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Office of the Provost

Sabbatical Leave

Policy on pages 53-54 of the Faculty Handbook (PDF).

The major purpose of a sabbatical leave is to provide an opportunity for a faculty member's continued professional growth and intellectual achievement through study, research and/or writing. The number of sabbatical leaves granted during a given academic year depends upon the availability of funds, as well as the ability of the College or School and/or department to maintain its teaching schedule.

Sabbatical leaves will be granted only for clearly-defined and well-advanced scholarly or creative projects in the areas of research, writing and publication or creative activity. The University's decision to grant a sabbatical leave will be based primarily on evidence that the faculty member's project will contribute to his or her professional standing and, upon return to the University will enrich that individual's teaching and/or research capabilities.

A faculty member who has completed seven or more years of full-time teaching at Pace who has not had a paid leave of absence during that time, and who currently holds an appointment at the rank of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor is eligible to apply for a sabbatical leave. In addition, the faculty member must agree to return to the University for at least one academic year of full-time service immediately following completion of the leave.

Faculty members granted sabbatical leaves may not accept a full-time teaching assignment at other institutions unless such an assignment is considered essential to the scholarly or creative project. Work towards a graduate or professional degree does not qualify as an acceptable project for a sabbatical leave except for post-doctoral or equivalent study.

The salary rate of compensation shall be full base pay for a one-semester leave or half base pay for a one-year leave. If a faculty member on leave receives compensation, salary or a financial grant from an off-campus source, beyond base salary and additional costs, the sabbatical leave compensation or salary from the University may be adjusted in accordance with the amount received from other sources. All fringe benefits to which a faculty member is entitled shall be continued while the faculty member is on a sabbatical leave. The University will continue its contributions to an employee's benefits program on the basis of the salary the employee would have received if the employee were not on sabbatical provided the employee also continues personal contributions at the rates specified for employees. If a faculty member is paying for additional life insurance or family health coverage such benefits may be continued provided the faculty member pays all premiums in advance.

A period of at least seven years shall elapse between the end of one sabbatical leave and the beginning of another.

  • Sabbatical Review 2023 – 2024

    (For sabbatical to take effect AY 2024 – 2025)

    Note: All forms and templates listed below are located on the Office of the Provost’s website sabbatical webpage. All sabbatical applications, evaluation forms/letters, post-sabbatical reports, and lists of committee members should be emailed to the Faculty Center at interfolio@pace.edu (this is a Pace internal email address.)

    • September 6: Letters of intent to apply for sabbatical are due to the Faculty Center (all that is required is a brief email stating intent).
    • October 2: October 2: All forms should be submitted to the Faculty Center no later than October 2 for sabbatical leave to be taken in the following academic year.
      1. Sabbatical Application (fill out the form)
      2. Sabbatical FACT Sheet (fill out the form)
      3. Updated CV (follow the University template)
      4. Sabbatical Proposal completed according to these instructions (fill out template):
        • Summary
        • Outcomes
        • Abstract
        • Activities
        • Background
        • Results
      5. External letter(s) of support from a colleague, book publisher, journal editor, or art gallery owner, etc. (optional, may strengthen your application)
    • By October 31: The Faculty Center forwards the completed sabbatical application to the Department Chair/AD via Interfolio.
    • By November 1: School/College Dean’s Office submits a list of committee members as appropriate to the Faculty Center.
    • By November 20: The Department Chair/AD submits a letter of recommendation and Applicant Ranking Form, in the event of multiple departmental submissions, to the Faculty Center.
    • By November 24: Cases are sent to the School/College based Sabbatical Review Committee (if applicable) and the School/College Dean.
    • By December 11: The School/College based Sabbatical Committee submits an evaluation via template of each application to the Faculty Center.
    • By December 18: Sabbatical applications are reviewed by respective School/College Deans. The Sabbatical Applicants Ranking form (if there are multiple candidates from a School/College) and the evaluation(s) are submitted by the School/College Deans to the Faculty Center.
    • By December 20: Applications are sent via Interfolio sabbatical to the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs.
    • January 3: The Associate Provost for Academic Affairs forward their recommendations to the Provost for final approval.
    • January 31: Upon final decision, the Office of the Provost will send electronic notification of all applicants (approved/not approved) copying their respective School/College Dean and Department Chair.

