Faculty Support
Mount Holyoke seeks to support faculty by providing funding opportunities, benefits and clear guidelines and legislation. Information for current faculty is available on the dean of faculty resource site on my.mtholyoke.
Faculty benefits
Some benefits apply only to tenure-track/tenured faculty or full-time visitors. More information is available for current faculty on the dean of faculty resource site on my.mtholyoke. Please contact the Office of the Dean of Faculty with any questions.
Faculty grants
All continuing faculty and full-time visitors are eligible to apply. The Faculty Grants Committee awards funds in support of research or creative activities. Please visit the committee's website for more information on the type of funding available, how to apply and deadlines for proposals. There are three deadlines each academic year; faculty may only be awarded one grant of each type per year.
Annual conference allowance
The Office of the Dean of Faculty provides an annual conference allowance for faculty attending conferences or professional meetings. Continuing faculty of all ranks and full-time visiting faculty members are eligible to be reimbursed for these conference expenses
Sabbatical leaves (tenure-track and tenured faculty only)
For assistant professors prior to receiving tenure, are eligible for a a one-semester sabbatical at full salary after six semesters of full-time teaching and a successful reappointment review.
Newly-tenured associate professors are eligible for a one-semester sabbatical at full salary after six more semesters of full-time teaching and a successful tenure review.
Thereafter, associate and full professors are eligible to apply for a one-semester sabbatical leave at full salary after eight semesters of full-time teaching (or a year-long sabbatical leave after sixteen semesters).
All sabbatical leave requests are subject to review and require approval of the dean of faculty. Scholarly or non-scholarly leaves of absence may be arranged through consultation with the department chair and the dean of faculty. More information about sabbaticals and other leaves is available on the dean of faculty resource site on my.mtholyoke.
Upon recommendation of the department chair and with the approval of the dean of faculty, senior lecturers may occasionally be granted sabbatical in the first year of their first five-year contract. Senior lecturers may apply for subsequent sabbaticals at the same intervals as those specified for tenured faculty (pro-rated in accordance with their FTE).
Medical and dental insurance
A choice of three insurance products (HMO Blue, HMO Blue New England, and Blue Care Elect PPO) through Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts. The College offers a choice of two separate dental plans. Dental Blue and Dental Blue with Orthodontics are offered separately through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Current costs and other information is available online.
Coverage for major disabilities
Mount Holyoke College provides full salary for the first six months of medical disability for faculty who are eligible for the long-term disability plan; after that, pending claim approval, a monthly income benefit is provided; 40% of the faculty member's basic monthly earnings, to a maximum monthly benefit of $6,666. Other options available for purchase. Benefits would begin after 180 consecutive days of disability.
Group life insurance, accidental death insurance and dismemberment
Base plan provided by the College. Equal to one times annual salary with a minimum of $15,000 to a maximum of $25,000. Additional coverage available in increments of 1-5X salary to a maximum of $500,000.
Flexible spending accounts
Two accounts are available: health care and dependent care.
Retirement annuity plan
Defined contribution plan (403(b)). All faculty are eligible to make voluntary contributions to the retirement plan upon hire. Faculty are eligible to receive the College's contribution to retirement after one year of service. Faculty may be immediately eligible to receive the College's contribution if their most recent employer is another higher education institution and they were eligible to participate in that institution's retirement plan. (Certification from the former institution is required.) Participation is mandatory upon completion of eligibility requirements. Employees are required to contribute 5% of base salary over $3,333.33 a month ($40,000 in a calendar year). The College contribution is 10.5% of regular base annual salary.
Academic Career Network (for partners and spouses)
Mount Holyoke College is a member of the Academic Career Network (ACN), a resource for dual-career couples which includes the Five Colleges and several other colleges and universities within commuting distance.
Maternity, paternity, and adoptive leave
Parental leave is available to members of the teaching faculty holding a permanent, continuing (tenure-track/tenured or lecturer/senior lecturer) position immediately after the start of their contract; it is available to full-time visiting faculty starting in their second consecutive year of service and who will be under contract with Mount Holyoke for the duration of the leave. Eligible faculty may receive a reduction of two courses to be taken either during a single semester or to be spread over two consecutive semesters without loss of salary or benefits.
Child care
Child care facilities for infants through school-age children are available next to campus at the Gorse Children's Center at StonyBrook. The center is administered by Bright Horizons and gives admission preference to children of the MHC community. For rates and policies, please phone
Tuition at Mount Holyoke
Mount Holyoke College has a tuition waiver program for dependent, eligible children of full-time employees with five years of service. If the child accepted as a full-time undergraduate student, tuition will be waived. (For dependent children of part-time employees, tuition will be waived after the completion of the equivalent of five years of full-time service.)
In addition, Mount Holyoke offers a study benefit to members of the faculty and their spouses or same sex domestic partners and dependent children who take courses at Mount Holyoke. One course (4 credits) per semester may be taken for credit. Tuition will be waived.
Tuition at other colleges
Dependents of qualified employees may apply for the Tuition Exchange program after the completion of five years of service (five years of service for full-time and the equivalent of five years of service for part-time employees). This program provides for tuition at additional colleges and universities. More information can be found on the Tuition Exchange website.
Tuition reimbursement is also available for higher education courses taken for credit at other accredited institutions and for credit-bearing courses offered by Mount Holyoke’s Professional and Graduate Education (PAGE) program.
Additional educational benefits
More information about these and other education benefits can be found on the Careers page.
