Policy on Paid Professional Leaves

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History

  • Policy Number: SP 20-005
  • Version: New
  • Drafted By:
  • Approved By: Academic Senate
  • Approval Date: May 11, 2021
  • Effective Date: Fall 2021
  • Supercedes: SP 08-14, SP 05-34, SP 11-15

Purpose

To bring policy into compliance

Background and Policy Updates

The policy has been updated in response to a recent CSU audit that identified two main items of concern with regard to paid professional leaves at CSU Channel Islands (CI):

  1. The need for greater accountability in the timely dissemination of projects undertaken while on paid professional leave (section E)
  2. The need to clarify that members of committees charged with reviewing applications for professional leaves are ineligible to apply for paid professional leaves during their term of service on said committees (section D)

Other changes include the following: For readability, sections have been labeled by letter, and paragraphs of sections have been numbered. “He/she” have been changed to the gender-neutral “their” throughout the policy. “Program review committee” (term used in SP 11-15) has been changed to “Departmental Professional Leave Committee” (DPLC) to avoid confusion with academic “program review.” The evaluation criteria and scoring rubric used to rate applications for paid professional leave have been included as appendices to the policy.

Preamble 

The University regards paid professional leaves as an investment in its faculty that assists the campus in fulfilling its mission. All sabbatical and difference-in-pay leaves shall be for purposes that provide a benefit to the CSU, such as research, scholarly and creative activity, instructional improvement or faculty retraining, or professional development. It is the intent of this policy to set forth the procedures and conditions for eligible CI faculty to be considered for paid professional leave.
This policy was drafted in accord with Articles 27 (“Sabbatical Leaves”) and 28 (“Difference-In- Pay Leaves”) of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the Trustees of The California State University, and the California Faculty Association.

