Initiatives: Resources for Work-Life Integration
Announcement
February, 2009
The University of Chicago’s ability to recruit and retain the finest employees depends crucially on the environment that we create as a community. Following concerns identified in a survey of faculty satisfaction across the University, Provost Thomas Rosenbaum convened a task force in January 2008 to examine current University policies and practices that address work-life integration and to develop proposals for their improvement or expansion. The Final Report
issued by the task force includes recommendations for strengthened dependent care support facilities, policies, and practices, greater flexibility in tenure and tenure-track careers, enhanced placement services for the spouses and partners of our faculty, regular gathering of data regarding faculty research, service, and teaching, and clear communication of the many work-life resources offered at Chicago. This set of recommendations aims to enhance the productivity and job satisfaction of our staff and faculty and motivates the initiatives described below.
Following receipt of the report, the Provost, Deputy Provost Kenneth Warren, and Associate Provost Mary Harvey sought reactions to the report’s recommendations from the Deans, the Council of the Senate, and the Women’s Leadership Council. Their input was integrated into an analysis of which measures were feasible, most needed, and likely to have the greatest impact. The University will take the following steps in response:
Identification of campus sites for a child care center. Assisting members of our faculty in meeting their childcare needs, particularly the acute need for on-site care for the infants and toddlers of some of our clinical faculty, will support our mission to sustain a community of scholars and to recruit and retain the most distinguished individuals at the University of Chicago. Accordingly, by the time of the opening of the New Hospital Pavilion we will have identified a location and initiated planning for a childcare facility focused toward these needs, operated at market rates, and in or near the Medical Center.
Revision of the policy on stopping the clock on tenure review. Effective July 1st, the University will adopt an enhanced policy regarding tenure clock extensions for Assistant Professors. This policy will provide an automatic one-year suspension of the tenure clock for the birth or adoption of each child with an opt-out provision.
Small grant program enabling Assistant Professors’ participation in career advancing activities. Effective July 1st, the Provost’s Office will accept applications for a “Dependent Care Professional Travel Grant Program.” This pilot program will provide reimbursement of up to $500 in child care expenses for Assistant Professors traveling to out-of-town professional events.
Continued flexibility in responding to faculty encountering exceptional life circumstances. All of the Deans have made or are willing to make accommodations in teaching, clinical, or service requirements in response to acute, short-term life difficulties. The Provost’s office encourages this latitude and values our tradition as an institution to respond humanely in such special circumstances.
Assistance on Dual Career Placement. There has been considerable demand for the services of the Dual Career Office since its opening in early 2008. The University will continue to provide resources to ensure that the partners and spouses of prospective and new faculty receive professional assistance in their search for employment in the Chicago area. In addition, the Provost’s office remains committed to working with units and providing resources for placing dual career couples in academic positions within the University on a case-by-case basis where appropriate and possible.
Analysis of faculty teaching and service. The Provost’s office and the Deans will work together over the next months to develop systems for the regular collection of data on faculty obligations. Such data will assist Deans and Department Chairs in understanding the actual contributions of their faculty not only to their academic unit but also to the University as a whole and to the profession. We see particular benefit from the application of data to inform appropriate workloads for junior faculty.
Improved communications on work-life resources. The Provost’s Office recently published a guide to the programs and policies in place supporting work-life integration. This guide is now available on the web. It provides valuable information to our current faculty and academic personnel as well as to those we are recruiting.
As the task force so ably put it, we must continually strive to provide an environment that not only attracts outstanding candidates but ensures that they can perform at their best.