Interim Report to the ASE Faculty WorkLife Balance

Interim Report to the AS&E Faculty Work/Life Balance Task Force April 27, 2011

Task Force roster: 2010 -2011 Name Dept. Title Role Dunn, Kevin English Assoc. Professor Co-Chair Remick, Elizabeth Political Science Assoc. Professor Co-Chair Baise, Laurie Civil Engineering Assoc. Professor Cowen, Lenore Computer Science Professor Gallagher, Hugh Physics/Astronomy Assoc. Professor Penvenne, Jeanne History Assoc. Professor Wu, Jean American Studies Senior Lecturer Davies, Margery Diversity, AS&E Director Ex-Officio, nonvoting Abriola, Linda Engineering Dean Berger-Sweeney, Joanne Arts and Sciences Dean Ex-Officio, nonvoting Spring ’ 11 only

Charge of the Task Force • Gather information about Tufts’ current work/life policies and practices for full-time faculty • Identify best practices in the academy • Make recommendations appropriate for our community

Goals Recommend policies that will: • Aid in recruitment and retention of excellent faculty • Increase productivity throughout the faculty life course • Improve faculty quality of life

Methodology of the Task Force: Data-driven AS&E faculty needs • Chairs’ survey • COACHE survey (2008 -9) • HERI survey • Consultation with relevant faculty groups on campus Tufts’ current policies and practices • Consultation with administrators • Faculty Handbook Best practices • Benchmarking of peer institutions • Review of scholarly literature

Benchmarking: Comparison institutions Group 1: Tufts’ peers Boston College Georgetown Brown Johns Hopkins Columbia Northwestern Cornell University of Pennsylvania Dartmouth Duke Washington University in St. Louis

Benchmarking: Comparison institutions Group 2: National leaders in work/life practices Emory UCLA Harvard University of Michigan MIT University of Virginia University of Arizona University of Southern California UC Berkeley University of Washington

Benchmarking: Policy areas • • • Elder care Child care Care of ill spouse/partner or other adult dependent Leave for childbirth or adoption Tenure clock stoppage Housing Administrative support around work/life issues Dual career issues Tuition benefits for dependents

Preliminary observations from HERI data • 187 respondents from AS&E • 26% rate of return • Full-time (88%) and part-time (12%) faculty

Preliminary observations from HERI data Dependent care has a profound impact on faculty throughout the life course. Faculty reported that they were “somewhat” or “extensive[ly]” stressed over the following forms of dependent care over the past two years: • Child care: 42% (tenure-track 58%) • Care of spouse or partner: 41% (tenured faculty 45%) • Elder care: 27% (tenured faculty 28%; tenure-track 6%)

Preliminary Observations from HERI data Dependent care problems have led to lower faculty productivity: missed days of work and missed professional opportunities. • 50% of all respondents reported missing work days in the last two years in order to do dependent care, including 14% who missed 6 -10 days, 6% who missed 11 -20 days and 7% who missed more than 20 days. • 31% of women respondents (and 21% of all respondents) said that the cost of dependent care had prevented them from attending conferences or taking part in research or other professional activities that take them away from home.

Conclusions/Next Steps • Task Force is still analyzing the HERI data and formulating recommendations • President Bacow has extended our charge to Fall 2011, and we will report with recommendations then • Contact Kevin Dunn (kevin. dunn@tufts. edu) or Elizabeth Remick (elizabeth. remick@tufts. edu)

E-lists for dependent care support • Drawing on knowledge of Tufts community members: local resources, information • E-list for elder/adult care • E-list for child care • Faculty and staff welcome • To join, please contact Tina Schiavone at Tina. Schiavone@tufts. edu