Sabbatical and professional development
Academic staff professional development release time
Article XIII.B.3 of the WSU/AAUP-AFT contract provides in part as follows:
"Upon presentation of an appropriate project for professional development, and with the approval of the unit administrator and the concurrence of the dean/vice president, and/or Provost, an academic-staff member is entitled to up to one (1) day of released time per week for up to fifteen (15) weeks per calendar year. Failure to approve the project is not grievable, but the unit administrator will meet with the academic-staff member to explain the decision, provided the staff member requests the meeting within ten (10) days of the notification of denial. There shall be no more than seven percent (7%) of the academic staff in any School/College/division approved for professional development leave in any calendar year. Requests for such leaves must be made at least sixty (60) days in advance of the anticipated starting date."
Requests for released time are now being accepted. An email with the application and approval from the appropriate administrator should be submitted to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development at least thirty (30) days prior to the proposed release time.
Sabbatical leave of absence
Following this memorandum, please find the cover sheet and information required for academic year 2025–26 sabbatical leaves. The application (consisting of items 1 - 2, 5 - 6 below) must be submitted to the department chairperson or equivalent administrator no later than November 15, 2024. Review committees are composed of faculty and academic staff from diverse disciplines. Therefore, please write for highly educated professionals outside your discipline.
The individual applications should be arranged in the following order:
- Application cover sheet with signatures
- Information required by University Sabbatical Leaves Committee (questions 1 - 4)
- Chair (or equivalent) evaluation
- Committee evaluation
- Report on last sabbatical (if applicable)
- Professional Record, signed and dated by the applicant
Language from the AAUP-AFT collective bargaining agreement (Article XIII.B.2)
Sabbatical leave eligibility
- Dependent upon the type of sabbatical leave requested (Section B.2.f.1), an applicant shall have served at least six (6) or twelve (12) semesters of regular full-time contractual employment in the bargaining unit since his/her initial appointment to academic-staff or faculty classifications or since a previous sabbatical leave. The elapsed semesters need not be consecutive, but no more than two (2) semesters shall be counted for any one (1) academic year.
Sabbatical salary support
- One (1) semester of leave following twelve (12) semesters of service = 100% Salary Support for Faculty | 80% Salary Support for Academic Staff
- Two (2) semesters of leave following twelve (12) semesters of service = 60% Salary Support
- One (1) semester of leave following six (6) semesters of service = 80% Salary Support
Procedures to change/defer sabbatical leaves
Faculty and academic staff may defer their approved sabbatical/professional development leave requests up to one (1) academic year without having to submit a new application.
Procedures to request a deferral
- Complete and submit a deferral request form with your rationale to your department chair (or immediate supervisor) for approval. Be sure to include the semester you would take your sabbatical leave.
- The Department Chair (or immediate supervisor) should forward approved requests to the Dean's Office for approval.
- Lastly, the Dean's Office will submit the deferral request to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development for final approval.
Any questions about this process should be forwarded to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development.