The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 5474 March 22, 1979 COMMUNITY COLLEGES: Retirement credit for sabbatical leave time of faculty RETIREMENT AND PENSIONS: Retirement credit for sabbatical leave time of faculty A community college faculty member who has been granted sabbatical leave need not return to the college upon completion of the sabbatical leave to receive service credit for the period of the leave provided the sabbatical leave is not in fact a termination of employment. Honorable Harold J. Scott State Senator The Capitol Lansing, Michigan You have requested my opinion on two questions which may be stated as follows: 1. Is a community college faculty member, who has been granted sabbatical leave by the community college board of trustees, required to return to the college upon completion of the sabbatical leave to receive service credit for the period of the leave under the Public School Employees' Retirement System? 2. If the answer to the first question is affirmative, what is the minimum period of time for which the member must return to receive service credit for the sabbatical leave? Community colleges governed by boards of trustees operate under the provisions of the Community College Act of 1966, 1966 PA 331, MCLA 389.1 et seq; MSA 15.615(101) et seq. This act contains no express reference to sabbatical leaves. (1) Consequently, resolution of issues relating to sabbatical leaves starts with consideration of the general custom and usage regarding such leaves by colleges and universities. The purpose of a sabbatical leave is to permit a faculty member to engage in a period of study or research to improve his skills or enhance his knowledge and enable him to be a more effective faculty member. This fact was noted in State ex rel West Virginia Board of Education v Sims, 139 W Va 802, 808; 81 SE2d 665, 668 (1954), in the following language: 'We are impressed that the granting of sabbatical leaves for the furtherance of graduate work by faculty members of State educational institutions . . . are for a public purpose, and should be sustained by this Court on the ground that the public service generally in the field of public education will be beneficially affected thereby. The granting of such sabbatical leave . . . is accordant with the general custom in the higher institutions of learning of this country. That the educational institutions of this State have a real interest or stake in the future competence of faculty members of State educational institutions, who are granted such leaves, cannot be gainsaid. . . .' As this decision notes, sabbatical leaves are granted by the college for its benefit to ensure the future competency of faculty members, not for the personal benefit of the faculty member. Thus, during the sabbatical leave, the faculty member continues as an employee of the college and is normally paid part or all of his regular salary; upon his return from leave, the faculty member is entitled to be restored to either his prior or a similar position. Employees of tax-supported community and junior colleges are members of the Public School Employees' Retirement System established by Chapter 1 of 1945 PA 136, MCLA 38.201 et seq; MSA 15.893(1) et seq. Chapter 1 contains no reference to sabbatical leaves and the Public School Employees Retirement Board has not promulgated any administrative rules regarding sabbatical leaves. A community college faculty member is entitled to receive retirement credit under 1945 PA 136, supra, for all service performed as an employee of the college. As a faculty member on sabbatical leave continues to be an employee of the college while on leave, he is thus also entitled to retirement service credit for the period of sabbatical leave. Likewise, the failure of the faculty member to return to the college upon the conclusion of his sabbatical leave does not, in and of itself, in the absence of any statutory provision or administrative rule to the contrary deprive him of his status as an employee during the period of leave and his retirement service credit. To be entitled to receive retirement service credit for the period of sabbatical leave, the faculty member must in fact continue to be an employee of the community college and the sabbatical leave must comply with all requirements of any established college policy regarding sabbatical leave. In addition, the sabbatical leave may not be a disguised termination; where there is a mutual understanding that the employee will not return to his or her employment after the sabbatical, such arrangement is in fact a termination. Consequently, if at the time the sabbatical leave commences a faculty member does not intend to return to the college upon completion of his sabbatical leave, he has actually terminated his employment and is not entitled to retirement service credit under 1945 PA 136, supra. It is, therefore, my opinion that a community college faculty member who has been granted sabbatical leave need not return to the college upon completion of the sabbatical leave to receive service credit for the period of the leave, provided the sabbatical leave is not in fact termination of employment. The answer to your first question makes an answer to your second question unnecessary. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General (1)