Community College Faculty (MCCFA) Sabbatical Leave
#TRG0001 (Revised 9/1/98)

Purpose: To clarify the sabbatical leave process.

Affected Campuses: All MnSCU community college campuses.

Authoritative References: The employment contract between the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees and the Minnesota Community College Faculty Association, Article 16 - Faculty Development, Section 3. Sabbatical Leave

Required Form(s): These forms are grouped together as one file: PDF.

• Faculty Sabbatical Leave: Application (Form #1)
• Faculty Sabbatical Leave: Plan (Form #2)
• Faculty Sabbatical Leave: College Review of the Plan (Form #3)
• Faculty Sabbatical Leave Report
• Faculty Sabbatical Application Summary List

Responsibility for Implementation: It is the responsibility of the college president, in concert with the college human resources director, to assure that the requirements of the bargaining agreement are met.

Clarification of the faculty sabbatical leave Process:

The System Office calculates the number of sabbatical leaves that may be awarded by each college and notifies the college no later than October 15 of the year preceding the sabbatical year. The number of sabbaticals approved for a college is calculated according to the stipulations in the Minnesota Community College Faculty Employment Contract.

Each academic year during the month of October, the college will inform all faculty of the upcoming dates to apply for a sabbatical leave to be effective the next academic year. The information notice shall include the local campus process. [i.e., when application forms will be made available and from whom, deadline dates for submitting applications, time lines for the appropriate administrative review and approval process, etc.]

Applications and plans for sabbatical leave shall be submitted to the college president or designee between November 24 and December 15 in the year preceding the academic year during which the faculty member is planning to take the leave. The application and plan must be delivered to the college president or designee by December 15 or mailed by certified mail not later than December 15 to be considered. [See forms for application and plan.]

Sabbatical leaves shall be reviewed and approved by the college president if all criteria listed in the Minnesota Community College Faculty Employment Contract are met. If a faculty member desires to change the substance of the sabbatical plan which was previously approved by the college president, the faculty member shall submit an amended plan to the college president. If the college president fails to approve the amended plan (or disapproves based on failure to meet sabbatical leave plan criteria), the faculty member may submit an alternative plan(s).

Copies of the Faculty Sabbatical Leave: Application Form for each faculty member whose plan has been approved by the college president and the Faculty Sabbatical Application Summary List will be forwarded to the MnSCU Personnel Division no later than December 31.

The System Office reviews the faculty who have been approved for sabbatical leave to verify that they meet eligibility criteria and selection procedures, as stipulated by the Minnesota Community College Faculty Employment Contract. Colleges will be notified no later than January 31.

Written notification of approval, rejection or ineligibility will be provided to the faculty member by the college president or designee no later than February 15.

Upon returning from sabbatical or within at least one month from the beginning of the semester following the leave, the faculty member shall submit a written description of plan activities undertaken during the sabbatical to the college president or designee. [See sabbatical report form.]