Transcript Women’s Caucus General Meeting

Women’s Caucus
General Meeting
Thursday, November 1, 12:30-1:45
Trabant University Center, Room 206
Agenda
• Introduction of Executive Board members
• Co-Chairs’ report on accomplishments and goals
• General discussion of issues of concern to membership
• Introduction of subcommittees / subcommittee meetings
and sign-ups
Board of Directors
Gretchen Bauer
Professor and Chair, Political Science
and International Relations
Helga Huntley
Assistant Research Professor, School of Marine
Science and Policy
Catherine Chanoine
Intramural Sports Coordinator, Intercollegiate
Athletics and Recreation Services
Stephanie Kerschbaum
Assistant Professor, English
Rebecca L. Davis
Associate Professor, History (Co-Chair)
Megan Gaffney
Senior Assistant Librarian, University Library
Christine Grott
Assistant to the Chair, Sociology
Shannon Lennon-Edwards
Assistant Professor, Behavioral Health and Nutrition
(Secretary)
Marcia Nickle
Emergency Preparedness Manager, Campus and
Public Safety (Co-Chair)
Christine Scheirer
Associate Director, Alumni Relations
Deborah Hill
Director of Administration, Development and Alumni Suzanne Stewart
Staff Assistant, Alumni Relations
Relations (Treasurer)
Chairs’ Report
• Changes to Faculty Handbook to reflect leave policy language in current CBA
(2010-2013) http://www.udel.edu/provost/fachb/IV-A-15-maternityleave.html
• Regular meetings with Maggie Anderson (PDI) and JJ Davis (Vice President for
Finance and Administration)
• UDaily article about new “flex time” policy for staff
http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2013/oct/flexible-work-schedule-101712.html
• Report on push for new ombudsperson to handle employee concerns and
complaints regarding sexual harassment and/or sexual or racial discrimination
• Growth in listserve and Board of Directors; growing participation of membership
in subcommittees
• Continued improvements to the content and layout of our website, where we aim
to gather information and resources of importance to our membership
http://sites.udel.edu/women
Our Subcommittees
Publications
• Publication of our 2012 Annual Report!
Childcare
• Researching childcare policies and provision, leave policies, and related
issues at peer institutions to start data-collection process
• Working with OEI to develop a new “climate survey” that would include
questions about childcare
• Meeting with Peg Bradley at Early Learning Center to get ideas about
improving options for UD employees
Promotion and Retention
• Meetings with A. Ardis, N. Brickhouse, and G. Turkel about strengthening
language re: parental leave in new CBA during this contract year
• Continued advocacy with people in central administration regarding the
collection and reporting of data relevant to our membership
Our Subcommittees (cont’d)
Leave Policies
• Debbie Hill on HR committee to look into creating sick leave
bank / donated leave bank
• Collection of information on leave policies for faculty and staff
at peer and aspirational institutions
Two new subcommittees?
• Mentoring programs for female faculty and staff (perhaps in
partnership with Delaware ACE Women’s Network)
• Climate survey
Women’s Caucus Announcements
• Clipboards with sign-up sheets for
subcommittees after discussion
• General meeting in April will have elections for
new Board members. We’ll circulate request for
nominations in March.
• At our spring event in May we will present the
Torch Award and celebrate the year’s
accomplishments
General Announcements
1.
EthicsPoint: http://www.udel.edu/compliance/. Here you can
file a formal, anonymous complaint about anything, including
discrimination or harassment
2.
New OEI website: http://www.udel.edu/oei/supportservices/ss_employees.html. They completely revamped this and have
a flow process for filing a complaint at UD on this site (they also have
one for students, and although we don’t focus on students, some of
our constituents might find that helpful).
3.
All Caucus Winterfest: December 3rd 5:00 to 7:00, Trabant
Multipurpose Room A. This is an event open to entire membership of
each of the nine affinity Caucuses. Come out and celebrate the
holidays/end of the semester and meet some colleagues in other
Caucuses! Food and drink provided.
Issues of Concern
• Cultural change is important, in addition to policy.
• “Culture” of UD: what is it? Unclear / uncertain. Not sure
whom to go to with problems. Let’s talk more about the “open
door” policy. Something we can bring to JJ Davis. What can we
do to make it more functional?
• HR orientation. Knowing what the resources are: making sure
that new employees hear about the Flex time policy / parental
leave.
• Work-Life balance needs to be an emphasis of UD.
• People used to feel comfortable and safe. Now people are
worried about job safety. Afraid to bring up issues for fear of
losing their jobs.
Issues of Concern (cont’d)
• Culture: time warp. Good ole boys’ network.
• Dispersal of diversity issues: pros and cons. Communication is
a problem / little coherence. Although can be useful because
there isn’t one person who is expected to handle all diversity
issues.
• Any one at UD can bring an issue to the Faculty Senate. Karen
gets it to the right person. Faculty Senate has a Diversity
Committee and it’s looking for business!
• Problem with lower-level management: door isn’t “open”
there
• Flex time policy needs to have telecommuting provision.
Subcommittee Meetings / SignUps