Policy

Applicability

All CI full-time faculty

Text

  1. Eligibility
    1. A full-time faculty member shall be eligible for an initial paid professional leave (either sabbatical or difference-in-pay leave) if they have served full-time for six (6) years at CI in the seven (7) year period prior to the leave. Credit granted towards the completion of the probationary period for service elsewhere shall also apply towards fulfilling the eligibility requirements for a paid professional leave at CI. (CBA 27.2/28.4).
    2. A professional leave of absence without pay (as defined in CBA Article 22.24), or service in an academic administrative appointment excluded from the bargaining unit, shall not constitute a break in service for eligibility requirements for paid professional leave. However, a personal leave of absence without pay (which may be for purposes of unpaid sick leave, outside employment, parental leave, family care leave, or other purposes of a personal nature) shall constitute a break in service toward sabbatical eligibility during the term of the leave without pay. (CBA 22.8)
    3. A full-time faculty member shall be eligible for a subsequent sabbatical leave after they have served full-time for six (6) years after the last sabbatical or difference-in-pay leave and have rendered service to CI upon return from prior sabbatical and difference-in-pay leaves at the rate of one (1) semester of service for each semester of leave. (CBA 27.20)
    4. A full-time faculty member shall be eligible for a subsequent difference-in-pay leave after they have served full-time for three (3) years after the last sabbatical leave or difference-in-pay leave (CBA 28.4) and have rendered service to CI upon return from prior sabbatical and difference-in-pay leaves at the rate of one (1) semester of service for each semester of leave. (CBA 28.4/28.16)
  2. Percentage of Full-Time Faculty on Sabbatical Leave
    The campus shall grant one-semester sabbaticals at full pay to no fewer than twelve percent (12%) of the total number of faculty members eligible to apply for such leaves in that year. This is in addition to those faculty members approved for a full-year sabbatical leave at one-half (1/2) of full salary or a difference-in-pay leave. All applications for sabbatical leave at one-half (1/2) of full salary shall be approved if they meet the criteria set forth in the CBA. (27.5-27.8/27.10b)
  3. Length of Leave and Work Status, Salary and Benefits During Leave
    1. Per CBA Article 27.11, a faculty member may be granted a sabbatical leave for: 
      a. One (1) semester at full salary; or
      b. Two (2) semesters at one-half (1/2) of full salary
    2. A librarian faculty member may be granted a sabbatical leave for:
      a. Four (4) months at full salary; or
      b. Eight (8) months at one-half (1/2) of full salary
    3. A faculty member may be approved for a difference-in-pay leave for one (1) or more semesters. (CBA 28.2) The salary for a faculty member for a difference-in-pay leave shall be the difference between the faculty member’s salary and the minimum salary of the Instructor rank, or the lowest comparable Librarian/Counselor rank. (CBA 28.3)
    4. A paid professional leave of two (2) semesters may be implemented within consecutive academic years subject to the recommendations of the Professional Leave Committee and the Provost (or the Provost’s designee), and the approval of the President. (CBA 27.15)
    5. Faculty on a paid professional leave shall be considered in work status and shall receive health, dental and appropriate fringe benefits provided by the CSU in the same manner as if they were not on paid professional leave. (CBA 27.16/28.12)
    6. Faculty on a paid professional leave shall be entitled to accrue sick leave, vacation, and service credit toward merit salary adjustment eligibility, eligibility toward promotion, if applicable, and seniority credit. (CBA 27.17/28.13)
    7. Faculty on a paid professional leave shall not accept additional and/or outside employment without prior approval of the President. (CBA 27.18/28.14)
  4. Application and Review Process
    1. Sabbatical Leave Applications: The Professional Leave Committee (PLC) is a standing Academic Senate Committee that shall consist of tenured faculty members and shall be elected by probationary and tenured faculty members to review sabbatical applications. The election of the PLC shall take place at the same time as the election of other Academic Senate standing committees. Per Senate Bylaws, the PLC shall include representation of one (1) faculty member from each of the major disciplinary areas within the university: Arts & Humanities; Math & Sciences; Behavioral & Social Sciences; Business & Economics; Library/Counselors; and Education.
    2. Faculty members serving on the Professional Leave Committee (PLC) are ineligible to apply for paid professional leaves (sabbatical leave or difference-in-pay leave) during their time of service on the PLC.
    3. Difference-in-Pay Leave Applications: A Departmental Professional Leave Committee (DPLC) consisting of at least two tenured faculty elected by the tenure-track program faculty shall be created as needed to review difference-in-pay leave applications from within the program. In the event that there is an insufficient number of tenured faculty in a program area to staff the DPLC, or the program faculty vote to defer the decisions to the PLC, the applications shall be reviewed by the PLC at the request of the program chair. The DPLC shall follow the same procedures regarding review and notification as the PLC, as stipulated in this policy.
    4. Faculty members serving on the Departmental Professional Leave Committee are ineligible to apply for a difference-in-pay leave during their time of service on the DPLC.
    5. To be considered for a paid professional leave, a faculty member shall submit an application to the Office of Faculty Affairs. The application shall include the following:
      1. A statement of the purpose of the leave;
      2. A description of the proposed project;
      3. The CSU resources, if any, necessary to carry out the project;
      4. A statement of the time requested to complete the project, which shall not exceed one (1) year.
    6. The PLC shall consult with the Provost (or the Provost’s designee) in the development of paid professional leave application forms and criteria for evaluation of applications.
