., 51% or greater) for at least one year continuously at the time of application are eligible for entrepreneurial leave.

Entrepreneurial leave may be awarded for up to 100 percent of the faculty member's contractual time. Such leave may be granted for a faculty member who seeks to be employed more than 50% of effort on an externally funded grant or contract or who seeks to devote over 50% of effort to work for an outside company or fellowship.

A faculty member approved for an entrepreneurial leave will have his or her NSHE duties and compensation reduced concurrent with the award, contract or fellowship, such that the entrepreneurial leave replaces the NSHE contract proportionally.  

The precise adjustment of instructional load, service obligations, and compensation shall be negotiated between the faculty member and his or her direct supervisor, and approved by the president upon recommendation of the chair/director, dean, and provost. 

In the case of an entrepreneurial leave granted to a faculty member awarded a competitive, external fellowship requiring 100% of effort but providing compensation less than the faculty members' base salary, the chair/director, dean or provost may enhance the external fellowship, up to the faculty member's base salary level.   

The faculty member shall not accrue any sick or annual leave during the entrepreneurial leave.  

If the funding agency or business does not provide for the faculty member to receive health insurance or other fringe benefits, the faculty member may enroll in 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ health and fringe benefits at his or her personal expense (excluding Retirement Plan Alternative matching payments, which cannot be paid under NSHE policy to employees at 50% time or less.) 

Entrepreneurial leave may be renewed annually and may not exceed three (3) successive years, unless by express approval of the president.

A faculty member awarded entrepreneurial leave is expected to return to the university immediately following the completion of the leave, for a period of at least equal in duration to the length of that leave. If the faculty member does not meet this requirement, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ may seek restitution of compensation paid during the entrepreneurial leave. 

Any period of time spent on entrepreneurial leave is not considered part of the six-year service requirement for sabbatical leave. 

A faculty member awarded entrepreneurial leave during the probationary period of a tenure-track appointment may request an extension of the probationary period, subject to approval of the president, at the time of application for the entrepreneurial leave. If such an extension is not requested or not granted at the time of application and award of the entrepreneurial leave, then the entrepreneurial leave shall not alter the anticipated date of the faculty members’ tenure review. 

The process for granting entrepreneurial leave shall consist of the following:

1. The faculty member shall apply for entrepreneurial leave through the department chair/director and dean of the college or, in the case of administrative faculty, through immediate supervisor and appropriate vice-president. 
2. Supervisors, chairs/directors and deans shall provide recommendations on entrepreneurial leave requests to the executive vice president and provost, who shall advise the president. The president shall make final determinations to award entrepreneurial leave. 
3. An application for entrepreneurial leave must identify any pre-existing grant or contact commitments that remain in effect during the term of the leave and demonstrate how such commitments will be met, should the leave be granted.
4. An application for entrepreneurial leave must identify the external funding source or sources that will support the faculty member’s activities; the amount of such funding (compensation, reimbursement of expenses, and fringe benefits); the assigned duties or expected deliverables; and any legal obligations that the faculty member will incur to the funding entity as a result of work performed while on entrepreneurial leave.
5. An applicant for entrepreneurial leave shall provide justification that the work to be performed while on leave contributes to the individual's professional development as a 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ faculty member. 
6. The chair/director, dean, supervisor and appropriate vice president shall consider the needs of the unit in making a recommendation to grant entrepreneurial leave.
7. In granting an entrepreneurial leave, the president shall establish conditions in writing for the faculty member’s employment during the leave. A copy of the authorization shall be given to the faculty member, and a modified contract shall be prepared.
8. During the course of the leave, requests to revise the FTE portion of the leave or to extend the period of leave must be made in writing to the president through the department chair/director and dean of the college or through immediate supervisor and appropriate vice president. Chairs/directors, deans, supervisors and vice presidents shall take into consideration the needs of the unit in making recommendations to the executive vice president and provost and to the president on modifications to an existing entrepreneurial leave.
9. Within one semester of returning to full-time employment at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ from an entrepreneurial leave, the faculty member shall provide a written report to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development and to the Executive Vice President and Provost on his or her activities and how his or her professional development has been advanced by the leave.