Hanging out with relatives over the holiday reminded me of how little understood is the role of the sabbatical for academics. December was also the time for review of applications for sabbaticals at Georgetown, and the office finds itself discussing the issue. There aren’t too many work organizations that sponsor sabbaticals, and it’s tempting for the uninformed to think of a sabbatical as an extended vacation.
First, maybe we should document the “why” of a sabbatical. The knowledge that is transmitted within universities is ever-changing. Faculty routinely change their syllabi semester-by-semester to reflect ongoing advances in their fields, to incorporate new research findings, and to describe the latest controversies in the area. With the evolution of global communication, and the fact that much scholarship is taking place outside the US, keeping up with developments is challenging.
An individual scholar’s work must be original to have impact. The second scholar to discover or produce something has little impact relative to that of the first. Sabbaticals are a time to solidify one’s scholarly contributions at the forefront of the field.
Some universities call sabbaticals “research leaves.” I like that nomenclature as one way to dispel the notion that relaxation and recreation are the goals of the time. However, even that moniker misses the varied options of work during a sabbatical.
At Georgetown, applications for sabbatical are really a research proposal. Sometimes they describe high-energy focused efforts to synthesize work into a book manuscript; sometimes it’s the collection of new observations to be analyzed fully upon return to Georgetown. Sometimes the proposal involves a retooling of knowledge and skills in order for the faculty member to develop a new line of research. In that sense, the sabbatical propels a new era in their careers. Sometimes the proposal involves activities within a different country, a different research environment, a business, or a nongovernmental organization. In these, there are usually reciprocal benefits, both to the visited organization and to the faculty member.
Based on faculty surveys a few years ago, we realized that more flexibility in sabbatical use could improve Georgetown. Some scholars’ cycles of work needed something other than the every six-year, one semester research leave option. So we now permit the use of partial sabbaticals of more frequent but shorter duration (see here).
The outcomes sought from a sabbatical are new peer-reviewed research products and books, but also new research collaborations outside of Georgetown. An additional outcome is a scholar returning re-energized with new paths of scholarship identified that can be exploited over several future years.
Of course, Georgetown students are often the most direct and immediate beneficiaries of sabbaticals. Sabbaticals can enrich the quality of instruction they experience from the returning faculty member, resulting in new examples, new project foci, new problem sets, and sometimes new internship opportunities.
Georgetown’s future needs faculty at the cutting edge of their fields; sabbaticals are one of the ways the faculty continue their cutting edge contributions.