Faculty sabbatical leave enables faculty members to engage in intensive study in order to become more effective teachers and scholars and to enhance their services to the University. Leave may be granted for the purpose of enhancing teaching, course and curriculum development, or conducting research or any other scholarly activities related to instructional programs within the field of expertise of the faculty member.

Eligible faculty members must be an Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Professor on the tenure track and have completed six or more years of full-time instructional service, or the equivalent, at the University of Wisconsin (excluding leaves of absence, regardless of funding source), and not have taken a sabbatical in the UW System during those six years.

Preference shall be given to those making significant contributions to teaching and those who have not had a leave of absence, regardless of funding source, during the prior four years.

There are two types of Faculty Sabbaticals:

1. One full academic year– partial pay (usually 35% pay reduction). The faculty member receives financial support from their department for up to 65% of their full compensation
2. One semester– full pay. The faculty member may receive their full salary for one semester.

• • Sabbatical Dates for 2025-2026:
    • Fall Semester: 8/18/2025-12/31/2025
    • Spring Semester: 1/1/2026-5/17/2026
    • Full Year: 8/18/2025-5/17/2026 
•  
  • See Academic Calendar: https://secfac.wisc.edu/academic-calendar/

All sabbatical funding will come from department funds (MAMA, grants, etc.).  Zero percent is paid by SMPH Dean’s Office.  If the employee on a grant can stay active, maintain contact with department and meet NIH requirements of their grant, the department may agree to pay the portion of their salary paid by their grant while on sabbatical.  

If the faculty member has clinical responsibilities, the department will determine if they should receive their UWMF compensation during sabbatical.  The department should submit a UWMF HR Service Request through the HR Help Desk in Oracle Cloud to notify Benefit Services the faculty member is going on a sabbatical to determine the impact on the faculty’s UWMF benefits.  The department will have the responsibility for coordinating with UWMF to pay any clinical compensation during their sabbatical.

It is the faculty member’s responsibility to inform the department chair if they will be receiving income from an outside source during the sabbatical.  The faculty member’s UW salary and income from an outside source during the sabbatical cannot be greater than their UW salary.  The guidelines state “A faculty member may receive and is encouraged to seek supplementary grants or other awards while on sabbatical, but such compensation, when combined with the amount of institutional compensation, shall not exceed the full compensation normally received from the UW System for that period.”

Note: per campus' remote work policy, faculty who are on sabbatical are out of scope and therefore no remote work agreement is needed.

For additional information, please follow the links below:

• Office for Faculty Affairs and Development - Guidance on Funding for Sabbaticals
• Sabbatical & Professional Improvement Leave

SMPH Dean and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development are notified of the campus deadline for all sabbatical requests. The Associate Dean determines the SMPH deadline and notifies the departments and Faculty HR. The departments determine their own deadlines and inform faculty.

Typical timeline:

• July 1 - Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development is notified of campus deadline and sends email to Department Chairs and CAOs, who inform their tenured faculty
• July 31 - Suggested internal department deadline (though departments can set a different deadline if desired)
• August 15 - Online sabbatical proposals due to SMPH (Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development)
• October 1 - Sabbatical proposals due to OHR 

Note: SMPH is typically notified of final approvals for sabbaticals in January

1. 1. The faculty member follows instructions for requesting sabbatical by completing the online application. Information regarding the program is at Sabbatical Leave Program Information.
   2. Requests are submitted electronically to the Department Chair.
   3. The Department Chair takes the proposal to the Department Executive Committee for approval.
   4. The Department Chair uploads letters of support, approves and submits electronically.
   5. The request is sent electronically to the SMPH Dean. The SMPH Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development has been set up by OHR as the Dean’s proxy.
   6. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development approves on behalf of the Dean. Faculty HR contacts CAO to obtain answers to the following questions, then reports back to Associate Dean:
      • What is faculty member’s current salary?
      • Who is covering for faculty member while they are away?
      • Confirm that faculty member has not taken sabbatical in the past 6 years (per UW policy)
   7. The online request is sent electronically to OHR General Services for final approval. Questions for OHR can be directed to accesscenter@ohr.wisc.edu.
   8. The Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff is the final approver.
   9. Once approval is finalized, OHR General Services sends approval letter to faculty member and copies the applicable Deans, Department Chair and Faculty Affairs and Development.
   10. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development will send copies of the approval letters to Faculty HR, who then distributes the approval letters and applications to the list of individuals below:
       • SMPH HR Business Partner (HRBP)
       • SMPH HR Associate Director
       • SMPH Payroll & Benefits Specialist
       • Department CAO
       • If dual-employed, UW Health HR (HRrecords@uwhealth.org)
       • If dual-employed, UW Health Operations (PracticePlanAdmin@uwhealth.org)
         • Pete Newcomer, MD, Chief Operating Office, Senior Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs (PNewcomer@uwhealth.org) 
         • Teresa Neely, Senior VP/Chief Ambulatory Officer (tneely@uwhealth.org)
   11. Faculty HR tracks all sabbaticals in the Sabbatical Tracker in Box.

Note: If the faculty member has an active appointment with Medical Staff Affairs, the faculty member must complete the Medical Staff Affairs Request for Leave of Absence Form.
         a. If faculty member’s leave is greater than 100 days, a Reintroduction to Practice Plan must be submitted with the request to reinstate privileges upon their return.

• Prior to Workday entry, the steps in the "Steps for Submission and Approval of Sabbaticals" panel (above) are completed. The following steps take the place of any action formerly taken in HRS.
• Faculty HR distributes approval letters via email as usual, including the Payroll & Benefits Specialist.

UW Sabbatical Job Aid - https://kb.wisconsin.edu/workday/internal/154186

*Prior to entering the sabbatical - if it is a full academic year sabbatical, P&B Specialist should confirm with the department if there will be supplemental funding/pay beyond the standard 65% (i.e. additional pay to cover the remaining 35%, or will they truly just receive 65% pay during sabbatical?). This is important to know prior to processing the sabbatical. 

The most common change to a sabbatical is switching from a full academic year to a semester sabbatical, or switching which semester they will take their sabbatical.

1. Sabbatical changes do not require official Vice Provost approval
2. Requests are sent by email to the SMPH Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development, who approves the change or extension and sends email to OHR (Donna Seely) and Faculty HR
3. There is no approval required by OHR as changes and extensions are automatically accepted as long as the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development and Department Chair support the change
4. Faculty HR notifies the HRBP, UW Health HR, & UW Health Operations, while OHR notifies UW System of the change 
5. The department prepares a letter regarding the change and emails it to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development for signature
6. The department should notify the Associate Dean if any requests are received directly from OHR 
7. if the sabbatical change is for a faculty member with clinical compensation through UWMF, the department should submit a UWMF HR Service Request through the UWMF HR Help Desk in Oracle Cloud to notify Benefit Services
8. If the sabbatical change is for a faculty member with an active Medical Staff Affairs appointment, the faculty member must notify the Medical Staff Affairs Office