I. Program Description

(as outlined in the Handbook for Teaching Faculty, chapter 5, section 5)

Nature of a Sabbatical Leave:

A sabbatical leave is one in which the college meets the salary and fringe benefits costs during the period of the leave.

Conditions for Granting a Sabbatical Leave:

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. (Projects that focus on pedagogy can be approved for sabbatical, if the proposals fulfill the requirements for sabbaticals.) 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.

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. A person will be eligible after completing six (6) years of service in a professorial rank or its equivalent at Calvin College. A person who has had a sabbatical is not again eligible until he or she has 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.

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 persons 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 and the academic dean of the division.

Note on Sabbaticals Involving Teaching Abroad:

In 1995 the Calvin College Faculty Senate approved a policy designed to make it possible for Calvin faculty to teach at Christian Colleges and Universities abroad, especially those in parts of the world where Christian education is undeveloped. Unfortunately, though this idea was approved in principle, no budget line has yet been developed to support this worthwhile goal. However, some funding is available to teach overseas through the Kuyer's Endowment. For information on these funds, please contact Ellen Monsma, Director of Calvin's Off-Campus Programs (526-6551).

Some faculty have inquired as to whether it might be possible to combine such teaching with a sabbatical proposal. For cases involving overseas teaching, the Faculty Development Committee has approved a set of guidelines for its use in evaluating such proposals. These guidelines are available here.

II. Application Procedure

Deadlines
Application for sabbatical leave of absence must be made on or before midnight on September 20 of the year prior to the beginning of the academic year during which the sabbatical would fall. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all parts of the application, including letters of endorsement coming from outside the college, are emailed to the Office of the Dean for Research and Scholarship by the deadline. 

The application must be submitted online at http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/scholars/research/sab_apps.html to the Dean for Research and Scholarship who will submit it to the Faculty Development Committee for review and advice to the Professional Status Committee (PSC) and the President.  The Faculty Development Committee may request additional information or clarifications from the applicant prior to making its recommendations to PSC.
Letters of endorsement must now be received via e-mail in .pdf format by the above deadline in order to be considered complete. Send to the Office of the Dean for Research and Scholarship.

Required Contents of Application

Each application must be submitted to the Office of the Dean for Research and Scholarship and must contain the following information:

1. The period of leave requested. Check one of the following:

• Fall semester only at 100% of salary
• Fall semester and Interim at 100% of salary
• Spring semester only at 100% of salary
• Interim and Spring semester at 100% of salary
• Full academic year at 50% of salary

2. Letters of recommendation to include the following:

• A letter from the applicant's department chair (Division Chair or Academic Dean, if the applicant is the department chair) evaulating the proposal, explaining how tyhe proposal would contribute to the department and its mission and the proposal's general value to the discipline. The chair should also endorse the candidate's record of acceptable teaching as well as note any staffing difficulties approval of the leave might create.
• A letter of endorsement from a scholar outside the college (i.e., a non-Calvin scholar or colleague who knows the relevant field of scholarship, is familiar with the applicant's previous work, and is in a position to assess both the importance of the proposed project and the likelihood of its being brought to successful completion. Please have all of your references email their letters in .pdf or Microsoft Word document format directly to the Office of the Dean for Research and Scholarship (drc5@calvin.edu) . (NOTE: letters of endorsement written for the same project for the prior years are acceptable, although we will need to have them scanned and attached in .pdf format. Please contact Office of the Dean for Research and Scholarship if this is the case to make sure we have the correct copies of endorsement letters.) They will then be attached to your application.
• Up to four letters of endorsement may be submitted. The first two, from the Department Chair or Dean and from an outside scholar, are required. The other two, one from a sholar outside the college, one from a cholar inside the college, are optional.

3. A brief title for your proposed project.

4. A brief abstract of your proposed project, up to 250 words. Attach to online application as a .pdf formatted document only.

