345     FORMER SABBATICAL LEAVE POLICY

Replaced March 12, 2005

Link to "Applying for a Sabbatical"

(It is not clear whether this section has been wholly superseded by the link at right, "Applying for a Sabbatical."

The intention of a grant of sabbatical leave is to allow the faculty member an opportunity to pursue an scholarly, artistic, educational or professional project which cannot be undertaken in the normal course of a teaching assignment and faculty responsibility; and which measurably contributes to the individual’s qualifications, scholarly dimensions, quality of teaching and student benefit; and is valuable to the College and its mission.  The College has a profound interest in encouraging professional development and will make every effort to accommodate sabbatical requests.  However, faculty must remember that a sabbatical is a privilege, not a right, and is awarded in a competitive environment.

All academic department Chairpersons and full-time faculty following each six years of consecutive full-time employment shall be eligible for a sabbatical leave during one regular semester period at their current salary together with employee benefits.  This grant of sabbatical leave is subject to the convenience of the College as determined by the department Chairperson and the Dean of the appropriate School, in the instance of a faculty member; or by the Dean and the Provost (or President) for a department Chairperson.  As an alternative, the person seeking the sabbatical may elect a leave of one full academic year at one-half their then current pay for the year.  All other conditions governing approval and conduct of the sabbatical apply.

Applications for a sabbatical to be taken by a faculty member or Chairperson to begin in the Fall semester must be submitted to the Dean of the appropriate School no later than the beginning of the immediately preceding Fall semester.  A sabbatical to be taken, or to begin, in the Spring semester calls for application no later than the beginning of the immediately preceding Spring semester.

Individuals seeking grant of a sabbatical leave must submit a convincing plan for use of the sabbatical period and this plan must be approved (by appropriate authority as described below) as a condition of the leave grant.

A faculty member’s application for sabbatical leave will be subject to review and recommendation by the Faculty Development and Sabbatical Committee and the Provost. The decision of the sabbatical review committee will be submitted to the Provost, then to the President or his/her designee for final approval.

If a Chairperson or faculty member seeks and is otherwise qualified (as described above) for a sabbatical opportunity at a particular time, the College may for its convenience defer this sabbatical for a period of up to twelve months.  If, again, for the convenience of the College, the leave must be deferred a second time, the next scheduled sabbatical opportunity will be the same as if the leave had been taken.

As a condition of the sabbatical leave grant, the individual must agree in writing to serve the College for one year immediately following the sabbatical leave in the position occupied before the leave taken, or failing this condition, the individual accepts obligation to reimburse the College the amount which has been paid during the sabbatical leave.

To be eligible for a sabbatical leave, an individual must complete six consecutive years of full-time service to the College.  No partial completions earn any leave entitlement except when an employee having completed twenty or more consecutive years of employment retires at 65 years of age or older. A sabbatical leave period will not count in the calculations of subsequent (six consecutive years) calculation. Sabbatical leaves may not be accumulated except where provided by prior contract.

(Note:  Unpaid leave is covered in 405 LEAVES & BENEFITS.)

345.1    SABBATICAL PROCEDURES

These procedures are also available on the Center for Teaching Excellence website: cte.colum.edu/facultydevelopment/sabbatical/

The following specifies the steps required for securing a sabbatical and certain expectations of the institution from sabbatical recipients.

• Before reaching the Faculty Development and Sabbatical Committee, the application must be approved by the appropriate department Chair and school dean.
  
• Department Chairs will be asked to comment in writing on the quality of the proposal and the staffing implications.
  
• After its deliberations, including an interview with the candidate, the Sabbatical Review Committee forwards its recommendation to the Provost for action.
  
• Any significant change in plans for the sabbatical period must be resubmitted to this review process
  
• Within one semester after returning from a sabbatical leave, the recipient must submit a written report on the sabbatical experience, documenting work accomplished, to the Committee and the Provost through the Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning.
  
• Abuse of the sabbatical privilege may result in disciplinary action by the College.
  
• If, at the discretion of the College, it is necessary to postpone an eligible faculty member’s sabbatical, the period to establish eligibility for the faculty member’s next sabbatical will begin to run from the year of the originally scheduled sabbatical.
  

The Sabbatical application process intends to support all eligible faculty in planning for a well-used sabbatical leave, a productive and enriching period of intellectual, creative, and personal renewal.