Despite Budget Problems, State Universities Approve Paid Sabbaticals for Professors. In a statement on the California State University's website, the CSU Board of Trustees say they have raised fees and ordered furloughs in response to "one of the greatest fiscal emergencies in the history of California." Still, CSU campuses are adding to the cost of educating students by continuing to allow faculty to take paid sabbaticals – including sabbaticals dedicated to writing books on the afterlife, illustrating children's books, writing operas and painting.
A Cal-Tax staff review of just a handful of the 23 CSU campuses found:
· CSU Sacramento approved 51 sabbaticals.
· CSU Fullerton approved 43 sabbaticals, including one for an art professor who will "spend the semester updating his skills set by developing a story pitch, character description and illustrations to propose a 32-page children's book."
· CSU Bakersfield approved 14 sabbaticals, including one for L. Stafford Betty, who will use the time to work on the book, "Mapping the Afterlife."
· CSU Los Angeles approved 31 sabbaticals.
A memo from the CSU Long Beach Office of Academic Affairs notes that sabbatical leaves are subject to furlough rules. "The salary the employee receives during the sabbatical leave will be reduced by 9.23 percent," the memo says. (Cal-Tax: Wouldn't it make more sense for the CSU leaders to simply cancel all sabbaticals when the economic conditions are such that furloughs are necessary?)
Cal-Taxletter, September 4, 2009
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