Staff Council, Faculty Council to discuss parental leave goals

The University of Colorado Staff Council (UCSC) will collaborate with the university’s Faculty Council to develop tandem reports on a potential parental leave policy for the university.

UCSC has been gathering information about parental leave for nearly two years, surveying the policies of peer institutions and businesses, assessing costs and crunching numbers to provide a robust picture of how many people use leave at the university, as well as at the state and national levels.

Annie Melzer – one of the council members charged with developing a white paper on parental leave, including paid time off – told the council during its regular December meeting that she will meet in January with Faculty Council members who also are interested in developing a standard policy for the university.

Currently there is no university-wide leave policy for parents. Melzer said faculty parental leave varies by campus and has no consistency; university staff members are not afforded leave other than what is available through the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Melzer said the Faculty Council may develop its own leave policy suggestions because of varying types of faculty employment that are more complicated than an hourly or salaried staff position. However, in order to present a united front to university administrators, UCSC members agreed to hold their nearly completed white paper on staff parental leave until Faculty Council is further along in its exploratory process or until it has a completed proposal.