ould be
made through the departmental chair and the academic dean to the vice
president for academic affairs. These requests should be in writing and should
include a statement of the purpose for which the sabbatical or leave is
requested. Cases where the decision is in doubt will be referred for
recommendation to the Advisory Committee by the Office of Academic Affairs.
3. In making
recommendations for sabbaticals and leaves, the vice president for academic
affairs will take into consideration the purpose of the sabbatical or leave and
the eligibility of the applicant. The following principles in regard to
eligibility are intended to serve as norms in practice with the understanding
that exceptions may be made as the circumstances require.
(a) The purpose
of the sabbatical is for research, study, writing, or other creative work
contributing to the professional development and effectiveness of the recipient
as a scholar and teacher. It should not be granted primarily for purposes of
health or rest, nor for general travel except as this may serve the main
purpose. The sabbatical may not be used for purposes of salaried services
elsewhere except with Fulbright appointments or other similar assignments where
sabbatical salary or a part of it is necessary for fulfillment of sabbatical
purposes, the amount of such sabbatical salary needed for such purposes to be
determined by the Board of Trustees on recommendation of the president after
consultation with the faculty member
involved.
(b) The purpose of the leave is to allow the
recipient to benefit from outside grants for scholarly or teaching purposes, to
render professional service to public or private studies or programs, to gain
experience in other groups or universities, or to accept other unusual
opportunities for personal or professional growth. Other leaves for the sake of
health or strictly personal reasons are matters of special arrangements with the
president. In general, such special leaves, unless excessive, should not be at
the expense of normal sabbatical opportunities but may be at the expense of
regular leaves as defined above. Such leaves, however, will not count as
semesters of full-time service towards the accrual of sabbatical eligibility.
(c) A
faculty member is eligible for a semester’s sabbatical after every three years
of full-time service on the Wesleyan faculty or for a year’s sabbatical after
every six years of such service, subject to the qualifications in (g) and (h)
below; and in addition is eligible for a semester’s or a year’s leave after
every three years of such service, the actual incidence of sabbaticals and
leaves being determined by consideration of the circumstances of one’s
department.
(d) An appointee
to the faculty who has had two or more years of previous full-time service as a
member of a college or university faculty may apply for a semester’s sabbatical
earlier than usual, the actual incidence of such a sabbatical being determined
by consideration of the circumstances of one’s department.
(e) The total of
sabbaticals and leaves should not be more than one year in every four. In
general, a schedule should be observed that will separate all full years of
absence of an individual (whether on sabbatical or leave or a combination of
both) by three consecutive years of teaching.
(f) There shall
be no accumulation of credit toward longer sabbaticals or leaves or combinations
of the two (for example, two consecutive years of absence after 6 years of
teaching service, or three consecutive years of absence after 9 years of
teaching service, etc.).
(g) In exceptional circumstances, absences of up
to two contiguous years may be recommended by the department and approved by the
president, with the understanding that the absentee will indicate not later than
December 31 of the second year whether or not he/she will return the year
following. Failing a positive indication at that time the absentee’s appointment
will be deemed to lapse as of the ensuing June 30.
(h) Departmental
recommendations for extensions of appointment for persons taking leaves of
unusual duration (i.e., leaves totaling three terms or more, continuous or not)
will be submitted to close scrutiny by the vice president for academic affairs,
with attention both to equity and to the
scholarly advancement of the applicant.
(i) A full-time, tenured/tenure-track faculty
member or a full-time adjunct faculty member on the instructional budget and on
a multiyear contract may take a one-semester full parental leave with two-thirds
salary without loss of benefits or status, or, if she or he prefers, may take a
partial parental leave by teaching a reduced load of at least one full course
for a semester at full salary without loss of benefits or status. The latter
option counts as a semester of service towards the accrual of sabbatical
eligibility, the former does not. This parental leave policy is available to men
and women and to the parents of adopted children as well as children born to the
parents. If both parents (or domestic partners as defined by University benefits
policies) are eligible for a faculty parental leave benefit, they may either
share one parental leave or designate one to take it. If one of the parents or
domestic partners is a Wesleyan staff member, they may either share one leave or
designate one to take the leave for which the faculty or staff member is
eligible. The details for sharing a faculty and a staff parental leave must be
approved by the Office of Academic Affairs. The leave will normally be taken the
semester in which the birth or adoption occurs or the semester immediately
after. If a child is born or adopted between semesters, the leave may be taken
the semester immediately after. In certain unusual circumstances, faculty
members who intend to take a partial parental leave may fulfill their teaching
obligation for that leave by offering the scheduled course in the semester prior
to or after their parental leave. As per the university's policy on teaching
loads, if enrollment in such courses is fewer than five students, the course
will not be credited to the instructor's teaching load, and the instructor will
be expected to make up the deficit in a later semester. This option may be taken
only if it can be shown to be in the best interests of the department or program
as well as that of the faculty member. Faculty who avail themselves of this
option must be available for other university responsibilities during the
parental leave semester as is normally the case for faculty on partial parental
leaves. Approval for this option has to be obtained in advance from the Office
of Academic Affairs.
This policy is
flexible on the question of whether the leave semester must count toward the
canonical time for a tenure or promotion decision. If the parental leave
concludes before a faculty member submits his or her dossier to the department
for a tenure decision, the faculty member has until the end of
the leave (but no later) to declare whether the semester’s full or partial leave
will count or not as a semester toward her or his probationary tenure period. If
the faculty member decides to count the leave semester toward the probationary
period or if a leave is not taken, the appointment contract and the schedule for
personnel decisions are not affected. If the faculty member decides not to count
the semester toward her or his probationary period, the leave will have the
effect of extending the appointment contract and the canonical time of personnel
decisions for nontenured faculty. If the parental leave concludes after a
faculty member submits his or her dossier to the department for a tenure
decision, the schedule for the tenure decision is unaffected, and the faculty
member must have the support of both the department and the vice president for
academic affairs for the contract to be extended. This parental leave policy
does not supersede the benefit that parents of adopted children enjoy for
reimbursement of expenses associated with adoption. Consistent with university
policy, this parental leave is a paid leave, which may not be used for purposes
of salaried services elsewhere. The chair of the faculty member’s department
will consult with the Office of Academic Affairs on appropriate replacements for
courses lost as a result of the parental leave.
(j) A
non-tenured faculty member is not eligible for a sabbatical in the last two
years of a terminal appointment.
(k) Sabbatical
eligibility for non-tenure-track faculty: Faculty members serving more than
half-time on renewable, multiyear appointments are eligible for a semester’s
sabbatical after every five years of service. The purpose of the sabbatical is
enhancement of professional skills and knowledge, and the activity undertaken
during the sabbatical must be directly related to the applicant’s teaching. The
term of the sabbatical will be pro-rated according to the average full-time
equivalency during the preceding five years.
4. Following a
leave or sabbatical the recipient should write a letter to the vice president
for academic affairs via the academic dean, indicating the benefits realized.
5. The extent to
which this sabbatical and leave policy can actually be supported will depend
necessarily on budget considerations. In recognition of this, the following
practices are recommended as ways by which the cost of the program may be
minimized.
(a) Faculty
members are requested to secure research grants or funds from outside sources
when feasible, in lieu of sabbatical stipends.
(b) Departments
should plan their offerings in such a way that sabbaticals can be taken without
the provision of replacements.
