By Matthew Stone

Correction appended.Professors should not yet count on taking sabbaticals more often than they’re used to. The Board of Trustees must first sign off on the plan that the faculty endorsed earlier this month.

The faculty voted at its Nov. 14 meeting in favor of a proposal that would compress the sabbatical cycle and allow professors to take sabbaticals every four years. The current system allows professors sabbaticals after six years of teaching.

According to President Brian Rosenberg, the trustees’ Academic Affairs committee will examine the proposal after Provost Diane Michelfelder develops a plan for implementing the change.

The Provost’s plan is expected to address concerns that some have voiced about the proposal, including to what extent the plan would increase the college’s reliance on non-tenured, adjunct faculty members to replace faculty members on sabbatical.

When the provost’s plan is near ready, according to Rosenberg, the Academic Affairs committee will discuss the proposal. That discussion could happen at trustee meetings in March or May. A discussion of the full board would follow.

Proponents of the change say more frequent sabbaticals will allow faculty more time to devote to their research and to developing new courses.

Correction: The above article originally misstated that faculty currently are allowed sabbaticals after seven years of teaching. The current system allows professors sabbaticals after six years of teaching.