OFD's Sabbaticals and Professional Development Fellowships resource provides guidance and information about procedures, funding, and strategies related to sabbaticals and professional development fellowships for UMass Amherst faculty and librarians. This page includes links to internal policies and procedures, resources for planning, and links to selected funding agencies. Faculty and librarians are also invited to participate in annual professional development fellowship workshops and biennial sabbatical workshops for more personalized support. Let your next sabbatical or fellowship provide the space and restoration to further open doors to creativity.
Academic Personnel Policy and Process
- Academic Human Resources (Academic HR) in the Office of the Provost manages information and procedures related to faculty leave.
- Academic HR's Time Off and Leaves page includes information on sabbatical leave, parental leave, leave without pay, and NTT Professional Development Fellowships.
- Academic HR's Academic Personnel Workflow System (APWS) is a tool for faculty and librarian personnel actions, such as applying for reappointment, promotion, tenure, sabbatical leave, or an NTT Professional Development Fellowship. Academic HR is launching a new workflow system starting in the summer of 2026. For project updates, please refer to the Faculty and Librarian Workflow System project website.
Resources: Sabbatical & Professional Development Fellowship Planning
- NCFDD Webinar: Maximizing Your Sabbatical: An Integrated Approach to Purposeful Planning, Reflection, and Re-entry, facilitated by Vicki Baker and Linda Boland (UMass provides you with a free institutional membership. Just create your login to access the webinars.)
- How to Sabbatical, Jen Lundquist and Joya Misra’s piece in Inside Higher Ed
- Five Steps to a Successful Sabbatical, published in Science
- Sabbatical Syllabus Example, an example template of how to map out your personal and professional sabbatical goals by a UMass professor
- Mindful Sabbatical Resources, a local listing of resources to support your sabbatical collected by Brian Baldi, CTL
Strategies for Optimizing Your Sabbatical for Professional and Personal Growth, by Bryn Harris, published by the Society for the Study of School Psychology
Planning for a Productive and Restorative Sabbatical
Sabbaticals offer time to renew your research and yourself. This biennial workshop provides guidance on planning your first sabbatical—from identifying funding to managing your time, considering personal and family needs, and cultivating well-being.
This Zoom presentation was originally delivered on May 1, 2026.
Professional Development Fellowships
Professional Development Fellowships are a bargained benefit that provide a one-semester release for select non-tenure-track faculty who have achieved the rank of senior lecturer or above or have six or more years of full-time equivalent service in an extension or clinical title. Professional Development Fellowships support professional activities that directly relate to the faculty member’s job responsibilities and/or advance important initiatives for their department or school/college.
Planning for a Professional Development Fellowship
In this presentation, participants will learn about the application process and what makes for a successful application. Recent fellowship recipients will also share their tips and strategies for crafting a successful proposal, with time for your questions at the end.
This Zoom presentation was originally delivered on April 6, 2026.
External Funding Opportunities
Contact
Associate Provost for Faculty Development, Professor of Resource Economics