Article 15 – Faculty Development and Scholarship

Section 1. Professional Development Grants

1. Individual Accounts
   1. For FY 17 only, there will be no changes to the allocation of professional development funds and the University in its discretion will determine the amount of money spent on professional development. It is provided, however, for FY 17 only, that any allocated funds unused in a given school or college of the University may be transferred to faculty in other schools or colleges that were denied professional development money due to exhaustion of funds within their school or college.
   2. The University will allocate $875 in fiscal year 2018 to each full-time Unit Core Faculty member for the purpose of professional development and scholarship, including, but not limited to travel and attending conferences. In fiscal year 2019, the University will allocate $1,000 to each full-time Unit Core Faculty member for these purposes. Part-time Unit Core Faculty members will receive pro-rata amounts.
   3. Unit Core Faculty members may accrue such funds for up to three (3) years ($1,875 during the life of this Agreement) for the purposes of professional development and scholarship. Funds unused upon at the end of this Agreement will return to the University’s general institutional account. The Provost’s office will manage the individual accounts and will establish criteria and a reimbursement protocol for use of these funds.
2. Pooled Funds. In addition to the individual professional development accounts, the University will provide $37,500 in fiscal year 2018 and $50,000 in fiscal year 2019 for professional development grants. Funds unused at the end of fiscal year 2018 will be returned to the University’s general institutional account. The funds will be administered and approved each year by the Faculty Life and Development Committee which shall also set application and approval procedures.
3. Additional University Grants
   1. The University will award the following professional development funds each year:
      1. Up to $500 per person for up to eight Unit Core Faculty members for the enhancement of their academic technology skills.
      2. Up to $500 per person for up to nine Unit Core Faculty members to attend the University’s Cultural Literacy Curriculum Institute.
   2. The University may award additional professional development funds to individual Unit Core Faculty members in its sole discretion from time to time.

Section 2. Release from Workload Units

1. The University will grant up to four workload release units each academic year for Junior Faculty Fellowships and Senior Faculty Fellowships.
2. The University may grant additional workload release units, such as Global Education Fellowships, to individual Unit Core Faculty members in its sole discretion from time to time. Global Education Fellowships may be awarded as workload release units or stipends, at the University’s discretion.
3. The University will continue to award workload release units pursuant to the terms of endowed grants such as the Russell and Miller grants.
4. The University will grant twenty workload release units for scholarship (in addition to those described in subsections (a), (b), and (c) above) in fiscal year 2018.
5. The purpose of the workload release is for Unit Core Faculty to have additional time to engage in scholarship activity. No release unit will be granted during a semester in which the Unit Core Faculty member is carrying an “overload” unit (whether teaching or other). Applications for release units described in subsections (a), (b), and (c) above will be made to the Provost, with a recommendation from the Dean, and the Provost will award the release units. Applications for release units described in subsection (d) above will be made to the Faculty Life and Development Committee of the Faculty Assembly, which will submit its recommendation, together with the recommendation of the Dean, to the Provost; the Provost will award the release units.

Section 3. Study Committee on Scholarship and Faculty Time

A Study Committee on Scholarship and Faculty Time comprised of members of both the core faculty and administration shall meet during the life of the agreement. The group shall be comprised of one faculty representative from each school (including Threshold, if desired) and three (3) members of the administration. The committee’s charge shall be to generate creative ideas that could respond to the shared goal of increasing systemic, sustained, and predictable support (including workload release) to faculty scholarly engagement that is financially viable for the University.

Topics that the committee shall explore include: strategies for improving access and awareness of existing faculty development opportunities; ideas for generating resources that could support increased faculty time for scholarship (e.g., donor cultivation for scholarship, grants support, increasing time for scholarship by decreasing other time demands); implications for faculty workload, including contact hours in online teaching; and other creative considerations for how faculty time can be most beneficially supported across the wide range of scholarly endeavors that Lesley recognizes.

The Study Committee will begin its work in the Spring Semester of 2017. The Committee will conclude its work no later than December 31, 2017. Faculty members serving on the committee will be given one workload unit release in total. The Committee will issue a report on its work to both the administration and the Union. The report may include non-binding recommendations. The report and any recommendations will be considered by the parties for implementation in fiscal year 2019. If the parties do not reach agreement, the University will implement the following:

1. The University will grant forty workload release units for scholarship (in addition to those described in subsections 2(a), (b), and (c) above): The purpose of the workload release is for Unit Core Faculty to have additional time to engage in scholarship activity. No release unit will be granted during a semester in which the Unit Core Faculty member is carrying an “overload” unit (whether teaching or other). Applications for release units described in subsection (d) above will be made to the Faculty Life and Development Committee of the Faculty Assembly, which will submit its recommendation, together with the recommendation of the Dean, to the Provost; the Provost will award the release units.

Section 4. Sabbatical Leaves

1. Full-Year or Half-Year Sabbaticals. The University may in its discretion grant either full year or half year sabbatical leaves to eligible faculty members in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

   A sabbatical leave for faculty with nine-month contract periods will be for either one semester at the faculty member’s nine month base salary or two consecutive semesters within the same academic year at one-half the faculty member’s nine month base salary.

