Demystifying sabbaticals
What does an education sabbath look like?
This fall I will be released from regular teaching duties to take a sabbatical stretching from September till December. When I worked in industry as an engineer with only two or three weeks of vacation each year, I recall thinking that sabbaticals seemed extravagant and excessive. Why do certain people get the privilege of four months, or perhaps even a year, of additional vacation?
For the good of all
The word sabbatical is derived from the Biblical Sabbath. The Israelites were not only commanded to rest one day a week but to let their fields lie fallow for one year every seven years; “let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left” (Ex. 23:11). Soil science has since taught us that leaving a field fallow has real benefits for the soil. The command for a sabbath in the seventh year also came with a promise that the land would yield enough for three years (Lev. 25:21-22).
The faculty handbook at Calvin University is careful to specify the objectives for a sabbatical: “it should be creative and/or scholarly; it should be beneficial to the public, the university, and the professional growth of the grantee; and it should be of sufficient size and worth to merit a full semester’s work.” The handbook is careful to state that faculty are not “entitled to a sabbatical leave.” In most Christian universities, sabbaticals are limited and involve a competitive process among faculty; not everyone who applies is awarded one. Sabbatical proposals for sailing the Great Lakes, hiking through Europe, restoring classic motorcycles, or doing home renovations would not be considered legitimate projects.
In this sense, the word sabbatical might be somewhat of a misnomer; academic minds are not permitted to go fallow for the year. A better name might be “focused research time.” The mission of a Christian university is not just teaching; it includes the pursuit of scholarly research. In this way Christian universities serve the wider church, not only by training and equipping students, but by providing thoughtful and winsome scholarship addressing the contemporary issues of our day. This is why one of the sabbatical requirements at Calvin is that it “should be beneficial to the public.”
What’s ahead
My original skepticism towards academic sabbaticals was based on a lack of understanding its real purpose. Sabbaticals are partly funded by donors and benefactors who may not have the opportunity to take a sabbatical themselves. A sabbatical is a privilege – one that relates to the calling of being a professor for which I am grateful.
In 2010 I was granted a four-month sabbatical during which time I wrote a section of my book, Shaping a Digital World. For this sabbatical, I hope to make progress on a new book project and perhaps give CC readers a sneak preview into the new insights I hope to gain.
