A faculty unit member may apply for sabbatical leave after six (6) or more consecutive years of full-time employment in the system, and for faculty member improvement or career redirection leave after three consecutive years of full-time employment. The total number of sabbaticals granted for the semester and/or the year by the institution may not exceed 5% of the total FTE faculty for that year. Faculty members are not allowed to accept overload or extension contracts from the institution or work on other grants outside of the sabbatical. Applications for sabbatical leave should be submitted in accordance with the current BOR-COHE contract.

1. Complete applications will include the following information:

A. Filled in Request for sabbatical/educational leave form (available in the college office or online), which will include

• The proposed dates of the leave,
• A brief summary of the leave request,
• A full description of the proposed leave plan,
• Your preparation to do the work of the sabbatical,
• The relation of the project to your long-range professional objectives,
• And the proposed arrangements for financial support;

B. A current Curriculum Vitae;
C. A signed statement of understanding of the expectations and requirements for sabbatical leave in the BOR-COHE contract (statement is part of the application form);
D. An evaluation of the merit of the proposal by a supervisor, e.g. Department Chair or College Dean. You may also add the evaluation of a colleague who could assess the value of the work to be done.
E. The supervisor must also complete the last page of the application, which includes

• An analysis of the plan,
• A statement about institutional plans to meet employee duties during the leave,
• Current and estimated leave salaries,
• And a plan for salary savings.

F. The last page should be signed by the Department Chair and College Dean

2. Complete applications must be submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs by November 15th. The Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs shall deliver all complete applications to the Vice President of the Faculty Senate by the first working day in December.
3. Applications will be considered by the Faculty Senate during the regularly scheduled December meeting.
4. Applicants may be invited to testify orally on their own behalf at the time their application is considered.
5. Qualified applications receiving a majority vote of the members of the Faculty Senate in attendance will be approved for recommendation to the Provost & Vice-President of Academic Affairs. The President makes the final campus decision to award sabbaticals and forwards the applications to the South Dakota Board of Regents.
6. Within six weeks of return from professional leave, the person granted leave will report his/her activities to the President of Black Hills State University in writing.
7. All faculty receiving sabbatical leave are required to return to the institution granting the leave for at least two academic years of full-time service or to refund the full salary and institutional costs of fringe benefits received while on leave.
8. It shall be the responsibility of the Vice President of the Faculty Senate to perform the following duties:

• Publish this policy;
• Receive applications from the Vice President of Academic Affairs;
• Distribute completed applications to the members of the Faculty Senate a minimum of five working days prior to the regularly scheduled December meeting of the Faculty Senate;
• Inform qualified applicants of the date, time and place of the Faculty Senate meeting at which sabbatical applications will be considered;
• Give Faculty Senate recommendations to the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

9. The burden of making a timely and complete application will rest with the applicant. If an unforeseen opportunity arises later in the year, however, a late application may be submitted for review.
10. This policy is published in the first Campus Currents at the beginning of each academic year.
11. Procedures are outlined in the BOR Policy 4:15 and COHE Agreement, Section XXI.