Graduate council recommends parental leave for assistants

While the Graduate Council endorsed a recommendation allowing graduate assistants parental leave, several Graduate Student Government members said without an official policy, teaching assistants may still not receive enough time at home with their newborns.

On Oct. 26, the council — comprised of professors, administrators and graduate students — passed the Graduate Assistant Parental Accommodation Guidelines, which recommend departments provide "reasonable accommodation" to graduate assistants seeking four to six weeks of paid leave after having a child.

Although the recommendation was endorsed by university Provost Ann Wylie, GSG officials said they were disappointed these "best practice" guidelines fell short of an official policy — which they have been pushing for about two years — and some said the battle is not over.

"This is better than nothing, but it is by no means the end of graduate students fighting for real parental leave policy," GSG Vice President for Legislative Affairs Barrett Dillow said.

University faculty members are able to request to use their 30-day paid leave and to take up to 12 weeks off without fear they will lose their jobs. However, graduate assistants do not qualify for these same parental leave benefits, as they are not considered university employees.

GSG President Anna Bedford said the new recommendation does not help allay graduate assistants' fears of losing their jobs after having a baby.

"It would be a change in language, not in policy," Bedford said.

"This is a stopgap measure where they can say, ‘We recommend accommodation, and therefore we don't need to put a policy in place.'"

However, graduate school Assistant Dean Cynthia Hale said it is more feasible to have guidelines in place rather than an actual policy since each graduate assistant's position is unique — some assistants teach, while others grade or conduct research, she said.

"It's to provide maximum flexibility, which we think really will serve the students the best," Hale said. "It provides [assistants] with the assurance that they will get some assistance and some accommodation in that early period after they become parents."

Dillow — who plans on applying to take six weeks of paternity leave in January — said his position allows him to be able to do his job from home. However, not all graduate assistants have such flexible schedules, he said, as the recommendation gives advisors and professors the power to decide how much parental leave the graduate assistant working with them receives.

"That leaves a lot of leeway for a subjective opinion of what is reasonable," Dillow said. "[Assistants] are left in a terrible place where they have to argue against the power structure."

However, Bedford said this measure may change supervisors' expectations for an appropriate length of leave, as they will be able to determine "what's reasonable" from the recommendation.

And Dillow agreed that having these guidelines is better than having no accommodations at all.

"They will aid in my request for the full six weeks, because at least it is spelled out," he said.

Marie Howland — the associate dean of planning and preservation for the architecture school, who serves on the Graduate Council and voted to approve the guidelines — said most people agree there should be a policy in place, but departments may not be able to afford hiring replacements for graduate assistants on leave.

"Every department will do what they can do, but there's no money in the central administration to pay for this," Howland said.

"I just don't think [the guidelines are] going to have a huge impact."

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