SABBATICAL FAQs
Office
of Academic Affairs and the
August
2007
Word
Format: Sabbatical
FAQs
PDF
Format: Sabbatical FAQs
1) I’d like to take a sabbatical next year. In a
nutshell, what are my options?
Sabbaticals
come in two basic forms, a semester at full salary or an academic year at half
salary.
2) Where can I find general information,
application guidelines, and forms?
General
information, guidelines, and forms can be found on our website at http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/download/download.html#lea. (As with other URL’s listed here, you may have to
scroll down to find the section you want.) For more detailed
information, click on the website’s links to the
3) I’ve looked at
the website and the Academic Guide,
and I have some questions. Is there someone in your office I can talk to?
Yes.
4) When am I entitled to take a sabbatical?
Technically, never. Much of the confusion
about sabbaticals results from the widely held but incorrect view of them as
entitlements. IU sees a sabbatical not as an entitlement, but as an investment
in a faculty member’s career that should benefit both the faculty member and
the university. Think of a sabbatical as something you’re eligible for if you
have an appropriate project, not something you’re entitled to.
5) Alright then, when am I eligible for a
sabbatical?
If you’re tenured,
once in every seven years of full-time service following your sixth year of
full-time service as a faculty member. Pretenure and non-tenure-track faculty
members are not eligible for sabbaticals.
Under some circumstances eligibility questions
can be tricky. If you want to check your eligibility, contact
6) What constitutes an appropriate sabbatical
project?
A sabbatical project must be focused on
research or creative activity. Projects that are primarily focused on teaching
are not eligible. In fact, probably the single most common reason for denying
an application is that it’s a request for time off to write a textbook.
7) What should my application contain?
The Sabbatical Leave Application form,
including directions and deadlines, can be found at: http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/download/download.html#lea
The form asks six questions (not
including the request for your signature). You should answer those questions in
enough detail for the Sabbatical Leaves Committee to evaluate your project
accurately (see FAQ #8 below). There is no set limit on the length of applications,
but as a rule of thumb a narrative of 2-4 pages is usually sufficient if it’s
well thought out.
The cover page requires the
approval of your department (if your school has departments) and your school,
as indicated by the signatures of your chair and dean (or appropriate associate
dean). Our office checks your eligibility, but you can always ask ahead of time
to be certain (see FAQ #5 above).
If you’ve had a previous
sabbatical and haven’t yet submitted the required report (see FAQ #16 below),
now is the time to do that. Your report doesn’t have to be routed through your
chair and dean; submit it directly to our office.
8) How will my application be evaluated?
The Sabbatical Leaves Committee consists of
four faculty members plus an Associate Dean of the Faculties (this year,
If both readers agree that your project is
appropriate, your application will be approved provisionally. (Final approval
comes from the Provost, but provisional approval from our office gives you
enough assurance to proceed with your planning.) If both
readers consider your project inappropriate, or if they disagree,
If your application is turned down, you’ll
receive a letter of explanation. If you disagree with the explanation, you will
have an opportunity to appeal to the committee; contact
9) I want to take
an academic-year sabbatical, but the August to May schedule doesn’t work for my
project. May I spread my sabbatical over two academic years?
Yes. Split sabbaticals are allowed, and the
application form makes provisions for them.
10) I’ve been
awarded a sabbatical, but my plans have changed, and I want to change the
timing. May I do that?
Yes, but you must request the change before
the start of your sabbatical as originally granted (see FAQ #13 below), and
approval is not automatic. Your change of plans can have instructional and
financial consequences for your department and/or school. Therefore, the change
needs to be approved by your department chair (in schools that have
departments) and your school dean, as well as our office.
If you just want to shift from one semester to
another within the same academic year as your original plan, your request can
usually be handled by e-mail. But if you’re proposing to move all or part of
your sabbatical to a different academic year, you have to submit a new
application and go through the review process again. In either case, if the
change is approved, your department will have to follow up by processing a new
e-doc for you.
11) I want to take an academic-year sabbatical,
which means IU will pay me only half my salary. May I supplement IU’s
contribution with funds from a fellowship or grant?
Yes, but your total compensation may not
exceed your regular salary. See External
Support in the section on sabbatical leaves in the Academic Guide (http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/acadguid/f.html#sles).
12) If I take a
full-year sabbatical (at half-pay), what will happen to my fringe benefits?
The University will
continue full life and medical insurance coverage in the case of an academic
year sabbatical leave at half pay, or a one-semester sabbatical at full pay.
Deductions for the appointee's share of the medical insurance premiums from
monthly payroll checks will be continued during the leave. During a semester or
academic-year sabbatical leave, however, IU Retirement Plan contributions will
be made based on the actual salary paid. Thus, if you take a sabbatical leave
at half pay, contributions will be made based on the half salary. You may, with
some restrictions, make additional voluntary contributions to your retirement
plan. Consult the University Human
Resource Services office for details.