5. A curriculum vitae, attached to application as .pdf document and to include the following:

• up to 5 publications most closely related to the proposed project;
• up to 5 other significant publications, whether or not related to the proposed project.  For unpublished manuscripts, list only those submitted or accepted for publication (along with most likely date of publication).  Other types of academic presentations, such as those in the creative and performing arts may be substituted for publications;  
• up to five examples that demonstrate the broader impact of the individual's professional and scholarly activities that focus on the integration and transfer of knowledge as well as its creation.  Examples could include, among others: innovations in teaching and training (e.g., development of curricular materials and pedagogical methods); contributions to the science of learning; development and/or refinement of research tools; problem-solving; development of databases to support research and education; broadening the participation of groups underrepresented; and service to community outside of the individual's immediate organization.

6. An explanation of any efforts to obtain outside funding. A list of recent applications for funding from internal and external sources, and the outcome (approved, rejected, pending, and so on). Faculty members are particularly encouraged to apply for external support that, in conjunction with partial CRF support, will make possible an extended period of work sufficient to complete a major research project.  CRF support may also be requested in order to develop a new initiative to the point where it is likely to attract external support.  Please indicate if you have not sought funding. 

7. A detailed description of the project (single spaced, attached as a .pdf formatted document). It is essential that this description make the significance of the project clear to a reader outside the discipline of the proposed research.  This description 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 (attach as a .pdf or Word document only), as well as a summary of the applicant’s qualifications to pursue this project, including a description of prior preparation for work in the area of proposed study. The list of cited literature may be in addition to the 5 page limit.

8. A description of the expected outcome of the project and its benefits to the applicant, the profession, and the college. (1 page)  The applicant should be clear about the kinds of work (including, but not limited to conference presentations, journal or book publication, an artistic creation, or concrete progress towards one of these) that might result from a sabbatical.

9. A brief (1 paragraph) “pedagogical impact statement” highlighting effects the research is likely to have on Calvin students--whether those effects are direct, including student involvement in the research, or indirect. Faculty Development Committee recognizes that not all faculty research can or should involve students or have a direct impact on teaching, though applicants should be able to articulate the ways in which their scholarly projects contribute to teaching by enriching and developing the intellectual and scholarly interests of the professor.

10. A work schedule and itinerary projected for the duration of the leave.

11. A budget, budget explanation and sources of funding in addition to salary, if necessary. Include an explanation of the expenses and indicate the source of funds for meeting expenses beyond the release time provided by the sabbatical.  (NOTE: Approval of the proposal does not constitute approval of anything beyond leave time.)

12. Research funding history from Calvin or other sources, including recent applications, awards, the funding source and the amount. Applicants should also give particular attention to quantifying the results of previous CRFs and sabbatical leaves, if applicable.  Previous institutional support does not disqualify individuals from further awards, but some preference may be given, at the selection committees' discretion, to those who have not received previous support. Applicants should describe both recent research support they have received, either from institutional or external sources, and applications they have submitted, for this and related research projects.  For applicants who have previously obtained CRF funding, report all subsequent submissions of external grants, whether small archival grants or large National Science Foundation grants.

13. A check mark on the application indicating that the grantee will not accept other remunerative employment without consent of the college.

II. Obligations after Receiving a Sabbatical

1. All publications that result from work done on fellowship leave should acknowledge the support of Calvin College for the project.

2. The grantee must present a written report on the results or progress of the investigation, publication, or professional gains which were made.  This report should be submitted to the Dean for Research and Scholarship, with a copy to the grantee’s department chairperson, due September 15 the year following your sabbatical. All sabbatical reports should include a brief assessment of whether the anticipated impact on teaching was achieved. (see report template below)

3. Common courtesy requires some form of acknowledgment to the Calvin College Board of Trustees, care of the President’s Office, or included on the report template.

4. It is expected that grantees who receive a sabbatical will continue in their positions at the college.  Grantees are required to teach two courses per course equivalent of research leave following the completion of the fellowship period.           

Online Sabbatical Application

Sabbatical Report Template