Funds are available for the purpose of providing faculty members with a reduction of one unit in their teaching load during the academic year.

Deadline: February 1

Apply Here 

Eligibility

Release units are available to full-time, ongoing faculty members and artists-in-residence with at least two years of service at the University of Puget Sound as of September 1 in the academic year of application. Faculty are eligible to receive only one release unit every three years, and only one in any given year. Faculty already awarded a release unit will not be awarded a second release unit for work on the same project. Recipients of release time will work with their Chair and the Academic Deans’ Office to secure approval of the course from which the recipient will be released in the following academic year, and to revise the departmental course schedule to accommodate the unit release.

Because release units support professional development and are intended to lead to future scholarly productivity, faculty who plan to retire or leave the university in the year following receipt of a release unit should not apply. In years where the number of applicants exceeds the number of available awards, the Faculty Support Committee will consider the degree to which an applicant has been supported in the past with various sources of university funding.

The release unit is not intended for course development, which is a continuing function of all faculty members. Neither is the release unit intended to supplement a sabbatical or other leave (i.e., faculty cannot apply for release time for a year in which they are already scheduled to be on sabbatical or other leave). Release time is subject to the ability of the department to provide coverage for a release unit or find suitable supplementary staff.

Application

Application for release time should be made to the Faculty Support Committee through the online form. The application should include:

  1. Project proposal (1,000 words maximum).

    a. Professional goals and anticipated outcomes of the release time.
    b. Activities for which the release time is requested.
    c. A research and writing timeline.
    d. An explanation of the necessity of release time for this activity.

  2. Department chair form evaluating the feasibility of the project, recommending approval or disapproval, verifying the course to be deleted, and indicating whether a replacement is necessary.
  3. For research that involves the use of human participants or animals, please be aware that appropriate approval must be obtained before beginning research. Please consult IRB or IACUC approval processes information on the university’s website for details.

The Faculty Support Committee will rank release time proposals and will forward the proposals to the Provost for final approval based on curricular and budgetary considerations.

Deadline

Applications for release time are due February 1, for both the subsequent fall and spring semesters.

Reporting

Faculty receiving release time shall provide a written report of the activities undertaken. This report shall be accompanied by a manuscript, research report, or their equivalent. The report should be sent by email to the enrichment@pugetsound.edu, with the department chair copied on the message. All release time reports are due no later than August 31 of the year during which the release was taken.

SUBMIT APPLICATION HERE

 

Previous Recipients of Release Time
  • Nick Brody (Communication Studies), AI-Mediated Relational Communication.
  • Sara Protasi (Philosophy), Cultivating Courage in an Age of Fear.
  • Benjamin Tromly (History), The Vlasov Army: The Specter of Wartime Betrayal in Russia.
  • Robin Jacobson (Politics and Government), Exploring the Efficacy of Case Management for Eviction Prevention: A Program Evaluation of Rental Assistance programs in Pierce County, Washington.
  • Oscar Sosa (Biology), From Molecules to Ecosystems: Examining the Marine Nitrogen Cycle in Puget Sound.
  • Amy Fisher (Science, Technology, and Society), The Chemistry of Electricity: A Study in the History and Philosophy of Experiment.
  • Hajung Lee (Religion, Spirituality, and Society), Religious Trauma Related to Reproductive Issues in Religious Communities.
  • Yu Luo (Sociology and Anthropology), Grassroots Plant: Multispecies Relation and Commodity Chain in Guizhou, Southwest China.
  • Jennifer Neighbors (History), In Search of "China": Chinese Immersion Education and the Asian Diaspora in the Pacific Northwest.
  • John Wesley (English), A Critical Edition of "The Elementarie" (1582).
  • Laura Behling (English), Marketing Your Liberal Arts Education: A Guidebook to Help You Make Connections Between College and Career.
  • Samuel Kigar (Religion, Spirituality, and Society), Islamic Terroir: Religion, Land, and Community in Modern Morocco.
  • Hajung Lee (Religion, Spirituality, and Society), Understanding and Integrating Taegyo (“Korean traditional prental care”) as an Inclusive Healthcare Practice for Immigrants.
  • Janet Marcavage (Art and Art History), Color, Light, and the Picture Plane.
  • Jeffrey Matthews (Business and Leadership), Bad Generals!
  • Katherine Smith (History), The Bible and the Crusading Movement.
  • Laura Krughoff (English and Gender and Queer Studies), “Our Friend Kate.”
  • Andrew Gardner (Sociology and Anthropology), Cosmopolitanism, Migration, and the Urban Landscape in Doha, Qatar.
  • Linda Williams (Art and Art History), Maya Christian Murals of Yucatán: Indigenous Catholicism in Early Modern New Spain.
  • Rob Beezer (Mathematics and Computer Science), Late Determinants in Linear Algebra.
  • Elise Richman (Art and Art History), Color Relativity.
  • Gwynne Brown (Music), Completing William Dawson.
  • Erin Colbert-White (Psychology), Comparative Cognition 101 Manuscript.
  • Amanda Mifflin (Chemistry), Investigation Of Surface Interactions Of Aqueous Organic Ligand/Hematite Interfaces Using Second Harmonic Generation Spectroscopy.
  • Eric Orlin (Classics), A Social and Cultural History of Republican Rome.
  • Jonathan Stockdale (Religion), A Religious History of Whales in Japan.
  • Sara Freeman (Theatre Arts), Tacoma Civil Rights Performance Walk.
  • Andrew Gardner (Sociology and Anthropology), A Rapid Ethnographic Assessment of the Gulf-Directed Labor Brokerage System in South Asia.
  • Robin Jacobson (Politics and Government), A Contested Welcome: Virginia’s Response to Immigration 1880-2010.
  • Nick Kontogeorgopoulos (International Political Economy), Volunteer Tourism and Inter-Personal Existential Authenticity in Northern Thailand.
  • John Lear (History), Los Dos Diegos: Bertram Wolfe and his twice-told life of Diego Rivera.
  • Benjamin Tromly (History), Revolutionaries, Spies, and Imposters: Russian Exiles and American Power on the Front Lines of the Cold War.

 

  • Rob Beezer (Mathematics and Computer Science), Classical Designs Monograph.
  • Jennifer Neighbors (History), A Question of Intent: Homicide Law and Criminal Justice in Qing and Republican China.
  • Katherine Smith (History), Medieval England, c. 500-1500: A Reader.
  • Jonathan Stockdale (Religious Studies), Spiritual Lives of Japanese Whales: A Religious History of Whales in Japan.
  • Amy Van Engen Spivey (Physics), Investigating Luminescent Solar Concentrators with the Murdock Collaborative Research Alliance.