    7. In its review of paid professional leave applications, the PLC shall use the approved criteria to determine the merit of the applications (see Appendix A, “Evaluation Criteria for Paid Professional Leave Applications”). Evaluation criteria shall be made available by the Office of Faculty Affairs and posted on the Faculty Affairs website. Any modifications to these criteria shall be approved by the Academic Senate. 
    8. Applications for one-year sabbaticals at half pay shall be granted if they are judged meritorious. The responsibility of the PLC is to judge these applications as meritorious or non-meritorious.
    9. Applications for difference-in-pay leaves are reviewed according to the same criteria used to determine the merit of sabbatical applications. However, the granting of a difference-in-pay leave does not affect the allotment of regular sabbatical leaves at full pay. Per CBA Article 28.6, when a full-time faculty member is afforded an unexpected leave opportunity, such as external funding, scholarship, or fellowship, a rapid and expedited review for a difference-in-pay leave shall be provided by either the Departmental Professional Leave Committee or the Professional Leave Committee (if the program has voted to defer to the PLC).
    10. The Provost (or Provost’s designee) shall inform the PLC of the minimum number of one-semester full-pay sabbaticals to be granted per the formula in CBA Article 27.10 (minimum of 12% of eligible faculty), as well as the number of any additional sabbaticals that can be funded in a given year. The recommendations to the Provost shall be presented by the PLC in the following order of priority:
      1. Meritorious one-year, half-pay sabbatical applications;
      2. Meritorious one-semester, full-pay sabbatical applications (equal to the number of sabbaticals communicated by the Provost to the PLC);
      3. Meritorious one-semester, full-pay sabbatical applications recommended to be granted if additional funding becomes available – only this category shall be ranked;
      4. Meritorious difference-in-pay leave applications;
      5. Non-meritorious applications.
    11. In the event that an application is rated non-meritorious, a representative from the PLC shall contact the applicant to provide feedback from the PLC if the applicant so desires. Faculty whose applications for a full-pay sabbatical were judged as meritorious in a previous application cycle, and who would have been recommended if funding had been available, shall receive one additional point in their total score as specified in the evaluation criteria (see appendices).
    12. Meritorious applicants for a one-semester sabbatical at full pay who are not granted a sabbatical may choose to be granted a one-year sabbatical at half pay or a difference-in- pay leave in lieu of a one-semester sabbatical at full pay.
    13. A copy of the application for paid professional leave shall be sent to the applicant’s program chair. The program chair shall provide a statement to the Provost (or the Provost’s designee) regarding the possible effect on the curriculum and the operation of the program if the applicant is granted a paid professional leave.
    14. Prior to making a recommendation to the President regarding the paid professional leave application, the Provost (or the Provost’s designee) shall consider the recommendations of the Professional Leave Committee, the Departmental Professional Leave Committee, the program chair, other campus program needs, and campus budget implications. If the Provost’s recommendations differ from those of the PLC, the Provost shall respond to the committee with a rationale for the decisions made.
    15. Prior to making a final determination regarding the paid professional leave application and the conditions of such a leave, the President shall consider the recommendations made by the Professional Leave Committee, the Departmental Professional Leave Committee, the program chair, and the Provost (or Provost’s designee). The President shall respond in writing to the applicant and said response shall include reasons for approval or denial. If a paid professional leave is granted, the response shall include any conditions of such a leave. A copy of the President’s response shall be provided to the affected program and the PLC.
  5. Dissemination of the Results of Paid Professional Leaves
    1. Before the conclusion of the second semester following the completion of a paid professional leave, the recipient of the leave shall make a formal, public presentation to the campus community of the results of their work during the leave.
    2. In consultation with the presenter, the Office of Faculty Affairs shall schedule and announce to the campus community the day, time, and location of the presentation (virtual or physical) approximately two weeks prior to the event.
    3. Presentations shall be approximately one hour in duration, which includes time for questions and comments from the audience.
    4. Upon the completion of the presentation, evidence of the presentation (e.g., PowerPoint slides, a written synopsis, or other presentation materials) shall be provided by the presenter to the Office of Faculty Affairs for verification and future reference.
  6. Additional Provisions
    1. A full-time faculty member granted a paid professional leave shall not accept additional and/or outside employment without prior approval of the President. (CBA 27.18/28.14)
    2. Final approval of a paid professional leave shall not be granted until the applicant has provided to the President a suitable bond or an accepted statement of assets (not including PERS holdings) and/or a promissory note that is individually or collectively at least equal to the amount of salary paid during the leave. The posted guarantee shall indemnify the State of California against loss in the event that the employee fails to render the required service in the CSU following return of the employee from the paid professional leave. The posted guarantee shall immediately be canceled in full upon completion of required service or upon waiver of that service by mutual agreement of the faculty member and the CSU. (CBA 27.19/28.15)
    3. A faculty member shall render service to the CSU upon return from a paid professional leave at the rate of one (1) semester of service for each semester of leave. (CBA 27.20/28.16)

Appendices

Appendix A: Evaluation Criteria for Paid Professional Leave Applications

Document describing Sabbatical Leaves 2007

APPENDIX B: Evaluation Rubric for Paid Professional Leave Applications

Evaluation Rubric TableEvaluation Rubric Table
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