UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 6, Page 3
October 10, 1991
Senate okays parental leave

     The University Faculty Senate passed two resolutions Monday
that will make life easier for faculty who become new parents.
     By a vote of 38 to three, the senators established both a
parental leave of absence policy and an option for untenured
faculty who become parents to stop the "tenure clock" for up to two
years.
     According to the resolution, parental leave can be granted for
up to one year for parents of a newborn or newly adopted child. The
faculty member on parental leave will not receive a salary, the
leave time will not count toward a sabbatical and such leaves may
add up to a maximum of two years. When possible, a written request
for leave should be made one semester in advance to the department
chairperson, college dean and the provost.
     An untenured faculty member who becomes a parent also can
choose to extend the probationary period for tenure by one year for
each child. The extension will be granted upon a written request,
and the extension option will be noted in the faculty member's
dossier.
     When senators asked about the possibility of leave for
personal emergencies or care of an aged parent, John Wehmiller, who
headed the promotion and tenure committee last year, said the
committee had considered a "family leave" policy and that parental
leave does not exclude other possibilities that could be added
later.
     In other action, the senate rejected a resolution introduced
by Sen. Edward Schweizer that all parents of students who are
members of live-in social organizations be advised, in writing,
that residence life staff members do not reside in the houses of
these social organizations.
     At the opening of the meeting, Provost R. Byron Pipes said a
health sciences committee had recommended several changes in
addition to the phasing out of the Medical Technology Program.
These changes include streamlining the administration of the
College of Nursing, converting the Physical Therapy Program into a
department within either the College of Arts and Science or the
College of Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation and
changing the name of the School of Life and Health Sciences to the
Department of Biology.
     Pipes said that, due to decreased state funding for 1992-93,
the University must trim its budget by $9.1 million, instead of the
$6.5 million reduction that was expected. Further academic program
reductions are now under consideration, Pipes said, using
guidelines established by the senate.  Currently under
consideration for reductions are the linguistics department, the
Professional Theatre Training Program, interior design and medical
technology programs.
                                        - Cornelia Weil