Faculty Handbook

HSPH POLICIES PERTAINING TO FACULTY

Junior Faculty Sabbatical Program
(revised 10/26/2009)

The Junior Faculty Sabbatical Program is intended to support the professional development of faculty members on the tenure ladder at the Harvard School of Public Health. The program provides salary support for one semester of academic leave for research, the acquisition of new technical skills, or other activities that will further the recipient's professional development. The sabbatical may be spent in residence or away from the school. During the sabbatical period, the recipient is expected not to engage in teaching, committee, or other administrative work. Only one sabbatical may be taken during the period of nontenured service, and time taken for a junior faculty sabbatical does not extend an appointment or add time to the total years permitted on the ladder. In addition, it is expected that a recipient will be in residence for a minimum of one year after returning from sabbatical.

On average, three sabbaticals are awarded each year.

1. Eligibility criteria are the following:
   
   
   • Applicants must be assistant and associate professors whose primary appointment is at the Harvard School of Public Health and who are on the HSPH payroll.
     
     
   • As of the July 1 preceding the sabbatical (for example, July 1, 2010 for a sabbatical to take place during the 2010-11 academic year), they must have held an appointment on the tenure ladder for at least three years.
     
     
   • As of the July 1 preceding the sabbatical, they must not have undergone an eighth-year review (or later review if an extension to the tenure clock has been granted) or be scheduled to undergo such a review in the following year.
     

Priority will be given to applicants who are at least two years away from their eight-year review (or later review if an extension to the tenure clock has been granted).

2. Application process: A proposal of no more than two pages (single spaced) must be submitted to the Office for Faculty Affairs, Kresge 1010, by November 1 for sabbaticals proposed for the following academic year. The proposal should describe the activities planned for the sabbatical period, the relevance of those activities to the faculty member's professional development, and plans for coverage of the faculty member's teaching and advising responsibilities. A curriculum vitae and a letter of support from the applicant's department chair must be submitted with the proposal.
   
   
3. Selection process and criteria: The senior associate dean for academic affairs will convene a committee to evaluate applications and to recommend recipients of awards. Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the scholarly merit of the activities to be undertaken during the period of sabbatical leave and the incremental value of those activities to the applicant's professional development.
   
   
4. Salary support: For faculty members on the HSPH payroll, salary support will be provided for up to 50 percent of an academic-year salary, corresponding to one semester of sabbatical leave. If a successful applicant covers a portion of his or her salary during the sabbatical period from grant or contract funds, 50 percent of the amount of salary and fringe benefits covered will be provided to the faculty member in the form of a discretionary account which may be used for professional activities during or after the sabbatical period. (Note: For faculty members who receive part of their salary from another institution, financial support will be provided in proportion to their HSPH salary.)
   

Testimonials from former participants in the Junior Faculty Sabbatical Program are available.

To contact us with suggestions, comments, and questions, please e-mail: facultyaffairs@hsph.harvard.edu

Copyright, 2007, President and Fellows of Harvard College