Transition allowance for new faculty (full-time faculty only)
The Office of the Dean of Faculty will assist with moving costs for new faculty who must change their residence to accept employment at Mount Holyoke College. Faculty whose appointments are full-time and for at least one academic year will be reimbursed according to the following schedule:
up to $900, if the move is between 50 and 300 miles
up to $1,200, if the move is over 300 miles, but less than 1,000 miles
up to $2,400, if the move is over 1,000 miles, but less than 2,000 miles
up to $4,800, if the move is over 2,000 miles
Faculty rental housing (all eligible faculty)
Available as space permits to new full-time faculty and certain administrative personnel. Eligible faculty should contact the Rental Housing Office for more information.
Mortgage plan for home ownership (tenure-track and tenured faculty only)
The College offers a shared appreciation mortgage (SAM) for faculty purchasing homes or condominiums in South Hadley.
Faculty mentoring
The Office of the Dean of Faculty supports the mentoring of early-career faculty through a diverse set of initiatives. Our approach is based on the idea that mentoring is best accomplished using a multi-situated approach to faculty development. This approach places the faculty member at the center of their career and supports their ability to build an effective mentoring network that aligns with their personal goals. The College offers a number of different programming opportunities for faculty to to connect with colleagues and to support their professional development. Faculty Fridays, our institutional membership to the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) and grant writing workshops are just a few examples.
At the beginning of the semester, the Office of the Dean of Faculty hosts an orientation where new faculty hear from College leadership, learn more about teaching at Mount Holyoke College, and have the opportunity to connect with various College offices and resources, such as the MHC Art Museum, the Office of Sponsored Research, Student Life, Libraries & Archives, and AccessAbility Services. The program ends with time to informally meet new colleagues.
New tenure-track faculty can elect to join in a faculty seminar on life at the College, coordinated by the Dean of Faculty's office and the Teaching and Learning Initiative. Early-career faculty are also encouraged to have regular conversations with either of the associate deans of faculty regarding teaching, scholarship and professional development at the College. These conversations are intended as a starting point from which the associate dean and the faculty member can work in partnership to develop a network of mentors.
Research support & other funding
Mount Holyoke is committed to supporting faculty in their research, creative and other professional endeavors.
Information for current faculty is available on the Dean of Faculty resource site.
Through the Office of the Dean of Faculty, the College provides funding each year to support research and other creative activities undertaken by the faculty of Mount Holyoke.
Proposals are reviewed and awarded through a competitive process using established guidelines and online application forms. This internal grants program is overseen by the Faculty Grants Committee composed of four elected faculty representatives from the three divisions and the dean of faculty as an ex officio member.
For detailed guidelines and online application forms, current faculty can go to the dean of faculty resource site at my.mtholyoke.edu.
Applicants are also expected to seek financial support from sources outside the College when applying for fellowships and grants.
Eligibility
Continuing faculty of all ranks and full-time, visiting faculty are eligible to apply for Faculty Grants and Research Assistance Grants.
Types of awards
Endowed fellowships are awarded once a year on a competitive basis to tenure-track or tenured faculty who are on scholarly leave without pay.
Faculty research support grants provide funding to help defray costs of publication, travel, professional development and other important expenses related to carrying on research.
Research assistance grants provide funding to pay students to work as research assistants on faculty research projects. (These funds cannot be used to support a student's independent research or student travel.) Faculty members may receive a maximum of one research assistance award per year.
Racial equity research and action (RERA) grants support the development of courses, projects and collaborative research efforts, including with students and/or faculty colleagues. The goal of this pilot initiative to create new knowledge to inform teaching, learning and research practices, and to build an academic culture that seeks to understand, analyze and challenge the intersecting systems of oppression that undergird structures of racial inequity. The program will be evaluated after 18 months or when funds are exhausted, whichever comes first.
Capstone grants provide funding to faculty who are currently in phased retirement, or with signed retirement agreements, for multi-year capstone or legacy projects.
Emeriti research fund provides support for the scholarly and creative activities of retired faculty. Emeriti are eligible to apply for, and receive 1 grant per year, up to a maximum of $1,000 for funding for travel to conferences or research expenses.
Continuing faculty of all ranks and full-time visiting faculty are eligible for an annual conference allowance to assist with expenses related to presenting at or attending conferences.
The Office of Foundation Relations and Sponsored Research [Grants Office] helps faculty members pursue external funding opportunities from government, foundation, and corporations to support their research efforts as well as to support the College's institutional priorities and initiatives.
For tenure-track faculty who receive prestigious external fellowships that can fund a semester of scholarly leave and do not meet the faculty member's full-time regular base salary, the dean of faculty may provide additional funding to supplement these awards, also known as "top-up" funding.
The Office of the Dean of Faculty manages several lecture funds supported by generous donor endowments. Proposals for the use of these funds should be submitted to the Office of the Dean of Faculty at least three months in advance of the event. Proposals should include a profile of the speaker, a budget, and a schedule for the on-campus visit. The schedule for such an event should include dedicated time for the speaker to meet with students.
The Irving Babbitt Memorial Fund
A fund established to bring a distinguished visiting scholar to campus. The Babbitt Scholar will organize a lecture on the continuing importance of the humanities.
The Charlotte Haywood Lecture Fund
A fund established to bring a distinguished guest to campus to address the Mount Holyoke community on issues related to the sciences.
The Barbara R. Hastorf '43 Lecture Fund
A fund established to support an annual lecture in the social sciences, with an emphasis in the fields of Economics and Psychology. This fund is managed by the Department of Psychology and Education.
The Mary E. Johnson Fund
A fund established by Gloria Johnson-Powell '58 in honor of her mother to support an annual lecture in the areas of social justice and human rights.
Contact us
Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty
The Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculty is responsible for supporting and overseeing the academic mission of the College.
- 413-538-3093
- 101 Mary Lyon Hall