Sabbatical Report Timeline and Procedures

The Sabbatical Leave Report demonstrates your achievement of the goals of the Sabbatical Leave. It reflects the activities, projects and/or course work accomplished. It is the tangible outcome which demonstrates that there was direct benefit to the college and to the individual's professional development. In this section you will find definitions, a calendar of deadlines, and guidelines for formatting and submitting your report. 

Definitions

Working Copies - Copies which are used by the Committee and Administration when reviewing your Report. These are incomplete copies (does not include full original Proposal).

Archival Copy - The final complete copy of your Report that is bound in a permanent volume with all Sabbatical Reports from each Academic Year (does include full original Proposal). These are filed in the Library.

Deadlines and Timeline for Sabbatical Leave Report

REPORTS FOR FALL SEMESTER SABBATICAL LEAVES ARE DUE THE FIRST DAY OF FOLLOWING FALL SEMESTER.

REPORTS FOR FALL AND SPRING OR SPRING SEMESTER SABBATICAL LEAVES ARE DUE THE FIRST DAY OF FOLLOWING SPRING SEMESTER.

Your failure to comply with the stated deadline requires that you request an extension from the Sabbatical Leave Committee before the missed deadline, with an explanation for the delay and an estimated time of completion. This request for an extension of the deadline should also be date-stamped, for your protection.

Members of the Committee have the responsibility of reading and evaluating your sabbatical leave report to ensure that you have provided a "substantive and detailed description of all pertinent areas" of your proposal.

A note about the committee's timeline. Generally the fall semester is devoted to reading and approving new Sabbatical Proposals. The Spring semester is occupied with reading and approving Sabbatical Reports. Every effort will be made to act on reports in the semester in which they are submitted, but expect a delay and keep notes and materials until you hear from the committee.

If the Committee decides that your report is inadequate or could be strengthened in some specific way, it will return the report to you. You will then be asked to submit a revised copy within two weeks (ten working days). 

If your revised report is found to be unsatisfactory, you will be so notified as will the Academic Senate President. You will have two weeks in which to file an appeal and/or request a hearing, following which the Committee may reconsider your report.

Once your report is approved by the Committee, it will be sent to the Academic Senate which shall forward it, along with any of its own recommendations, to the Superintendent-President for final review prior to being sent to the Board of Trustees for approval. Final/Official approval of your report is expected to take from 4 to 6 months from the date of submission.

Sabbatical Leave recipients will be asked by the Assistant Superintendent / Vice President's Office to present a brief summary of the sabbatical leave project and outcomes to the Board of Trustees after their return from the leave.

Procedures and Format for Preparing Your Sabbatical Leave Report

Your report is being evaluated by persons who have not been immersed in the project as you have. Be sure you let your reader know why you are telling us what you are telling us. The use of section or paragraph titles within your narrative can be a very useful technique. Ask yourself if the report would be useful in guiding a future applicant with a similar project. It is important that the report follow the prescribed format and be as clear and informative as possible. If you require examples of previous reports, please contact the library or the Committee Chair.

The following are steps to help you prepare a report which meets required criteria:

A. Re-read the Policies webpage and the Report Checklist Form.

B. In order that each Sabbatical Leave Report complies with the standards delineated in the Sabbatical Leave Policy, as approved by the Board of Trustees, it is important that the report follow the format described below.

A. The report and all materials should be typed and meet professional standards. The report and supplementary materials should be 8 1/2 x 11 inches with a minimum left margin of 1 1/2 inches for binding.

B. A working copy of your sabbatical leave report will include:

o A Report Cover Page: name, department, title of project, term of leave, "Sabbatical Leave Report"

o Table of Contents and consecutively numbered pages (beginning with the first page after the table of contents and including the appendices-these page numbers may be hand-written)

Part I: A copy of selected pages from the original Board of Trustees approved Sabbatical Leave Proposal which include:

- The one-page Abstract 
- The one-page Summary of Expected Outcomes.
- Any memos or letters requesting changes to your original proposal

By referring to your original proposal, the reader can better evaluate whether or not your sabbatical achieved its stated goals.

Part II: Summaries and Narrative

A. A one-page Summary of your Sabbatical Experience. This will be forwarded to the Academic Senate and Board of Trustees and serve as an Introduction to your report.

B. A one-page Summary of Achieved Outcomes which will be forwarded to the Academic Senate and Board of Trustees for approval. Treat this summary as a "stand alone" document as time constraints may prevent the Senators and Board of Trustees from reading your complete report narrative. Please be as clear and precise as possible in describing your outcomes. It is requested that you refer to your Summary of Expected Outcomes as a starting point, addressing each achieved outcome in the same order.

C. A Narrative which details the achievements by which your sabbatical leave activities will be evaluated, and which may be read by the Board of Trustees, your colleagues, and the public. Please be as informative and as detailed as possible, making clear how each activity satisfied the goals stated in your proposal. It is a good idea to follow the same structure as your proposal, now explaining how your sabbatical achieved your goals. You may want to mention pitfalls and useful ideas that will help future applicants who read your report in preparation for writing their application for a similar project. The narrative should help the reader understand your sabbatical. Make it detailed.

Part III: Tangible Items/ Appendices (as applicable)

A. Appendices should be clearly titled, paginated and preferably tabbed or separated in some clear way.

B. Tangible items resulting from the project (books, articles, course-of-study outlines, sample screen printouts, creative endeavors, transcripts of grades, degrees, photographs, specimens, and/or other relevant materials) may be included in your appendices. It is important to clarify the use and relevance of items in the appendices as they are often discipline-specific and their use may not be clear to all readers.

C. References should be made within your narrative to the appendices, particularly as they relate to the objectives accomplished.

Working Copy (to be read by the Committee and the Administration)

-Submit one hard copy (in binder or report cover if necessary) and one digital copy of the report to the Committee Chair no later than the first day of the second semester after resumption of duties. See Report Checklist for what to include in your working copy. Keep a copy of your original Report.

-If revisions are requested after committee review then you will submit one (1) revised working copy (hard copy and digital version) to the Committee Chair no later than 10 working days from the request.

-When your revisions are accepted, or if no revisions are suggested, you will be asked to submit your Archival copy (one hard copy and digital version).

Archival Copy (see Archival Copy Checklist)

- Your final archival copy must include your complete original Sabbatical Proposal (including all forms) as well as your complete Report. You should have saved a copy of your original Proposal. For assistance contact the Committee Chair.

- The Library, in cooperation with the Committee, binds the Sabbatical Leave Reports in an annual volume which is placed in the Library's College Archives. Reports or materials accompanying the report that have holes punched and placed in binders cannot be bound but will be shelved with the bound volumes.