  • Below are some common answers regarding the Sabbatical Process:

    • BOTH semester-based (100% pay) and full-year (50% pay) sabbatical application will be accepted.
    • Sabbatical full-year term must be taken within a single academic year, from Fall to Spring. Applications will be automatically denied if they span two different academic years. Single-semester sabbaticals can be applied either for Fall or Spring semesters
    • All applications must be submitted per the templates. If you have any questions, please contact the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs (associateprovost@pace.edu).
    • The number of sabbatical leaves granted during a given academic year depends upon the availability of funds and teaching schedule of the school/college.
    • Sabbatical leaves will be granted only for clearly-defined and well-advanced scholarly or creative projects.
    • Requests to changes from full-year term to single semester or vice versa after application has been submitted cannot be considered.
    • Once a sabbatical application is approved, the applicant cannot defer the acceptance to a different year. A new application would have to be submitted.
    • In the Sabbatical Application, it asks to provide a synopsis, please provide the synopsis there instead of stating to “see attached.”
    • Incomplete, incorrect, and/or past deadline sabbatical applications will not be reviewed.
    • The faculty member must agree to return to the University for at least one academic year of full-time service immediately following completion of sabbatical.
    • Paid leaves of absence (e.g., a fellowship year away from campus, or receiving a grant that means that the faculty member has not taught, not including maternity/paternity leave) do not count towards the seven years of full-time teaching.
    • Those who are Tenured and currently hold an appointment at the rank of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor are eligible to apply for a sabbatical leave.
    • Deans receive an automatic sabbatical after their role as Dean has ended.
    • A period of at least seven full-time teaching years shall elapse between the end of one sabbatical leave and the beginning of another. (You are eligible to apply for Sabbatical during your 7th year of full-time teaching to be able to take sabbatical during the 8th year).
    • Example: if the last sabbatical taken was Spring 2016, then full-time teaching should have occurred in the next 7 years:
      1. Fall 2016-Spring 2017
      2. Fall 2017-Spring 2018
      3. Fall 2018-Spring 2019
      4. Fall 2019-Spring 2020
      5. Fall 2020-Spring 2021
      6. Fall 2021-Spring 2022
      7. Fall 2022-Spring 2023
        1. In the example above, the earliest time a faculty member can take another sabbatical would be Fall 2023 or Spring 2024, and therefore, the faculty member would apply in Fall 2022.
    • The seven years of full-time teaching do not need to have been completed consecutively.

  • Below are materials that need to be provided to the Faculty Center by October 2:

    1. Sabbatical Application (DOCX)
    2. Sabbatical FACT Sheet (DOCX) (fill out the form and have it verified by Dean’s Office)
    3. CV (follow the University CV template (DOCX))
    4. Sabbatical Proposal (DOCX) completed according to these instructions:
      • Summary
      • Outcomes
      • Abstract
      • Activities
      • Background
      • Results
    5. External letter(s) of support from a colleague, book publisher, journal editor, or art gallery owner, etc. (optional, may strengthen your application)

    Here is a sabbatical checklist (DOCX) of documents needed to be submitted.

  • By November 20: The Department Chair/AD submits a letter of recommendation and Applicant Ranking Form, in the event of multiple departmental submissions, to the Faculty Center.

    By December 18: Sabbatical applications are reviewed by respective School/College Deans. The Sabbatical Applicants Ranking form (if there are multiple candidates from a School/College) and the evaluation(s) are submitted by the School/College Deans to the Faculty Center.

    1. Letter of Recommendation(s) (DOCX) for each candidate from Chair or AD
    2. If there are multiple candidates from a department, then a Sabbatical Applicants Ranking Form (DOCX) is required

  • Post-Sabbatical Report (DOCX)

    Sabbatical Reports are due 30 days upon return from sabbatical. Complete reports should be distributed to the Office of the Provost, respective Dean and Chair and uploaded in Interfolio. Faculty are also expected to present their research/sabbatical project at an event hosted by the Faculty Center during the year returned from sabbatical.

    • Due October 15 (if candidate is returning from Sabbatical the following Fall)
    • Due March 15 (if candidate is returning from Sabbatical the following Spring)