Personal narratives provide typically unabashed enthusiasm for sabbatical leave programs, but few studies have explored the results of sabbaticals and the impact that these sabbaticals can and do have on the department and the university. This paper reports on the creation of an assessment instrument to measure the impact of a faculty member's sabbatical. Using a protocol suggested by D. Ary, L. Jacobs, and A. Razavieh (1996), researchers asked five faculty members who had taken sabbaticals in previous years to participate in a focus group discussion. The focus group process identified five categories as important to understanding the success of a sabbatical. At a second meeting they reached consensus about the items to be included in a survey of a sabbatical's institutional impact, and at a third session they reviewed and validated the instrument. The survey was field tested through the responses of 10 other faculty members, and plans were made to administer the survey to individuals who had taken sabbaticals and members of their departments. The survey is appended. (Contains 10 references.) (SLD)