S96-7 SABBATICAL POLICY; SEE ALSO DIFFERENCE IN PAY LEAVES

Legislative History:

Rescinds S92-8.

At its meeting of April 8, 1996, the Academic Senate approved the following Policy Recommendation presented by David McNeil for the Professional Standards Committee.

ACTION BY THE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT:

"Approved as University Policy" Signed Robert Caret, 5/30/96.

POLICY RECOMMENDATION

SABBATICAL POLICY

I.Purpose:

The purpose of sabbatical leaves, is to benefit the University, its students and its programs through the professional development of its faculty as teachers and scholars. Projects which, because of their scope, cannot be undertaken in the course of a faculty member's full-time responsibilities and which propose to benefit the University in at least one of the following ways (not listed in rank order) are eligible for consideration: scholarly, creative, and/or professional activities; activities which enhance a faculty member's pedagogical and/or professional competencies; projects which contribute significantly to the development of a discipline or curricular area.

II. Eligibility:

According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, a full-time faculty unit employee shall be eligible for a sabbatical leave, "if he/she has served full-time for six (6) years at that campus in the preceding seven (7) year period prior to the leave and at least six (6) years after any previous sabbatical leave or difference-in-pay leave. Credit granted towards the completion of the probationary period for service elsewhere shall also apply towards fulfilling the eligibility requirements for a sabbatical. A leave of absence without pay or service in an academic administrative appointment excluded from the bargaining unit shall not constitute a break in service for eligibility requirements."

III.Procedures:

A. Application

The application shall provide: 1) a detailed description of the plan to carry out the project, including, if appropriate, a description of any preparatory work scheduled before the leave or of pertinent completed work; 2) a statement of the project's benefit to the University in one or more of the ways listed above; 3) evidence of the applicant's ability to complete the project; 4) a statement that the final report of a previous San José State University sabbatical leave or difference in pay leave has been filed In addition, the application shall state the amount of leave time requested and what CSU resources, if any, are necessary for the project's implementation. The applicant's c.v. or professional resumé must be attached to the application.

B. Evaluating Applications

Each college shall adopt a professional leaves policy which provides for the election of a college professional leaves committee by the probationary and tenured faculty members of the unit. Provisions must be made to disqualify applicants for sabbatical leaves or difference-in-pay leaves from serving on such a committee.

The Faculty Affairs Office shall set the calendar and distribute applications each spring semester for the following academic year, to each eligible faculty unit employee. Eligible faculty shall follow this calendar and submit applications to the department chair. The chair shall write a statement regarding the impact of the absence of the proposer(s) from his/her department on the curriculum and operation of the department, and explaining any benefits to the department were the application to be approved The chair's statement shall be provided to the college professional leaves committee and dean, with a copy to the proposer, who has seven calendar days to respond in writing to the college dean, with a copy to the chair.

In each college the professional leaves committee shall review the proposals submitted by faculty members in their college. The committee shall evaluate and rank individual applications according to the criteria listed in Section 4 below. Applications which do not meet the criteria shall receive a recommendation against funding. For each application, the professional leaves committee shall provide a written evaluation explaining the strengths and/or weaknesses of the proposal. A copy of the evaluation and recommendation for each application shall be provided to the proposer, who has seven calendar days to respond in writing to the dean, with a copy to the department chair.

The dean shall review the applications, chairs' statements, the recommendations of the college professional leaves committee, and any responses from proposers. The dean shall recommend in writing to the President that each application be approved, disapproved, or postponed, and shall state the reasons for the recommendation. A copy of the recommendation shall be provided to the proposer, who has seven calendar days to respond in writing to the President, with a copy to the department chair and dean.

The President, after considering all prior recommendations and any response from the applicant, shall notify each applicant of the final status of the application. Such notification shall include in writing the reasons for approval or denial, and any conditions of the leave. A copy of this notice shall be provided to the applicant's department chair, dean, and college committee.

C. Sabbatical Report

Within six weeks after returning to service at San José State University, the faculty member shall submit a written report via the dean to Faculty Affairs. In addition, faculty members returning from leave are encouraged to present the results of the sabbatical leave at departmental, college or university forums.

IV.Criteria:

The major criterion for evaluating applications for sabbaticals, is the benefit to the University in one or more of the following ways, not listed in rank order: through the project's contributions to scholarship, to creative activities and/or professional advances; through the project's contribution to curricular development; through the project's contribution to the improvement of instruction or academically-related areas and/or the instructional or professional skills of the applicant. Additional criteria are the applicant's ability to carry out the proposal, the planning evidenced in the detailed description of the proposal, and the time-lines for the completion of the project.