13) I want to take
an academic-year sabbatical. May I supplement IU’s contribution by teaching at
another institution?
Yes, but because the focus of your sabbatical
is supposed to be research or creative activity, there are strict rules
governing teaching. See the Academic
Guide’s section on External Support
cited in FAQ #11. Again, your total compensation may not exceed your regular
salary.
14) I’m in the
middle of the first semester of an academic-year sabbatical and find I can’t
live on half my regular salary. May I switch to a one-semester sabbatical and
recoup the other half of my salary?
Sorry, but no. The best we can do is to allow
you to defer the second semester of your sabbatical until a time when half
salary will be less of a financial hardship. Accordingly, if you’re
contemplating an academic-year sabbatical without supplementary external funds,
think long and hard about whether you can really afford it.
This is one of the places where viewing a
sabbatical as an entitlement can get you into trouble. Remember, IU sees your
sabbatical not as an entitlement, but as a mutually beneficial investment in
your career development. It’s an agreement between you and the university, and
IU expects you to live up to your end of the bargain. If instead you start
thinking you’re entitled to your sabbatical and there must be some way to get
the other half of your money, you’ll inevitably end up proposing some scheme
that could technically constitute ghost employment, which is illegal.
15) I have
appointments in two units. Do both of them need to approve my sabbatical
application?
It
depends on how your salary is handled and where your teaching responsibilities
lie. If you have appointments in two instructional units but all your salary
comes through one of them and you regularly teach only in that one, it’s the
only one that has to sign off. (Notifying the other unit as a courtesy is a
good idea, of course.) On the other hand, if both units pay some of your salary
and you teach regularly in both of them, they both have to make financial and
instructional adjustments to cover your sabbatical. Therefore, they both have
to approve your application.
If one
of your appointments is in a non-instructional unit (for example, a research
center directorship), ask
16) In my field
creative activity is the expectation. Creative activity doesn’t always follow
the same timetables as research, and my project requires me to take my
sabbatical in multiple small increments, rather than a single block of time.
May I do that?
The
answer is a qualified “yes.” This question is complicated. Normally the minimal
sabbatical unit is one semester. While we recognize that faculty members in the
performing and studio arts can have special needs, we also realize that
small-increment sabbaticals can create major financial and instructional
difficulties for departments and schools. Getting your teaching covered can be
especially problematical.
If
you, your department, and your school all agree and can show that unusual
circumstances make a small-increment sabbatical the only feasible option, our
office will certainly work with everyone to overcome the obstacles. You can
help to maximize the chances of a successful resolution by giving all parties
plenty of advance notice, and therefore ample time to identify and avert
potential problems.
17)
I’ve completed my sabbatical. Now what do I need to do?
You
need to file a report with our office. You can find the form and instructions
on our website at http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/download/download.html#lea; click on the format
you prefer. Technically you’re supposed to file this report within three months
of the completion of your sabbatical, but we know that faculty members lead
busy lives, and many don’t meet the deadline. Our office treats late reports
leniently (see FAQ #7 above).
There
is a limit to our tolerance, however. We won’t allow you to take your next
sabbatical until you’ve filed a report on your previous one. This rule is
strictly enforced.
18) Don’t tell anybody, but I want to take my
sabbatical at another university because I’m considering a position there. Is
there anything I should know?
Yes. If you don’t return to IU for at least
one year immediately following your sabbatical, you’ll have to reimburse the university for the salary and fringe benefits it paid you
during your sabbatical. The very last sentence of the application form, placed
right above the signature line and italicized for emphasis, says: “In the
event I do not return for at least one year immediately following the sabbatical
leave, I agree to reimburse Indiana University for any salary, retirement
contributions, and insurance premiums paid during the sabbatical leave.” Your application won’t be approved
without your signature, which creates a legally binding contract to this
effect.
“Immediately following the sabbatical leave”
means that a promise to return someday as a visiting faculty member isn’t good
enough. Come back right away or be prepared to pay up.
19) I’m nearing
retirement, but I’ll also be eligible for one more sabbatical. May I take my
final sabbatical in the last or next-to-last semester before I retire?
No.
See FAQ #17 above. The same provision about returning for at least one year
applies to retirement, and your signature creates a legally binding contract.
You’ll have to come back for two semesters, so the latest you can take a
one-semester sabbatical is the third semester before you retire. The latest you
can begin an academic-year sabbatical is in the fourth semester before
retirement.
If
you’re eligible for both retirement and a sabbatical within the next five
years, it wouldn’t hurt to begin planning now.
20) I’m a
department chair (or school dean). If I’m thinking about making an offer of an
assistant professorship with credit toward tenure, or an offer of a tenured
position to someone who has been in rank at another university for several
years, may I also request credit toward sabbatical?
Yes, within limits. Normally our office
doesn’t approve more than two years’ credit toward sabbatical (or tenure, for
that matter), and the negotiations should be completed by the time of initial
appointment. If you’re contemplating an offer that might include credit toward
sabbatical, be sure to talk to