Sponsors
Motion
Section I
1.1 WHEREAS the current Sabbatical policy contains a debt-based restrictive covenant that requires faculty to repay gross wages and benefit costs in a lump sum if they do not or cannot complete 1 year of service following the conclusion of a sabbatical period; and
1.2 WHEREAS the current policy and practice require faculty to sign the restrictive covenant during the academic year prior to the start of the sabbatical period; and
1.3 WHEREAS the restrictive covenant contains no exceptions for personal hardship, caregiving obligations, government or non-profit service, or other changed circumstances that arise during the years in which the restrictive covenant remains in effect; and
1.4 WHEREAS debt-based employment contracts are a particularly harmful type of restrictive covenant, due to the serious risks they pose to an employee's financial solvency, debt load, and credit score; and
1.5 WHEREAS the debt-based restrictive covenant fails to consider the labor associated with the research and related activity performed by faculty during a sabbatical period, which is often core to the faculty member's job duties and serves to advance the University's public research mission; and
1.6 WHEREAS the debt-based restrictive covenant fails to consider the cost-sharing that faculty already undertake through wage reductions based on sabbatical duration; and
1.7 WHEREAS voluntary employee attrition can serve as an important source of cost savings to the University during periods of financial austerity; and
1.8 WHEREAS the University should modernize its sabbatical policy to reflect these equitable and financial concerns.
Section II
2.1 THEREFORE BE IT MOVED that the University of Oregon Senate approves the revisions to the Sabbatical policy as outlined in the attached document (please see related documents section).