Watermark Sabbatical  Workflow Steps

Once the faculty success team receives the form, the faculty will be enrolled in the workflow. Faculty will receive an email confirmation from Watermark. Faculty can also log into Watermark and view their open tasks under the workflow tab. 

Faculty need to fill out the drop-down menus as part of the form.

• College
• Dean
  • HSS Faculty- In the drop-down menu for Chris Brown is still listed as the Dean of your college, but this will not affect the progression of your application. It will be forwarded to Dean Olsen. 

Faculty should fill out the textboxes with:

• Department/Program
• Chairperson
• Years of Service at MNSU (including this academic year)

Faculty will need to answer when they are applying for sabbatical leave. Responses to this question assume the leave is for the following academic year.

• The choices are:
  • Fall Semester 
  • Spring Semester
  • Academic Year

Next, the Faculty member need to indicate if they have received any prior sabbatical leaves. If faculty have received a previous leave for Sabbatical, they will need to list their previous sabbatical leaves (i.e., Fall 2015, Spring 2020, Academic Year 2019).

Faculty will also need to indicate if the sabbatical they are applying for includes international travel.

Faculty will need to include a summary of the purpose of their sabbatical leave. This response is limited to 3000 characters, which is about 500 to 600 words.

Faculty should upload a month-to-month timeline for their sabbatical leave.

Lastly, faculty should upload their full sabbatical plan.  This plan should demonstrate how the faculty member's plans have the potential to address each of the factors described in the guidelines:

• The potential for substantial improvement in the professional preparation of the applicant.  How will it maintain skills or advance them?  How does it fit the faculty member’s professional development objectives and goals?
• The potential for substantial improvement in the ability of the academic unit involved to accomplish its goals and objectives.  How will the leave improve the individual professionally and improve the department’s ability to accomplish priority goals and objectives?
• The potential for improvement in the ability of the University to accomplish its goals and objectives.  How will the leave not only improve the individual professionally and help the department achieve priority objectives but also assist the University in achieving its priority goals and objectives?
• Do you expect to accept employment or to work under a scholarship, fellowship or research grant during the leave?  If so, describe how this serves the purpose of the sabbatical leave.
• Identify proposed outcomes related to sabbatical activities.

To submit this step, faculty should select "Forward to Department Personnel Committee" from the action menu in the upper right corner of the screen.

Personnel Committee Members

The personnel committee members have two questions that can be answered.

• The first question asks if the committee member recommends sabbatical leave for the faculty member with a drop-down menu.
• If the committee member would like to add comments about the sabbatical application, they can add them to the textbox below. 

Once the faculty member finishes their review, they can submit their response to the personnel chair using the action menu in the upper right corner of the screen.

Personnel Committee Chair

The Personnel committee chair will need to answer and upload the following documents.

• The Transmittal Document Statement
  • We are forwarding to the Dean the applicant's materials, the department's recommendation, any individual recommendations from department faculty members to the applicant. I have sent a copy of my reaction/recommendation to the applicant. 
  • The personnel chair must agree or disagree with the statement in the drop-down menu.
• Department Personnel Committee Recommendation
  • The Personnel Chair will need to upload the department's recommendation. The letter should:
    • Should be in memo format on department letterhead
    • Should include rationale/reasons for recommendation
    • Keep recommendation to one page

The Personnel Committee Chair should select "Proceed to Department Chair Recommendation" from the action menu in the upper right corner, which will move the application to the department chair.

To complete this step department chairs will need to:

• Sabbatical Application Transmittal Form
  • Chairs will need to agree or disagree with the following statement in the dropdown menu.
    • I am forwarding to the Dean the applicant's materials, the department's recommendation, any individual recommendations from department faculty members and my separate reaction/recommendation to the applicant. I have sent a copy of my reaction/recommendation to the applicant. I have also sent the applicant a copy of any individual recommendations from department faculty members.
• Department Chair Recommendation
  • Chairs will need to upload a recommendation letter. The letter should:
    • Should be in memo format on department letterhead
    • Should include rational/reasons for recommendation
    • Department chair's letter should include how courses for the faculty member requesting sabbatical will be covered
    • Keep reccommendation to one page.

To complete this step deans will need to:

• Sabbatical Application Transmittal Form
  • Deans will need to agree or disagree with the following statement in the dropdown menu.
    • I am forwarding to the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs my recommendation concerning the application, together with all materials provided by the applicant, department and department chairperson. I have provided copies of my recommendation and the chair's recommendation to the faculty member concerned as required by the agreement.
• Department Chair Recommendation
  • Chairs will need to upload a recommendation letter. The letter should:
    • Should be in memo format on college letterhead
    • Should include rational/reasons for recommendation
    • Keep recommendations to one page.