POLICIES

Since 1989, the President’s Advisory Commission on Women’s Issues has been active in developing and advocating for policies that improve the lives of women at the University of Michigan. Many of these same policies have benefitted men and children as well. In collaboration with other committees, individuals, and units on campus, PACWI has contributed to the development of the following policies:

  • NEW. Within U-M’s Business & Finance division, a policy recommended by PACWI and the Work/Life Resource Center encourages managers to approve requests from staff who are new parents wanting to arrange a gradual return to work following the birth or adoption of a child. PACWI recommends that this policy be implemented campus-wide.
  • Based on an original proposal from PACWI, the Rackham Graduate School implemented a parental accommodation policy. The policy extends deadlines and modifies academic expectations for eligible graduate students immediately following the birth or adoption of a child. In addition, eligible birth mothers receive up to six weeks of paid medical leave following childbirth.
  • One of PACWI’s earliest recommendations, extension of the tenure probationary period, was adopted in 1990. It allows a faculty member’s tenure clock to be extended by one year for female faculty who experience pregnancy and childbirth and for male or female faculty who experience dependent care demands, such as the care of children, ill or injured partners, or aging parents. Download the 32KB PDF…
  • The modified duties policy grants relief from classroom teaching for the semester in which sick leave is used for pregnancy or childbirth. In addition, a male or female faculty member who is the parent of a newly born or adopted child and who has at least co-equal caregiving responsibilities for the child is eligible for one semester of teaching relief to adjust to the demands of parenting. Download the 76KB PDF…
  • Staff are allowed to use all of their paid sick days as family care days in order to attend to the illness or medical appointment needs of dependents. Originally, only three days out of the 15 could be counted as family care days. This change in policy highlights two of PACWI’s strengths: the fact that it is an ongoing committee and the historical memory it retains. Because of persistent advocacy over time, the number of family care days was raised to six in 1999 and by 2002, was raised to include all 15 paid sick days. Download the 104KB PDF…
  • The staff tuition support program now allows prospective payment of tuition and an increased amount of tuition support paid by the University. Download the 84KB PDF…
  • The faculty-student relationships (download the 120 KB PDF) policy strongly discourages romantic and/or sexual relationships between faculty members and students, due to inherent conflict of interest. A similar policy discourages romantic and/or sexual relationships between staff and students they supervise. Download the 37KB PDF…
  • As society’s understanding of harassment has developed and research data on the problem has increased, PACWI has taken an active role in recommending improvements to the faculty/staff sexual harassment policy, which was first enacted in 1980. Download the 132KB PDF…
  • In addition, PACWI supported development of guidelines for addressing domestic violence in the workplace. See http://hr.umich.edu/stopabuse/supervisors/guidelines.html