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The Sabbatical Leaves Subcommittee of RPC met this afternoon. All three members (Jolene Barjasteh, David Emery, Anne Groton) had read through the twenty sabbatical leave applications for 2006-07, and Assistant Provost Arnie Ostebee had provided clarification on a couple of points.

After a brief discussion the subcommittee members found that they were in complete agreement about the merits of each application. Since all twenty of the projects were judged to be worthy and in harmony with the objectives of the sabbatical leave program, the subcommittee will recommend to RPC that all of them be approved.

The subcommittee members noted two features of the proposals that we think deserve to be pondered by RPC and Dean's Council. First, we were surprised by what appears to be an increase in the number of applicants requesting less than a full year for their sabbaticals. Ten of the twenty applications this year are for half-year leaves. Is the reason for this financial, or does it have more to do with departmental needs or with personal or family considerations?

We also observed that nearly half of the proposed sabbatical plans involve multiple smaller projects rather than a single large undertaking. Again, is the reason for this financial, or does it have more to do with changes in the lifestyle of academics? In our high-tech, high-speed world, have we become so used to multi-tasking that we cannot imagine spending our sabbaticals any differently? Is there a role for reflection and contemplation in a modern sabbatical?

Sincerely,
Sabbatical Leaves Subcommittee