Sabbatical Leave and Sabbatical Supplement

Questions regarding sabbatical leaves and sabbatical supplements in the College of Liberal Arts should be directed to the Office of the Associate Dean for Faculty, 612-624-9839.

Purpose

Faculty development leaves including single semester and sabbatical leaves are provided as an opportunity to acquire new skills and knowledge, to enhance communication of knowledge to students and society, and to create new uses for the knowledge made available. These leaves are designed to bring benefit to the individual, the students and the University of Minnesota; to the citizens of the state; and all who are affected by the research, teaching, creative activity, and service to society that are the University's mission.

Sabbatical supplements are awarded competitively and provide additional income for tenured faculty who seek to enhance their ability in scholarship, creative work, teaching or service to the community.

Governing Documents

• Board of Regents Policy - Employee Development, Education, and Training
• Human Resources Policy - Granting Faculty Development Leaves

Eligibility

A faculty member is eligible for a sabbatical leave after six academic years of service, with review and scheduling at the department/collegiate levels and the approval of the dean. Faculty may apply for a sabbatical leave during the sixth academic year of service, to be taken the following year.

Probationary faculty meeting the eligibility requirements may apply for a sabbatical leave; in this circumstance, the granting of the requested leave will be contingent upon the conferral of tenure effective no later than the start date of the proposed leave.

Faculty meeting the eligibility requirements for a sabbatical leave may apply for a sabbatical supplement. Sabbatical supplements are available for both one- and two-semester sabbaticals.

Terms of Award

Sabbatical leaves are compensated at one-half salary and full benefits. Sabbatical supplements provide an additional 30 percent of the base salary, up to a maximum award of $30,000. The combination of sabbatical leave support, sabbatical supplement support, and any other salary support may not exceed 100% of the recipient's full-time base salary. Sabbatical supplements may not be used to provide summer support. The award of a sabbatical supplement is contingent upon the approval of a concurrent sabbatical leave.

Sabbatical Leave Request

Requests for sabbatical leaves may be submitted at any time. Faculty are encouraged to discuss sabbatical plans with their unit chair/director no later than one semester prior to the start of the proposed sabbatical leave. Sabbatical leaves for faculty on nine-month academic year appointments shall begin and end so as to coincide with the beginning and ending of semesters (B-term appointment dates).

• Faculty Sabbatical request form (UM 6, 44k, March 2007)
• Faculty Sabbatical request form (UM 6, 68k, March 2007)

Sabbatical Supplement Application

CLA Faculty Sabbatical Supplement applications must be accompanied by a completed Faculty Sabbatical request form and supplemented with a brief curriculum vitae or academic history (no more than five pages). Endorsement by the unit head is required. The project abstract should not exceed 150 words; the project description should not exceed 1,500 words. Word counts must be indicated where specified on the application. Standard font and size are required (e.g., Times New Roman, 12-point).

• CLA Faculty Sabbatical Supplement Application (55k, August 2007)

Proposals should address the conception and plan of the project; the contribution of the project to the established body of work in the field; and the contribution of the project to the applicant's professional development and the scholarly and/or creative activity, and/or teaching, and/or service mission of the applicant's unit. Applicants are asked to identify sources of external support for the proposed work, awarded and pending; and to identify past leaves and briefly describe projects, results and outcomes.

2007/08 Application Deadline - Friday, 5 October 2007

Application materials are due in the Office of the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, 212 Johnston Hall, by 4:00 p.m. on the due date. The fall 2007 sabbatical supplement application deadline, for sabbaticals to be taken during academic year 2008/09, is Friday, 5 October 2007. Please submit only one copy of your application materials.

Review Process and Criteria

Applications for CLA Faculty Sabbatical Supplements are reviewed by the CLA Faculty Research Awards Committee, which serves an advisory role to the college. While applications may vary with respect to proposed activities, all applications will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• The overall quality of the proposal and the coherence of the applicant's plans in light of the missions of the unit, college, and University.
• The strength of the research, scholarly, or creative/artistic components of the proposal, including evidence that the project is well-focused and neither so preliminary that the proposed work is unlikely to be completed during the leave, nor so advanced that the work is already virtually complete.
• The degree to which the proposal is accessible to a broad audience, including scholars across the arts, humanities, and social sciences, as well as individuals outside the academy.
• Evidence that an award will make a direct and significant contribution to the established body of work in the applicant's field and the applicant's professional development.
• The applicant's record for productive use of past leaves, educational-development grants, and research grants from University and non-University sources.

Reporting

Faculty are required to submit a report on their sabbatical activities to the dean within three months of the conclusion of the sabbatical leave. The report should summarize the activities and accomplishments during the sabbatical, and should indicate how the leave can be expected to enhance the faculty member's future scholarly or creative work, teaching, or outreach activities.

Last modified 5 September 2007