Sabbatical Leave

Sabbatical leave is a leave of absence with compensation for one appointment year, or portion thereof, to full-time faculty members to permit them to renew and update professional qualifications, improve skills, engage in creative or scholarly pursuits, improve teaching and learning, or engage in service opportunities. See the sabbatical policy for complete details.

Eligibility

A faculty member must meet the following criteria:

• Hold a full-time faculty contract of nine or more months per year that includes teaching, professional, or administrative contract duties.
• Have completed six years of satisfactory service as a full-time faculty member at SLCC at the commencement of the sabbatical leave and have completed six years of satisfactory service as a full-time faculty member at SLCC since any previously awarded sabbatical leave..

Sabbatical Timeline

Faculty prepare for sabbatical a year in advance of when they expect to be on leave. The sabbatical policy has complete details, but here is an overview of the timeline:

1. On the last day of spring term, the Associate Provost for Learning Advancement issues a call for sabbatical applications for the following year.
   NOTE: that faculty are expected to use the summer to work with departmental colleagues, their Associate Dean, and Dean to develop their proposal.
2. On or before the second Friday of September, the faculty member must submit the sabbatical proposal to the Dean and Associate Dean.
3. On or before the third Friday of September, the faculty member shall submit a completed application to the Associate Provost for Learning Advancement. If the Dean or Associate Dean wishes to send a letter to the Provost, it must be submitted to the Associate Provost for Learning Advancement by this date.
4. The College Sabbatical Committee has until the third Friday of October to make recommendations to the Provost regarding the sabbatical applications.
5. On or before the second Friday of November, the Provost will review the applications and submit recommendations to the President of the College.
6. The President will review the applications and submit a decision to the Provost by the second Friday of December. The Provost will communicate the decision to the Associate Provost for Learning Advancement.
7. By the third Friday of December, the Associate Provost for Learning Advancement will send written notices of the final decisions to the applicants.
8. The faculty’s sabbatical would typically start in the following academic year.

Application

Applications for sabbatical leave must be made in writing to the College Sabbatical Committee via the office of the Associate Provost for Learning Advancement and contain the following:

1. A detailed description of the proposed sabbatical activity to include:
   1. the manner in which the activity supports SLCC’s mission, vision, and goals; and
   2. the manner in which the project will benefit the College, the faculty member’s academic department, other departments, or students.
2. A clear and realistic timeline demonstrating that the project can be accomplished in the allotted time and that the project requires the allotted time.
3. A plan to recount the sabbatical experience with faculty members, colleagues, students, and the wider community as appropriate.
4. Endorsement letters from faculty colleagues. (Optional)