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Time Off & Leaves: Staff Sabbaticals

Applies to: Staff who have completed six years of continuous full-time service

Purpose: To support professional growth and development

Policy Owner: Human Resources

Revision Dates: February 2014, May 2020, April 2021

Last Reviewed: April 2021

Policy

St. Norbert College provides eligible staff with a single paid sabbatical leave to enhance their expertise, skills and knowledge; provide professional growth and development; complete special projects; conduct professional work; and stay current with evolving workplace needs.

Your sabbatical experience may include research and study related to professional and intellectual renewal or development (e.g., writing projects, original research or literature review) or service in a volunteer or community capacity. In general, degree completion doesn’t qualify as a sabbatical.

Sabbatical Length
The length of your sabbatical is determined during the application and approval process.
St. Norbert offers full pay for sabbaticals lasting 16 full-time weeks or less.

Benefits
During your sabbatical, you will retain coverage for all of your benefits, as long as you continue to make all payments or contributions.

Mid-sabbatical Reporting
You are expected to provide a mid-sabbatical report to your supervisor. This report can be verbal, and should provide an overview of your progress toward your sabbatical goals, plus a reassessment of your sabbatical’s established timeline.

Reinstatement
Once your sabbatical is completed, you are expected to return to your current position, or to an equivalent position with equivalent benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment. However, all college employment is “at will.” Thus, there is no guarantee of continued employment.

Return Requirement
You are expected to provide a written report about your sabbatical to your supervisor and divisional vice president within 60 days of its completion. This report should discuss the purpose and goals for your sabbatical (including the original agenda/timeline), how your sabbatical goals were met or unmet, how your sabbatical benefited you and your unit, and plans to implement and apply your new knowledge. You may also deliver a presentation highlighting the benefits and outcomes of your sabbatical at an appropriate campus forum.

Repayment, If Necessary
You are expected to remain actively employed by the college for a minimum of one year after completing your sabbatical. If you voluntarily leave the college sooner, you must repay all of your sabbatical expenses: the salary you collected, the costs the college paid for your FICA/Medicare and the funds the college paid into your retirement accounts.

Procedure

Application Process

At least four months before your proposed sabbatical, you must submit an application to your supervisor that includes the following: 

  1. A summary statement of your sabbatical’s purpose, timing and expected outcome
  2. A detailed description of the nature of the experience
  3. The outcomes or results you expect
  4. How the sabbatical relates to your current job
  5. How the sabbatical relates to your future career goals
  6. Any intellectual property you expect to gain from the sabbatical
  7. How the sabbatical differs from other professional development experiences available to you
  8. How your sabbatical benefits your department, division and/or the college
  9. A detailed list of your sabbatical expenses
  10. The location of your sabbatical
  11. Your sabbatical dates and a timeline of your progress
Supervisor Review
After reviewing your application, your supervisor will forward it to the divisional vice president, along with a recommendation that includes an assessment of your proposed sabbatical’s impact on your work unit.

Vice Presidential Review
The vice president will review your application and make a recommendation to the president’s Cabinet based on the following:

The nature of your project, including the strength of its proposed scholarship

How your project relates to one or more of the following: higher education; scholarship that would benefit the college; support for the college’s strategic goals or your professional area.

Your supervisor’s written recommendation for your project and sabbatical

President's Cabinet Review
The president’s Cabinet will make a decision about your sabbatical within one month of your application’s submission.

Policy

St. Norbert College provides eligible staff with a single paid sabbatical leave to enhance their expertise, skills and knowledge; provide professional growth and development; complete special projects; conduct professional work; and stay current with evolving workplace needs.

Your sabbatical experience may include research and study related to professional and intellectual renewal or development (e.g., writing projects, original research or literature review) or service in a volunteer or community capacity. In general, degree completion doesn’t qualify as a sabbatical.

Sabbatical Length
The length of your sabbatical is determined during the application and approval process.
St. Norbert offers full pay for sabbaticals lasting 16 full-time weeks or less.

Benefits
During your sabbatical, you will retain coverage for all of your benefits, as long as you continue to make all payments or contributions.

Mid-sabbatical Reporting
You are expected to provide a mid-sabbatical report to your supervisor. This report can be verbal, and should provide an overview of your progress toward your sabbatical goals, plus a reassessment of your sabbatical’s established timeline.

Reinstatement
Once your sabbatical is completed, you are expected to return to your current position, or to an equivalent position with equivalent benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment. However, all college employment is “at will.” Thus, there is no guarantee of continued employment.

Return Requirement
You are expected to provide a written report about your sabbatical to your supervisor and divisional vice president within 60 days of its completion. This report should discuss the purpose and goals for your sabbatical (including the original agenda/timeline), how your sabbatical goals were met or unmet, how your sabbatical benefited you and your unit, and plans to implement and apply your new knowledge. You may also deliver a presentation highlighting the benefits and outcomes of your sabbatical at an appropriate campus forum.

Repayment, If Necessary
You are expected to remain actively employed by the college for a minimum of one year after completing your sabbatical. If you voluntarily leave the college sooner, you must repay all of your sabbatical expenses: the salary you collected, the costs the college paid for your FICA/Medicare and the funds the college paid into your retirement accounts.

Procedure

Application Process

At least four months before your proposed sabbatical, you must submit an application to your supervisor that includes the following: 

  1. A summary statement of your sabbatical’s purpose, timing and expected outcome
  2. A detailed description of the nature of the experience
  3. The outcomes or results you expect
  4. How the sabbatical relates to your current job
  5. How the sabbatical relates to your future career goals
  6. Any intellectual property you expect to gain from the sabbatical
  7. How the sabbatical differs from other professional development experiences available to you
  8. How your sabbatical benefits your department, division and/or the college
  9. A detailed list of your sabbatical expenses
  10. The location of your sabbatical
  11. Your sabbatical dates and a timeline of your progress
Supervisor Review
After reviewing your application, your supervisor will forward it to the divisional vice president, along with a recommendation that includes an assessment of your proposed sabbatical’s impact on your work unit.

Vice Presidential Review
The vice president will review your application and make a recommendation to the president’s Cabinet based on the following:

The nature of your project, including the strength of its proposed scholarship

How your project relates to one or more of the following: higher education; scholarship that would benefit the college; support for the college’s strategic goals or your professional area.

Your supervisor’s written recommendation for your project and sabbatical

President's Cabinet Review
The president’s Cabinet will make a decision about your sabbatical within one month of your application’s submission.
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