Description

Sabbatical enhancement funds may be used to cover research-related costs for faculty on sabbatical. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: travel; supplies and equipment; copying; interlibrary loan and library electronic document delivery services; payment, when necessary, to secure human subjects; publication costs; and student assistants. Applicants should show that the proposed projects will strengthen their specific abilities, and should indicate clearly the project’s long-term impact on their respective departments and the university.

There are three types of enhancement grants: John Lantz Sabbatical Enhancement Grants (meant for faculty at the ranks of Associate or Full Professor at the time of application), Robert R. Hamilton Memorial Faculty Enrichment Grants (meant primarily for faculty in the social or natural sciences), and Esther Wagner Endowed Faculty Sabbatical Grants (meant primarily for untenured tenure-track faculty members in the humanities). Please note that a Lantz Enhancement Grant is not contingent upon application for a Lantz Senior Fellowship, nor does receipt of a Lantz Senior Fellowship preclude receiving a sabbatical enhancement grant (including a John Lantz Sabbatical Enhancement Grant).

Applicants are not required to identify a specific grant for which to be considered: if awarded a sabbatical enhancement grant, the Faculty Support Committee will determine which type of grant best fits the applicant and sabbatical project.

The Faculty Support Committee will review all applications and select grant recipients. Because this committee will include colleagues from diverse disciplines, non-technical language should be employed by applicants in describing the project.

Faculty engaged in sabbatical projects that involve travel outside the United States will need to register their travel. Information on how to register travel and request approval for travel to high-risk areas is available on the University’s Travel Advisory site. University funding for projects that involve international travel will not be released until the travel is registered.

Please note that sabbatical enhancement funds are not meant to support course revisions or curricular development. Those seeking support for curricular development are encouraged to apply instead for a Burlington Northern Curriculum Development Grant.

Eligibility

Sabbatical enhancement funds are available to any faculty member who is eligible for a sabbatical leave during the next academic year. See eligibility for regular sabbaticals; see eligibility for pre-tenure sabbaticals.

Application

Application for a sabbatical enhancement grant is completed as part of the Sabbatical and Leave Application form, and shall include::

  1. An explanation of why the funds are needed for you to complete your proposed work and how the requested funds will enable you to further your professional goals for the next three to five years (500 words max).
  2. A budget. Prepare an itemized list of expense items with explanatory notes.
  3. For research that involves the use of human participants or animals, please be aware that appropriate approval must be obtained before beginning research. Please consult IRB or IACUC approval processes information on the university’s website for details.

Deadline

Applications must be submitted by 11:59 pm on September 10 of the year preceding that in which the sabbatical leave is to be taken. If the application due date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the application is due by 11:59 pm the Monday immediately following the due date. Decisions will be communicated on or before December 8.

Reporting

Upon completion of your sabbatical, please submit a written report that outlines in detail what you accomplished during the sabbatical in terms of achieving the goals and objectives you outlined in the original application and that provides a general accounting of expenditures. The report should be submitted to the department chair to provide the chair an opportunity to view the report before forwarding it. The chair will forward the report to the Provost. The report is due by August 31 of the academic year during which the grant was awarded.

Special Conditions

Recipients of sabbatical enhancement grants agree to return to the university for a period of at least one year following the conclusion of the sabbatical, or to repay the university all funds received. Compensation received from another institution is subject to the same rules under sabbatical leaves.

A professional leave funded in whole or in part by the university is designed to provide the time necessary for the individual faculty member to pursue intellectual growth and development within their field. Consequently, such a leave is not to be used for other employment.

Previous Recipients of Sabbatical Enhancement Grants
2025-26
  • Monica DeHart (Sociology and Anthropology), Localizing Transpacific Politics: Ethnographic Insights on the Next Phase of China-Central America Relations.
  • Peter Hodum (Biology and Environmental Studies and Sciences), Centering Communities in Seabird Conservation.
  • David Latimer (Physics), Particle Interactions Through Intrinsic and Induced Anapole Moments.
  • Jan Leuchtenberger (Asian Studies), Alessandro Valignano’s History of the Jesuits in Japan.
  • Brett Rogers (Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies), Classical Cascadia: Receptions of the Ancient Mediterranean in the Pacific Northwest.
  • Elise Richman (Art), Art, Activism, and Aesthetics.
  • Renee Watling (Occupational Therapy), Child and Caregiver Experiences of Receiving Occupational Therapy Using a Sensory Integration Intervention Approach.
     
