Extended Leave
Request and approval process for extended leaves of PhD students
Used by:
Description:
There are different reasons for extended leaves a PhD student may want to take during the program. It can be generally divided into academic leaves and non-academic leaves. Academic leaves can be internship or research stays, non-academic leaves interrupt the PhD degree for example because of maternity/paternity, medical or other personal reasons. In case of medical, maternity and paternity leaves, the leave has to only be indicated but not approved. For academic leaves or leaves for other personal reasons, a request has to be made followed by an approval process. This feature facilitates the request and approval process for such leaves, which can be adapted flexibly to the rules and prerequisites of your institution.
Details:
Depending on how long the leave will be and in which phase of the PhD degree the student is currently studying, different rules may apply for the approval process. Where as for short leaves of advanced students an approval of their supervisor might be sufficient, long leaves of new students will only be granted under exemptions.
To apply for any leave, students can fill out the „extended leave request form“ and submit it digitally. In case of internship or research stays, documents/contracts have to be uploaded. For extended leaves for personal reasons, extensive reasoning must be provided.
According to the details given, the system will automatically trigger the corresponding approval process for each case. In theory, each round of approval works the same and several rounds can be summed up to form a multi-stage approval process. The responsible person such as admin, supervisor, track representative or Dean will receive an automated notification of a new request. All requests are also shown in a list view. Here, via an „edit“ function, the request form can be accessed and evaluated. There are three options to decide on: deny the request, send it back to student with comments to amend, or approve the request. After approving, this very same process will be repeated by the next responsible person in order to build a multi-stage approval process. After the final approval, the student will be notified. Further actions such as a contract extension and adaption of the PhD timeline will be triggered.
To request deadline extensions, students might have to additionally fill the deadline extension request form.