   A sabbatical leave for faculty with ten-month contract periods will be for either five months at the faculty member’s ten month base salary or ten months within the same fiscal year at one-half the faculty member’s ten month base salary.

   A sabbatical leave for faculty with twelve-month contract periods will be for either six months at the faculty member’s annual salary or twelve months within the same fiscal year at one-half the faculty member’s annual salary.

   For faculty on nine month contract periods, the fall sabbatical period begins on the first day of the nine month contract period and ends on January 14, and the spring sabbatical period begins on January 15 and ends on the last day of the nine month contract period.

   The starting and ending date of any sabbatical for faculty with ten or twelve month contract periods will be agreed upon between the faculty member and his or her Dean.

2. Workload Release during the Sabbatical Period. In all cases of one-half year (semester, five-month, or six-month) sabbaticals, faculty with a seven (7) unit workload will receive a reduction of four workload units from their annual workload requirements and faculty with a nine (9) unit workload will receive a reduction of five (5) workload units.

   The parties agree that, as an exception to the understanding that no provision goes into effect until this entire Agreement is ratified, this particular provision on reduced workload units is going into effect for the Fall semester 2016 regardless of when the entire Agreement is ratified. The parties also agree that, for fiscal year 2017 only, if a faculty member is not able to achieve the workload reduction provided under this section due to scheduling issues, s/he will either get, at the choice of the faculty member, an overload payment in the Fall 2016 or will get a one unit workload reduction in fiscal year 2018.

3. Eligibility: All Unit Core Faculty who have been employed at the University for a minimum of six years are eligible to apply for a sabbatical leave. Unit Core Faculty on temporary contracts are not eligible for sabbatical leaves. A Unit Core Faculty member who has been awarded a full-year or half-year sabbatical is eligible to apply for an additional sabbatical after six years of service at the University following the conclusion of the prior sabbatical.
4. Sabbatical leaves are intended to provide opportunities for individual faculty development and renewal which may take many forms: projects of intellectual renewal which will foster professional development; training or branching out into new areas of teaching or research; or improving technical skills through focused study. A sabbatical is a substantial period of time and it is important that the scope of the project be appropriate for the amount of time requested for its completion.
5. Since the sabbatical provides substantial release from institutional responsibilities for the purpose of individual study and research, a Unit Core Faculty member granted a sabbatical may not assume any instructional or non-instructional responsibilities from the University during the sabbatical period, except in unusual circumstances and with the prior written approval of the Provost.
6. A Unit Core Faculty member who is granted a sabbatical must return to the University for a minimum of two years of service, except in unusual circumstances and with the prior written approval of the Provost.
7. During sabbatical leaves, benefits are paid as usual and the sabbatical leave time is counted toward determining eligibility for salary increase, appointment length, and promotion.
8. Application: Following the timeline developed annually by the Faculty Life and Development Committee, a Unit Core Faculty member who is eligible to apply for sabbatical leave submits his or her Application for Sabbatical Leave, with a copy of his or her most recent annual report, to his or her Academic Dean for consideration. The Academic Dean shall forward the application to the Dean of Faculty for consideration by the Faculty Life and Development Committee. The Application for Sabbatical Leave must include the following:
   1. A full discussion of the sabbatical program with attention to the following:
      1. Goals of the sabbatical
      2. The activities that will be undertaken to achieve those goals
      3. The timeline and implementation plan for those activities
      4. Intended accomplishments of the sabbatical, including a discussion of how the sabbatical will help the applicant contribute to the field
      5. The intended “product” that will demonstrate success of the plan
         • A full discussion of the relationship of the sabbatical program to the professional development of the individual within the context of benefit to the University
         • Prior relevant professional activity and/or interest of the applicant
         • Relationship of the proposed sabbatical to the current and subsequent professional growth of the applicant
         • Relationship of the intended sabbatical accomplishments to the applicant’s performance of University responsibilities
         • A current vita
9. The Academic Dean submits his or her recommendation for or against the sabbatical leave request to the Faculty Life and Development Committee. The Committee then discusses the application and makes its recommendation to the Provost. The Provost reviews the recommendations of the Academic Dean and the Faculty Life and Development Committee and forwards the sabbatical application with his or her recommendation to the President. The President reviews the three recommendations and makes the final decision whether to award the sabbatical leave or not.
10. A sabbatical leave request is not automatically granted but is awarded in the discretion of the University taking into account the quality of the sabbatical proposal and the staffing, program and budgetary needs of the University. This will include the following:
    • Quality of the sabbatical application and the faculty member’s annual reports described in the Evaluation and Promotion Article.
    • Benefit to the University
    • Feasibility of the implementation of the plan
    • Current and/or projected financial ability of the University to implement sabbatical leave
    • Ability to fund the salary of the faculty member and still maintain approved budget projections
    • The convenience of both the University and the individual faculty member
    • Approval of the Application for Sabbatical Leave and the Professional Development Plan by the School Dean and the Faculty Life and Development Committee
11. Within two (2) months following completion of the sabbatical, the faculty member shall provide the Provost with a short written report which answers the following:
    • How were your goals met?
    • What were the highlights of the sabbatical period?
    • What implications are there for the University?
    • Describe any possible next steps for your work?