2024-25
  • Sara Freeman (Theatre Arts), Theatre and Neuroscience: Deepening the NeuroArts Collaboration.
  • Jairo Hoyos Galvis (Hispanic Studies/Latina/o Studies), Making Mexican Art Contemporary: Intellectual and Curatorial Practices for the Global Art Scene.
  • Janet Marcavage (Art and Art History), Space, Mark, and Visual Experience.
  • Nila Wiese (Business and Leadership), The Digital Transformation of the Emerging Market SME.
     
2023-24
  • Julie Christoph (English), Learning on the Job: Writing at Work in a Time of Flux.
  • Alistair MacRae (Music), The Cello’s Voice: Transcriptions of Song.
  • Andreas Madlung (Biology), Development of Python-Based Bioinformatics Modules in Biology.
  • Emelie Peine (International Political Economy), State Power, Rural Economic Transition and the Political Economy of Homemade Liquor in Romania, India, and Brazil.
  • Maria Sampen (Music), Performance, Pedagogy and Practice.
  • Rokiatou Soumare (French and Francophone Studies), Decolonizing Media Landscape in Senegal, the Making of Dakarwood.
  • Yvonne Swinth (Occupational Therapy), No Project Title Provided.
     
2022-23
  • Derek Buescher (Communication Studies), Mousetrap: Critical and Cultural Essays on Contemporary Disney.
  • Rachel DeMotts (Environmental Policy and Decision Making), Community-Based Conservation, Gender, and Wildlife in Namibia and Nepal.
  • Fred Hamel (Education), Inquiry, Dialogue, and Equity-Based Teaching and Learning in English/Language Arts: A Professional Study Group.
  • Julia Looper (Physical Therapy), Physical Activity Interventions for Children with Down Syndrome.
  • Amanda Mifflin (Chemistry), Nonlinear Spectroscopy, the Physical Chemistry Curriculum, and Faculty Mentorship.
  • David Moore (Psychology), Bringing the Here and Now into the College Classroom: Improving the Teaching and Assessment of Mindfulness in University Settings.
  • Carolyn Weisz (Psychology), Challenges and Opportunities in Addressing Homelessness Through a Racial Equity Lens.
     
2021-22
  • Dan Burgard (Chemistry), Applications of Targeted and Non-Targeted Analysis Using High Resolution Mass Spectrometry.
  • Kena Fox-Dobbs (Geology and Environmental Policy and Decision Making), Earth Systems Research at CU Boulder Using New Methods in Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry.
  • Jeffrey Grinstead (Chemistry), Chemical Crosslinking Mass Spectrometry and Applications to Protein-Protein Interaction Networks in Regulating Arabidopsis Stress-Response Genes.
  • Alisa Kessel (Politics and Government), Rape Culture and Intersectional Analysis.
  • Steven Zopfi (Music), Tacoma Bach Festival.
     
2020-21
  • John Lear (History), Los Dos Diegos: Diego Rivera and Bertram Wolfe from Revolution to Cold War.
  • Eric Orlin (Philosophy), Prospective Memory and Collective Identity in the Roman Empire.
  • Eric Scharrer (Chemistry), Novel Liquid Crystalline Compounds: Synthesis, Purification, and X-Ray Based Characterization.
     
2019-20
  • Kriszta Kotsis (Art and Art History), A Treasury of Divine Gifts: Beauty, Gender, Power and the Byzantine Empress (Eighth to Eleventh Centuries).
  • Pepa Lago Graña (Hispanic Studies), Bitter-Sweet Flavors of the Americas.
  • Jess Smith (Theatre Arts), Placing Womxn at the Center.
  • Stuart Smithers (Religious Studies), Critical Futures.
  • George Tomlin (Occupational Therapy), Testing a Comprehensive Model of Rehabilitation Research Evidence, Evidence-in-Practice, and Professional Reasoning Among Occupational Therapists in European Countries.
     
2018-19
  • Lynnette Claire (Business and Leadership), Madagascar: To Save the Lemurs, Start a Business.
  • James Evans (Science, Technology and Society), On the Role of Hypothesis in Science.
  • Peter Hodum (Biology), Community-Based Seabird Conservation in the Indian Ocean.
  • Jan Leuchtenberger (Asian Studies), Constructing Japan in Europe: Alejandro Valignano’s Sumario de las Cosas del Japan.
  • Elise Richman (Art and Art History), Ripple: Intersections Between Art and the Environment.
  • David Sousa (Politics and Government), Green Drift Trumped? The New Politics of Environmental Policy Retrenchment.
  • Matt Warning (Economics), Impact Evaluation of Development Interventions.
  • Lisa Wood (Psychology), Emotions About the Family in Emerging Adulthood.
     
