Policies & Procedures
2009-2010 FACULTY SABBATICAL PROGRAM

Purpose

The purpose of the program is to enable faculty members to be engaged in intensive study in order to become more effective teachers and scholars and to enhance their services to the University. Sabbatical leaves may be granted for the purposes of enhancing teaching, course and curriculum development or conducting research or any other scholarly activities related to instructional programs within the field of expertise of the faculty member taking such leave. In recognition of the fact that sabbatical leaves are funded by UWM and are to serve UWM’s purposes, projects that support UWM’s mission will be considered. Additionally, the following emphases have been identified by the Board of Regents for the sabbatical program: interdisciplinary activities, collaborative program activities, international education, and application of technology to instruction and distance education.
 

Eligibility

• A faculty member must have completed six or more years of full-time instructional service as ranked faculty, or its equivalent, in the UW System and not have taken a sabbatical within the UW System during the previous six years of full-time service, or its equivalent.
  
• Leaves of absence, regardless of source of funding (including personal resources and duly approved extensions to the probationary period "Tenure Clock Extensions") will be excluded in determining a faculty member's years of full-time service.

• Preference shall be given to those making significant contributions to teaching and who have not had a leave of absence, regardless of source of funding, in the previous four years.

• A sabbatical will not be awarded to
  • a faculty member denied reappointment to a permanent position in the year following the sabbatical leave.
  • a faculty member who does not plan to return to UWM for at least one academic year of service after the termination of the sabbatical.
    
    
• In accord with UWS 1.04, "ranked faculty" is defined as persons holding the rank of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or professor in an academic department or its functional equivalent.
   
• Part-time faculty have the same waiting period as full-time faculty, but their sabbatical appointment will be based upon the percentage of their faculty appointment.
   

Types of Sabbatical Leaves

Two types of sabbatical leaves are available to UWM faculty members:

1. A faculty member may take a sabbatical leave for an academic year and receive from UWM financial support at any level up to sixty-five percent of his/her full compensation for that period.
   
2. A faculty member may take a sabbatical leave for one semester of the academic year and receive from UWM financial support at any level up to his/her full compensation for that period.

Conditions (derived from UW System Policy ACPS 3.3)

The following conditions govern the faculty sabbatical program at UWM.

1. Salary funds generated by academic-year sabbatical leaves, leaves without pay, by personnel turnover, or by personnel reassignment from GPR support may be used to employ, where necessary, temporary replacement instructional staff to maintain the level and quality of instructional services to students. The salary funds generated by academic-year sabbatical leaves will be placed in a campus account from which they will be drawn to provide support for temporary replacement instructional staff. We expect to provide $6,000.00 per faculty member on leave per semester to support replacement instructional costs, subject to availability of salary funds in the sabbatical account. These are the only funds available at the campus level for the replacement of faculty on sabbatical leave.
   
2. For a faculty member on sabbatical leave, the UW System will report earnings, creditable service, and contributions to the Wisconsin Retirement System at the full-time rate based on the rate of pay in effect immediately prior to the beginning of the sabbatical. In addition, leave benefits will continue to accrue at the rate in effect immediately prior to the sabbatical. Faculty members are encouraged to contact the Benefits Office with questions prior to submitting the proposal.
   
   
3. A faculty member may receive and is encouraged to seek supplementary grants or other awards while on sabbatical leave, but such compensation, when combined with the amount of compensation received from UWM, shall not exceed the full compensation normally received from UWM for that period. A faculty member must specify all grants or other awards applied for or to be received during the leave in his/her application for the sabbatical program. Such additional grants or awards may be received by a faculty member only if the conditions for accepting the additional resources do not interfere with the stated purposes of a faculty member's sabbatical program.
   
   
4. A faculty member may seek additional support specifically for travel or unusual living expenses incident to the sabbatical program without restriction by the full-compensation maximum (see condition #3 above).
   
   
5. A faculty member may not use the sabbatical leave to accept other paid employment during the period of the leave, unless as stipulated as a condition of the leave. If so stipulated, condition #3 is operative.
   
   
6. A faculty member must agree to return to UWM for at least one academic year of service after the termination of the sabbatical, or repay any compensation (salary, plus the University's share of fringe benefits) received from UWM during the sabbatical.
   
