Planning Your Sabbatical Leaves

Carla Schlatter Ellis

Duke University

My Story

To Duke as Associate Professor, 1986 Sabbatical #1 – 1991, Stay-at-home Sabbatical #2 – 1997-98, Seattle WA

Promoted to Full Professor while there*. Sabbatical #3 – 2006, Stay-at-home

*Absence does make the heart grow fonder

Stay-at-home Sabbaticals Why choose to stay home? Family complications

Sabbatical #1 – 1991 Son, 8 years old Husband John

Faculty at Duke, but not on leave Diagnosed with cancer

Sabbatical #3 – 2006 Husband Rick, retired; Son is at college 2 new puppies to train

Stay-at-home Sabbaticals

Making it work:Sabbatical #1 – 1991 Not successful

Went into the office (WRONG!) I didn’t know how to say “no” 3 Ph.D. students in thesis mode (needed

attention)

Stay-at-home Sabbaticals Making it work:

Sabbatical #3 – 2006 Successful (so far)

Freedom to travel & using it Staying out of the office! I’ve learned to say “no”

(it’s about time!) New projects / directions 3 Ph.D. students are also remote

(for their own personal reasons -- not planned that way)

Sabbatical Away Why and why not? Sabbatical #2 – 1997-98, Seattle WA

Son (age 14): “You are going to ruin my social life.”

Lots of overhead – whose job to arrange? Housing there, house at home Spouse’s job, son’s schools Constraints of taking 2 dogs Packing for a year (who thinks about tax records in July?)

Had just graduated 3 Ph.D. students In serious need of a change Great place & great people invited me to come.

Sabbatical Away Making it work:

Be open to new directions, unexpected collaborations Don’t stick to the original research

plan just because you made one Don’t expect too much from your host

Involve yourself in the host institution Make yourself available to students Participate in events

Be a tourist & pay attention to family

Sabbatical Away Coming back:

The Monday morning of your career Don’t be hard on yourself

Lots of overhead in returning Reversing all those logistics of going Give yourself time to do it

Re-entry at work In some ways, you are starting over Recruit some new students

( cohort of students you will never really know) Revive your research group Get assigned to teach a grad course

(ideally a topics course: What I did on my sabbatical)

Experiences of Others An Industry Sabbatical: ½ year at IBM

Why IBM? – it is almost local Husband could not leave for the full year Local apartment 2-3 nights; 2 hour commute home. Leveraged an existing collaboration (she suggested visit).

Industry issues Legal agreement: all intellectual property generated there

belonged to IBM Financial arrangement: Paid by host, then it’s a 2nd job

Recommendation: Maintain as much flexibility as possible; beholden as little as possible to host

Experiences of Others A ½-year Sabbatical Away: UW in Seattle

Why UW? They invited – new spacious building with room for visitors;

Great people Seattle was attractive location

Logistics – huge overhead for only 6 months Family went along (husband on leave from work, dog, cat) She did all arrangements Recommendation: amortize overhead – go a full year.

Greatest benefits of sabbatical Switching gears & getting away Stepping back & enjoying life (lasting effect)

Experiences of Others A Foreign Sabbatical:

Full-year in Sweden Long-standing professional

acquaintances (not previously collaborators). He asked them.

Deal: no financial obligations, just office & invitation letter to get visa

Logistics – complicated! Family – spouse quit job, 2 kids in school (find appropriate

schools, language issue) Division of labor: He did housing arrangements in Sweden;

She did arrangements at home. Benefits: enjoying lots of travel around Europe.

Summary Many women defer sabbaticals because of

family considerations.Don’t do it! At least do a stay-at-home.

Know what your institution offers How often are you eligible? Other kinds of leaves possible to exploit?

(e.g., Duke has a leave specifically for Associate Professors who have been delayed for promotion)

Summary Be proactive in approaching potential

hosts Examples were ½ by host and ½ by visitor

The logistics look daunting. Go away long enough to amortize the work.

Have realistic expectations (for everyone), let yourself refresh, & have fun.