From the tenure clock to travel grants, the University is making changes to helpfaculty and staff balance work and life outside of work, efforts that will bolsterthe retention and continued recruitment of outstanding employees.
"It is our goal to ensure that this institution is providing an environmentthat continuously fosters excellence," said Mary Harvey, Associate Provostof Program Development at the University of Chicago. "We seek to remove obstaclesto productivity, improve the integration of life and work, and continue to monitorjob satisfaction. By acting on these responsibilities, we are enhancing our abilityto attract and retain the best faculty in the world."
University Provost Thomas Rosenbaum in January 2008 convened a Work-Life TaskForce, which thoroughly examined current University practices and programs, issuingrecommendations to improve the environment for the University community.
Effective July 1, the University of Chicago's "Stopping the Clock on TenureReview" policy will provide an automatic one-year extension of the tenureclock for assistant professors who welcome a new child into their families andhave significant care-giving responsibilities. This will apply to both men andwomen and will include same-sex, registered domestic partners. Faculty who wishto do so may opt out of the automatic extension.
"As an institution, we are committed to the careers of our junior faculty,and we certainly recognize the pressures and challenges that exist at that pointin their careers," said Kenneth Warren, Deputy Provost for Research &Minority Issues at the University of Chicago. "The more we continue to acknowledgeand be supportive of the important balance of life and work, the more successfulwe will be in attracting and retaining them."
Also effective July 1, a small grant program will be offered to enable assistantprofessors to participate in career-advancing activities. This program, the "DependentCare Professional Travel Grant Program," will provide reimbursement of upto $500 in child-care expenses for junior faculty who need to travel for professionalreasons or events.
"We have a commitment to excellence-that is just the kind of institutionwe are," Warren said. "The desire and commitment of our faculty andstaff to succeed in their careers should not always be at odds with the responsibilitiesof their daily responsibilities or personal lives."
Several ongoing initiatives received continued support by the Work-Life Task Force,including a recognition of the need for institutional flexibility in setting workloadsfor faculty members who encounter exceptional life circumstances, such as illness,injury or providing care for a family member. Also ongoing is the University ofChicago assistance provided in Dual Career Services, an office established inearly 2008.
"The demand for Dual Career Services is high," Harvey said. "Wewill continue to provide University support and resources to ensure that partnersof new or prospective faculty get the help they need in their own search for employmentin the Chicago area. It's crucial that we don't only accommodate our potentialnew hires, but those who would be coming to Chicago along with them as well."
The Work-Life Task Force recommended long-term plans including the establishmentof an on-campus child-care facility, which Harvey noted would be especially valuablefor faculty and staff whose children are infants and young toddlers.
"Child care on or very near campus strengthens the ability of our facultyand staff to meet demands in both their personal and professional lives simultaneously,"Harvey said. "Ultimately it affects their career success."
Additional child-care efforts will include further support of the existing ChildCare Initiative, announced in 2006, which allocated $1 million of University fundingto support the expansion or establishment of licensed child-care centers in HydePark and surrounding communities.
Other suggestions from the Work-Life Task Force will continue to be reviewed andimplemented over time, including the analysis of faculty teaching and service-aninitiative that will assist deans and department chairs in better understandingfaculty contributions in their academic units and also in the University as awhole.
"The University will continue to be responsive to the needs of staff andfaculty, in order to maintain an atmosphere of excellence," Warren said.
Harvey added, "This is an extraordinary place to work, and in order for usto ensure that our faculty and staff are provided the resources necessary to fullyengage themselves in their work here, we must do whatever we can to support theintegration of life and work-and that is exactly what we intend to do."