Sabbatical Leave Policies
DC Schools & University of Maryland

American University
Compensation: A faculty member will be paid his/her full budgeted salary during a Sabbatical Leave of one academic session or one-half of the budgeted salary during a Sabbatical Leave of two academic sessions.
Policy: A full-time tenured member of the faculty who has served the University for a period during which six years of full-time teaching has accrued, excluding periods during which the faculty member is on any other approved types of leave of absence for which there is no accrual of eligibility for sabbatical leave, is eligible for sabbatical leave. A faculty member may apply for Sabbatical Leave by addressing a written request to the teaching unit head and dean and by completing the Sabbatical Leave Form, available from the dean of academic affairs. The application for a Sabbatical Leave accompanying the Faculty Personnel Action Form must outline in detail an educational program which the applicant agrees to follow. This program must be approved by the appropriate departmental, school, or college committee, and the responsible academic officers as feasible and consistent with the applicant's professorial responsibilities. Sabbatical Leave is not granted for the purpose of taking remunerative employment of any sort, without specific justification of such employment as an educational endeavor, and approval by the relevant teaching unit council, dean, Committee on Faculty Relations, and the dean of academic affairs. A Sabbatical Leave is granted for a period of one or two regular academic sessions. While on Sabbatical Leave, the faculty member accrues time towards promotion. In unusual cases, a Sabbatical Leave may be authorized for two summers for faculty members appointed for service on a twelve-month basis. The faculty member on such a Sabbatical Leave receives his/her usual budgeted salary during two summers and the leave is recorded as a Sabbatical Leave for one academic session. The two-summer Sabbatical Leave is authorized primarily for the benefit of persons with administrative duties which make it difficult to release them for purposes of their own research and study during the fall and spring sessions. The fact that a faculty member has fulfilled the stated requirements for a Sabbatical Leave or that the applicant is strongly supported does not guarantee that the leave can be scheduled at the time preferred by the applicant. The needs of the University as well as budgetary and administrative considerations are important factors in the final determination. A Sabbatical Leave cannot be extended beyond the period for which it was originally granted. A faculty member on Sabbatical Leave who wishes to extend his/her leave may, however, apply for Leave Without Pay. If that is granted, the faculty member will be subject to all conditions governing such leaves. Faculty members who accept a grant of sabbatical leave are obligated not only to pursue the educational program for which the leave was granted but also to continue in the service of the University for at least one academic year following the leave period, unless other arrangements are agreed to by the University. After completing a Sabbatical Leave, a faculty member will not be eligible for another Sabbatical Leave until s/he has completed another period of six successive years of full-time service, excluding the periods of leave for which there is no accrual of eligibility for Sabbatical Leave, and after the faculty member has made application in the usual way. An exception may be made in the case of a faculty member who has been requested to defer a Sabbatical Leave for the convenience of the University. Such a faculty member may be considered for another leave after the expiration of a period of years following the deferred leave calculated by subtracting from six years the number of years by which the Sabbatical Leave was deferred (excluding other types of leave for which there is no accrual of eligibility for Sabbatical Leave). In order to define clearly the University's position and to protect the interests of faculty members who are asked to defer Sabbaticals, the provost must approve and confirm agreements for deferral of Sabbaticals for the convenience of the University. Requests should be directed to the provost with documentation, including a statement of the Sabbatical Leave project of the faculty member and a statement by the appropriate dean of the reason for deferral. Regardless of the total number of years of service, faculty members who elect not to take Sabbatical Leaves are at no time entitled to other types of leaves or payments in lieu thereof. Once a member of the Washington Semester Program faculty has served three years on a multi-year contract, s/he is eligible for sabbatical under the same terms and conditions as tenured faculty. After the first sabbatical, a member of the Washington Semester Program faculty will be eligible for sabbatical leave on the same timetable as tenured faculty.

George Washington University
Compensation: One semester at half salary or two semesters at 60% salary.
Policy: Every George Washington University professor, regardless of rank, is eligible for a sabbatical after six years of full-time service. The sabbatical can be for all or part of the seventh year. The only restrictions are 1) workload considerations for the department and 2) legitimacy of work/research/study to be done on sabbatical. An application must filed during the sixth year detailing what will be accomplished during the sabbatical, and a written report must be submitted on those accomplishments upon return. Faculty members are obligated to teach full-time for at least one full year after the sabbatical.

