Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit decided not to sign a resolution Faculty Senate passed last May regarding maternity, paternity
and adoption.
OU’s current policy regarding permanent full-time and part-time administrators provides unpaid maternity leave as well as time following maternity leave or an adoption.
The resolution called for Ohio University to establish a “Parental Leave Policy modeled on the best practices of our peer institutions.”
“We were disappointed because we were looking for a stronger commitment from the university,” Faculty Senate Chairman Joe McLaughlin said.
Benoit did not approve the resolution because it called for immediate action, she said in a letter to McLaughlin. Instead, Benoit will form a task force of faculty, staff and administrators this fall to address the topic.
“In her view, this was premature as sufficient background work had not been done on the possible costs of such a policy and how it might be implemented,” said Ann Fidler, Benoit’s chief of staff, in an email. “Instead … the provost has made a commitment to move forward on doing the background work that is necessary before making a decision about a maternity/paternity policy.”
The members of the task force will be asked to “consider the feasibility of the different types of approaches used by universities in addressing the issue of maternity/paternity/adoption” and will present their recommendations to the president in February, Benoit said in the letter.
This year, Faculty Senate will work to finish the switch from quarters to semesters, which will happen next year.
“I think we’re in a good place, especially in terms of curriculum,” McLaughlin said.
Decisions, such as class-drop deadlines, for next year still need to be established, he added.
Faculty Senate will also look this year to see how many faculty members accepted the buyouts the university offered last year. The positions lost need to be filled with tenure-track faculty rather than temporary staff.
“I think it’s going to be a good year,” McLaughlin said. “There’s a lot of important work to be done.”
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