Article 20 – Sabbatical Leave

Sabbatical leaves are intended for academic study, research, writing, and similar activities. Sabbatical leaves provide a means by which employees increase their knowledge, further their research, stimulate intellectual interests, strengthen their contacts with the world-wide community of scholars, thus enhancing their contribution to the University on their return. Employees on sabbatical leave are encouraged, but not required, to leave the University during part or all of their period of leave.

The Dean of each College shall determine which sabbatical leave applications are acceptable and which are not acceptable. The Dean may delegate this task to a College Sabbatical Leave Committee. The Committee shall consist of the Dean or designate, who shall be Chair, and three employees from the College named by the College Review Committee. Members of the committee shall have been on sabbatical leaves during their careers. Employees applying in the current year for sabbatical leave shall not be eligible for service on the College Sabbatical Leave Committee.

20.2.1 Powers

The powers of the Dean or College Sabbatical Leave Committee shall be:

1. to receive and review all sabbatical leave applications from members of the College;
2. in Departmentalized Colleges, to invite Department Heads to comment upon all applications from their respective departments. A copy of the comments made by the Department Head shall be provided to the applicant employee;
3. to request additional information from individuals whose applications need clarification;
4. to consider the applicant's past sabbatical leave performance;
5. to determine which applications are acceptable and which are not acceptable in accordance with Article 20.4.
6. to provide, in writing, the reasons for judging an application as not acceptable to the applicant employee.

A Sabbatical Leave Appeal Committee shall be established each year to consider and determine all appeals from employees whose applications for sabbatical leave were determined to be not acceptable or whose applications for a sabbatical leave research grant (Article 20.11) were denied. Employees applying in the current year for sabbatical leave shall not be eligible for service on the Sabbatical Leave Appeal Committee.

20.3.1 Selection

The Sabbatical Leave Appeal Committee shall consist of the Provost and Vice-President Academic as Chair, the Vice-President Research or designate, and six other employees chosen by lot from the Appeals Panel (Article 16.3.5.1). Employees will serve a two-year term on the committee, and three new members will be selected each year. The six employees shall have taken a sabbatical leave at some time during their employment at the University of Saskatchewan. No member of the Sabbatical Leave Appeal Committee shall have been a member of the College Sabbatical Leave Committee for the current year. Vacancies in the committee shall be filled by choosing additional employees by lot from the Appeals Panel (Article 16.3.5.1) for a one-year term.

20.3.2 Observers

One observer named by the Faculty Association shall be entitled to be present at all meetings held by the Sabbatical Leave Appeal Committee; that observer shall not have been a member of a College Sabbatical Leave Committee during the current year.

20.3.3 Powers

The powers of the Sabbatical Leave Appeal Committee shall be:

1. to consider and determine written appeals from individuals whose applications were determined by the Dean or College Sabbatical Leave Committee not to be acceptable;
2. to consider and determine written appeals from individuals whose application for a sabbatical leave research grant (Article 20.11) has been denied.

A sabbatical leave shall be recommended in all cases where the applicant is eligible for a sabbatical leave as specified in Article 20.5, and has put forward a sabbatical leave project which, in light of the employee's past performance, demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the Dean or College Sabbatical Leave Committee, that the leave will be of sufficient benefit to the University and to the employee to justify its award. The benefits shall be judged in terms of: 

1. research, scholarly and artistic work; or
2. teaching; or
3. clinical practice; or
4. other work related to the applicant's University duties.

20.5.1

An employee with tenure shall first be eligible to be considered for a sabbatical leave after six years of service at the University provided that in each of the six years the employee had tenure, the year was counted as a year of probationary service in earning tenure, or as stipulated in Article 21.7.1.10. An employee shall also be eligible to apply for a six-month sabbatical leave after an additional three years of service or a six-month or twelve-month sabbatical leave after an additional six years of service following the date of completion of the employee's last sabbatical leave.

20.5.2

The years of service which generate eligibility need not have been continuous but educational leave and other leaves of absence normally shall not count as qualifying service. Qualifying service during maternity/parental/adoption leave or primary caregiver leave is set out in Article 21.7.1.10. Absence from duties, other than educational leave and the first year of each maternity/parental/adoption leave or primary caregiver leave, for a period in excess of three consecutive years nullifies previously accumulated qualifying service. Individual or accumulated periods of approved leave of less than six months' total duration within an academic year shall not be deleted from an employee's eligible service. If an employee is appointed after July 1 but prior to January 1, the partial year shall count as a full year for the purpose of determining sabbatical leave eligibility. If an employee is appointed on or after January 1 but before July 1, the partial year shall count as a half-year for the purpose of determining sabbatical leave eligibility.

20.5.3

With the approval of the Dean, an employee may apply and be considered for a twelve-month sabbatical leave (at 90% salary) or a six-month sabbatical leave (at 100% salary) after five years of service in which case the employee shall be required to complete one additional year of qualifying service, beyond that specified in Article 20.5.1, before being eligible to apply for the next sabbatical leave.

