University Senate may improve family leave

The University Senate will vote on a proposal next month to allow tenured and tenure-track faculty to reduce their workloads to raise young children, a policy university officials say could help to attract and retain top academic talent.

Many doctoral students won't consider academic posts at research universities they feel are unfriendly to raising a family, according to a report prepared by the Faculty Affairs Committee, which reviewed the issue. Because of the large time commitments associated with work and family responsibilities, many would-be faculty — especially women — choose careers outside of academia.

The policy, if approved, would help to address the issues associated with raising children while working at the university, committee chairman Eric Kasischke said.

"They feel that they can't take time off for childbearing," said Kasischke, a geography professor. "Even though the policy is in place that you can request time off for that purpose, they feel that they would be penalized if they did."

The new policy would allow faculty members to request temporary part-time positions in order to care for young children, which would be granted "under ordinary circumstances."

Faculty members could request up to a 50-percent reduction in their work time with a proportional decrease in salary to raise their children up to their fifth birthdays.

Departments could use the salary reduction to pay for temporary replacements to cover the workload.

Tenure-track faculty would be able to request reduced workloads for up to two years, but doing so would also delay the date of their tenure reviews. Tenured faculty could work part-time for an indefinite period of time, subject to renewal every two years.

Kasischke said the policy could help to retain faculty members who otherwise might leave for positions they see as being more conducive to raising a family.

"What happens is you get talented young faculty just dropping out," he said. "They feel their options are limited, so they seek other employment opportunities. Especially in the Washington, D.C., area ... there are other career paths open to them."

According to the committee's report, raising children may be having an especially profound impact on women in academia.

For those already in tenure-track positions, men are 20 percent more likely to receive tenure than women, and women who have children early in their academic careers are less likely to receive tenure than those who waited. But waiting is becoming harder and harder to do biologically: The average age for receiving a doctorate has increased to 33, and the average age for receiving tenure in the sciences and social sciences has climbed to above 39.

"It's not the picture that we would like to see," Assistant President and Chief of Staff Sally Koblinsky said.

The policy would be extended to cover the children of domestic partners when the Board of Regents — a 17-member panel of gubernatorial appointees that oversee the university system — recognizes domestic partners as "immediate family members," the report states.

At last week's meeting of the Senate Executive Committee, which sets the agenda for the rest of the senate, members voiced their support for the policy proposal and unanimously voted to send it to the senate floor. The senate is scheduled to vote on the proposal at its Dec. 10 meeting.

"It's terrific," senate Chairwoman-elect Linda Mabbs said. "It should have happened 30 years ago."

Kasischke said the proposal is a step in the right direction but added other areas of the university could be changed to make the environment more family-friendly. For example, he said, the university's child care infrastructure could be improved.

Before the proposal can become university policy, it will have to be approved by the senate and university President Dan Mote, who Koblinsky said supports the measure.

cox at umdbk dot com