Tenured faculty and faculty members who have completed their third year of the tenure track process are eligible to apply for one or more types of paid professional development leaves or sabbaticals. Eligibility, application processes, and faculty responsibilities while on leave and returning from leaves are clearly defined and described in the LRCFT contract. The FLC process for applying for leaves is coordinated by the Sabbatical Leaves Subcommittee of the Professional Development Committee and the Office of Instruction. LRCFT negotiates with the district to determine the amount of leave available to each college.
Each semester the Instruction Office sends a memo to eligible faculty, which details the leave available for the next semester and the timelines for applying. This information is also provided in the trays below. Interested faculty members are encourage to begin planning potential leave requests well before the deadline and to work with members of the Sabbatical Leaves Subcommittee and their immediate supervisors to prepare a competitive application.
Application Period and Calendar
Deadlines
Applications due to Deans: Wednesday, February 21 by 12:00 noon
Applications due to VPI: Thursday, February 22 by 12:00 noon
Interviews Scheduled on Friday, March 1, 9:00 am to 12:00 noon via Zoom
Review of Applications
February 23 through February 29
Interviews
March 1, 2024 beginning at 9:00 am on Zoom
Allocation available for Fall 2024
The allocation from District, with carryover, is as follows:
Type A: 1.0
Type B: .316
Applications will be reviewed and ranked by the Faculty PDC Sabbatical Leaves Subcommittee. Please submit the original application (after obtaining Dean’s signature) to the Office of Instruction by noon on Thursday, February 22. Late proposals are not accepted.
Application Process
- Eligible members who qualify for institutional projects or have activities/projects in mind that fall within the criteria specified in the LRCFT contract may apply by completing the Los Rios District Sabbatical Leave Application.
- Applications will be reviewed and ranked by the Faculty PDC Sabbatical Leaves Subcommittee. Please submit the original application (after obtaining Dean’s signature) to the Office of Instruction by noon on Thursday, February 22. Late proposals are not accepted.
- The College President will make recommendations to the Chancellor and the Board for final approvals.
Deciding on a project:
While the common meaning of a sabbatical is the “ceasing” of or rest from work, an academic sabbatical is a time when faculty have the opportunity to step out of the classroom to fulfill or pursue a professional goal that would benefit students, enhance the quality of instruction, and support the educational institution. Projects cannot replicate an activity or project for which leave has been previously granted.
Criteria:
FLC faculty applying for Type A or B Leaves are strongly encouraged to carefully study Article 11.6 of the LRCFT Contract. The contract is the single document responsible for defining the nature and purpose of Professional Development Leaves, who is eligible to apply for specific types of leaves, and the six criteria (Section 11.6.4) by which the college sabbatical/leave committees must evaluate leave applications.
The primary factors to be considered in evaluating a request for leave are:
11.6.6.2.1
The relative potential benefit to the students, college programs, the institution and/or the faculty member making the request.
11.6.6.2.2
The applicant’s high level of performance of duties.
The six selection criteria listed in Section 11.6.4 are the same for both Type A and Type B Leaves: “Applications for leaves will be considered according to one (1) or more of the categories provided. ...All categories shall be regarded as equal in value; applications falling within any one (1) or more categories shall be considered equal in rank.”
11.6.4.1
Retraining of applicant to allow for future new assignment(s) in a needed area as determined by college and District priorities. 11.6.4.2 Studies, projects or activities that provide staff with opportunities to upgrade academic, technical and vocational skills and knowledge for current or future assignments.
11.6.4.3
Studies, projects, or activities for the improvement of curriculum, educational delivery systems, student personnel services, or other support services.
11.6.4.4
Studies, projects or activities for development or revision of certificate or degree programs. 11.6.4.5 Studies, projects or activities related to feasibility or revision of new or existing programs. 11.6.4.6 Studies, projects or activities for the enhancement of student access and success at the course, program or institutional levels.
- Carefully read the LRCFT contract section devoted to sabbatical leaves (Article 11.6.4). All requirements, conditions and processes related to professional development leaves, including selection criteria, come directly from contract language.
