Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

February 27, 2004

Guidelines support new parents

by Anne Krapfl
In the absence of a regents-approved policy addressing leave from work when faculty or P&S employees add children to their families, university administrators have endorsed a set of guidelines that support the spirit of such a policy. The guidelines were distributed to deans, directors and department chairs last month. They are endorsed by President Gregory Geoffroy and vice presidents Benjamin Allen, Tom Hill and Warren Madden.

"We haven't changed any university policies, but we felt it was important to move forward. The guidelines emphasize the usefulness of policies already on the books, many of which are in the spirit of the policy forwarded to the regents," said associate provost Susan Carlson, who helped write the guidelines. "There was broad agreement on campus for that proposal.

"The guidelines are one way we're trying to change the climate for families on campus," Carlson said. "If we want to attract and retain excellent faculty and staff, we need to show them they can have a career as well as a family life."

She noted that work accommodations for merit employees who have or adopt new children are specified in their union contract.

The guidelines encourage managers and employees to work together to craft a leave plan when employees become aware they are expecting children, whether through birth or adoption. The guidelines summarize responsibilities for the university, the department and the employee. Through a worksheet, manager and employee agree on details such as length of leave, how much of the leave will be paid or unpaid, how the employee's responsibilities will be coordinated during the leave, special equipment needs that will accommodate the leave (for example, a home work station) and the estimated cost to the department. The guidelines require regular contact between the employee and manager during the leave period. Tenure-track faculty may request an extension of their probationary period. (Details of this policy are in the Faculty Handbook.)

A copy of each plan will be forwarded to the provost office.

Regents tabled policy proposal
Last June, the Board of Regents, State of Iowa tabled a proposal that, among other features, would provide six weeks of paid leave for P&S staff and faculty at the time of a birth or adoption of a child (in addition to other leave for which the employee was eligible). On the heels of across-the-board state budget cuts in October, regents staff said projected or unknown costs of the proposal compelled them to table the request indefinitely. Work on that proposal goes back to 2000 and involved representatives from the faculty, P&S staff, administration and Iowa State's committee on women.

Does it work?
The family-friendly strategy announced last month includes a mechanism to track how many employees need and use the guidelines. Carlson said that at the end of the academic year, every employing unit at Iowa State will be asked to report how many of their employees brought a new child into the family that year, so the university can continue to assess the needs of its employees. (Currently, the university doesn't keep track of how many employees have or adopt new children. As an example, the four-year (1998-2002) average for new dependents added to university health plans was 108, but that wouldn't mirror births and adoptions.)

From those reports, the university will collect information about the leave plans implemented, including costs and perceived benefits. Carlson said there also will be an annual survey of the employees and their managers who used the guidelines to assess the effectiveness of Iowa State's accommodations.

That data, she said will help with planning an actual policy change.

Employees or managers with questions about the guidelines or how to use them are urged to call Carlson or assistant provost Ellen Rasmussen.