Purpose
The purpose of sabbaticals shall be to pursue professional development, to conduct research and/or creative activities, and/or to develop methods and materials to improve teaching and curricula with the outcome of increasing the individual’s future contribution to the University. All eligible faculty members are encouraged to apply.
Eligibility/Limitations
Please refer to Article 24 of the current Temple-TAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement for complete sabbatical information. All tenured, tenure track, and non-tenure track faculty from schools/colleges represented by the Temple-TAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement that meet the following criteria are eligible to apply for a Sabbatical Award:
- Sabbaticals are awarded only for meritorious proposals.
- A faculty member on the tenure track, but not yet tenured, may apply for a sabbatical to be taken in the fourth or fifth year of full-time service at Temple. If a tenure track faculty member’s probationary period has been extended, his/her time to apply for a sabbatical will be adjusted accordingly. Please note that sabbaticals taken by tenure track faculty do not stop the tenure clock.
- A tenured or tenure track faculty member who receives a sabbatical shall not be eligible to apply for another sabbatical until he/she has accrued six additional years of service at Temple, not including any unpaid or paid leaves. A tenured or tenure track faculty member with fewer than six additional accrued years of service at Temple nonetheless may apply, provided that he/she has secured the prior approval of his/her dean or the Provost. If all sabbaticals for eligible tenured or tenure track faculty are not used in a particular year, then those with fewer than six years accumulated after his/her last leave who have applied after obtaining approval from the dean or Provost will be considered at the Provost’s discretion.
- Non-tenure track faculty who have completed ten years of full-time service at Temple shall be eligible to be considered for a sabbatical. Non-tenure track faculty who have accrued more than six years of full-time service nonetheless may apply, provided they have secured the prior approval of their dean or the Provost.
- A non-tenure track faculty member who receives a sabbatical shall not be eligible to apply for another sabbatical until he/she has accrued ten additional years of service at Temple, not including any unpaid or paid leaves. A non-tenure track faculty member with fewer than ten additional accrued years of service at Temple nonetheless may apply, provided that he/she has secured the prior approval of his/her dean or the Provost. If all sabbaticals for eligible non-tenure track faculty are not used in a particular year, then those with fewer than ten years accumulated after his/her last leave who have applied after obtaining approval from the dean or Provost will be considered at the Provost’s discretion.
- A Summer Research Award cannot be combined with a sabbatical in the same twelve-month academic year period. Please note that in accordance with Article 20.A.8.a of the current Temple-TAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement, the academic year is defined as being divided into three academic semesters-Fall, Spring and Summer.
- Faculty members granted a sabbatical or leave described in Article 24 will be required to return to his/her position at Temple for at least one year.
- Faculty members granted a sabbatical must submit a summary report to their department chair, dean, and the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs (vpfac@temple.edu) within 30 days of sabbatical project completion.
- Faculty are not eligible to receive a sabbatical while serving as department chairs.
Application Submission
In addition to meeting all eligibility criteria, sabbatical award applicants must produce the following for consideration:
- A completed, signed Sabbatical Award Application form with the endorsement of one’s department chair and dean;
- A 4-part written proposal (not exceeding five double-spaced pages);
- An up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV); and,
- IRB approval documentation if the sabbatical project involves human subjects.
Applications will be collected and submitted by deans’ offices to the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs via Canvas.
Please note: For your application to receive consideration, you must include all of the above-mentioned materials.
Guidelines for the 4-Part Written Proposal
Written Proposals should not exceed five double-spaced pages. The length of any appendices should be limited. The proposal should be self-contained and not rely on any appended material not otherwise specified. In writing your proposal, please be mindful that not all sabbatical committee members will be from your field of expertise.
4-Part Proposal:
- The first section of the proposal should be an abstract of no more than 250 words explaining your sabbatical project proposal.
- The second section of the proposal should argue for the importance of the project. If the project is connected to your previous work, please explain how it will extend that work. If the project is designed to take you in a new direction, please explain how that direction will enhance your professional development.
- The third section of the proposal should establish the feasibility of the project through an explanation of what you plan to do. If the project is a scholarly one, you should explain what you plan to do and when you plan to do it as clearly and concisely as possible. If the project will require resources beyond those for which you are applying, you should explain how you plan to obtain those additional resources. If the project requires the collaboration of others, you should provide evidence that you can get that collaboration.
- The fourth section of the proposal should return to the issue of the project’s importance, this time by explaining as clearly as you can what products will come of it. These products could include publications, presentations, performances, and curricular materials, among other possibilities.
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Provide an up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV). If you have received previous sabbatical, grant-in-aid, or summer research awards of any sort, please highlight the products that resulted from those awards in your CV.
Consideration/Awards
Applicants must submit all application materials to their Department Chair then Dean for review. Please keep in mind any internal application deadlines that may be imposed by your school/college.
Deans’ Offices shall forward to the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs all sabbatical applications along with their recommendations (electronically via Canvas) by the advertised award deadline: Friday, October 11, 2024.
Award decisions are based on three primary criteria:
- the importance of the project
- the feasibility of the project
- the applicant’s record of effective use of previous awards
Instructions for accessing, completing, and submitting the University Sabbatical Award Application and required materials
- Click or copy the link below to go to the AdobeSign University Sabbatical Award application.
- Read and agree to Adobe Terms of Use by clicking the ‘Continue’ button, if applicable, or if your first time using.
- Fill in the application form fields (Required and Optional, if relevant) including the applicant signature. Note: Required fields are noted with a red asterisk (*) in the top left-hand corner of the form field.
- Once every Required form field has been filled, including the applicant signature field, you will get a ‘Click to Sign’ button pop up at the bottom of the screen. Please click the ‘Click to Sign’ button.
- You will be prompted to enter an email address. Please enter a Temple email address then click the ‘Click to Sign’ button. In clicking the ‘Click to Sign’ button, you are acknowledging that you have read all University Sabbatical Award application guidelines and eligibility requirements, and that you hereby agree to abide by all.
- You may get a screen acknowledgment to confirm your email address. If so, navigate to your Temple email and open the Adobe-related email. Click the ‘Confirm my email address’ link.
- You will then get another email with your finished application. When you open it, click ‘Open agreement’ then save it as a PDF via ‘Download PDF’ and/or print it.
- Submit the signed, University Sabbatical application and other required application materials (4-part proposal, up-to-date CV, IRB documentation-if applicable, and a copy of your most recent Sabbatical Award summary report-if applicable) to your department chair, following department/college submission instructions and timing.