University of Idaho President Chuck Staben said he remembers a time when he was a new father working at universities during the “dark ages” of parenting leave.
“It was difficult. And you know, you did what a lot of people have probably always done, which is suck it up,” Staben said of the outdated parenting leave policies.
In an effort to lead UI into a more family-friendly atmosphere for faculty and staff, Staben approved and disapproved multiple changes to the university”s previous policy on parenting leave this summer.
One of the proposed changes would extend the given parenting leave from 12 to 16 weeks. Staben disapproved this change because he said it would have brought a heavier negative impact on the university than a positive one, he said.
“When an employee is on leave the other employees typically have to take up the important work that employee is not doing at that time,” he said. “And the longer that happens, the harder that is on the existing employees.”
Staben also approved another proposal that would allow both the mother and father of a newborn child the full 12 weeks of parenting leave if both parents are employees at UI. Under the previous policy, the 12 weeks could have been split between both parents.
He said he aimed to find a balance between allowing parents to spend time with their families and keeping the university operating at an efficient level.
“Try to strike a responsible balance of the function of the university and the effect that has on everyone at the university, versus the benefit, potentially, to the family,” Staben said.
Staben said in general these changes will liberalize the previous policy for university parenting leave. He said UI administrators are taking a step to recognize the importance of families.
“It turns out families are pretty important,” he said.
Staben said he thinks faculty and staff are encountering a more supportive atmosphere at UI and hopes the changes will allow UI employees to feel valued.
“Their family life is not our business,” Staben said. “But we want to be sure they can have a family life because “¦ we care about them.”
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ErinBamer