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III. Findings and Recommendations of the Task Force

A. Findings and Recommendations From the Perceptions Measurement Subcommittee (continued)

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Perceptions of organizational fairness and exclusion of women from positions of authority in the University may or may not be "accurate." One recommendation helps address these perceptions of unfairness. The University should require departments/academic units to develop formal, documented and written procedures and criteria for faculty evaluation, allocation of merit increases, progress toward tenure review and communication of these processes, allocation of research support and equipment, and appointment to administrative positions. These procedures and criteria should be voted on by faculty and communicated to the Deans. This would help to insure consistent application of criteria and would serve to make such procedures transparent.
   
   
2. Appoint a full-time University ombudsperson who is widely visible and accessible and will be obligated to maintain confidentiality. Whatever the sources of perceived inequities, an ombuds office will be capable of investigating and addressing them, or referring them to a more appropriate forum. For whatever reason, a number of faculty who feel very much aggrieved have not availed themselves of the Committee on Faculty Appeals as a source of redress. Most universities, comparable in size, have instituted an ombuds office. The benefit of an ombuds office to the University is considerable. It provides a mechanism to obtain regular information on problems that, left unidentified or unaddressed, are likely to fester and grow. By providing easy access and a timely, relatively inexpensive means of redress, it can significantly reduce the University's exposure to lawsuits. Finally, it may help to reduce the loss of senior women faculty that this University has experienced in the past.
   
   
3. A variety of issues must be explored to help alleviate the substantial conflict between work and family roles that faculty experience. Current University policy is to comply with the law (the Family and Medical Leave Act or FMLA) and no more. Faculty who have been at Marquette for at least one year may substitute up to 6 weeks of disability leave for unpaid FMLA leave. The University could take a major step in addressing work-family conflict by going beyond legal minima. The Subcommittee recommends instituting a policy that entitles a faculty member who has a child (by birth or adoption) during, or within 6 weeks of the beginning of a semester, to take paid leave that relieves them of classroom teaching responsibilities for the entire semester. This would require providing leave that supplements the six weeks of FMLA leave in order to cover a full semester. The supplemental parental leave should be at partial pay for two reasons. In the absence of pay, many faculty who would avail themselves of the policy are financially unable to do so. The partial pay can be justified by the fact that faculty could be required to continue to advise students, attend committee meetings, and pursue their research activities (albeit at a reduced level) during this period. Meeting the demands of scheduled classes in addition to these other faculty duties is exceedingly difficult at a time when bonding and integration of a young child into the family are crucial. Such a policy also would provide significant benefit to students, who resent the disruption and lack of continuity caused when two (or more) different faculty members teach substantial parts of a single course. This policy would greatly benefit faculty members at a crucial time in their lives, and would send a powerful signal to everyone in the University community that the University is committed to tangibly aiding faculty in their role as parents. More specifically, for purposes of addressing Fr. Wild's charge, such a policy would be a powerful tool in recruiting outstanding women faculty for Marquette.
   
   While this proposal would have fiscal impact, it would require few if any additional funds. The six week FMLA leave is covered by disability insurance, thus leaving the department with 40% (6/15) of the faculty member's salary to cover that part of the semester. Partial pay (e.g., 60%) for the nine-week balance of the semester would provide departments with 40% of the faculty member's regular semester pay for the remainder of the semester as well. These funds would be available to the department to hire adjunct faculty or provide overload pay to regular faculty who might teach these courses. Appendix B contains the current policy, which grants a one-year tenure clock extension for the birth or adoption of a child during an assistant professor's probationary period.⁴²

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