In accordance with university policies, 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.
The University Handbook for Appointed Personnel 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 Leave as a reference for determining eligibility.
Process Steps
1. Application
All sabbatical leave applications within the College of Humanities should be submitted following the instructions provided by the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.
Required elements of the application:
- Description of project
- Travel Plans and Budget, if applicable
- CV, not to exceed 10 pages
- Internal or External Letter of evaluation and recommendation
- Department Head or Director's evaluation and recommendation
2. Review by Department Head
- Applications are reviewed at the unit level by the Head or Director.
- Head or Director provides an assessment of the applicant’s project and a recommendation.
- Heads and Directors must ensure that the sabbatical application is complete before presentation for college-level review.
3. Submission to the COH Dean's Office
The Department Head submits the application to the College of Humanities Dean's office.
The college deadline of November 1st is firm.
4. Review by COH Sabbatical Committee
- University policy requires that each college have a Sabbatical Review Committee consisting of at least three people.
- Within COH, the college-level review process begins after November 1st.
- The college-level Sabbatical Review Committee provides its assessment and recommendation to the Dean by mid-December.
5. Notification
COH applicants will be notified of the college-level decision in writing, usually no later than early January of each year. Successful sabbatical leave applications are then reported to the Office of the Vice Provost by the COH Dean's Office.
6. Sabbatical Report
A report documenting the sabbatical activities must be filed with Associate Dean Chantelle Warner (warnerc@arizona.edu) and cc to Robin Staples (rstaples@arizona.edu). The deadline to submit the report is no later than the end of the second semester following a sabbatical leave. For example, if the Sabbatical Leave was for Fall 2026, the report is due in December 2027. If the Sabbatical Leave was for AY 2025-2026, the report is due in May 2027.