   
7. Sick leave reports must be filed in accordance with current policies by a faculty member during the sabbatical leave period.
   
8. Within three months of returning to UWM after the sabbatical period, a faculty member must submit to the Department Chair, Dean's office, and the Provost, a written report outlining the accomplishments during the sabbatical leave (1-2 pages).
   Every faculty member submitting a sabbatical proposal is required to execute an agreement signifying compliance with the terms and conditions of the sabbatical leave program.
   

The Proposal

Each proposal should include necessary and sufficient details to enable its merits to be evaluated. The proposal must contain:

• Completed proposal cover page with the required signatures.
• An abbreviated curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum)
• A description of the proposed program including the purpose of the leave, the activities undertaken, and the anticipated benefits to the instructional mission of the department, program or school/college.
• A list of all grants and pending awards to be used during the sabbatical.
• A signed copy of the completed sabbatical agreement.
• Electronic copies (in MS Word format) of the cover page abstract and the abbreviated curriculum vitae.

The proposals must be submitted to the department chair by the deadline set by the department. When a faculty member has split appointments, approval must be obtained from all concerned departments.

The Selection Procedure

Individual proposals will be reviewed first at the departmental level by the executive committee. Where a department receives multiple proposals, the executive committee shall rank the proposals. Upon approval by the executive committee, the department chair will forward three copies of the proposal to the appropriate Dean by October 8, 2008 along with a letter providing the following information:

• the executive committee’s approval for the proposal
• the department's plans for replacing the individual's responsibilities for the term of the leave (colleague coverage, temporary staff, etc)
• the ranking with rationale of all proposals approved by the department
• a brief statement of the anticipated benefits to the department if the sabbatical leave is granted.

Deans will review the proposals from their schools/colleges and consider the immediate implications for the department's operation during the term of leave, and the school or college's capacity to provide instruction replacement with the available replacement funds.

Deans will also certify the eligibility of each applicant under these guidelines. When a faculty member has split appointments, approval must be obtained from all concerned departments and deans.

The Dean will rank the full year and the one semester proposals separately and forward two copies of each recommended proposal in rank order along with the Executive Committee recommendations to the Provost by October 20, 2008. In the event that a proposal recommended by the executive committee is not forwarded by the Dean, the Dean will so inform the executive committee and the Provost. The Dean must also submit to the Provost electronically a file containing the abbreviated vitae and the cover page abstract of all forwarded proposals from the school/college.

The Provost will review the Deans' recommendations and the individual proposals and select those sabbatical leave proposals to be submitted to UW-System Administration by November 3, 2008. The total number of proposals selected by the Provost will be determined by the replacement funding available. In the event that a proposal recommended by the Dean is not forwarded to UW-System, the Provost will so inform the Dean.

Deadlines

The deadline for receipt of proposals in the Dean's office is October 8, 2008.

The deadline for the Dean's nominations to the Provost is October 20, 2008.

The Provost will report the selections to UW System Administration by November 3, 2008.

Adhering to this timetable is necessary to meet the deadline for the December Board of Regents meeting at which time the sabbatical leave requests are presented to the Board.

Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (ACV)

Each sabbatical applicant is asked to develop an abbreviated curriculum vitae (ACV). You are requested to conform to the provided outline, develop the ACV using MS Word (or an ASCII text file), and provide the file electronically. Please use this outline, limiting your ACV to a maximum of 2 pages (1" margins, no smaller than 10 point font):

1) Name (Bold and Center)

2) Current Rank & Department (Center)

3) School/College (Center)

4) University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (key in as is, centered)

      [Left align the reminder of the items]

5) Degrees (most to least recent)

6) Academic Experience (higher education only, post-terminal degree)

7) Primary Area of Instructional Interest (brief explanation)

8) Primary Area of Research/Scholarly/Creative Interest (brief explanation)

9) Extramural Funding (summarize, highlighting previous 5 years)

10) Professional Contributions (e.g. involvements in learned societies, editorial review panels)

11) Awards (list any formal recognition received deemed relevant to the application)

12) Other (please feel free to list relevant items not covered elsewhere)