20.5.4

If all or part of an employee's service is on a part-time basis, the employee's qualifying service shall be based on academic years of service. The sabbatical stipend shall be prorated according to the provisions of Article 20.8.2.

20.6.1

The Dean may postpone for one year the sabbatical leave of an employee with an acceptable sabbatical leave project, if:

1. The number of acceptable applications in any College exceeds 1/8 x the number of tenured faculty.
2. An adequate replacement cannot be found for an employee.
3. An adequate replacement cannot be found after consultation by the Dean of Medicine with a representative of the board of the health region, for an employee who requires hospital privileges to perform the employee's assigned duties.

Such an employee shall have first claim on sabbatical leave in subsequent years. The year of postponement shall count as a year of qualifying service for the employee's next sabbatical leave.

20.6.2

An employee who has been granted a sabbatical leave may cancel such leave before 1 May of the year in which the leave is granted if the leave is to begin July 1 or before 1 November if the leave is to begin January 1. After these dates the leave may be cancelled only with the approval of the candidate's Department Head and Dean or Dean in the case of non-departmentalized Colleges.

20.7.1

An employee who takes sabbatical leave is expected to return to service at the University for a period equivalent to the duration of the sabbatical leave.

20.7.2

During the period of sabbatical leave the employee's assigned duties shall consist of work on the approved sabbatical project.

20.7.3

A report on the work done related to the sabbatical project shall be submitted by the employee to the Dean or Committee, through the Department Head or Dean, not later than three months after the end of the sabbatical leave.

Employees on sabbatical leave for twelve months shall receive 90% of their regular salary, those on sabbatical leave for six months after six years of service shall receive 100% of their regular salary, and those on sabbatical leave for six months after an additional three years of service shall receive 90% of their salary. Employees may be requested to take their regular leave in two three-month periods where assigned duties include provision of medical services, in which case they shall receive 100% of their regular salary for a six-month sabbatical leave after six years of service or 90% of their regular salary for a six-month sabbatical leave after an additional three years of service.

20.8.1

If an employee receives salary from a source other than the University for activities that are part of the employee's sabbatical project, the employee's University salary shall be adjusted so that the combined salary does not exceed 100% of the employee's University salary by a significant amount. However, if an employee on sabbatical leave provides information to the Dean or Committee to show travel, research and other extraordinary expenses of the leave, the Employer shall allow such combined salary in excess of 100% of University salary as is justified by these extraordinary expenses, except that in no case shall the Employer pay in excess of the amount of University salary referred to in Article 20.8. An employee on sabbatical leave may engage in consulting, employment and clinical practice in accordance with Article 18.6.

20.8.2

If the qualifying service consists of some part-time service, the sabbatical stipend shall be calculated as follows:

1. If the qualifying service consists of all part-time or some full-time and some part-time service, the sabbatical stipend will be prorated on the basis of the number of years of equivalent fulltime.
2. If the qualifying service is greater than the minimum number of years required, the years most advantageous to the employee shall be selected as the basis for calculating the stipend.

Full-year sabbatical leaves shall normally commence on July 1. Six-month sabbatical leaves shall normally commence on January 1 or July 1. An employee may arrange the period of the sabbatical leave at other dates, subject to the approval of the Dean.

An individual on sabbatical leave shall be eligible for promotion or a Special Increase on the same basis as any other employee.

Employees shall be entitled to receive a portion of their sabbatical salary in the form of a research grant provided that they can reasonably demonstrate to the appropriate research committee that such funds are required for the research to be carried out during their sabbatical leave. The grant may include funds for travel, certain living expenses while away from Saskatoon, research materials, books, telephone, copying, and for such other items as are related to the research costs.

If an employee's application for a research grant has been denied, the employee shall be entitled to appeal to the Sabbatical Leave Appeal Committee. The decision of the Sabbatical Leave Appeal Committee is final with a grievance subject to the same limitations as in the case of tenure.

The following dates shall govern sabbatical leave procedures:

1. by September 30, all sabbatical leave applications shall have been made to the Dean or College Sabbatical Leave Committee for leaves to begin in the following academic year;
2. by October 31, the Dean or College Sabbatical Leave Committee shall have determined which sabbatical leave projects are acceptable and which are not acceptable, and the applicants shall have been informed.
3. by November 15, all appeals shall have been filed with the Sabbatical Leave Appeal Committee;
4. by November 30, all appeals shall have been considered by the Sabbatical Leave Appeal      Committee, and the appellants informed of the Committee's decision;
5. by December 15, each Dean shall have informed the members of the College who have acceptable sabbatical leave projects whether the Dean will transmit to the Board a recommendation for granting of the employee's leave during the subsequent academic year, or a recommendation for delay of leave.

Any dispute arising from the interpretation of the above regulations and procedures shall be resolved by agreement between the Employer and the Association.

A grievance in the case of denial of sabbatical leave shall be subject to the same limitations as in the case of tenure (Article 15.17).