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Faculty Sabbatical Leave

Sabbatical Leave is intended to provide time and resources for qualified tenured faculty members to revitalize themselves in order to become more effective teachers and scholars and to enhance their services to the University.

A tenured faculty member (or those who will have tenure at the time of sabbatical leave) is eligible to apply for a professional leave after serving six years of service or six years after their return from a previous professional leave. The sabbatical leave occurs during the faculty member’s seventh year of service, or the academic year after the faculty member applies. Leaves are awarded to coincide with the normal academic semester dates.

The University will provide salary support for the period of the leave as follows:

  • One year – roughly two-thirds salary (65%) for a full-year of leave;
  • One semester – full salary (100%) for a leave of one semester.

A faculty member is encouraged to seek supplementary grants or other awards while on sabbatical leave, provided they are routed through normal university channels and do not interfere with the stated purposes of a faculty member’s sabbatical program. Supplemental funding from a university appropriation, not to exceed 100% of salary, may be granted for unusual circumstances with approval from the Provost.

The following serves as a quick reference for procedures and deadlines. First read Boise State Policy #4400 for full details of policies and procedures regarding sabbatical leave.

Application Procedures for Sabbatical Leave

Before the Leave

A faculty member desiring sabbatical leave must submit an Intent to Apply for Sabbatical Leave Form on or before October 31st. Our team will create an application for you in RPT to begin the process once we have your information. You should expect a notification that your application in RPT is ready on or before November 15th. While you are waiting for your application to be created, you can begin the work of assembling the documents listed in Policy # 4400 (listed below). Your completed application is due December 1st.

A job-aid for submitting sabbatical applications in RPT can be found here.

Required Sabbatical Leave Application Materials:

  1. Abstract of leave proposal not to exceed 50 words;
  2. Statement of sabbatical leave plans with the following information. (This section cannot exceed 6 letter-quality typed pages.)
    1. Detailed description of activities to be engaged in: e.g., research, writing or library work, study and/or travel. Goals, objectives and methodology to achieve such should be clearly specified. Use language understood by a person unfamiliar with your area of expertise. Specific jargon should be avoided or explained.
    2. List any foundations, institutions, or other organizations with which you will be affiliated during the sabbatical leave period. Indicate what facilities and/or personnel are of particular relevance to your project.  A letter from the affiliated organization specifying the nature of the arrangement must be provided at the time of application.
    3. A timeline and calendar of activities.
    4. If the project is dependent on research grant or funds not in hand at the time application for sabbatical leave is made, a statement must be provided as to how the project will be completed without receipt of such funds or an alternate proposal must be submitted.
    5. Statement of anticipated outcomes: e.g., benefits to the University, its students, the community, and to self (i.e., publications, recitals, exhibits).
    6. Supporting bibliography.
  3. Two letters of peer review. The authors of these letters must be familiar with the detailed plans and must be professionally qualified to evaluate the proposal on its research methodology and merit. One of these letters must come from off campus. Peer review letters may not come from the department Chair.
  4. CV of no more than 6 pages containing the most pertinent information that may include: on educational background, previous professional or scholarly work, publications, creative activities, and pertinent university and/or community service must be included.

Upon receipt of an application for professional leave, the Chair / supervisor prepares either a statement of recommendation approving the leave addressing performance, competence of the applicant, the value of the project to the individual and the department, document financial requirements and instructional needs of the department to replace the applicant (such as usual teaching load of the applicant and the expected course replacement needs of the department); or a statement disapproving the leave and stating the reasons for disapproval. The Chair / supervisor forwards the application and recommendation to the Dean on or before January 2nd, who, in turn approves and forwards the complete application to the Provost on or before January 15th.

The Office of the Provost will forward the application and letters to the Sabbatical Committee on or before January 31st.

The Sabbatical Committee will deliberate and make their recommendations for approval to the Provost in a timely manner and the Provost will notify candidates of the decision to approve or deny within four weeks of receipt.

During the Leave

To maintain the integrity of instruction during the faculty member’s sabbatical leave, the Provost Office provides funds to hire replacement teaching instructors.  Departments submit a Request for Instructional Replacement Costs form to the Provost Office for the amount approved by the Sabbatical Committee and Chair.  Funds are provided in the semester they are requested.

Note:  Only appropriated funds are provided for on-campus courses only.  Replacement funds are not provided for online, off-campus or self-support courses.

After the Leave

Within one month of the start of classes in the semester of their return to the university, the faculty member must submit a written report of sabbatical activities and accomplishments, Post Sabbatical Leave Report, through the RPT system. The faculty member must then notify the Office of the Provost of this submission (provfinance@boisestate.edu). The report must contain:

  1. State proposed goals and a summary of work completed toward the goals; and
  2. Contain information on how the new knowledge will be utilized in continuing his /her institutional responsibilities and any other benefits to the university as a result of the sabbatical leave.

Upon receipt of the report, the Department Chair will review the report and approve or deny through the RPT system. The report will then be forwarded to the Dean. Providing there is concurrence with the Chair’s review, the Dean will approve the report and will forward the report to the Provost for review. If accepted, the Provost will approve the report and forward the report to the University Library for placement in the Archives. The University Archivist will confirm approval of the completed report with the faculty member.

A faculty member must return to the University and work for the University as a full-time faculty member for the period of at least one (1) year following completion of the sabbatical leave. Failure to comply with this agreement shall constitute an obligation on the faculty member’s part to repay the University any remuneration given to the faculty member from the University during the period of the leave.

Additional Resources