Senate
(Supersedes SD 88-27)
(As approved, click here)
MEMORANDUM
TO: Fort Wayne Senate
FROM: Faculty Affairs Committee
Nash Younis, Chair
DATE: November 13, 2006
SUBJECT: Replacement for SD 88-27: Document on Sabbatical Leaves
DISPOSITION: To the Presiding Officer for implementation
WHEREAS, The Professional Development Subcommittee requested a clearer set of policies for granting sabbatical leaves; and
WHEREAS, it has been almost two decades since IPFW’s sabbatical policy has been modified; and
WHEREAS, both
BE IT RESOLVED, That the Senate approve the attached replacement for SD 88-27 as the IPFW Sabbatical Leave Policy.
Approving Absent
C. Champion K. McDonald
C. Erickson
S. Hannah
C. Hill
H. Samavati
N. Younis, Chair
Current
SABBATICAL LEAVES
In order for the faculty to carry out adequately the university’s mission of teaching, research, and service, ample opportunities for professional development and growth must be made available to them. The sabbatical leave program is one significant way in which the university provides time to faculty members to pursue their endeavors intensively, unencumbered by normal responsibilities.
While a sabbatical leave is meant to afford faculty members the means to grow professionally and intellectually, it is also an investment by the university in its own future. A sabbatical leave is granted with the clear expectation that it will better enable the faculty member to contribute to the mission of the university. An application for sabbatical leave should be approved unless the university is persuaded that it will not achieve this purpose.
Applications for sabbatical leave must have been reviewed, for budgetary informational purposes only, by appropriate administrators (chair/dean or director/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs) before being evaluated by the Professional Development Subcommittee. The Professional Development Subcommittee is responsible for recommendations regarding sabbatical leave applications. Departments and schools may choose to employ additional procedures of their own devising to evaluate sabbatical applications.
Proposed Policy
Senate
(Supersedes SD 88-27)
SABBATICAL LEAVES
IPFW’s mission includes the search for new knowledge, excellent teaching, and service to the university, profession, and community. In order to maintain and continue the high level of academic excellence necessary to support this mission, it is important for the faculty to periodically update and strengthen their professional skills. A sound program of sabbatical leaves is thus of vital importance to the University in that it provides for this continued professional growth and new or renewed intellectual achievement through significant study, research, and writing that cannot easily be done while engaged in the ongoing duties of a faculty member.
A sabbatical leave is not a leave which a faculty member automatically “earns” by having been employed for a given period of time. Rather, it is an investment by the University in the expectation that the sabbatical leave will significantly enhance the faculty member’s capacity to contribute to the objectives of the University. For this reason, all periods of sabbatical leave count as full-time service to the University and will be approved only if there is adequate reason to believe that they will achieve this purpose.
A statement of goals for the sabbatical, an outline of the type of evidence that will be used to demonstrate how those goals will be achieved, and a statement of the proposed use of the applicant’s time during the sabbatical period are required as part of the sabbatical application. Acceptable programs for the use of time may include:
1. Research on significant issues and problems, including pedagogical issues.
2. Important creative or descriptive work in any means of expression, for example, writing, painting, and so forth.
3. Retraining in new domains of scholarship or creative endeavor in one’s discipline. Such retraining may be used to enhance one’s scholarship and/or one’s teaching capabilities.
Applications for sabbatical leave must have been reviewed to ensure that they meet the guidelines specified in this document by appropriate administrators (chair/dean or director) before being evaluated by the Professional Development Subcommittee. Where possible, it is considered desirable that relevant departmental and/or school or college faculty committees (e.g., the Promotion and Tenure or Personnel Committee) make a written recommendation about sabbatical applications to the appropriate administrator at that level. The administrator will forward this recommendation along with his or her own recommendation to the next level.
The Professional Development Subcommittee is responsible for recommendations to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs regarding sabbatical leave applications. The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs makes final decisions regarding sabbatical leave applications.
At the termination of the leave, and not later than three months after returning to campus, the faculty member must submit a report about the sabbatical leave to the department chair or program director to whom they report. The Chair forwards the report to the next level, usually the Dean or Director, who forwards the report to the Office of Academic Affairs. This report must outline how the sabbatical period was used, provide evidence that the proposed outcome was achieved, and indicate further outcomes that are expected as a result of the sabbatical project. All such reports must be included with subsequent sabbatical applications. Information about the outcome of previous sabbaticals will be used to evaluate subsequent sabbatical applications.
Senate
Purdue and
The faculty handbook only specifies when one is eligible
http://www.purdue.edu/faculty_staff_handbook/
Executive Memorandum B-11, outlines further the sabbatical policy;
http://www.purdue.edu/Business/Executive_Memoranda/
In Exec. M B-11, it says
Purpose
From the faculty handbook, p. 93 -95.
http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/acadhbk/acad_handbk_2006.pdf
Purpose.
A faculty member has two academic functions, teaching and research. Travel to use other libraries or research centers, to work with other scholars, or to conduct field research is generally necessary for scholarly endeavor. The sabbatical leave program is undertaken to provide time for such scholarly research and any travel incident thereto and to allow members of the faculty to keep abreast of developments in their fields of service to the University.
A sabbatical leave is not a leave which a faculty member automatically “earns” by having been employed for a given period of time. Rather, it is an investment by the University in the expectation that the sabbatical leave will significantly enhance the faculty member’s capacity to contribute to the objectives of the University. For this reason, all periods of sabbatical leave count as full-time service to the University and will be approved only if there is adequate reason to believe that they will achieve this purpose.
A statement of proposed use of time is required to indicate the manner of achieving these general objectives. Acceptable programs for the use of time may include:
1. Research on significant problems
2. Important creative or descriptive work in any means of expression, for example, writing, painting, and so forth
3. Postdoctoral study along a specified line at another institution
4. Other projects satisfactory to the responsible committees and/or deans
Adherence to an approved plan is expected of a faculty member. At the termination of the leave, and not later than three months after returning to the campus, the faculty member shall submit a report of activities undertaken, which will be used in evaluating future applications for sabbatical leave of persons who have had one or more sabbatical leaves.
Sabbatical Leaves for Librarians
A leave program was established for librarians to be administered as part of the faculty sabbatical leave program. The policies and criteria applied to faculty applications for leave apply also to requests from librarians. As with faculty members, a statement of proposed use of time is required to indicate the objectives of the proposed sabbatical leave program. Acceptable sabbatical leave proposals for librarians include scholarly and pedagogical research, creative work, post master’s study such as a second master’s degree or doctorate (normally undertaken at another institution), and other projects satisfactory to the responsible committees and/or deans.