Georgetown University
Compensation: Normally the terms of sabbatical leave will be either one academic year at half basic pay or one semester at full salary.
Policy: In the interest of self-improvement, professional advancement, and productive scholarship, full-time faculty members of the rank of Assistant Professor and above are eligible for a sabbatical leave after six years or twelve semesters of service, from the date of initial appointment or following completion of the previous sabbatical leave. Leaves of absence neither count as semesters toward sabbatical eligibility nor require the clock for eligibility to restart. Exceptions to this service requirement (e.g., postponement for departmental exigencies) must be agreed upon in writing by the concerned parties. Delaying one sabbatical need not delay eligibility for future sabbaticals for faculty on the Main Campus, though, in order to bank the time, the faculty member must first apply for the sabbatical and get it approved. Applications must be made in writing through the Chair of the Department and appropriate Dean to the Provost or the appropriate Executive Vice President, not later than December 1 of the academic year preceding the year of absence. Only tenured faculty members on the Main Campus are eligible. An application from those faculty for sabbatical leave will be reviewed by the applicant's departmental Chair, program director, and the relevant Dean (including the Graduate Dean when appropriate). Their recommendations will be forwarded to the Provost or appropriate Executive Vice President, who will convene the Council of Deans with the expectation that all but the most unusual recommendations will be accepted without discussion. In general, sabbatical leaves will be granted when the University will not suffer undue academic inconvenience by such absence and when the applicant uses leave for research or for formal study and not to teach in another college or university. At the end of the leave period the faculty member is to report in writing to the Provost or appropriate Executive Vice President on the progress of research or formal study during that time. This report is to be submitted upon completion (customarily within thirty days) of the sabbatical. It is evident that the number of leaves granted in any academic year must be limited. All full-time faculty members of the Medical Center who are on a twelve-month salary basis are eligible to apply for sabbatical leave for twelve weeks with full salary. These faculty members are eligible to apply for sabbatical leave every four years. The above described procedure should be followed accordingly.
Since the award of a sabbatical is an investment which is meant to profit the institution as well as the individual, faculty are committed by the acceptance of this award to return to Georgetown after a sabbatical to teach for at least one year.

Howard University
Compensation: Most sabbaticals will be one year at half salary; in exceptional cases full salary for one semester may be provided.
Policy:
A sabbatical leave is not an automatic right upon completion of the necessary period of service. The project for which leave is requested must be beneficial both to the faculty member and to the university. Proposals to obtain an advanced degree will not qualify for sabbatical leave. Any tenured faculty member, including one serving in an administrative position, who has served full time for at least six years is eligible. Raises and benefits will continue as normal. If an outside grant or fellowship is received, the University share will only be difference between the grant and the faculty member’s normal salary. A faculty member must submit a formal application for sabbatical to the department chair. The Chair, along with the departmental Executive Committee will review the teaching burden the sabbatical will place on other faculty members before forwarding the request to the Dean. The application will then be forwarded to the Vice President, then the President, who makes the final decision. The faculty member must agree to make every reasonable effort to fulfill the terms of the sabbatical leave; to return to the university for at least one academic year following completion of the sabbatical leave; and file a report on the leave project with the Chair, dean, Sabbatical Leave Review Committee, and the Vice President within thirty days of their return.

University of Maryland
Compensation: One-half of the recipient's annual contract period at his or her normal compensation or for the full annual contract period at one-half normal compensation for both full and part-time faculty.
Policy:
The President of an institution may grant sabbatical leaves to faculty members. The primary purpose of such leaves is to provide an opportunity for a faculty member to conduct scholarly or creative work in order to increase his or her contribution to the mission of the institution, and to enhance his or her standing in the discipline or profession. To be eligible for sabbatical leave, a full-time faculty member shall have been granted tenure and shall have completed at least six years of service at the time of an initial sabbatical leave or since the last previously granted sabbatical leave. A part-time faculty member shall have been granted tenure and shall have completed six or more years of at least half-time service. Ordinarily, a leave of absence without pay shall not be regarded as service to the institution for purposes of determining eligibility for sabbatical leave. As a condition for receiving a sabbatical leave the recipient shall agree to return promptly to the institution at the termination of the leave and to serve on his or her normal basis for at least one academic year. During the period of sabbatical leave, the recipient will be permitted, with the approval of the President or designee, to accept, in addition to the compensation he or she receivesfrom the institution, grants, awards, contracts, fellowships, or other compensation or stipends as may be related to the approved sabbatical leave project. While on sabbatical leave, the recipient may accept compensation for consulting services rendered during the sabbatical leave, provided that such services shall not exceed those allowed by the University System Policy on Professional Commitment of Faculty, and that they do not interfere with his or her approved sabbatical leave project. Each institution shall develop procedures for implementation of this policy, including the requirement of a summary report on sabbatical activities by the faculty member. These procedures shall be filed with the office of the Chancellor.

NOTE: Catholic University is in the process of putting their Faculty Handbook on the Web and University of DC didn’t answer their phone.

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