For all Ohio University's talk of pushing equality, it still lacks a very important benefit for its employees.
Unlike many public universities in the state, OU does not offer paid maternity leave for faculty and staff. The policy in place is both horribly outdated and detrimental to OU's future.
Women need time off when they are pregnant. It's a matter of health, not an arbitrary decision. Right now, any woman who could become pregnant while employed at OU has a struggle that does not exist for men who will become fathers.
At OU, women have to negotiate with each department separately. The policy follows the Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides only 12 weeks - barely a quarter - of unpaid leave. Men and women theoretically have the same amount of time off under the act.
Both Ohio State University and Miami University have paid parental leave policies. OSU and Miami also offer six weeks of regular pay for mothers and three weeks of regular pay for fathers. If both parents work for the university, they can take off together or one after another; an option out of reach for many at OU because it is unpaid.
OU lags significantly behind Ohio State, whose Human Resources department claims, Our goal is to create a community that supports employees and their families and regards family care concerns as legitimate and important.
Childbirth involves so much more stress for the mother than the father. The idea that both parents should have the same amount off, with neither being paid, is ludicrous.
Despite this inequality, administrators are very public about the progress we make in equality and the Women's Center. Diversity and equity have lost their true meaning and are used only as feel-good buzz words.
With an attitude like that, why would a woman planning on a family take employment here rather than a university with these necessary benefits? OU must show it values women and families by offering paid maternity leave.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors.
4 Opinion
OU faculty, staff suffer from absence of paid maternity
