Sabbatical leave may be granted at the discretion of the administration in order to enable appointed personnel to make advances in their profession, to remain effective in their current positions, or to render the greatest possible service to the University of Arizona.  Sabbatical leaves must be taken during an academic year, and a report documenting the sabbatical activities must be filed with the appropriate Dean/Vice-President or Director no later than the end of the second semester following a sabbatical leave.

The University Handbook for Appointed Personnel (UHAP) 8.03.02 explains the university’s sabbatical policy in detail.  It specifies that sabbatical leaves may only be granted to appointed personnel who have served on full-time continuous fiscal or academic year appointments at the university for a period of not less than six years.  Only individuals with tenure or continuing status are eligible for sabbatical leave.  Leaves of absence without pay totaling no more than one year may be counted toward a sabbatical leave.  Time served in excess of six years may not be accumulated toward future sabbaticals.  Please see the College of Humanities Timetable for Sabbatical Leaves as a reference for determining eligibility for applying for sabbatical leave.

The Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs initiates the sabbatical application process each year.  (Please visit the Associate Provost's Sabbatical Application Process Announcement.)  The COH Associate Dean, in turn, initiates the sabbatical application and review process within the college at the beginning of each fall semester.  All sabbatical leave applications within the College of Humanities should be submitted on the Associate Provost’s Application for Sabbatical Leave.  The applications are reviewed at the unit level by the Head or Director, who provides an assessment of the applicant’s leave project and a recommendation concerning the request for sabbatical leave.  Heads and Directors are also responsible for ensuring that the sabbatical application is complete and timely before presentation for college -level review.  Please refer to the Associate Provost's and the COH Associate Dean’s memoranda concerning sabbatical leave applications and all of the items required for a complete file.  Incomplete applications at the departmental level should not be forwarded to the college level.  The college deadline of November 1^st is firm.

University policy requires that each college have a Sabbatical Leave Advisory Committee consisting of at least three people.  Within COH, the college-level review process begins after November 1st, the date by which Heads and Directors are to present departmentally reviewed sabbatical leave requests to the Associate Dean.  The COH Sabbatical Leave Advisory Committee provides its assessment and recommendation to the dean no later than December 1st. The final approval of sabbatical leave applications occurs at the college level.  In COH applicants are notified of the college-level decision in writing, usually no later than January 13th.  Successful sabbatical leave applications are then reported to the Office of the Associate Provost.  A candidate whose sabbatical proposal is rejected at the college level has the right to appeal to the university sabbatical leave advisory committee.