Family Services Committee

DRAFT Family Services Committee (Formerly Work Family Advisory Council) Meeting Notes from February 4, 2008

Present: Lauran Jacoby, Linda Starr, Tine Reimers, Helen Steh, Gwendolyn Dean, Lynette Chappell-Williams, Bill Liddick, Rose Braman (scribe)

1. Selection of Family Services Committee Chair — tabled
2. Announcements:

Center is on schedule Posting for Program Manager for Work/Life programs has been done Bright Horizon to run summer camp this year Camp rates will have to be raised this year to offset the cost

III. Development of Center Mission: Would like to look at UCNS Missions statements. Ask sub committee to draft a working statement to include; a) ideas & b) concepts. FSC members would think about what they would like included in the mission statement. Hope to have something started and ready for the March Meeting.

IV. Discussion of Work Life priorities: The Committee needs to review the 39 recommendations for work/life/family efforts that were developed in 1990 and see which ones need to be revisited, and, we need to begin developing new recommendations for the future workforce. The following themes were developed, with the goal of developing additional themes at the next meeting.

• Connection with School Districts — encourage support — discussion on preparing kids for school ~ Enhance connection w/ school districts through administrators as part of the life cycles; what to expect at parent/teacher conference; how to use time off to support involvement; familiarly with curriculum
• Working on addressing needs of special needs children through life cycles
• Connect research on child development with parents/guardians
• Develop global institutional day of activities to tie in with school districts
• More info for people who are thinking about having children (life cycles) — difference between midwives and practitioner; attachment parenting. Use this as way to introduce programs we have here; how to communicate that you’re pregnant; what faculty need to do.
• An increase communication to faculty about what’s available in terms of benefits (ADVANCE targets 278 people so doesn’t reach all faculty)
• Tenure clock stop utilization - Collect information about who is using tenure clock stop; can’t stop research when you’re on maternity leave; bench science (those that have lab work)
• Same sex domestic partners — look at tax implications for domestic partners to purchase heath insurance (Gwendolyn agreed to benchmark other schools and find how they are approaching this)
• Getting information out about Syphilis testing, there’s some education going to students but not for staff & faculty — Question: is there a way to better integrate health related info for all 3 populations? Have life cycles on safe sex; there is an increase in STD in senior population; include dating in older years.
• Telecommuting — what will the work look like in the future and what will be the implications for child care?
• Review all work/life family polices to determine if they are still relevant
• Add Life Cycles workshop on raising children in terms of sexual orientation — how to address when you learn your child is LGBT
• Workshops to help parents have “gender neutral” conversations when raising children

This list of Work/Life Issues will be transformed into a separate working document that will be an update to the recommendations made by the Task Force for Working Families.

Next Meeting: March 3 @ 9:00 AM, Day Hall Room B12