Approved April 2011

This policy addresses the procedures and policies that will be used in the granting of Departmental Sabbaticals in the Department of Communication. The policy starts from the position that it is advantageous to both the department and to the faculty member to have the leave funded by  MU.  For the department, this means funding for teaching replacement.  For the faculty member,  an official Development or Research Leave permits the leave to cover an entire academic year instead of one semester.

Thus, in order to be considered a semester-long department-funded sabbatical, faculty members must do the following:

1. Apply for ONE of the following the year before the sabbatical is requested. The deadline for both is in October in the year preceding the leave.
   1. Faculty Development Leave: http://provost.missouri.edu/faculty/faculty development/devleave.html The purpose of the one or two-semester leave is to pursue one of the following: (1) To increase instructional development and/or enhance career renewal, (2) To broaden interest in a disciplinary field, (3) To acquire a new specialty, or (4) To promote activities that increase instructional effectiveness.
   2. Research Council's Research Leave: http://research.missouri.edu/funding/files/RL guide.pdf The purpose of this leave "is to provide teaching replacement support to allow recipients to dedicate one or two semesters to original research, scholarly and creative activities that will result in publications, exhibitions, and other scholarly and creative accomplishments."
2. If the leave is funded, the faculty member will not be eligible for a Departmental sabbatical for one academic year. In other words, the faculty member needs to be re-join the faculty for one academic year before he or she can take a Department sabbatical.
3. If the leave is not funded, the faculty member will be guaranteed a Departmental Sabbatical, which is defined as a one-semester, department-funded release from teaching and department service. The semester for the sabbatical will be decided by the Chair but must occur in the academic year following the submission of the Development or Research Leave application. The purpose of the Departmental Sabbatical is for the faculty member to dedicate his or her time to original research, scholarly and creative activities that will result in publications, exhibitions, and other scholarly and creative accomplishments.
4. In order to be eligible for the Faculty Development Leave and the Research Leave, the faculty member must have been granted tenure already or is currently being reviewed for tenure at the time of the application. This will be true for the Departmental Sabbatical as well.
5. Only one faculty member can pursue a Leave or Sabbatical in an academic year. We will follow an order of priority that is based on (1) Rank and (2) Number of Years in the Department.  Based on this priority, at the

beginning of the academic year, the faculty member will consult with the  Chair to  decide if he  or  she  will pursue the Leave or Sabbatical for the  FOLLOWING academic year. If he  or  she  declines, the  opportunity will go to the next  person  by level  of  priority. The following year, the  faculty member who declined  will have first eligibility.

Once all eligible faculty members have had the opportunity to apply for a Leave/Sabbatical, the priority will rotate back to  the  faculty member with the  highest rank and  number of years in the department.