Washington and Lee University
Undergraduate faculty applications for paid sabbatical leaves in the 2009 Spring Term, or for all or part of the 2009-2010 academic year, are due in the Office of the Provost by Monday, November 10, 2008. Sabbatical leaves, though seldom denied, are not an entitlement; they are granted for the purpose of professional development to enhance the ability of our faculty to be excellent teachers and scholars.
Before applying, please review the eligibility criteria and conditions in the Faculty Handbook. Faculty members taking advantage of the sabbatical leave program are expected to return to serve the University for a minimum of two years after completing the leave. Normally, tenured faculty are eligible for a full year of paid leave after serving full-time for four years. You also have the option to apply for a full year at half pay, or for a full year with an accompanying application for additional salary support (see "B. Funding for Full-year Sabbaticals" below). Grants to supplement salary are limited in number and quite competitive.
Although we will attempt to accommodate faculty on leave with working space on campus if requested, you should be advised that you may not be able to occupy your office during the leave. Owing to the press of space we are now experiencing, first priority for office space will be to accommodate teaching faculty.
Your leave application must include a detailed description of your leave project, project location, time required for completion, and the specific end product(s) of your proposed work. Before preparing your application, please discuss your leave plans with your department head to explain the professional purpose of the leave, and to determine whether and how your department can accommodate your absence for the proposed leave period. Note that funds for replacing teaching are very limited and should not be counted on unless the Dean has approved. Your department head must sign the application and provide a brief cover letter of support. Please send your application along with your department head’s cover letter to the Provost, with a duplicate copy to the Dean. Applications will be considered by the Advisory Committee.
When evaluating requests for paid leaves, the Advisory Committee must be satisfied that the proposal anticipates a well-defined outcome, such as:
1. the completion of a scholarly work, artistic product, or performance.
2. the development of a new teaching or programmatic initiative for the applicant.
Visiting teaching positions for paid leaves must be justified by their integral contributions to the above criteria and will not in any case be permitted to compensate for more than expenses associated with the sabbatical leave.
The Advisory Committee will assess proposals based on:
1. scholarly or artistic merit, and/or the potential for enhancement of pedagogy, courses, or curriculum; and
2. the past performance of the applicant in achieving the goals of earlier leaves granted by the University.
Proposals for a full-year leave that request additional salary funding are welcome, but bear in mind that funds are limited and the competition may be strong. Through the generosity of Mr. H.G. Lenfest, several internal grants that bring the annual salary to 85% of base pay will be available to tenured faculty in support of year-long sabbatical leaves. In addition, the new funding may allow as many as three additional grants supporting 100% of salary for tenured Associate Professors with exceptional scholarly promise who apply within 7 years of the tenure decision at W&L. Decisions on all full-year sabbatical funding will be made with the following considerations:
1. Applications must be submitted along with leave proposals (as explained in Section A above) to the Provost, with a copy to the school Dean, by November 10, 2008;
2. The Advisory Committee will review applications for funding according to the following criteria:
a. merits of the leave proposal as noted above under Section A.
b. evidence that the applicant has sought outside funding for the project. Summaries of external grant applications should be submitted along with the application for W&L funds. See http://fgs.wlu.edu/ for info and assistance for external funding.
c. preference for scholarly work over development of pedagogy or courses.
3. Conditions of grant awards:
a. leaves must be for a full year
b. leaves must be approved by the Advisory Committee, Dean, Provost, and President.
c. arrangements must be made through the department head to handle courses of person on leave as necessary to sustain curricular offerings.
d. for some types of funding, a public lecture on the research completed must be given sometime during the year following the sabbatical leave
e. any tenured faculty member taking advantage of the paid leave program is expected to return to serve the University for a minimum of two years after completing the leave.
4. If an application for external funding is successful after a W&L grant is awarded, the faculty member must notify the Provost immediately. The external award can be used along with the W&L grant to equal but not exceed the faculty member’s base salary for that year. Any W&L funding thus released by the use of the external award may be used to fund another faculty member who was wait-listed for a grant.