Guidance for Sabbatical and Leave of Absence on Sponsored Projects
Responsible Offices: Sponsored Projects Accounting & Office of Research Integrity and Ethics
Effective Date: October 2023
An academic sabbatical or leave of absence, paid or unpaid, may be granted to qualifying faculty on a periodic basis for purposes of pursuing academic scholarship and/or research interests. While the University does not maintain a single standard sabbatical/leave program, general guidelines can be found in the Faculty Information Handbook (under Family and Work/Life Balance). Each school is responsible for establishing and maintaining their sabbatical and leave of absence policies.
This Guidance document is intended to provide several primary considerations concerning sabbatical/leave for faculty involved with sponsored research.
- An application for a leave is considered on its own merits. In granting a leave, a number of factors are considered, including length of service, scholarly promise, planned scholarly or research activity, nearness to completion of a major book, delays in production caused by heavy teaching, administrative or committee loads, etc.
- A leave is granted only on an annual basis and may be for all or a portion of the academic/fiscal year. In unusual cases, consideration will be given to extending the leave for a second year or a portion of the year
- Also see Sections II.A, IV.B.2 and VI.B.2.a of the Tenure Policy
- Any sabbatical/leave should first follow all applicable University/School/Department policies and will require Chair and/or Dean approval.
- Please refer to Appendix A for links to the applicable University and School policies for faculty and employees.
- A sabbatical/leave for faculty involved in sponsored research requires that all questions concerning agency policy, procedures, and approval be addressed and coordinated through the Office for the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) and approved in writing prior to the sabbatical/leave taking place.
- A clear plan should be developed, illustrating how the faculty member intends to maintain engagement with the project if he/she is serving as principal investigator.
- Faculty salary charged to sponsored funds during a sabbatical/leave should reflect the actual work performed on the project.
- Questions concerning the appropriateness of allocating leave costs to sponsored projects should be addressed by Human Resources and Sponsored Projects Accounting.
- A faculty Sabbatical leave should be recorded in Workday as Sabbatical on the leave calendar, see Time Off & Leave Calendar | Workday@WashU | Washington University in St. Louis (wustl.edu). Use the relevant option: Faculty > Sabbatical 100%; Faculty > Sabbatical 50%; or Faculty > Sabbatical Variable (pay is turned off and department must contact central payroll to pay the particular amount). If Questions Contact HR at 314.935.2332 or email HROpsServices@email.wustl.edu.
Responsible Office Contact
Joseph M. Gindhart
Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance & Sponsored Projects Accounting
(314) 935-7089
jgindhart@wustl.edu
Jeneane K. Braden
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Ethics and Integrity
(314) 747-4152
bradenj@wustl.edu