TO: Faculty Members, College of Arts and Sciences
FROM: Dianne Harris, Dean
SUBJECT: Sabbatical leaves for 2025-2026
The Washington state legislature places a statutory limitation on the percentage of faculty members who may be granted sabbatical leave in any one year. After determining this number, the UW administration allocates a certain number of leave quarters to each college and school. More quarters may be available from the Provost later in the year. In the table below are data showing the total number of quarters allocated to the College in a given year and the number of leave quarters applied for within the College.
| Leave Year | Original Allocation of Quarters | Additional Provost Quarters | Total Quarters Available to A&S | Total Applications |
| 2021-22 | 146 | 0 | 146 | 115 |
| 2022-23 | 146 | 9 | 155 | 182 |
| 2023-24 | 147 | 19 | 166 | 192 |
| 2024-25 | 147 | 0 | 147 | 151 |
| 2025-26 | 152 |
Sabbatical leave applications for leave to be taken during the 2025-26 academic year should be submitted to the Dean's Office by December 1, 2024. Arts & Sciences has set a deadline for submission of applications so that all requests received by a given time may be considered competitively. There is only one round of consideration per year, in Autumn Quarter.
In reviewing each application, the Divisional Deans take into account the purpose of the leave, the likely contribution to a scholarly or artistic product of high merit, the potential enhancement of teaching effectiveness resulting from the leave, the applicant’s length of service, the number and dates of past leaves, and the impact of the leave on the continuity and effectiveness of the educational program of the unit(s) affected. It is important that the leave plan highlights the specific ways that the leave will enhance scholarly productivity and teaching effectiveness.
For further information about the process of leave allocation and the criteria by which applications are evaluated, please consult the leave allocation guidelines on the A&S Web site.
You may also wish to refer to the UW Policy Directory.
According to Faculty Code rules, a faculty member is eligible for a sabbatical leave not earlier than the seventh year of service to the University or not earlier than the seventh year after the return from a previous sabbatical leave. Faculty whose previous sabbatical leave was taken within a single academic year may apply for the 2025-26 academic year if they completed their last sabbatical leave before Autumn Quarter 2019. Faculty whose previous sabbatical leave was distributed over more than a single academic year should consult with their Divisional Dean to determine their eligibility. Assistant Professors are not eligible for sabbatical leaves until they have been reviewed and approved for promotion and tenure. However, they may apply during the year of mandatory review for promotion.
The University considers the following to be complete leaves: one quarter of leave at 100% salary, or two quarters of leave at 75% salary, or three quarters of leave at 66.67% salary. The leave may be spread out over more than one academic year (e.g., one quarter in each of three successive years). Spreading a sabbatical over multiple academic years requires the faculty member to re-apply for leave in each successive year and will impact the time of future eligibility. Please note that any year with a sabbatical quarter or substantive leave without pay (50% or more for more than 6 months) does not count toward the eligibility clock.
The Faculty Code also discusses the state-imposed limitation on the dollar amount the University may pay faculty members from state funds while they are on sabbatical leave—the “average of the highest quartile” of all faculty salaries. For 2025-26 this figure is $20,228 per month.
The Faculty Code does not address distinct eligibility of instructional line faculty for sabbatical leave. Therefore the College of Arts & Sciences has developed this statement of eligibility for these faculty members. For instructional line faculty, eligibility is determined by the number of years of full-time instruction that they have performed in the College of Arts & Sciences. As with tenure line faculty, they are eligible for a sabbatical leave not earlier than the seventh year of full-time service. In addition, they are not eligible to take sabbatical leave during the terminal year of their appointment and therefore cannot apply for such leave during the year prior to their terminal year of appointment. However, those who are in the terminal year of their appointment may apply for a sabbatical leave; approval will be contingent upon the renewal of a multi-year contract, in addition to the other eligibility criteria. As with tenure line faculty, the leave may be spread out over more than one academic year (e.g., one quarter in each of three successive years), but none of these quarters may be scheduled for later than the year prior to the terminal year of appointment.
Instructions for applying for sabbatical leave can be found on the A&S website for leave procedures.
The leave policies are available online from Academic Human Resources.
Note that applications must be submitted via Interfolio - paper packets will not be accepted.