Department of Ophthalmology: Procedure for Faculty Leave

The purpose of the faculty leave procedure is to ensure that Department faculty are provided opportunities to utilize leave while ensuring that the Department is able to maintain necessary staffing to meet operational requirements.

Unit Procedure

Title

Department of Ophthalmology: Procedure for Faculty Leave

Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of the faculty leave procedure is to ensure that Department faculty are provided opportunities to utilize leave while ensuring that the Department is able to maintain necessary staffing to meet operational requirements.

Scope

All faculty in the Department of Ophthalmology.

Procedure

Request Requirements

1. All time off must be requested through the Chair’s Office, with any leave affecting patient care submitted at least 8 weeks in advance.
   1. Clinic cancellation requests submitted within 8 weeks of the requested date should include a plan to make up the missed clinic(s) within a 3-week radius of the bumped clinic(s) through scheduled 1:1 days. This plan must then receive approval by both the Chair and clinic management to ensure resources are available for the planned makeup dates. Exceptions may be made at the sole discretion of the Chair.
       
2. It is the faculty member’s responsibility to ensure that all Attending On-Call, Subspecialty Call, and CAP coverage duties are covered by an appropriate faculty member.
   1. Coverage arrangements, especially coverage for Attending on Call, must be submitted in writing accompanied by the written consent of the covering faculty member when the leave request is submitted. Emailed arrangements are acceptable.
   2. Personal clinics with any patients already scheduled cannot be cancelled by other faculty members to provide CAP coverage. If no CAP coverage is available then the Residency Program Director must authorize CAP clinic cancelation and the faculty requesting leave must instead secure coverage for Urgent Care clinics, which can be staffed alongside an existing clinic
       
3. Scheduled academic days are considered working days and must be included in a time-off request if the faculty member will be unavailable. Remote work is permitted on these days and may be excluded from the request if the faculty member remains accessible.
    
4. A 2-week minimum prior approval is required for research faculty.

Request Submission

1. All requests must be submitted through the online form which must be completed in full.
    
2. Any coverage arrangements must be emailed to the Department Leave Coordinator at the time of the request submission.
    
3. Upon approval, an email will be sent to all necessary department contacts including the employee requesting and their administrative assistant (if applicable) with instructions on what actions (if any) are needed.
    
4. Any emergency changes to the UNC Health Call Directory should be directed to the Department Call Coordinator with a minimum notice of 1 business day prior (e.g. if the scheduled call begins at 8:00pm on a Monday, notice must be given on Friday during business hours). Any changes inside that window should be made directly with the UNC Health Operator by calling (984) 974-1000.
    
5. The faculty member should ensure that all clinics/ORs affected by approved requests have been appropriately blocked in Epic.

Related Requirements

Unit Policies, Standards, and Procedures 

Department of Ophthalmology Policy on Faculty Leave

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Name: Juan Trujillo – Associate Chair for Administration

Email: Juan_Trujillo@med.unc.edu

Other Contacts

Name: Christopher Postlethwait – Executive Assistant

Email: cpostlet@med.unc.edu

Name: Pam Saraphis – Administrative Support Specialist

Email: Pamela_Saraphis@med.unc.edu