- Sabbatical proposals are not confidential and will be available as “public record” in a variety of possible contexts (committee minutes, appendices, etc.).
- Remember that your proposal will be read by a general audience of faculty members from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. They need to clearly understand your proposal and its expected benefits and outcomes. Explain discipline-specific terms, avoid jargon, and provide brief background information if necessary.
- Be concise and specific as possible. If some aspect of your proposal is impossible to fully predict (for example, what your research will reveal, or how much time may be required), simply acknowledge it in your narrative
- Clearly explain why and how your project is “above and beyond” your regular instructional duties. Although not required, including a timeline with rough estimates of how long each phase of your project will require can enhance the credibility of your proposal and will help the subcommittee better understand its scope.
- Be thoughtful and realistic about how you phrase your goals and final outcomes. For example, the goal of producing a draft or completing the necessary research for a book / study / text is more prudent than aiming for a fully finished product.
- Stress how your proposal fits one or more of the six selection criteria spelled out in the LRCFT contract Article 11.6.4.1-6. If applicable, link your proposal to departmental, program or institutional goals. Highlight how it will directly or indirectly benefit students.
- Be prepared to briefly summarize your plan and explain its benefits as well as answer questions when you present your proposal to the Sabbatical Leaves Subcommittee.
As noted in 11.6.7, within 3 months after returning to regular duties, the faculty member must submit a written report to the Professional Development Committee for review and recommendation of approval or disapproval to the College President and the Board. A second, more informal self-evaluation report is to be submitted to the Sabbatical Leaves Subcommittee after one year. Additionally, the Professional Development Committee expects that sabbatical recipients will share the results of their projects as a Flex presentation and/or as an informal report to be given on the first mandatory Flex day after they have returned to regular duties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Copies of former sabbatical leave proposals and reports are available in hard copy at FLC Main Campus Library or the office of the VPI.
Contact the current Sabbatical Leaves Subcommittee chair or the Faculty Professional Development Committee chair for advice and suggestions or if you have further questions about your idea or about sabbaticals in general.
Each applicant must follow the directions on the Sabbatical Leaves Proposal form and submit that form with the area dean’s signature. Other documentation that could help the subcommittee in making its decision about a proposal (letters of support, agency materials, organization pamphlets, etc.) may also be submitted but are not required.
Type A is a leave of one semester at full pay or one year at half pay. Type B is a leave at full pay up to one hundred percent (100%) reassigned time for up to one year duration. Also see Chart of Professional Development Leaves, Appendix D in the LRCFT Contract for additional information.
Consider the scope of the proposed work to be done during the leave and the approximate time it might take to complete the work. For example, for a full-time faculty member, the scope of a Type A proposal should reflect a project that would require as many as 35 hours per week for a full semester to complete. Subsequently, the scope of a Type B proposal might be as low as 7 hours a week for a semester (.2 FTE reassigned time) or as many as 28 hours a week for a semester (.8 FTE).
Yes. Some projects may need to be conducted over the course of two semesters. For example, one semester might be dedicated to gathering data or conducting research that could then be analyzed and acted upon in a second semester. However, contractually, the subcommittee can only approve proposals one semester at a time. In such a case, an applicant whose proposal was approved in the first semester would submit a separate, updated proposal for the second semester, but he or she should be aware that the subcommittee cannot guarantee approval of the second semester. However, the subcommittee can “highly recommend” in its report to the college president and the LRCCD Board of Trustees that the second part of a two-semester proposal be given primary consideration in the following semester.
Absolutely! Each semester and each yearly allocation are fresh starts. The LRFCT contract does not limit the number of times a faculty member may apply, nor are there limits on the number of successful applications a faculty member may be granted.
Yes. Sometimes a proposal cannot be accepted because the FTE allocation for sabbaticals is insufficient to grant all worthy proposals. Since the allocation changes each semester, applicants in some cases may be advised to apply again in a following semester. Applicants whose proposals are not granted should discuss with the PDC Chair and Sabbatical Leaves Chair specific ways to strengthen the proposal for future submission.