2017-18
  • Rob Beezer (Mathematics and Computer Science), Open Textbooks and Open Software.
  • Sara Freeman (Theatre Arts), Back to Britain: New Developments in Alternative Theatre Forms and Histories.
  • John Hanson (Chemistry), Finding, Engineering , Evolving, and Exploiting Bacterial Cell Wall Hydrolases.
  • Alison Tracy Hale (English), Pedagogical Citizenship and the Early American Woman.
  • Janet Marcavage (Art and Art History), Multi-Process Printmaking.
  • Yvonne Swinth (Occupational Therapy), Pediatric Occupational Therapy Services for Trauma Affected Children.
  • Stacey Weiss (Biology), Maternal Protection of Eggs via Anti-fungal Microbes in Oviparous Lizards.
  • Nila Wiese (Business and Leadership), Liability of Gender: A Global Perspective.
  • Linda Williams (Politics and Government), Sacred Painting and Religious Practice in Colonial Yucatan: Archival and Material Research.
     
2016-17
  • Julie Christoph (English), Schreibertypen and Personal Identity in Academic Writing.
  • Andreas Madlung (Biology), Next Generation DNA Sequence Analysis in Polyploid Plants.
  • Paula Wilson (Business and Leadership), Certified B Corps and Social Benefit Corporations.
2025-26
  • Ronaldo Rolim (Music), Recording Project.
     
2024-25
  • Yoonseon Han (Economics), Trade Agreements and Trade Volatility. 
  • Tina Huynh (Music and Education), Diasporic Vietnamese Music and Musicians. 
  • Hajung Lee (Religion, Spirituality and Society and Bioethics Program), Transcultural Prenatal Practices: A Comparative Study of Taegyo in Korea and Its Impact on Korean Immigrants in the U.S.
     
2023-24
  • Sun Young Ahn (Business and Leadership), Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior, Global Marketing, and Substantive Marketing. 
  • LaToya Brackett (African American Studies), Outward Portrayals of Blackness and Its Impact on Reception. 
  • Andrew Gomez (History), Cuban America and the Caribbean South: Race and Identity in South Florida, 1868–1945 and Community and Empire in Honduran New Orleans. 
  • Nagore Sedano Naveira (Hispanic Studies), Reimagining Transatlantic Communities: Blood Narratives, the Memory of the Exile of 1939, and Spain’s Colonial Past. 
  • Wind Woods (Theater Arts), Drafting a Manuscript and Playwriting Residency. Ask ChatGPT.
     
2022-23
  • Renee Watling (Occupational Therapy), Exploring Needs of Autistic People Nationally and Locally.
     
2021-22
  • Jairo Hoyos Galvis (Hispanic Studies), Pathologies of Art: Aesthetic, Science, and Male Homosexuality in Modern Mexico (1924–1933). 
  • Samuel Kigar (Religious Studies), Islamic Terror: Land, Belonging, and Religion in Modern Morocco.
     
2020-21
  • Andrew Gomez (History), Building Cuban America: Race and Immigrant Identity in South Florida, 1868–1945. 
  • Carrie Woods (Biology), Arrival and Change: The Influence of Habitat Heterogeneity on Community Assembly and Succession. 
  • Rokiatou Soumare (French and Francophone Studies), The Non-Traditional Form of Félicité Sarr’s Literary Production.
     
2019-20
  • Amy Fisher (Science, Technology and Society Program), Heated Debates: Chemical Contributions to Electrical Science (1800–1856). 
  • Patrick O’Neil (Politics and Government), Patrimonialism, Clientelism, and Illiberalism in Eastern Europe. 
2025-26
  • Katherine Crocker (Biology), Living Like Locusts: What Indigenous Biology Can Teach Us About Life ¾ and Living ¾ on Earth.
  • Ania Kapalczynski (Business and Leadership), Effectiveness of Social Media Influenced Investing.
  • Jung Kim (Exercise Science), The Effects of Hindlimb Unloading on Skeletal Muscle in Young and Aged Mice.
  • Oscar Sosa (Biology), Microbial Sources of Methane in the Ocean.
     
2024-25
  • Lisa Johnson (Business and Leadership), A Critique of Legislative Textualism After Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
     
2023-24
  • Steven Neshyba (Chemistry and Biochemistry), Physical Chemistry Textbook.
  • Carrie Woods (Biology), Structure and Dynamics of Terrestrial and Epiphytic Bryophytes.
     
2021-22
  • Andrew Gardner (Sociology and Anthropology), The Segregated City.
  • Bryan Thines (Biology), Stress-Induced Alteration of the Plant Cell Cycle by FBSl and APC8.
     
2018-19
  • Tatiana Kaminsky (Occupational Therapy), Practice Patterns of Occupational Therapists.
     
2016-17
  • Dawn Padula (Music), Recording New Vocal Works by Living Composers.