Eligible full-time faculty may apply for Sabbatical Leaves to focus time and energy on sustained area(s) of research, scholarship, or creative activity related to their discipline that will bring benefit to the University, students, and their own professional development. There is an annual application process for submission and review of sabbatical proposals from eligible faculty.
The resources below provide access to policy, CBA references to sabbaticals, applications to use, and rubrics to reference for the submission.
Sabbatical Leave Options
Instructional Faculty
- One semester Sabbatical at full salary
- Two semester Sabbatical at half salary
Library and Counselor Faculty (12- month appointments)
- Four-month Sabbatical at full salary
- Eight-month Sabbatical at half salary
Sabbatical Eligibility & Additional Considerations
To be eligible to apply for a Sabbatical leave:
- A full-time faculty unit employee shall be eligible for a sabbatical leave if they have served full-time for six (6) years at the campus in the preceding seven (7) year period prior to the leave and at least six (6) years after any previous sabbatical leave or difference in pay leave was taken. (For further details, please see Article 27 Sabbatical Leaves of the CFA-CSU Collective Bargaining Agreement.) Eligible faculty will need to submit a written proposal by the posted deadline to be considered.
Additional considerations:
- Faculty shall receive health, dental, and appropriate fringe benefits while on an approved sabbatical leave. They will also accrue sick leave, vacation (as applicable to 12-month faculty), service credit toward service salary increase eligibility, and time towards promotion while on sabbatical, as applicable.
- Faculty on approved sabbatical leave shall not be directed to engage in teaching or service to the department, college, or University while on leave.
- Faculty on approved sabbatical leave shall not accept additional and/or outside employment without prior approval of the President (or designee.)
- Faculty granted a sabbatical leave are required to provide verification that the conditions of the leave were met. The Sabbatical Leave Report Form is submitted to the college no later than the end of the returning term. The college will report to the Office of Faculty Affairs that the report was received.
- Faculty shall render service to the CSU upon return from a sabbatical leave at the rate of one term of service for each term of leave. A Promissory note is required as a guarantee.
Sabbatical Leave Application Procedures
Applications are reviewed the year prior to taking leave.
Application Process
Eligible faculty must submit the following by the posted due date:
- An application for Sabbatical Leave that includes:
- A detailed outline of the plan of study or experience, research/project, service, and/or travel to be completed during the sabbatical.
- A statement of purpose that demonstrates the benefits to students, the development of the profession or discipline, Cal State LA, the CSU, and/or the faculty as a teacher scholar or practitioner.
- Evidence that resources needed to complete the play are available.
- An updated curriculum vita.
The review process takes approximately three months and is reviewed by:
1. The Department/Division Chair or School Director
2. College Committee/Professional Leave/Faculty Affairs/Policy Committee
3. College Dean
4. Provost
The Department/Division Chair or School Director (appropriate signatory for library and counselor faculty may vary) reviews the sabbatical proposal, considering the effect on the curriculum and operations of the department/division/school. For example, the department chair may receive two proposals for the same term from faculty from a small program and believe that it would unduly impact the ability of the department to offer core courses if both were awarded.
The College Committee, comprised of tenured faculty not applying for a sabbatical, reviews all sabbatical proposals from the college or unit. The committee considers the quality of the sabbatical proposal based on the requirements delineated in the application and using the published rubric. Once the committee has reached a consensus on the rubric of the evaluation form, the committee chair completes the evaluation form, representing the committee's consensus. Comments are added to provide the faculty with further input on the quality of the proposal. The names of all committee members are included on the form and the committee chair signs the form. The proposals are then ranked. The recommendation and rankings are forwarded to the college dean or unit head.
The College Dean or Unit Head reviews all sabbatical proposals from the college or unit. The dean reviews the recommendations and rankings of the college committee. The dean also considers the approvals and non-approvals from department chairs, other campus needs, and college budget implications. The dean completes an evaluation for each proposal and ranks the proposals. If the dean's ranking differs from the committee's, the dean must meet with the committee to try to resolve the differences.
The Provost reviews sabbatical submissions, the evaluations of committees and college deans, and considers the rankings of those sabbatical proposals that were recommended, along with budgetary and programmatic needs of the university when making sabbatical awards. Two-semester sabbaticals at half pay may be awarded if recommended by the college and provost, as budgetary and programmatic needs of the university allow. The number of college-recommended sabbatical applications typically well exceeds the number that can be funded. The Office of the Provost informs faculty who were awarded and those who were not awarded and provides the faculty with the college committee and dean's evaluation forms. These evaluation forms may be helpful when a faculty who was not awarded a sabbatical decides to resubmit in a subsequent year.
Note: The Office of Faculty Affairs prepares the college packets for the provost’s review. The Office of Faculty Affairs also supports the Provost’s Office in ensuring that award letters and letters for proposals not awarded are sent to the faculty. The office also maintains a sabbatical tracking spreadsheet to ensure that each faculty is notified of the status of their proposal, that promissory notes are received for those with sabbaticals awarded, and verifies with the college deans’ office that the sabbatical reports were received. It is important that departments and colleges submit sabbatical ETFs in a timely manner for the start of the sabbatical and return from the sabbatical.
The Sabbatical Application Checklist is provided to ensure that all steps are followed in the sabbatical application, review, and recommendation process accurately and consistently across colleges and units. The checklist may be used by chairs, committees, deans, and deans' assistants to have a complete overview of the process at a glance and to be able to check each component has been completed prior to submission of applications, evaluations, and recommendations to the Office of Faculty Affairs by the posted deadline. The Office of Faculty Affairs also uses the checklist to determine whether submissions are complete and policies and practices have been followed.
View the checklist