I’m pleased to announce a new policy for high-performing researchers that is truly historic for the College. For the first time, Mendoza will be offering our tenured faculty the opportunity to take paid research leaves — commonly known as sabbaticals — to focus on research and faculty development.

While this news directly applies to our tenured faculty, it affects the College as a whole. By providing more time for highly productive scholars to conduct intense and uninterrupted research, we are investing heavily in elevating our research culture, which is one of our top strategic priorities. 

The sabbatical policy will help us to be even more productive in publishing research in top-tier outlets. As we compete with our aspirational peers to attract, develop, and retain top scholars — all of our aspirational peers already have sabbaticals as standard practice — we will improve our standing as thought leaders. In so doing, we will be even more competitive with other highly ranked business schools. We thus seek to attract more top scholars to be part of the research culture within Mendoza.

Sabbaticals are a privilege and not an entitlement, and will be subject to the discretion of the administration of Mendoza on a case-by-case basis. To be eligible, tenured faculty members must meet all of the following criteria: 

1. Have been a Notre Dame faculty member for at least seven years.
2. Have not been granted a sabbatical leave under this policy in the previous seven years.
3. Have accumulated sufficient article acceptances in top-tier outlets since the previous sabbatical leave granted under this policy. 
4. Have provided sustained high-quality teaching.
5. Have provided sustained laudable service to the University.

A faculty member will not be responsible for teaching or involvement in University, College or departmental service (typically 20% of a tenured faculty member's role) while on the research leave. Thus, the faculty will have 100% of their time during the academic year to devote to research, upskilling, retooling and such development activities. 

We expect that relatively few of the eligible tenured faculty will be on sabbatical at the same time since the College must maintain the optimal functioning of the academic departments. During the initial rollout, the highest priority will be given to tenured faculty with the most research success during the previous six calendar years. Additionally, priority will be given to those whose application for a sabbatical is accompanied by strong justification for research advancement.

Mendoza sabbaticals are only available to tenured faculty; the sabbatical policy does not apply to teaching or other types of faculty. (Other types of faculty leaves not related to research include FMLA, primary caregiver and parental leave. More information about the University’s faculty leave policies can be found here.) 

To apply for a sabbatical, eligible faculty members should provide a written request to Ken Kelley, the senior associate dean for faculty and research, summarizing their research plans for a sabbatical leave before July 1 of the year that precedes the academic year in which the sabbatical would be taken. Sabbatical leaves may be granted two or more academic years in advance.

Ken is responsible for approvals of all sabbaticals, subject to the additional approval of the leave from the Office of the Provost per the Academic Articles, and will work with the relevant department on timing. As stated above, sabbaticals are not guaranteed and are fully subject to the discretion of Mendoza’s administration on a case-by-case basis with consideration of funding availability and teaching needs. Please contact Ken for the additional details of the Mendoza Sabbatical Policy.

I’m grateful to those who helped with the creation of the sabbatical policy, especially Ken, as well as the department chairs and members of the College Council, the faculty governing body that formally sanctioned the policy. 

In Notre Dame,

Martijn