Guidelines for Applications for Faculty Study Leaves

Grinnell College has established a competitive program of study leaves designed to encourage and promote increased scholarly productivity for the faculty. The intent of this program is to support scholarship either by extending a one-semester sabbatical leave to a full year or by providing an additional paid leave for one semester (2 courses) at the midpoint between regular sabbatical leaves. Faculty taking study leaves will normally be expected to continue with advising and service activities.

Faculty should include a short report on their study leaves in their Faculty Activities Reports.

Eligibility
Faculty members who hold full-time, regular positions at the Associate Professor and Professor ranks are eligible. Leaves will be granted to faculty either during their regular sabbatical year or near the midpoint of a sabbatical cycle. The one-semester leaves taken between sabbatical years will replace the two-course semester. Normally, these midpoint leaves will not be tenable within the two years after completing a sabbatical year or within two years of eligibility for the next sabbatical leave. However, it is possible to apply for a leave that would extend the length of the paid sabbatical leave from one to two semesters. Normally, only one study leave will be granted to a faculty member in any one seven-year period. The table below summarizes the schedule for eligibility:

Sabbatical Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sabbatical Year
Eligible? No No Yes Yes No No Yes

If you have questions about your own schedule of eligibility for faculty study leaves, please contact the Dean’s Office before submitting an application.

Priorities for Study Leave

  1. Awards will be based on the academic strength of the proposal. The committee considers evidence of the scholar's qualifications and preparation to complete the research as well as timeliness or impact in the discipline as it evaluates academic strength.
  2. Priority will normally be given to projects that show promise of substantial progress (applicants must describe this progress) or which can result in products that will be ready for peer review by the end of the leave period. Evidence of previous scholarly accomplishment often weighs heavily in assessing the quality of the project and its likelihood for success.
  3. Applicants are welcome to make a case for why this particular time is an opportune one for the College to invest in their scholarly work (e.g., because of the timeliness of the proposal, because of the impact on the candidate's career).

While the criteria above are the primary factors the committee will consider in assessing proposals, the committee encourages applicants to make a case for how their research advances institutional priorities. The committee also will look favorably on proposals that indicate the faculty member has submitted the proposal for external support.

Application Procedure

Applications for leaves are due in the Dean’s Office by 5:00 p.m., the third Friday in August (Departmental and Institutional Planning section is due by 5:00 p.m. the first Friday in October.) Please note that these applications are written for an audience that is likely not to be expert in the applicant’s field. Proposals should be free of jargon and abstruse technical language. Proposals that do not meet this criterion will be returned to applicants for prompt rewrites.

Proposals should include the following elements:

  1. Overview of the Proposed Study (not to exceed two single-spaced pages): This summary describes the basic ideas, problems, works, or questions to be addressed. It should also give an overview of the planned approach, methodology, or perspective for the project. Applicants are encouraged to address a general audience with the following questions.
  • What are the basic ideas, problems, works, or questions the study will examine; what is the planned approach or line of thought?  
  • What is the relationship between the proposed work and the work of others in the same field? What is distinct and timely about the proposed study?  
  • What contribution is the proposed study likely to make to the field of study or to teaching and learning generally?  
  • What form is the proposed study likely to assume, such as a book, monograph, text, article, series of lectures, etc.? For what audience are the results of the study intended, such as students, other teachers, other scholars, the general public, or some combination of these? Has a publisher expressed interest in or awarded a contract for the work?  
  • What is the current state of the proposed study? There should be a proposed schedule or plan of work, including expected milestones?  

  • What are the prospects for access to resources necessary for the work, including archives, collections, equipment, institutions, and people? At what location or locations will the applicant conduct the study and what materials will be used?

  1. Context Statement (one to two single-spaced pages): This statement reviews the relationship of the proposed work to the applicant’s overall program of scholarship. The context statement describes the applicant’s current scholarly activities and the present status of this proposed project, and clarifies how this work contributes to the applicant’s long-range goals as a teacher and scholar. Applicants might indicate why this is a particularly appropriate time to undertake this project, e.g., because of disciplinary or professional context. Applicants should make the case as to why they are particularly qualified and prepared to carry out this project. If the area of study is new to the applicant, the appplicant should explain the context for embarking on this new enterprise.

  2. Curriculum Vitae: Attach current curriculum vitae (not to exceed five pages).

  3. Budget (only if applicable): The intent of the study leave is simply to provide salary during a non-teaching semester to support a scholarly project. However, if additional funds are needed in order to undertake the project, this need may be described and explained in this section. Any grant support for the project (external or internal, awarded or pending) may also be described here.  

Departmental and Institutional Planning
A short statement (one-half single-spaced page) that provides context for departmental and institutional planning is due on the first Friday in October.

Prepared in consultation with the applicant’s department chair—and, if appropriate, concentration chair—this section of the proposal briefly outlines which courses ordinarily taught by the applicant would be absent from the curriculum during the study leave period, and evaluates the necessity of replacing them. This section also briefly describes College activities and faculty service (e.g., advising, committee work) that the applicant will engage in during the semester of leave.

Although the Dean and President will rely on the Departmental and Institutional Planning statement to ensure that granting these leaves will not compromise the quality or functioning of the academic program, CSFS will not use this statement as a criterion for judging the merit of individual proposals.

May 2011