Fewer regent faculty recommended for sabbaticals from Iowa universities

Iowa's public universities are asking the Board of Regents to approve 100 faculty sabbaticals in the next academic year - one of the lowest totals in recent history.

It represents a 9 percent decrease from the 110 approved last year and a 20 percent drop from the 125 approved for the 2014 school year.

The number of faculty members requesting and being approved for a sabbatical - or professional development assignment - began decreasing after the Iowa Legislature in 2011 capped the number allowed to take a sabbatical at no more than 3 percent of each school's faculty total.

Before the cap, faculty sabbatical requests were higher. In 2009 167 assignments were approved and in 1992 189 got the O.K. Numbers dropped in 2011 and reached their lowest in recent regent history in the 2012 school year, when a total of 95 faculty members were approved to take a break from teaching to focus on professional development or research.

This year's 100 requests include 53 at the University of Iowa, 31 at Iowa State University, and 16 at University of Northern Iowa. The UI total represents 2.3 percent of its faculty and is the second lowest in recent history. The UNI total represents 2 percent of its faculty and also is the second lowest. And Iowa State's total represents 1.6 percent of its faculty and is the lowest since the 2013 budget year.

Part of the reason the state capped the number of sabbaticals allowed per campus is the cost associated with replacing faculty in the classroom. Total faculty replacement costs for the 2017 school year, if approved, will reach $469,054.

Each university has a strategy for reducing those expenses. At UI colleagues agree to cover courses or defer non-required courses. Iowa State reassigns course loads or alternates course scheduling.

UNI departments accommodate professional development assignments by increasing class sizes, decreasing course offerings, or hiring adjunct faculty. Because UNI has a smaller faculty, it has to hire adjunct faculty more often, which is why its proposed replacement costs for the upcoming academic year are higher than at ISU and UI.

For UNI's proposed 16 assignments, replacement costs will total $187,000, according to regent documents. UI's 53 assignments will cost $136,668 in replacement expenses, and ISU's 31 assignments will cost $145,386, according to board documents.

Sabbaticals benefit the institutions and faculty members by enabling research and providing increased visibility and prominence for the institution and departments; increasing the body of knowledge for students across Iowa and the world; and bringing in research funding.

'We encourage faculty to pursue these PDAs under the right circumstances,” said UI Associate Provost for Faculty Kevin Kregel, praising the benefits they provide to the university, state, and nation.

Kregel said UI would like to see its numbers tick back up again while making sure they are awarded competitively The cap, he said, has prompted colleges to really scrutinize applications.

'These are very competitive now,” he said. 'It's been an opportunity for the colleges to make sure the people taking these PDAs are going to benefit and the department is going to benefit because it's quite an adjustment for everyone.”

ISU Associate Provost Dawn Bratsch said one reason Iowa State's sabbatical numbers might be lower is the rising enrollment and increased instructional pressure on faculty members.

Many professors tout sabbaticals as opportunities to produce research, retain external funding and recruit top academics.

'It is not only really important for the faculty we have, but it's really important in attracting quality faculty,” said Donald McLeese, an associate professor in journalism and mass communication among UI faculty recommended for a sabbatical next year.