McPherson College provides leaves with pay at periodic intervals to members of its faculty. Sabbaticals afford opportunities for scholarship, travel, writing, or other approved endeavors that will contribute to student recruitment, student retention, or growth as a member of the faculty or member of the administrative staff of the college.
The provisions of the McPherson College sabbatical leave program are as follows:
- Sabbaticals must be approved by the Faculty Review Committee, the President of the College, and the Board of Trustees. Approval of sabbaticals is not automatic; it involves considerations such as the faculty member’s past contributions to the college, the proposed leave’s potential usefulness to the applicant, and the practical problems of handling the absent applicant’s workload.
- A faculty member may apply for sabbatical leave at the beginning of the sixth year of employment or six years following completion of the previous sabbatical leave.
- Sabbatical applicants must complete and submit a request form to the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) by September 15 of the year prior to the requested leave. Sabbatical leave forms may be obtained from the VPAA’s office.
- Applicants may apply for a sabbatical leave of either one semester or one full contract year.
a. One-semester sabbaticals are paid at full salary. Fringe benefit programs continue during the one-semester sabbatical on the same basis as if the faculty member were at work full time on campus.
b. Full-year sabbaticals are paid at half salary. Because the college must, by law, base its contributions to Social Security and the 403(b) retirement plan on actual salary paid, those contributions will be reduced by half during the sabbatical year. In the case of the retirement benefit, the college will make up for the lost 403(b) contribution in cash compensation disbursed evenly over 12 pay periods. The faculty member is free to self-contribute this amount toward retirement, or not. - Sabbatical recipients shall sign a statement recognizing that the compensation paid during the sabbatical leave is on a “provisional loan basis.” One-half of the amount will be canceled after the first full contract year served following his or her return. The full amount will be canceled after the second contract year served.
- Within eight weeks following return from sabbatical leave, sabbatical recipients shall submit a written summary of their sabbatical leave experience to the CAO and schedule a time to present their experience to the campus community.
- Sabbatical leaves are granted for the purpose of professional advancement, not financial gain. If employment during the sabbatical creates new income greater than the college salary plus additional incurred expenses, the faculty member should consider the alternative of a leave of absence.
- Faculty on sabbatical leave are permitted to request faculty development funds, but faculty in residence have priority. If funds remain available, requests for faculty development funds will be considered and disbursed (if approved) at the end of the fiscal year in which the sabbatical leave occurred.
- Exceptions to the particulars set forth above must be approved by the VPAA.