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At my university in the US, faculty are granted twenty-two (22) days of vacation leave annually. Except for emergencies, faculty may not take vacation while classes are in session.

The only time classes aren't in session are in the summer and holidays but my contract runs from August to May. I am already granted the summer and holidays off, so it seems that this time can never be used. It also specifically states that they can't be used when classes are in session. Also, this is the faculty vacation leave that is a separate policy from all non-teaching positions.

So, when is it even possible to use the vacation leave provided for a ten-month contract?

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  • I would guess the 22 is in there for legal reasons. The 22 days would be irrelevant for you, since you need not be in the office during the summer, making more than 22 days off. But the 22 may be relevant for non-teaching staff (administrators, research support, custodians, etc.), who must otherwise be there through the summer.
    – GEdgar
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 14:06
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    Are you sure the restriction is "when classes are in session" and not "when you have a class scheduled to teach"?
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 14:40
  • Where I’ve gone, faculty routinely traded off guest lectures if one wanted to go to a conference or go visit their folks.
    – Jon Custer
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 15:49
  • I'm sure, because it specifically states that they can't be used when classes are in session. It's also a separate policy for teaching faculty vs non-teaching positions. Trading off guest lectures would not be possible because vacation time is forbidden to be used when classes are in session.
    – Alice Downs
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 16:33
  • @Alice Downs Generally going to a conference counts as work, not vacation. At least this is true when the conference is relevant to ones research or teaching.
    – Terry Loring
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 22:31

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In the US there are a number of official holidays, but universities also have additional "breaks" that can easily equal 22 days. About two weeks near Christmas and much/all of a week near Easter, can be considered, as a semantic item, as "vacation". Students certainly think of Spring Break (yay) as vacation.

"August to May" academically is about 40 weeks, but the two typical terms in the US take up about 30 or so (active) weeks. There is room for 22 days in there somewhere.

Today happens to be Lincoln's Birthday (Feb. 12) which is specifically celebrated as a holiday in several states as a holiday and as a part of President's Day elsewhere.

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  • The break for Christmas and New Year can often be more like 4 weeks than 2 weeks.
    – Brian Borchers
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 17:45
  • There might be an intersession term filling up most of the days between the end of the Fall term and the start of the Spring term. Really, we cannot answer this without local information.
    – Terry Loring
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 22:54

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