Panel Discussion: Ideas for an Enjoyable and Productive Sabbatical

Navigating the sabbatical process and deciding on a productive activity can be challenging. A sabbatical can take many different forms depending on career goals, interests, and institution. The purpose of this panel discussion is to provide faculty who have yet to conduct a sabbatical with ideas of activities and the process. A variety of personal experiences will be presented of sabbatical activities that were enjoyable and productive. These may include sabbaticals focused on independent engineering research, engineering education research, development of classes or programs, industry or government collaboration, and/or travel. Discussion topics will also include process requirements of applying, conducting, and documenting the outcomes of the sabbatical. The suggested layout of the panel session is: • 5-minute introduction of panel topic and panelists • Overview of each panelist's sabbatical activity (5 minutes each) • Brief whole group Q&A session to engage audience and panelists • Small group activities with documentation of Q&A: o What resources did you find helpful in planning your sabbatical? o What was the timeframe of planning, applying for, conducting, and documenting your sabbatical? o What were the requirements of your sabbatical? o When or how often have you conducted a sabbatical? • Bring whole group back together to discuss learnings.