Tenure line assistant professors at Williams College are provided two semesters of paid professional leave before the tenure decision. This is called an Assistant Professor (AP) Leave. The timing and terms for AP leaves are described in the Faculty Handbook, Section II.O.
By policy, the salary for a two-semester AP leave is set at 75%. The college seeks to encourage a culture of active grant-seeking among its faculty members, including efforts to secure funding from external grant sources to supplement their leave salaries. However, when outside funding is not available, the college is committed to ensuring that no faculty member receives less than 100% of their base institutional salary during their AP leave.
Therefore, in addition to the 75% salary guaranteed by policy, the college will also provide a supplement to those who do not secure external funding equal to at least 25% of their salary. This supplement is called the AP Leave Grant. The AP Leave Grant provides funds required to bring the total external and internal salary up to 100% of the base institutional salary during the AP leave year.
To facilitate planning for the AP leave, all assistant professors should meet with the Director of the Grants Office 1-2 years prior to the anticipated leave. It is not necessary to identify funding opportunities or to develop a grant application in order to schedule that meeting. This is just a way to begin a conversation about potential funding for the AP leave project. Even those who believe that external funding will not be available for their AP leaves should meet with the Director of the Grants Office, if for no other reason than to begin making arrangements for the AP leave grant.