ARTICLE 19
Professional Improvement
Section A. Professional Improvement Funds.
Subd. 1. Professional improvement funds shall mean support funds for improving professional competence.
Subd. 2. All faculty except adjunct faculty shall be eligible for professional improvement funds.
Subd. 3. The funds distributed shall be no less than four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) in FY 2000 and four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) in FY 2001. All funds shall be distributed to the universities on the basis of the number of FTE faculty at each institution. Within thirty (30) days thereafter, a report shall be provided to the IFO indicating the amount allocated to each university.
Subd. 4. The President, after meeting and conferring with the Association, shall establish procedures and criteria for the application and awarding of these funds to individual faculty members. Awards shall be made by the President.
Section B. Professional Study and Travel.
Subd. 1. The IFO and MnSCU recognize the need for faculty development relating to their university’s mission. Therefore, each department/unit will be allocated professional study and travel funds at the rate of not less than nine hundred twenty-five dollars ($925) in FY 2000 and one thousand dollars ($1,000) in FY 2001 per each full-time equivalent faculty in the department as of the beginning of each academic year as determined in Subd. 2 below. Funding for faculty, excluding adjuncts, hired during the year will be allocated on a pro-rata basis at the time of hire.
Subd. 2. In determining the number of full-time equivalent faculty members, those on paid leaves of absence shall be counted, but their replacements, if any, shall not. This provision shall include faculty members whose positions are financed from external sources, even though funding for this purpose is not provided by the external source. Professional study and travel funds shall be available to all faculty members at the time of hire.
Subd. 3. Funds provided by this Section shall be limited to paying the cost of travel, housing, meals and registration associated with participation in professional conferences, workshops, and similar meetings and courses, and the cost of professional books, journals and software. The funds may be used to pay for professional memberships, provided that membership in a professional organization is required in order to receive a professional journal. The department shall, through a democratic process, determine an equitable procedure for distribution of funds. The department may carry over any portion of its allocation from the first to the second year of the biennium, and from one biennium to the next.
Section C. Sabbatical Leave. The purpose of a sabbatical leave is to enhance professional development, support department/unit goals, and/or meet the instructional, service, or research priorities of the university.
Subd. 1. The President/designee may grant a sabbatical leave to an eligible faculty member who proposes to undertake a scholarly research project, additional study, or other endeavor related to the purpose described above. At the beginning of each academic year, the President, after meeting and conferring with the Association, will establish a schedule for application, consideration and announcement of the sabbatical leaves.
Subd. 2. In order to be eligible for sabbatical leave, a faculty member must have completed at least seven (7) years of service at the university, or have at least six (6) years of service since the conclusion of such faculty member’s previous sabbatical leave. Service at Akita counts towards satisfaction of years of service in this subdivision. The granting of sabbatical leave shall be contingent upon the President’s determination that funds are available for this purpose and that staffing requirements of the university can be met. Where sabbatical leave is denied, reasons therefore shall be communicated to the faculty member in writing. However, the faculty member shall be granted a sabbatical, upon request, after completion of ten (10) years of service, or ten (10) years following the conclusion of the faculty member’s last sabbatical leave. Such eligibility is subject to presentation of a satisfactory plan in accordance with Subd. 3 below. Should more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the faculty of any particular department or program be eligible for and request such a leave, the President/designee shall grant such leave to twenty-five percent (25%), and delay the granting of leave to other faculty until the following year.
The granting of such sabbaticals shall be based upon years of seniority since the last sabbatical or the years of seniority at the university if the faculty member has never been granted a sabbatical leave; in case of a tie, the faculty member with the longer continuous service with the university shall have priority. Leaves taken for reasons of professional improvement directly relating to the faculty member’s university responsibilities shall be counted as time served towards eligibility for sabbatical leave up to a maximum of two (2) years.
Subd. 3. The faculty member’s proposal for sabbatical leave shall include a written plan consistent with the purpose outlined above and an indication of the term(s) that the faculty member intends to be on leave. Sabbatical plans are subject to approval by the President/designee. Except for those ten (10) year sabbaticals described in Subd. 2 above, the President’s decision is not grievable. The plan must include a signed agreement to submit a written report of the results of the sabbatical to the faculty member’s immediate supervisor upon conclusion of the sabbatical leave. The faculty member shall agree in writing to return to the university for at least one (1) year of service after the conclusion of the sabbatical. In the event the faculty member fails to follow the intent of his/her plan or to return to the university for one (1) year of service after the conclusion of the sabbatical the faculty member shall refund to the university such funds awarded during that sabbatical period.
Subd. 4. Sabbatical leaves may be granted for one (1) semester at full base salary or for a full academic year at two-thirds (.667) of base salary. Faculty members who are granted a second full-year sabbatical leave shall receive eighty percent (80%) of base salary. Subsequent full-year sabbaticals shall be funded at ninety percent (90%) of base salary. For part-time faculty members, the amount of sabbatical pay shall be adjusted pro rata.
Subd. 5. Faculty members on sabbatical leave may accept scholarships, fellowships, grants, or employment during the sabbatical leave, provided such scholarships, fellowships, grants, or employment afford experience, which serves the purpose of the sabbatical leave.
Subd. 6. A faculty member shall be eligible for continued group insurance benefits as provided by law during the course of the leave.
Subd. 7. In those cases where the Administration has denied sabbatical leaves for budgetary or staffing considerations, or where replacements for sabbaticals were not provided, the Administration shall provide a summary of such actions at a meet and confer.