Policy 3116: Sabbatical Leave

Category: Human Resources
Sub Category: Benefits
Covered Individuals: Tenured Faculty
Responsible Executive: Provost and Executive Vice President
Policy Custodian: Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, Executive Vice Provost
Last Revised: 2025/06/20
Previous USU Policy Number: 365
Download the PDF File for Policy 3116

3116.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE

This Policy defines eligibility, application standards, compensation standards, and the responsibilities of faculty and supervisors for the administration of sabbatical leave.

3116.2 POLICY

Sabbatical leave is a professional leave of absence with compensation for tenured faculty members for a year or fraction thereof, as determined by the appropriate department head, dean, director, or vice president in conjunction with the Provost, to renew, update, and broaden the tenured faculty’s teaching, research, or professional skills and knowledge.

A tenured faculty member must be employed with the rank of instructor or higher for, at minimum, at least six years at the University to be eligible for a sabbatical leave.

After completing a sabbatical leave, a minimum of six additional years of professional service to the University are required to be eligible for any additional sabbatical leave. Any leave period of one semester or more does not earn credit toward sabbatical leave privileges.

An eligible faculty member on sabbatical leave is eligible for advancement in rank and any general or special adjustment in salary received by other faculty members of the University.

Eligible faculty members are strongly encouraged to use sabbatical leave for advanced study or research at an institution with a distinguished reputation or for significant professional association with a reputable organization.

2.1 Application for Sabbatical Leave

Eligible faculty members planning for sabbatical leave must consult with their department heads or supervisors to determine whether their plans are feasible before making any commitments to the faculty member or the University.

  • Eligible faculty members shall apply for sabbatical leave by completing an official application by the deadlines specified in the Sabbatical Leave Procedures.

2.2 Sabbatical Leave and Scheduling

As far as possible, departmental schedules shall permit eligible faculty members to take sabbatical leaves. Departmental schedules shall minimize the disruption of departmental programs and activities caused by sabbatical leaves. Requests for leaves from eligible faculty members of small or large departments shall receive equal consideration by deans, directors, vice presidents, and the Provost.

2.3 Sabbatical Leave Compensation

Compensation for sabbatical leave shall be calculated as a portion of the annual base salary at the academic year or fiscal year full-time equivalent (FTE) for the months taken as sabbatical leave under the following schedule:

12-month sabbatical 80% fiscal year FTE salary
Two-semester sabbatical 80% academic year FTE salary
6-month sabbatical 100% fiscal year FTE salary
One-semester sabbatical 100% academic year FTE salary

Sabbatical leave for one semester will be granted only in special circumstances where such leave is primarily in the interest of the University.

An eligible faculty member is covered by benefits while on sabbatical leave, provided the usual premium deductions are made from their salary.

2.4 Sabbatical Leave and Other Employment

A faculty member on sabbatical leave may accept a fellowship, an assistantship, or professional employment in their field of specialization. The University shall not be obligated to pay more than that amount of sabbatical compensation, which, when added to the outside source of compensation, will equal 100% of the faculty member's annual base salary (academic year at 1.0 FTE salary plus full summer months; or fiscal year 1.0 FTE salary) for the leave.  Any compensation above the annual base salary would require extra-service compensation approval (Policy 3201: Extra-Service Compensation). If an outside source provides a transportation allowance, the amount of this allowance will be disregarded when computing the contribution to be made by the University.

2.5 Sabbatical Leave and Employee Benefits

All employee benefits apply to a faculty member on sabbatical leave, except for vacation and sick leave accrual. Vacation leave is not earned, and sick leave is not permitted for faculty members while on sabbatical leave. However, any vacation leave and/or sick leave accrued by a faculty member prior to the commencement of sabbatical leave will remain to the faculty member's credit until the faculty member returns to professional service for the University, after which unused vacation or sick leave shall be subject to the vacation leave and sick leave provisions of USU Policies 3100 and 3104.

2.6 Responsibilities During and Upon Return from Sabbatical Leave

Eligible faculty must fulfill the mentoring plan articulated in the sabbatical leave proposal (see Sabbatical Leave Procedures). Faculty must participate in the annual performance review during sabbatical leave.

Accepting a sabbatical leave binds the faculty member to return and remain in the University's service for at least one academic year. If the faculty member fails to return to the service of the University, the faculty member will pay a penalty to the University equal to the sabbatical leave salary received. After the sabbatical leave, a written report shall be presented to the department head, dean, director, vice president, and Provost.

3116.3 RESPONSIBILITIES

3.1 Provost, Deans, Vice Presidents, Department Heads

Responsible for approving/disapproving sabbatical leave requests according to the provisions of this policy and ensuring that the requested leave is in the best interest of the individual faculty member and the University.

3116.4 RELATED USU POLICIES

Information below is not included as part of the contents of the official policy. It is provided only as a convenience for readers/users and may be changed at any time by persons authorized by the President, subject to review by the USU Policy Committee.

RESOURCES

Procedures

Contacts

POLICY HISTORY

Original issue date: 1997/01/24
Last revision date: 2025/06/20
Next scheduled review date: 2028/06/01
Previous revision dates: 1999/07/01; 2004/01/30; 2018/01/12