Old Dominion University

Board of Visitors Policy

1710 EVMS Sabbatical Leave

Date of Current Revision or Creation:

June 16, 2023

This Policy only applies to "EVMS Faculty" (as defined in the Policies and Procedures Relating to Faculty Appointment, Promotion and Tenure of EVMS Faculty), who provide clinical, teaching, research, or administrative services in the School of Medicine ("SOM") and/or the School of Health Professions ("SHP"). All references to "faculty" herein mean EVMS Faculty as defined in this policy.

Sabbatical leave may be provided for members of the faculty holding Associate Professor or Professor ranks. A faculty member is eligible for sabbatical leave after every sixth year of continuous service on the faculty of the SOM or SHP. The period of service is to be calculated from the time of first appointment to the full-time faculty with a minimum rank of Assistant Professor. Sabbatical leaves are not awarded automatically after six years of service, but are awarded on the basis of individual merit.

Compensation

The compensation during a sabbatical will be either at the 100% rate for leaves of six months or less or 50% rate for leaves of seven to twelve months. Funding of the base salary while on such sabbatical will be derived from the same funding sources at that paid to the faculty member while not on sabbatical except that any salary component of a faculty member's base salary that is derived from extramural research funds will instead be derived from other funds. All institutional benefits will remain in force during a sabbatical leave. The faculty member will be responsible for paying their portion of the premiums.

Activities During Sabbatical Leave

The privilege of a sabbatical may be extended to a faculty member for the purpose of enriching academic talents relative to their functions at the SOM or SHP. A sabbatical is, therefore, intended to permit a faculty member to perfect or acquire techniques in teaching, clinical care, research/discovery and administration/service, either in the faculty member's original discipline or in a new area in which they propose to embark. Work in a research laboratory, clinical training at another medical center or medical school or the pursuit of formal courses in an accredited institution of higher education in a relevant discipline are appropriate activities for sabbatical leaves. The writing of books or original papers is also an appropriate justification.

Approval of Request for Sabbatical Leave

Sabbatical applications for any part of the school year must be submitted at least nine months in advance of the start of the leave. Applications are to be submitted to the Department Chair of the School of Medicine or Dean of the SHP who recommends the request, giving assurance that the faculty member's activities will be adequately covered without additional cost to the department's budget and justifying the faculty member's need for such a leave, to the Dean of the SOM, if applicable, and to the Executive Vice President for final review and approval.

Upon Conclusion of the Sabbatical Leave

Recipients of sabbatical leave are required to return to full-time service of ODU for at least one academic year. Failure to return to ODU service for one academic year shall create an obligation for the faculty member to pay ODU an amount equal to the compensation the faculty member received from ODU on a month for month basis. For example, if a faculty member was granted a sabbatical leave of one year, but only returned to ODU for six months, the faculty member would incur an obligation to pay ODU an amount equal to six months compensation. Faculty must submit a report of the activities during the sabbatical to the Department Chair of the School of Medicine or Dean of SHP, and to the Dean of the SOM, if applicable, and to the EVP upon completion of the sabbatical leave.