ACD 705: Sabbatical Leave

To describe policies and procedures for sabbatical leaves

Arizona Board of Regents Policy Manual - 6–207

President’s Working Group

Academic Senate

Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost of the University

Administrators with faculty rank who have completed six years of full-time service at ASU

Faculty members who have achieved tenure and completed six years of full-time service with the rank of assistant professor or higher at ASU

Academic professionals who have achieved continuing status and completed six years of full-time service at ASU as probationary or continuing status academic professionals

On the recommendation of the president, the Board of Regents may grant sabbatical leave to eligible administrators with faculty rank, faculty members, and academic professionals whose sabbatical applications have been approved at the department and college levels.

A sabbatical leave is not deferred compensation to which an administrator, faculty member, or academic professional is entitled after six years of service, but is granted or denied on the merits of the individual proposal upon the recommendation of the university.

Although not normally granted for such a purpose, sabbatical leave may be granted for completion of a terminal degree if the department judges that the applicant and the departmental program will sufficiently benefit.

Ordinarily a sabbatical leave will not be granted for publication efforts that are primarily commercial. However, sabbatical leave may be recommended in order for the applicant to write a textbook that makes original contributions to the scholarship of the discipline or to undertake other creative endeavors relevant to his or her university employment.

Individuals on sabbatical leave agree to resign during the term of the sabbatical from all campus obligations, including committees at department, college, and university levels. However, they are encouraged to maintain contact with graduate advisees or to make other arrangements so that a student’s progress will not be slowed because of a faculty member’s absence. Faculty on sabbatical leave are also allowed to participate in their unit’s merit review system if the unit bylaws so provide.

The sabbatical leave shall be either for one or two semesters, for academic-year applicants, or for six or twelve months, for fiscal-year applicants. If the sabbatical leave is for a full academic or fiscal year, the amount of the compensation will be three-fifths of the applicant’s salary. If the sabbatical leave is for one semester or six months, compensation will be the applicant’s full salary for that period. The salary awarded during a sabbatical leave is based on the contracted salary base, either for the fiscal or academic year, for the contract year during which a sabbatical leave is taken.

A faculty member taking a six-month leave will arrange to be on duty for one of the two regular semesters, if a teaching assignment is involved.

The fiscal or academic year during which a sabbatical leave is taken is considered the “sabbatical year,” whether the leave is taken for either of the six-month periods of a fiscal-year contract, for either semester of an academic year, or for an entire fiscal or academic year.

If circumstances require that a substantial change be made in the sabbatical project after it has been approved or after the leave has begun, the applicant must obtain approval for the change from his or her department chair and supervising dean. Failure to receive approval before making the change may result in a requirement that the individual refund part or all of the salary received during the sabbatical leave.

An individual on sabbatical leave may supplement his or her compensation through fellowships, scholarships, employment, or grants-in-aid to cover expenses such as travel, secretarial assistance, tuition, research, and publication. However, the individual’s total income—minus the expenses above—shall not exceed the scheduled ASU salary for the year or semester on leave.

Additional compensation is to be fully explained on the sabbatical proposal form and approved before the leave is granted. Should opportunities for supplemental compensation develop after the sabbatical leave has begun or after the application form has been submitted and approved, such opportunities must be approved at the earliest opportunity through the same channels as the original proposal.

A person on sabbatical leave may not at the same time receive supplemental funds from ASU or through ASU projects.

An individual granted sabbatical leave is required to return to the university for a period of service equal to the length of the sabbatical leave. If he or she chooses not to return, the case will be reviewed by the appropriate university representatives and the individual may be required to refund the amount of salary received during the period of sabbatical leave. On rare occasions when special circumstances exist, the president may recommend for Board of Regents’ approval that an individual have a sabbatical leave privilege even though he or she cannot return to the university for further full-time service.

