Sabbatical for Academic Faculty, laptop and coffee in relaxing outdoors

Sabbatical for Academic Faculty Members

Sabbatical: A time for study, research or personal development

A sabbatical is an opportunity to step away from the everyday, pursue bold ideas, and return with fresh perspectives that inspire innovation, discovery, and growth. Consider a sabbatical opportunity for the 2027-2028 academic year.

Submission deadline: September 15, 2026

Pre-requisites

To obtain a sabbatical, the following criteria must be met.
  • For a one-year sabbatical:
    • Must be a tenured faculty member
    • Have served the university for at least six years, OR have served six years following a previous sabbatical or assisted leave
    • Requested sabbatical must take place between the dates of July 1, 2027 - June 30, 2028
  • For a six-month sabbatical:
    • Must be a tenured faculty member
    • Have served the university for at least three years, OR have served three years following a previous sabbatical or assisted leave
    • Requested sabbatical must take place between the dates of July 1, 2027 - December 31, 2027 OR January 1, 2028 - June 30, 2028
Please review Appendix A.3 of the Collective Agreement, Detailed Procedures for Sabbaticals for additional information.

Application

Once you have decided to move forward with the request for a sabbatical, please complete the following steps.

  1. Meet with your Division Director (DD) to discuss the possibility of taking sabbatical to ensure that all duties can be covered during the absence.
  2. Complete the required documentation
    1. With DD’s agreement, write a Letter requesting a sabbatical to the Department of Medicine chair. Please outline the details of the leave, including start and end dates.
    2. If you have graduate students under your supervision, include a written statement describing the arrangements that have been made to provide satisfactory supervision of your student(s) during the sabbatical, as well as nominating a member of the department who will be empowered to act on your behalf in matters pertaining to the graduate student(s). This section, and only this section, must also be shared with the student. 
      If these arrangements are not completed prior to applying, you should include a statement in the application to the effect that they will be completed prior to the start of the sabbatical.
    3. Complete the Sabbatical Application Request, including your signature and date.

Submit the completed Letter and Sabbatical Application Request to domado@ualberta.ca by the deadline of September 15, 2026.

The Department of Medicine chair will confirm your eligibility. In the event there are several applications within the department, the chair may rank the applications.

Process and Timeline

  • Once the deadline for sabbatical applications has passed, the department chair will notify the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (FoMD) dean in writing of how many sabbatical applications will be submitted.
  • In late November, the Faculty Evaluation Committee (FEC) reviews and approves or denies sabbatical applications.
  • After the FEC review, FoMD will convey the FEC decision to the DoM chair and the applicant.
  • The applicant will receive a letter in early January 2027 confirming or denying the sabbatical request.
  • Sabbatical will begin either July 2027 (12-month or 6-month) or January 2028 (6-month)
  • The academic faculty member must describe the activities and beneficial academic consequences of the sabbatical in the next Annual Report.
  • If no report is submitted, this shall warrant a 0c merit evaluation, as per the Faculty Evaluation Committee (FEC) Guidelines.

Tips and FYIs

  • Submissions that include details of how they will be to the mutual advantage of the academic faculty member and the university will be viewed more favourably
  • Any changes to the sabbatical after it has been approved must be submitted to the chair’s office via domado@ualberta.ca for reapproval.
  • Sabbatical salary is normally based on the level of the academic faculty member’s full salary and is at 90% of that salary rate. Other university stipends, such as clinical income, do not enter into the calculation of the sabbatical salary.
  • While on sabbatical, the academic faculty member may continue to participate in all those employee benefits covered in Articles 20 and A9 of the collective agreement.

Questions

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the above process, please contact domado@ualberta.ca.