When faculty contemplate sabbaticals, it is a process. There are rules, agendas, timelines and a
shuffling of departmental responsibilities while a professor is absent for a semester.
“I felt lucky in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications as my colleagues all volunteered to take bits and pieces of my responsibilities, so I could take my sabbatical,” said Dr.
Marcie Hinton, a 12-year veteran of the department.
Dr. Marcie Hinton, who took her sabbatical during the fall 2025 semester and Dr. Melony
Shemberger, who was on sabbatical for the Spring 2026 semester, both sought professional,
development and pursued research and service opportunities.
The word “sabbatical” has biblical roots from farmers who were required by Hebrew law to take a
rest, like their fields; debts were even forgiven. Harvard resurrected the idea in academia in the
1880s as a form of scholarship and professional development. Sabbaticals are meant to allow
faculty to rest as well as take some time for professional development, or do some
research and renew their love of the academic life.
“I planned my sabbatical for two years as I wanted to make sure I made the most of the
privilege and could walk back into Wilson Hall with a renewed love of the classroom and the
academic life,” Hinton said. She spent six weeks teaching in Murray State’s “Experience Scotland” program in partnership with the University of Wisconsin at Rapid Falls, where she taught students from California to Wisconsin, using Edinburgh as her classroom to teach “Media Literacy and the Art of
Influencing.”
Shemberger spent a big part of her sabbatical completing two graduate courses from the
University of Arizona in pursuit of a Master of Library and Information Science degree. She will
graduate with her fourth master’s degree in May 2027. “I participated in a monthly online learning community at the University of Arizona that focused on creating open education resources,” Shemberger said. “I am looking forward to planning a scholarly project for my Sports Media class in the fall where students will create an open textbook.”
Both professors worked on research manuscripts. Shemberger started a journalism history
project about celebrity journalist Dorothy Dix that stemmed from an assignment in one of her
graduate courses called “Introduction to Archives.” She also wrote a book chapter, tentatively
titled, “The Role of Public Libraries in Cultivating News Literacy in Appalachia” for inclusion in
the upcoming “News in the Mountains” book.
Hinton used her time in Scotland to study social media influencers and the travel industry as
well as work on a manuscript exploring global engagement among students who study abroad
in journalism and mass communications programs. She also finished a travel narrative book she
had been working on.
“I wanted to make sure I learned something on my sabbatical that would serve my students in
the classroom as well,” said Hinton. She entered a training program at the Maritime Education Center in Paducah, Kentucky, to become an associate chaplain to serve maritime personnel. The training included learning crisis communication techniques, pursuing advocacy opportunities and assisting in ceremonial
opportunities for the maritime industry in the Southeast. She also interned with a travel agency
to improve her social media marketing and tour management skills.
Shemberger aligned her service to her classroom with her degrees in online learning and library
science by presenting at the University of Arizona’s Teaching Exchange Symposium where she
facilitated a workshop titled, “Designing Courses with Information Literacy at the Core.” She
also presented a scholarly poster called “Ditch the Test: Assessing Learning with Student-
Centered Infographics.”
“Sabbatical leaves are vital and necessary for university faculty. These leaves of absence from
the classroom give us time, space and energy to pursue the research projects that excite us,
take courses that will advance our knowledge and skill, elevate our professional development
endeavors, and prevent burnout so that we can be more productive,” Shemberger said. “And
while sabbaticals help university faculty, our students also benefit because we return to the
classroom with more intellectual zeal and intention.”
