Work Environment in the College of Liberal Arts

Updated March 3, 2011

Overview:

In September 2009, Associate Dean Esther Raizen delivered to the Vice Provost a preliminary plan to carry forward the recommendations of the Gender Equity Task Force in the College of Liberal Arts. Based on what we gleaned from the Gender Equity Report and from data collected by the College, we identified initial priorities according to rank of faculty:

• At the assistant professor level – work-life balance, the use of family-friendly accommodations, and preparation for promotion.
• At the associate professor level – mentorship and guidance focusing on promotion and grant applications, as well as service opportunities that open up the way to executive positions in departments and in higher administration.
• At the full professor level – disparities in salary and supplements, productivity indicators and the role they play in evaluation, and promotion avenues that are open to the faculty.
• We recognized the hiring of academic couples as particularly important at the assistant and associate-professor levels.

Early in our work on gender equity, we determined that work-life balance is a critical issue at all ranks, regardless of gender, and a concern that faculty members share with graduate students preparing for careers in academe. In response to our initiative, in January of 2010, the Dean of Liberal Arts issued a letter to support faculty in their use of policies that promote work-life balance. This was an auspicious beginning to our efforts.

Updates:

March 2011: The work of the Liberal Arts Gender Council continues apace, with information on productivity and mentorship gathered from department chairs and IRB approval to conduct two studies, one on mentorship and one on dual-career couples. The subcommittee on graduate students has hosted its first open forum, and we are enthusiastic about a new initiative that will examine the working conditions of lecturers.

September 2010: The Gender Council began to work as four subcommittees, one to focus on each action item. We are at the beginning of this exciting process, which we believe has the potential to improve the campus climate for graduate students and faculty at all levels.

May 2010: The Associate Dean for Research announced the establishment of the College of Liberal Arts Gender Council, a group of 15 faculty members of all ranks, tenure and non-tenure track, and two students, undergraduate and graduate. At their first meeting, the group decided to focus on four action items – in addition to Dual-career hiring and Faculty Productivity, the council will study Mentoring of faculty and students, and Graduate Student Affairs.