Responsible Office: Academic Affairs
Policy Officer: Chief Academic Officer
Scope: |Faculty

Approved By: Office of the President

Approved Date: 10/19/2021

Effective Date: 10/19/2021

Category: Faculty and Staff

Description/Purpose:

Sabbatical Leave Policy

Details:

Sabbatical leaves should benefit Saint Francis University because the faculty returning from leave should be of more value to the University than before the leave. Sabbatical leaves may be granted for a full academic year at half-pay or for a single academic semester at full pay. Health insurance coverage is not affected by a sabbatical leave. Normally not more than one faculty member from a discipline may be given sabbatical leave in the same academic year. To accept another position of full-time employment during this period is contrary to the purpose and policy of sabbatical leave and is not acceptable. Faculty members are obligated to provide at least two years of service after return from sabbatical leave. After return from sabbatical leave, faculty members shall provide to the Chief Academic Officer a written report on the progress they made on the enterprises for which the sabbatical was granted.

1. A full-time faculty member will be eligible for a sabbatical leave after six full years of service to Saint Francis University and for additional sabbatical leave when six years have elapsed since the previous sabbatical leave. Faculty members requesting to have a sabbatical leave for a given academic year should apply in the previous academic year; i.e. a faculty member requesting a sabbatical leave in the seventh full year at Saint Francis University should apply during the sixth year.
2. Faculty members wishing to apply for sabbatical leave shall submit to their department chair applications on approved forms available in the Office of Academic Affairs. Except for a faculty member's first sabbatical application, the application shall include the faculty member's previous sabbatical application and the report provided at the end of the last sabbatical. The department chair will forward the applications for sabbatical leave to the school dean with the chair's recommendation on the approved forms. The school dean will forward the application to the Chief Academic Officer with both the recommendation of the chair and the recommendation of the dean.
3. Applications for sabbatical leave will be submitted to the Chief Academic Officer by September 15. Applications will be evaluated by a Sabbatical Leave Review Committee. The Tenure Committee of the preceding year will serve as the Sabbatical Leave Review Committee and formulate its internal procedures, subject to Faculty Senate approval.
4. The Sabbatical Leave Review Committee will send its recommendations to the President by October 1. If the committee recommends disapproval of an application, the applicant must be notified by the committee chair within 5 working days. In such an event, the applicant may appeal to the President within 5 working days of notification.
5. The President will forward the committee's recommendation, along with the President's own recommendation to the Board of Trustees for final disposition.
6. The President will ordinarily notify each applicant and each applicant's chair as to the Board's disposition of the application immediately following approval.
7. If an application for sabbatical leave is denied, the Chief Academic Officer will inform the applicant orally of the reason or reasons for the decision. If the reason is financial, the Chief Academic Officer shall inform the applicant as to when he/she might renew his/her application in anticipation of favorable action.
8. Faculty members will receive normal salary increments for the year of sabbatical leave. Salary increment will be based on full-pay equivalent for those on half-pay sabbatical.

Approval

Faculty Senate: 10/12/2021
University President: 10/19/2021