Professors who work at public universities should not automatically be entitled to periodic sabbaticals because sabbaticals are expensive and do not necessarily yield anything of value in return Write your own response to the recommendation in which you d

One of the perks of being a professor are sabbaticals — a long period of paid leave granted by a university for study, research or travel purposes. The rules to apply for a sabbatical are strict. In order to get a sabbatical, a professor needs to hold a permanent or senior title at the university, be tenured or work there for a certain amount of years, and can only get a sabbatical every 5 to 10 years. Since there are so many rules in place to ensure that sabbaticals aren’t being exploited, there is no reason why professors who work at public universities shouldn’t be entitled to periodic sabbaticals similar to their private universities counterparts.

First and foremost, sabbaticals are valuable to professors and to the field of study they’re in. Statistics show that most sabbaticals are taken for study or research purposes — meaning that professors advance their field of study when they take this extended leave. In some cases, these sabbaticals are necessary because of the intensity of the research, as well as time and location restrictions. For example, a professor of Egyptology might have a chance to participate in an expedition discovering the tomb of a new Pharoah in Cairo. This professor would need to move to another country for three months in order to further her field of study, and might not be able to do so if she was denied a sabbatical. As such, in most cases, sabbaticals enhance science and thus benefit all of society. If professors who work at public universities are not entitled to periodic sabbaticals, this might diminish the university’s standing among the scientific community as less research comes out of it.

Another important reason that sabbaticals should be provided to professors who work at public universities is to ensure the competitiveness of the university. There are various factors that make a university competitive, and such factors include academics, athletic programs and even quality and name recognition of professors employed. By denying professors periodic sabbaticals at public universities, public universities are put at a disadvantage and become less competitive. Since sabbaticals are a big perk of the job, a lot of distinguished professors who are at the top of their field might not want to pursue a career at a public university if they were denied such privileges. This then trickles down the academics of the university itself, as they now only attract subpar professors. As such, keeping sabbaticals ensures public universities develop and retain talent while ensuring the quality of the education provided.

Last but not least, sabbaticals are still valuable even if they do not yield what is traditionally thought of as something of value, such as scientific discoveries. If professors decided to use their sabbaticals for down time and do some travelling, this is still something “valuable” for the professors themselves and the students they teach. With mental health being pushed into the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic, people now understand the importance of self care and realize that being mentally healthy is important for oneself as well as those surrounding the person. By taking some time off, professors can ensure that they’re in the right mindset when they go back to work, and in return can be better equipped to develop the young minds of the future. Thus, sabbaticals provide both real and invisible value to professors and the community overall.

Opponents might argue that professors at public universities shouldn’t be entitled to periodic sabbaticals as their salaries are funded through taxes, and thus paying for an expensive sabbatical that returns “no value” is unjustifiable. As explained in previous paragraphs, there are many “invisible” benefits from sabbaticals, thus discrediting their argument that they aren’t valuable. Additionally, professors should have the same “rights” regardless of whether they work in public or private schools. A public elementary school teacher still gets the summer off, same as private elementary school teachers. Hence, instead of judging professors on the same standard as other public servants, they should be evaluated by the same standards as their peers.

In conclusion, there is more harm than good if professors at public universities were not automatically entitled to periodic sabbaticals. Thus, we should keep the tradition in order to ensure that students, professors, public universities and art or scientific studies continue to benefit and prosper.