Sabbatical.
The Boston University School of Public Health (SPH) grants sabbatical leaves for the purpose of encouraging faculty members to engage in scholarly research or other activities leading to professional growth and an increased capacity for service to the University. After each period of at least six years of full-time service at Boston University, faculty members may be considered for a sabbatical leave consisting of one half year at full salary coverage or one full year at 50% salary coverage. To make sabbatical leave possible, responsibilities within the department will be adjusted to take account of the faculty member’s absence. A faculty member on sabbatical leave retains all employee benefits during the leave period.
Eligibility
Full-time faculty members with standard professorial titles (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor) or with Clinical, Research, or of the Practice modifiers of those titles, are eligible for sabbatical leaves (with the exception of associate deans and department chairs, who are not eligible for sabbatical while serving in their leadership roles). Faculty members may apply for a sabbatical leave after each period of at least six years of full-time service at Boston University. For the purpose of eligibility, full-time is defined as a minimum of 75% effort. Periods of service that include a paid or unpaid leave of absence, a Workload Reduction for Primary Caregivers, or a sabbatical leave does not count towards service eligibility. Faculty members who have received a letter of warning or a notice of non-continuance are not eligible for sabbatical leave until returning to a status of good standing.
Application Process
A request for a sabbatical leave must be submitted for consideration at least 12 months prior to the proposed start date. Sabbaticals must have a start date of either July 1 or January 1. The request shall be made in the form of a letter to the department chair that includes the following: (a) a proposed plan for scholarly work or other activity leading to professional growth, (b) a proposed plan for covering their teaching, advising, administrative, and service responsibilities that they plan to relinquish during their absence, and (c) a detailed summary of their salary coverage that will be supported by external sources (i.e., NIH, CDC, VA, USAID, foundations, etc.) during the sabbatical leave.
The expectation is that faculty members will continue externally funded activities during the sabbatical leave if the activities are important to the faculty member’s professional growth or are essential to the successful completion of a project. However, in some cases, given the particular nature of the funded activities, it may be acceptable to reassign externally funded activities if it is either (a) not be possible to perform the activities while on sabbatical or (b) not in the best interest of the faculty member’s career development to continue the activities while on sabbatical.
Obtaining external funds to support a sabbatical (via fellowship, grant, Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement, etc.) is encouraged but not required. If the sabbatical leave is to be supported by a funding mechanism that prohibits the continuation of other funded activities (e.g., American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship), then these details should also be described in the letter.
Decision
The department chair will review the merits of the request with respect to the faculty member’s goals for professional growth while also considering the feasibility of the proposed plan for covering the faculty member’s teaching, advising, administrative, and service responsibilities during the sabbatical. If necessary, the chair will work with the faculty member to revise their sabbatical request to reflect the updated plan for covering these responsibilities. Within four weeks of receiving the request, the department chair will inform the faculty member of his/her recommendation and forward the request letter and their recommendation to the Dean. The Dean will review the merits of the request and, after consultation with the chair, inform the faculty member of the decision to approve or deny the request. The faculty member will receive a written explanation for the decision.
If approved, the faculty member must agree to return to full-time service for at least one year following the conclusion of the sabbatical leave. If the sabbatical leave will involve a relocation or a suspension of externally funded activities, then the faculty member should coordinate with the principal investigator and outside funder of each affected project.
A sabbatical request may be denied based on merit and past performance in which case the written explanation will provide feedback intended to help the faculty member improve their sabbatical plan and ensure that the proposed activities allow them to achieve their professional development goals. After considering feedback, the faculty member may submit a revised request without prejudice within one year of denial.
A sabbatical request may be denied because it is not possible for the department to reassign responsibilities during the absence. If a meritorious request is denied for this reason, the applicant and the chair shall devise a plan that would facilitate the coverage of department need to allow the sabbatical in future. In the event that sabbatical is thereafter granted, the year or years of denial on the basis of departmental needs will be credited toward eligibility for the subsequent sabbatical.
A sabbatical request may be denied because there are insufficient resources available at SPH to fund the sabbatical. Unlike the Charles River Campus, SPH utilizes a school-based budgeting system. SPH may establish a cap on the number and/or dollar amount of sabbaticals that will be approved in a given fiscal year. Any caps should be set with the aim of balancing the important role that sabbaticals play in faculty development with the need to responsibly manage the annual budget of the school.
The Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Advancement will receive a copy of each sabbatical decision letter from the Dean to maintain records of all sabbatical applications and approvals. A summary of the data will be reviewed periodically by the Research and Faculty Advancement Committee and shared annually with SPH faculty.