5.3 Sabbatical Leaves
5.3.1 Definition
A sabbatical leave is one in which the college meets the salary and fringe benefits costs during the period of the leave.
5.3.2 Conditions for Granting a Sabbatical Leave
A sabbatical leave shall be granted only for engaging in creative, scholarly, or professional activities of significant worth to the professional growth of the grantee and of demonstrable benefit to the college. This kind of leave shall not be granted for extended travel or vacation or as a reward for years of service, but rather in anticipation of increased effectiveness of a staff member in his or her teaching or administrative career. It shall not, however, be granted for purposes of following a graduate degree program unless the college administration, anticipating reassignment of a teacher to a new teaching or administrative field, requests the candidate to follow a degree program other than the one in which he or she already has had preparation.
Projects that focus on pedagogy can be approved for sabbatical, if the proposals fulfill the requirements for sabbaticals. The following are criteria for all sabbatical proposals: they should be creative and/or scholarly, have a public benefit, and be a project of sufficient size and worth to merit a full semester's work. The duration of the sabbatical leave shall be for one semester plus an interim or for the full academic year. Persons on leave of absence for one semester plus the interim shall receive one hundred percent (100%) of their annual salary during the year in which the leave is taken, and those on leave of absence for a full year shall normally receive fifty percent (50%) of their annual salary. Preferably, a leave of less than one year should be scheduled to include the spring semester, when schedule adjustments can be made more easily by the college.
5.3.3 Eligibility for a Sabbatical Leave of Absence
- Leaves of absence
shall be extended only to those in teaching positions at the rank of
Assistant Professor and above, to full-time administrators, and to professional
librarians of equivalent professorial rank. Faculty members with reduced-load
appointments are eligible for sabbaticals with pro-rated salary.
- Faculty members on a regular appointment will normally be eligible for their first sabbatical at Calvin College the first year following tenure appointment. The timetable for sabbatical eligibility will be established at the first appointment. Faculty members who have had a sabbatical are not again eligible until they have completed another six (6) years of service at Calvin College. The time spent in any leave of absence is not counted in the six years required for eligibility for a sabbatical.
- A sabbatical leave shall be granted primarily on the basis of an evaluation of the worthwhileness of the project to be undertaken. Secondary consideration will be given to the number of years in service without a leave. An applicant, to be eligible for a sabbatical, must give evidence of having done preliminary research or of having engaged in scholarly or professional activity related directly to preparation for the projected leave of absence.
- Eligible faculty members
are not entitled to a sabbatical leave; it is granted only after adequate
consideration has been given to the application and to the needs and
interests of the college. Planning for a sabbatical leave must not be
done without first consulting the department chair.
- Exceptions to the eligibility requirement of regular appointment may be made on a case by case basis by the Professional Status Committee. The process would be the same as that for any other sabbatical application, initiated by the faculty member and supported by the applicant's chairperson and dean as well as by a convincing record and proposal. The primary difference is that the Professional Status Committee would expect that an applicant who is not on a regular appointment would have served the college for the full-time equivalent of ten years.
5.3.4 Conditions Pertaining to the College
Grantees awarded a leave of absence at less than a full salary for the year in which the leave is taken are encouraged to supplement the college salary with an independent grant. The college will assist the grantee in securing an outside grant. However, no person shall receive from the college and from independent grants a sum, exclusive of unusual expenses, which is greater than the grantee's annual salary and summer compensation to which he or she is entitled. In all cases of leave the college will reduce its support, exclusive of unusual expenses, to a sum which, in combination with an independent grant, is the equivalent of the grantee's salary. Examples of unusual expenses are those directly related to the project being pursued, such as travel, books, microfilm service, and clerical or secretarial help, and any duplicated living expense resulting from out-of-city residence.
