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. The duration of the sabbatical leave shall be for one semester plus an interim or for the full academic year. Persons on leave 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 for a full year shall normally receive fifty percent (50%) of their annual salary.
5.3.2 Requirements Relating to Sabbatical Leaves
A sabbatical 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 that the candidate follow a degree program other than the one in which he or she already has had preparation.
The following are criteria for every sabbatical project: it should be creative and/or scholarly; it should be beneficial to the public, the college, and the professional growth of the grantee; and it should be of sufficient size and worth to merit a full semester’s work. Sabbatical projects that focus on pedagogy can be approved only if the proposals fulfill all of these general requirements for sabbaticals. A sabbatical leave shall be granted primarily based on an evaluation of the worthwhileness of the project to be undertaken. A secondary consideration will be the applicant’s number of years in service without a leave. A successful applicant 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.
5.3.3 Eligibility for a Sabbatical Leave
- Sabbatical leaves shall be extended only to tenured teaching faculty at the rank of assistant professor and above, and to full-time administrators and professional librarians with faculty status. Faculty members with reduced-load appointments are eligible for sabbaticals with prorated salary.
- A faculty member on a regular appointment will normally be eligible for his or her first sabbatical at Calvin College in the year following a successful tenure review, provided that he or she has served the college for six years. Any alternative timetable for sabbatical eligibility should be established during the initial hiring process. A faculty member who has had a sabbatical is not again eligible until he or she has completed another six (6) years of service at Calvin College. Time spent in any leave of absence does not count toward the six years required for sabbatical eligibility.
- 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. Every faculty member who plans to apply for a sabbatical leave should consult with the department chair early in the planning process in order to ensure that the application aligns with departmental needs and expectations.
- 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 sabbatical leave 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 may assist the grantee in applying for 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 Application Procedures for Sabbaticals
Sabbatical applications must be submitted online to the dean for research and scholarship by the posted due date in the academic year prior to the anticipated term of leave.
The Faculty Development Committee (FDC) will review sabbatical applications during the fall semester. The FDC will then report to the Professional Status Committee (PSC) its recommendations for or against the approval of each proposed sabbatical. The PSC will review the FDC’s recommendation 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 PSC, 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 for which the leaves are anticipated. Each applicant will be informed of the status of his or her application after the PSC review.
5.3.6 Obligations Following a Sabbatical Leave
- It is required that each grantee continue his or her position at the college for the full academic year following that in which the sabbatical leave occurs. Grantees who do not return to fulfill this obligation are required to reimburse the college in full for the salary and benefits received during the leave.
- All publications that result from work done on sabbatical leave should acknowledge the support of Calvin College for the project.
- The grantee must submit an online report by August 15 after the end of the leave, detailing the results or progress of the project and any related professional gains. This report should be submitted to the dean for research and scholarship who will forward it to the department chair and the academic dean.
- 4. The grantee shall be responsible for sharing the results of the sabbatical project with Calvin colleagues through a formal presentation (e.g., lecture, concert, exhibit).
- 5. Common courtesy should require some form of acknowledgment to the Board of Trustees. Notes of thanks may be sent via the Office of the President.
