DOCUMENT F-II
SABBATICAL LEAVES OF ABSENCE PROGRAM
(Approved: BFC 2/1/72; Amended: BFC 3/4/80 4/7/81; UFC 6/2/39, 10/13/81,
4/27/82;
Based on Trustees
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, sabbatical leave applications are 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. Adherence to an approved
plan is expected of a faculty member. At the termination of the leave, and not
later than three months after his/her return to the campus, the faculty member
shall submit a report of his/her activities to the Dean of the Faculties on a
form available in the Dean's office. A copy of this report should also be
delivered to the appropriate departmental chairperson or dean. This report must
be filed because it will be attached to the faculty member's application for a
future sabbatical leave before it is circulated to the committee. 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; and
4.
Other projects
satisfactory to the Committee on Sabbatical Leaves of Absence.
TERMS OF LEAVE
Sabbatical leave will be for
one semester at full salary or for one year at half salary. A sabbatical leave
need not be taken in a single academic year but may be divided over several
years. The sabbatical-leave program requires that persons on sabbatical leave
devote full time to the scholarly activity for which leave is granted and will receive
no salary or stipend from other sources than the University except that (l)
persons on leave for a year at half pay may engage in other scholarly activity
consistent with that for which leave is granted and receive salary, stipend, or
honoraria from other sources in such amounts that total salary, stipend, and
honoraria do not exceed approximately the annual income normally earned, and
(2) persons on leave may receive grants from other sources for travel and
research expenses incident to their scholarly activity.
ELIGIBILITY
A faculty member at Indiana University is eligible for one sabbatical leave
during each period of seven year's full-time service (including time on
sabbatical leave), following the completion of his first six years of full-time
service as a faculty member. For
example, a faculty member may be granted one sabbatical leave in his/her seventh,
eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, or thirteenth year of service, and one
in his fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth,
or twentieth year of service. Ordinarily, however, a sabbatical leave will not
be granted within less than four years following a preceding sabbatical leave.
For example, a faculty member who is granted sabbatical leave in his/her
twelfth year would not again be eligible until his/her seventeenth year. Leaves
without pay do not count as part of the period by which eligibility for
sabbatical leave is determined, except that recipients of nationally or
internationally competitive fellowships may count up to one year toward their
next sabbatical leave. The sabbatical-leave program applies only to persons who
will return to their positions at
SCHEDULING
As far as possible, departmental schedules should be arranged so as to permit
eligible members of the staff to take leaves. In arranging schedules, an
attempt should be made to minimize the cost of substitute instruction and the
disruption of the departmental program. To facilitate this
planning, faculty members who intend to apply for leave during any part
of one school year must give notice of intention to apply to the appropriate
departmental chairperson or dean by December l, and applications shall be in
the hands of the Committee no later than January l5 of the preceding school
year. Application forms may be obtained from the Chairperson of the Committee.
ADMINISTRATION
Applications for leave will initiate with the eligible faculty member. The
application will be routed through successive administrative stages for
appropriate action.
Department
The departmental chairperson
is responsible for making sure that no essential departmental and students'
needs are jeopardized because of the number of faculty members in a given area
on sabbatical leave. He will attach a statement showing the proposed schedule
adjustments to permit the leave and the additional staff or other expenditure
that may be necessary. The departmental chairperson (or corresponding officer)
is also responsible for attaching his specific evaluation of the faculty
member's project. He may utilize the advice of a departmental committee or of
individual colleagues, here or elsewhere. Whether he approves
the project or not, it must be forwarded to the Dean of the School and the Dean
of the Faculties.
Dean of the School or College
The dean will forward the
application to the Dean of the Faculties for determination of eligibility. The application,
if eligible, will then be transmitted to the Sabbatical Leaves Committee for
determination of the merit of the project.
Committee on Sabbatical Leaves of Absence
The Committee (consisting of
three members of the faculty, appointed by the Vice President, with the Dean
for Research and Graduate Development in addition, ex officio) will then
forward the application to the Dean of the Faculties with appropriate
recommendation for action. In arriving at its recommendation, the Committee
will take into consideration the record of accomplishment on previous
sabbatical leaves and may call on other members of the faculty, or on outside
experts, for an evaluation of the worth of the proposed program.
The Vice President's Office
may also call on the chairman of the department and the dean of the school or
college if scheduling problems are the only bar to the leave. If the number of
otherwise acceptable applications for one semester or year is so great as to
entail excessive expense to the University or an unreasonable increase in the teaching
load of resident staff, the Vice President's Office will of necessity have to
determine a schedule of priorities among the applications.
The applicant shall be given
the opportunity to make representation to the Committee, as well as to the Vice
President's Office, if he/she considers it advisable, to support his/her
application. The Dean of the Faculties will notify each applicant for sabbatical
leave of his/her recommendation to the Vice President, and a copy of the notification
will be sent to the appropriate department chairperson or dean. All administrative recommendations are subject
to final approval by the Board of Trustees. However, a favorable recommendation
by the Committee and the Dean of the Faculties establishes sufficient
likelihood of a grant of sabbatical leave so that applicants are justified in
proceeding with plans and arrangements for leave.