A two-year research leave?

[Veggie3]

Dear Forumites,

Last spring I was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor (yay!) at a large R-1 university. Since I was tenured in my 4th year on the "clock", I'm not eligible for a full sabbatical until at least the fall of 2022. At this school, faculty can take either one semester with full pay, or two semesters with 2/3 of their regular wages.

I'm applying to a number of national/international fellowships/grants for the next school year (2021-2022). Some of them are residential, some are not. Some are for one semester, and some are for 10-12 months. The main purpose is to complete writing my (second) book manuscript.

My chair and the department have always been encouraging - the chair told me that the U. would love it if I win one of those grants/fellowships. But in such a case, I might be two years away (one as a leave without pay, and the second as paid sabbatical). Is that a legitimate trajectory? What happens if it's one semester leave without pay? Would that be more acceptable?

Thanks in advance.

[lightning]

Dear Forumites,

Last spring I was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor (yay!) at a large R-1 university. Since I was tenured in my 4th year on the "clock", I'm not eligible for a full sabbatical until at least the fall of 2022. At this school, faculty can take either one semester with full pay, or two semesters with 2/3 of their regular wages.

I'm applying to a number of national/international fellowships/grants for the next school year (2021-2022). Some of them are residential, some are not. Some are for one semester, and some are for 10-12 months. The main purpose is to complete writing my (second) book manuscript.

My chair and the department have always been encouraging - the chair told me that the U. would love it if I win one of those grants/fellowships. But in such a case, I might be two years away (one as a leave without pay, and the second as paid sabbatical). Is that a legitimate trajectory? What happens if it's one semester leave without pay? Would that be more acceptable?

Thanks in advance.

Congrats on your tenure.

It sounds like the most support you would get from your uni would be one year at 2/3 salary and one year unpaid. If your fellowship stipend covers the difference, your boss lets you do it, and your colleagues are not too resentful, go for it! This is kind of rare in my circles, but it does happen. You are a lucky person, if you pull this off.

[Hegemony]

Sure, why not?  I had a two-year research leave a few years back — one year on sabbatical, a second year on a fellowship. One of my colleagues is doing the same thing right now. And another got four years off this way. Of course you have to get the approval of your department/university. Some would balk. But others see it as adding to the prestige of the place, plus hiring VAPs (or, unfortunately, adjuncts) to replace you probably saves them money. So go ahead and go for it.

[Veggie3]

Thank you Lightning & Hegemony,


[Wow, someone got four years off?]


Your responses are quite reassuring. I thought that after a year out (even if on a leave without pay), I'll be asked to teach and do service for at least a year before I can take my sabbatical.

[arty_]

I recently had three semesters away- a Fulbright for a semester followed by a year-long sabbatical at half pay. I would have taken the year-long Fulbright, but family obligations made the one-semester a better choice. The department saved money, and was entirely supportive. I could imagine my former chair being reluctant, but the current one was fine.

[nonsensical]

This is definitely possible if your department and university are on board. My recommendation would be to read whatever you're required to sign when taking these leaves and negotiate anything out of the ordinary up front, if your university has any paperwork that goes along with sabbaticals. For instance, at some universities, faculty must teach full-time for one year after returning from a sabbatical; faculty who don't do this are required to pay back whatever the university paid for them during the time away (including salary and potentially other costs that don't show up directly in people's paychecks, like benefits). If your school has boilerplate language like this, and you think you'll be able to take two years in a row, I'd chat with people about removing or changing that phrasing before signing the form.

[Cheerful]

...plus hiring VAPs (or, unfortunately, adjuncts) to replace you probably saves them money.

Or not hiring any replacement labor at all.  When people go on leave at my place, the unit just offers fewer courses (bad for students) and those not on leave take on extra work, usually without extra pay.  An awful message to send to Administration:  "Oh yes, we're just fine with one or more f.t. faculty on leave, no need for replacement labor."

Two-year leaves are not unheard of.  The primary consideration at my place is what's in it for the university in terms of $.  Good luck!

[Veggie3]

Thank you all for your positive and helpful feedback.


Nonsensical - yes, at my U. after a sabbatical one must return and work for the same amount of time as the sabbatical (one or two semesters). That rule, however, doesn't apply to leaves without pay, and I don't expect to get more than one year from the university (as opposed to external funding, which can get me an additional semester or year). But if/when it becomes relevant, I will certainly look at the fine print of any type of leave.

[Vkw10]

Thank you all for your positive and helpful feedback.


Nonsensical - yes, at my U. after a sabbatical one must return and work for the same amount of time as the sabbatical (one or two semesters). That rule, however, doesn't apply to leaves without pay, and I don't expect to get more than one year from the university (as opposed to external funding, which can get me an additional semester or year). But if/when it becomes relevant, I will certainly look at the fine print of any type of leave.

While you're working on it, check what happens with benefits. At my university, you can continue health insurance during leave without pay if you pay the full cost yourself. Do the fellowships include benefits or will you need to fund health insurance yourself?

We have someone who arranged 18 month leave, with half pay for sabbatical during the first year, then leave without pay. He ignored the benefits information and all mail from university, so he was shocked to discover he'd lost health insurance after an emergency room visit.

Good luck with the leave and sabbatical arrangements.

[Veggie3]

To Vkw10: That's an excellent point that is constantly on my mind. Most of those fellowships are abroad, so there are companies that offer health insurance packages for Americans abroad. In some countries (e.g., Germany) the fellowships include state-sponsored health insurance.

The bigger problem are the non-residential fellowships. I guess that in such a case I'll need to use COBRA, or some other type of health insurance, as I'll stay in the country.