HOW TO WRITE A SABBATICAL APPLICATION FOR A LEAVE TO BE TAKEN IN THE 2009-10 ACADEMIC YEAR

Applicants must attend the mandatory Staff Development FLEX Workshop
Monday, August 25, 2008 1 - 3 pm Room 312

A. A brief history of the sabbatical program including some basic assumptions:

1. Sabbatical leaves are integral to faculty professional development.
2. A year's leave can be better than a semester's leave for the budgetary health of the sabbatical program, but a semester's leave can be better for the budgetary health of the individual.
3. SLRB policies strive to be as predictable and dependable as possible for faculty and instruction.
4. Policies have been shaped to be flexible enough to accommodate faculty members from all disciplines - vocational and academic.
5. The CCFT Contract (Article 9) is central to defining the parameters of what can and cannot be done. The SLRB's role is to help faculty understand and interpret the contract.
6. SLRB is committed to helping instructors understand the policies and procedures.
7. After you return from your sabbatical you may purchase the percentage of your leave time from STRS. You need to contact the STRS for an estimate of the cost of this purchase. The form can be found at: http://www.calstrs.com/Help/forms_publications/Forms/ms0287.pdf
8. SLRB also deals with the implementation of the Alternative Credit [Appendix S] provisions of the CCFT contract.

Chairperson: Johanna Bowen; Administration members: Renee Kilmer, Nancy A. Brown, Kathleen Welch, ll, Rachel Mayo, and Dan Martinez; Faculty members 3 from CCFT: Eric Carter, Mary Ellen Sullivan, Marci Wald and 3 from Faculty Senate: Steve Hodges, Dawn Nakanishi, and TBD

C. Current Policy - Purposes, Criteria & Categories (CCFT contract, Article 9)
All sabbatical applicants should read and be familiar with the CCFT contract Article 9 which defines the sabbatical program and guides the activities of the SLRB committee.   

D. Planning for a proposal.

1. Start your planning as early as possible. While still in the idea stage, discuss your plans with past sabbatical recipients, friends, colleagues, your division dean, or members of the SLRB.
2. Copies of previous years' approved sabbatical applications are on reserve at the college library. At the library homepage http://libwww.cabrillo.edu
   Select Library Catalog, Select Course Reserves, type in Cabrillo Reserves

E. Writing a proposal.

1. Your proposal should be clear, specific and very definite about your plans.
2. There should be consistency in the description of similar activities.

For example:

• If you project includes visits to other campuses, you should include a list of questions which will be explored at each visit. A journal or report of the observations should be included.
• If your project includes time for professional reading, you should include a sample list of the proposed books and journals to be read.
• If the project includes activities which will lead to a new syllabus for an existing course, give examples of the new activities.

3. Do not over-commit or under-commit with regard to the size of the project. The sabbatical plan of activities and description of deliverables is a contract with the District for activities that will replace the time and activities commitment of your full-time contract.
4. The SLRB will ultimately be evaluating your final report of the activities accomplished on your sabbatical with the approved or amended objectives in the plan.
5. While on leave you are expected to put in approximately the same quantity and intensity of work as you would during either a full year or a regular semester. Work listed in your proposal may be carried out during winter break and in the summer before and/or the summer after a year's leave.
6. The expectation is that the proposed activities of the sabbatical will be accomplished prior to return to your assignment at Cabrillo.
7. When the SLRB evaluates a proposal it estimates if the project is equivalent to the corresponding amount of leave time. For example, if the SLRB feels that the activities proposed for a year do not correspond to the time requested you will be given the opportunity either to expand the scope of the planned activities or apply for a one semester leave. .

Formatting and Submitting the Proposal

1. Your proposal [the abstract, letter of approval from your Dean, and narrative of the entire proposal] will be bound into a book for distribution to the SLRB committee..
2. To make duplication easier, do not staple or bind your proposal. Be careful to put your proposal's page numbers at the bottom of the page since the upper right corner is used for a separate SLRB pagination.

E. Writing a proposal for a leave in 2009-2010 academic year: The following important dates are specified in the CCFT contract. No deadline may be missed!

1. By Friday, September 19, 5 pm:     Deadline for applicant to meet with the dean to discuss the sabbatical proposal.
2. By Friday, October 10, 12 pm:    Proposal package must be submitted to the Instruction Office. This consists of:
• a signed letter of approval/disapproval from the dean which describes how the proposal will improve your professional competence and how it relates to the college mission statement
• a separate one page abstract of the proposal
• the body of the proposal with clearly detailed goals and deliverables
3. On Friday, October 19: Proposals will be reviewed by the SLRB.
   NOTE:
   It may be returned to you for rewrite or clarification. A member of the SLRB Committee will contact you with a detailed description of changes or clarifications that the committee would like to see. You will have only two weeks to make these changes and turn in the revised proposal.
4. By Friday, October 31st, 12 pm: Proposal revisions must be turned in to the Instruction Office
5. On Friday, Nov. 14th  Revised proposals will be reviewed by the SLRB. Final approval or disapproval will be determined.
6. In December you will be notified by the VPI of the final approval and funding status of your proposal. Proposals are then submitted to the President for inclusion in the January, 2009 Governing Board packet.
7. At the January, 2009 Governing Board meeting, proposals are approved. They are still  subject to funding limits.
8. From January through March funding may shift as applicant's plans change.  Previously unfunded sabbaticals may be approved, following the eligibility list order.

F. Changes to an approved proposal

1. Once a proposal has been approved, ANY and ALL changes to the planned activities must be approved in advance and in writing by the VP for Instruction. There are no exceptions to this policy.
2. Substituted activities should be of equivalent merit to those originally projected and should be of equivalent time to accomplish.
3. Retain documentation in writing of approval for substitued activities. Documentation must be included in your final report of sabbatical activities.

rev.08/20/08 -- J. Bowen