Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
February 15, 2002

Senate approves position papers on early retirement, parental leave

by Linda Charles
The Faculty Senate agreed Feb. 12 to forward suggestions to administrators on both a proposed early retirement incentive plan and a parental leave policy. The senate also approved a motion recommending the establishment of an ombuds office.

ERIP
The senate will forward a working paper to the administration with recommendations for an early retirement incentive program (ERIP), despite consensus among senators that such a policy cannot be establish under current laws.

Federal laws prohibit tying programs such as ERIPs to age. Therefore, if the university has such a plan, it must offer the same benefits to the 77-year-old that it offers to the 57-year-old. One federal provision would allow Iowa State to offer a plan similar to the current ERIP (which is tied to age), but only to tenured faculty. But before it could go into effect, the law requires an open enrollment period allowing all faculty, regardless of age, an opportunity to enroll in it.

The senate recommends that a new policy:

Apply to the same employees as the current policy, with comparable coverage as allowed by law.
Provide equal access for all, especially those in small departments and colleges, and contain a clearly stated appeals process.
Encourage departments to strategically plan for their human resource needs, facilitate strategic retirements that reflect faculty and administrative priorities, and assist in the recruitment of new faculty.

Broader coverage sought
The senate also approved a position paper on a proposed arrival of children policy calling for the policy to be broadened to cover elder, spousal or partner, and dependent care. It recommends up to six weeks of paid leave and up to a year in unpaid leave. The senate agreed to stress that such requests must be granted when requested.

The paper also lays out procedures to stop the tenure clock for up to a year for faculty who are caring for dependents, even if faculty continue working during the process. And it states work done while the tenure clock has been stopped must count toward tenure.

Clarity challenged
Senators approved a motion to establish an ombuds office to provide informal and confidential problem-solving assistance to faculty on work-related issues and disputes, despite objections from the Liberal Arts and Sciences caucus that the proposal was unclear about exactly what an ombudsperson would do.

Sen. Michelle Mattson, foreign languages and literatures, said much of the document points out what an ombudsperson doesn't do. "After reading this document, I'd know what ombudsmen don't do, but we should make it clear what the office does do," she said.

Others countered that the proposal does contain a list of things that the ombudsperson would do.

VP office review
Sen. John Schuh, who headed a senate committee that reviewed the Office of Student Affairs and its vice president (Tom Hill), reported that the review was completed and had been shared with the appropriate people. He noted that the office is "well regarded by students, faculty and administrative colleagues," is "very effective" in representing the interests of students and provides "excellent services and programs."

The next senate meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, in 260 Scheman. Expected on the agenda are a task force report on student evaluation of teaching and a motion to rescind the name of the Jischke Honors Building.