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Provost

Sabbatical Process Update

Starting in the 2024-2025 academic year, the sabbatical application process is now facilitated through the Interfolio system. Before clicking on the application link, please review the faculty eligibility requirements, instructions, and required application materials below.

Each fall, the Office of Organizational Learning and Development (OOLD) and the Office of the Provost co-host a session for faculty who are preparing their applications for sabbatical. Members of the Sabbatical Assignment Committee frequently attend to offer guidance. Applicants are encouraged to attend.

If you have questions regarding the sabbatical application process, please email OfficeoftheProvost@umontana.edu.

Eligibility

Any聽tenured faculty member who has completed six (6) years of satisfactory service at The 91次元 prior to the year for which sabbatical assignment is requested shall be eligible to apply for such assignment. A faculty member starting a sabbatical assignment shall have completed at least twelve (12) semesters or their equivalent of full-time service at The 91次元 since a prior sabbatical assignment. The elapsed academic terms need not be consecutive, but no more than two (2) semesters shall be counted for any one (1) fiscal year. Academic terms for which other types of leave were granted shall be excluded in determining academic terms of service.

Note: Faculty must have already been awarded tenure in order to be eligible to apply for sabbatical. It is not possible to apply for sabbatical in the same year that one is applying for tenure.

Instructions

1. Faculty Initiates Request

The faculty candidate completes the 聽to notify the Office of the Provost of their intent to request a sabbatical assignment.

Request Deadline:聽Sunday, 26 October 2025

2. Case Created in Interfolio

Within two business days of the faculty submitting the Sabbatical Assignment Request Form, the Office of the Provost creates a Sabbatical case in Interfolio and notifies the faculty member via email when their case is ready.

3. Faculty Submits Materials

Within Interfolio, the faculty member will submit their application packet by filling out the sabbatical intake form, filling out the sabbatical acknowledgment form, and uploading the following required application materials:

  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
    • a complete vita including a record of all professional activities
  • Sabbatical Request Letter
    • a definitive detailed plan for the scholarly or professional use of the Sabbatical;
    • anticipated future value of completion of the Sabbatical to the applicant, students, department, and the University;
    • a description of any fellowship or grant or other arrangement which would aid in financing or otherwise supporting the proposed project
  • Department Chair/Director Letter

Application Submission Deadline: Thursday, 30 October 2025

To log into Interfolio, click . For more information about Interfolio, please visit the linked Resources for Faculty Candidates听辫补驳别.

About Sabbaticals

  • Following is a list of deadlines for the Sabbatical Assignment application process. The application must be completed in the academic year prior to the year in which the Sabbatical Assignment is desired.

    October 26: Deadline for faculty member to submit the sabbatical assignment request form to have their sabbatical case created in Interfolio.

    October 30:聽Deadline for faculty member to submit the required application materials (as detailed in the Instructions section above) within Interfolio.

    November 20: Deadline for the Dean to submit to the Sabbatical Assignment Committee all applications with comments and recommendations for each within Interfolio.

    December 15:聽Deadline for the Sabbatical Assignment Committee聽to submit to the Provost its ranking of the applications and its recommendations.

  • Sabbaticals are important to many faculty as a way to advance their scholarship, professional development, and collaborations. Sabbaticals are not automatically granted to all eligible faculty鈥攖here is a process of application, evaluation, and decision making spelled out in CBA 11.100.

    The University is committed to support 鈥渁s many sabbatical assignments as possible within the limits of available funding鈥 (CBA 11.100) and the CBA describes a process which consists of a faculty committee that evaluates and makes recommendations to the Provost by ranking the applications.

    Consistent with the CBA, the awards process is as follows:

    1. The Sabbatical Assignment Committee reviews applications, discusses them, and delivers their recommendations to the Provost in mid-December. Their review includes assigning each application a score.
    2. The Provost鈥檚 office receives the scores and adds information about the financial impact of each sabbatical based on whether each application is for a year-long sabbatical assignment or a semester-long sabbatical assignment.
    3. Using the Sabbatical Assignment Committee review scores, the Provost determines a cutoff score for awarding year-long sabbatical assignment applications, and a cutoff score for awarding semester-long sabbatical assignment applications. This is designed to result in the maximum number of sabbaticals being awarded that is possible (given the funds that are available), consistent with the rankings.

    Typically, year-long sabbaticals are cost neutral or positive, and semester sabbaticals require an investment of funds. Year-long sabbaticals help us afford more semester length sabbaticals. The fund balance of year-long and semester sabbaticals plus an investment of funds from the Provost鈥檚 office results in as many sabbatical assignments as possible being funded while following the Sabbatical Assignment Committee review scores. Applications are not moved up or down the scored list based on cost.

  • Starting in Fall 2020, the Office of the Provost and UFA developed a scoring rubric that members of the Sabbatical Assignment Committee will use when evaluating applications for sabbatical assignment. Faculty members preparing to apply for sabbatical are encouraged to view the evaluation rubric聽prior to preparing their application.

  • The sabbatical awards page聽lists the most recent sabbatical recipients' names, departments, and terms of sabbatical assignments.

    The past sabbatical awards page聽lists past sabbatical recipients' names, departments, and terms of sabbatical assignments.

This webpage was last updated 07.31.2025.