An individual on sabbatical leave who accepts a tenured or tenure-track position at another postsecondary institution while on leave from ASU will be considered to have abandoned his or her ASU contract. In such cases, ASU has the option of whether or not to offer a subsequent contract.

No later than the end of the first semester after completing the sabbatical leave, the individual must submit a concise final report to the dean of the college, and the chair, director, or supervisor, addressing accomplishment of the purposes stated in the application for sabbatical leave.

Forms for the final report are available from the dean’s office. The dean will acknowledge the receipt of sabbatical reports and send a copy of that acknowledgment to the vice provost.

Following the completion of a sabbatical leave, six years of further service shall be required before an individual will become eligible to apply for a second sabbatical leave. Leaves of absence without pay for periods ordinarily not exceeding one year can be counted as periods of service towards the sabbatical leave, if the leave is for purposes related to scholarship as agreed to at the time that the leave is approved.

Time spent in the rank of full-time assistant professor or above, when the appointment is supported by local funds, shall be counted fully toward sabbatical leave if such an appointment carries the same responsibilities of teaching, research, and service normally expected of faculty members whose appointments are supported by state funds. In these cases, however, it will be necessary for the faculty member to be paid from state funds at the time the application for sabbatical leave is filed. In those cases where such appointments require that the faculty member dedicate the major share of time to sponsored research or to service required by the granting agency, the faculty member must have been paid from state funds during the three years preceding the sabbatical leave year; the faculty member must also be paid from state funds during the sabbatical year.

Application Submissions

The applicant will submit to the supervisor (chair, director, etc.) a sabbatical application, a curriculum vitae, and any supporting data the department or college requires. The application will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. potential value to the teaching program of the department
2. probable enhancement of the applicant’s effectiveness
3. potential value to the reputation of the institution
4. contribution to knowledge

   and

5. provision of outstanding public or professional service at a local or national level.

The supervisor with the counsel of the appropriate departmental committee will review the materials and recommend the leave if:

1. the application is judged worthwhile
2. there is a high probability that the applicant will succeed as proposed

   and

3. the department’s program of teaching and advisement will be maintained during the applicant’s absence.

Evaluation of the Application: Department Level

The supervisor will obtain letters evaluating the merits of the application proposal from three persons (inside or outside the department) who are impartial and competent to judge the proposal. While these letters become part of the record and are for the use of appropriate administrators and faculty bodies, they are otherwise confidential.

The supervisor shall submit with each application for sabbatical leave a letter to the dean indicating how the integrity of the teaching, advisement, graduate research supervision, research, and administration of the program within the department will be maintained during the applicant’s absence.

Evaluation of the Application: Dean’s Level

With the counsel of the appropriate college committee, the dean will review all the recommendations in approving or denying the application.

If the department or college recommendation is adverse, the applicant must be informed of the reasons for the recommendation and afforded an opportunity to respond. If the applicant responds, the dean will reconsider the recommendation. Following reconsideration, the dean will inform the applicant of the final decision and the reasons for it.

During the final probationary year, approval of a forthcoming sabbatical leave will be contingent upon the applicant receiving tenure or continuing status.

Application Deadlines

Applications for either or both semesters of the following year must be filed with supervisors by the deadline established in the college on the forms provided by the department. Applications may be withdrawn without affecting subsequent applications.

The supervisor shall file applications in the dean’s office by the fall deadline established by the college. Applicants will be notified of the dean’s action no later than December 15. If an applicant for a sabbatical leave withdraws the application or changes the period of leave after approval, the department chair must be notified immediately and in sufficient time to make necessary adjustments in the teaching program of the department. The dean and provost must also be notified of any changes.

Each dean will send a list of the applicants for sabbatical leave from his or her college to the executive vice president and provost of the university by the first week of January. This list will include each applicant’s department, approval or disapproval of the application, and the period of the sabbatical leave (fall semester, spring semester, academic year, fiscal year, or half fiscal year). Any new requests for sabbatical leave added to the list after the January submission must receive approval from the executive vice president and provost of the university.