Fiscal soundness of the college and the need for faculty development are factors which enter into the establishment of an adequate leave policy. The college will be expected to make available, within its fiscal abilities, financial resources for sabbatical leave policy, while faculty members are expected to exercise their stewardship by developing the best possible project proposals and making the best use of the opportunities offered by a sabbatical leave. Depending upon the ability of the college to offer a balanced educational operations budget, it shall be the policy of the college to allocate some of its resources annually for the support of sabbatical leaves.
5.3.5 Procedure for Application
5.3.5.1 Date of Application
Application for sabbatical leave must be made by September 20 of the year prior to the beginning of the academic year during which the leave would fall.
5.3.5.2 Written Endorsement
Sabbatical projects must have the written endorsement of the department chair.
5.3.5.3 Application
The application, already discussed in preliminary form by the department chair shall be submitted to the dean for research and scholarship, who will submit all applications to the Faculty Development Committee (FDC) for review. The FDC will review all applications for sabbatical leave in its sessions following the September 20 deadline, and may request clarifications. The FDC will then report to the Professional Status committee (PSC) its recommendations for or against the approval of the proposed sabbaticals. The PSC will review the FDC's recommendations and make a final recommendation to the president.
In consultation with the dean for research and scholarship and the provost and with the advice of the Professional Status Committee, the president shall present all affirmative recommendations to the Board of Trustees for its action. The total review process shall be completed before or at the February session of the Board prior to the academic year in which the leave falls. The applicant will be informed of the status of the application after the PSC review.
5.3.5.4 Contents of Application
Each application shall contain the following information:
- A cover
sheet, available online from the Dean for Research & Scholarship,
which requires an abstract of the proposed sabbatical project and
the department chair's signature. This cover sheet shall contain
a checklist of all required items.
- The sabbatical application should include, as a minimum, two letters of recommendation. One letter must be from the department chair, endorsing the proposal and also addressing any staffing difficulties that approval might create. The second letter must be from a scholar outside the college who is qualified to comment on the value of the proposal.
- A detailed description of the project. Depending on the nature of the project, this should include the goals, major theses, outline, and methods of the project. The description should also include the place of the project in the particular area of study; i.e., why it should be done and how the proposed study will contribute to an understanding of the issues. The description should include reference to the literature that is relevant to the project.
- A statement of the qualifications of the applicant for pursuing the proposed project. This should include prior preparation for work in the area of the proposed study, a list of grants received or pending during the last five years, and the results of previous sabbaticals or leaves of absence, including a copy of the previous sabbatical report, if any. A curriculum vitae, which may be in a condensed form that includes all relevant information, shall be attached.
- Expected benefits of the project to the applicant, the profession, and the college.
- A work schedule and itinerary projected for the duration of the leave.
- A financial budget for the period of leave. This should be an estimate of expenses including support services provided by the college. Include an explanation of the expenses and indicate the source of funds for meeting expenses beyond the salary provided by the college. The applicant should report on what steps have been taken to seek outside support for the sabbatical. Approval of the proposal does not constitute approval of the project budget beyond the salary.
- A statement that the grantee will not accept other remunerative employment without consent of the college and that the grantee agrees to the college policy on remuneration received from the product of a sabbatical leave.
5.3.6 Obligations Following the Leave
- It is required that the grantee, following the sabbatical leave, continue his or her position at the college for one year for each semester of paid leave.Grantees who do not return to fulfill this obligation are required to reimburse the college for the leave at a rate based on the average replacement cost for that portion of the leave for which the grantee received full pay.
- All publications that result from work done on sabbatical leave should acknowledge the support of Calvin College for the project.
- The grantee must present a written report on the results or progress of the investigation, publication, or professional gains which were made. This report shouldbe presented to the Dean for Research and Scholarship with a copy to the academic dean of his or her division and to his/her department chair, within three months after the end of the leave.
- The grantee shall also be responsible for a minimum of one and a maximum of three faculty seminars in which he/she will share his/her findings with members of the faculty.
- Common courtesy should require some form of acknowledgment to the Board of Trustees.