Sloan Grant Targets a Better Work-Home Balance for Faculty

Duke one of five research universities to win national award

By Geoffrey Mock

Monday, September 25, 2006

Duke is one of five research universities across the nation to receive an unusual grant supporting efforts to improve work-family balance for faculty members.

The Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Faculty Career Flexibility include $250,000 to promote work-family issues for the faculty. Other top winners were Lehigh University, University of California (Berkeley and Davis campuses), University of Florida, and University of Washington.

Duke University was recognized for plans to establish a Flexible Work Arrangements Policy, A Pre-Retirement Planning/Post-Retirement Work Program, and A Dual Career Recruitment/Retention Program that will use a variety of resources at Duke and neighboring institutions.

“This award will enable us to better shape our policies and practices in response to the need for flexibility in supporting the career development of our faculty,” said President Richard H. Brodhead. “We've done a good deal recently to respond to this challenge, and this award will allow us to do even more."

“I think this shows that Duke values an appropriate work-life balance for its faculty members,” said Dr. Nancy Allen, vice provost for faculty diversity & faculty development. “It’s worth noting that in an indirect way, these values help lead to a more diverse faculty.

“We don’t want to adhere to a rigid process for all faculty careers, saying there is only one path for faculty development,” Allen said. “It’s often a case that faculty members come to Duke at a vulnerable time in their careers, and also at the point that they’re starting a family. We are showing that we will be supportive rather than punitive.”

The award recognizes policy advances, many of which came in the aftermath of the Women’s Initiative. However, Allen said the award money will help the university do more in this area, particularly on communications.

“Based on the data from our own tenured and tenure track faculty on the campus side, one quarter to one-third of the faculty don’t know we have a parental leave policy or a tenure clock relief policy,” she said. “We need to improve on that. Senior faculty members may not need parental leave themselves, but because so many of them serve as mentors to junior faculty members, it’s important that they know what policies we do have in place.”

Allen said the award would go toward:

Training sessions for chairs and deans about family policies, programs and policies to help improve faculty use;
Development of a website outlining resources and family policies for faculty;
Development of a brochure to be given to every faculty member regarding the programs;
Sessions for professional development of faculty related to work-life programs.

The Sloan Awards were instituted in part because higher education in general is behind the private sector in developing work-life balance programs and policies, according to Allen. Sloan officials said, however, that universities are now recognizing the need to pay attention to these issues.

“Flexible career paths can meet the needs of an increasing diverse faculty and advance institutional goals, such as improved recruitment and retention and maintaining academic competitiveness in a global market,” said Kathleen Christensen, program director for Workplace, Workforce and Working Families at The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “The winning institutions demonstrated the ability to accelerate existing programs, quickly implement creative new approaches and model best practices in faculty career management.”

Duke Provost Peter Lange said the university must meet the challenge of helping faculty balance successful academic careers with their personal lives. “Paths to career success combined with personal and family well-being have become ever more complex in recent years and universities are challenged to understand and adapt to these changes,” Lange said. “We at Duke have developed a number of new policies in recent years, but there is more to do in policy development and implementation. This award will promote intensification of these undertakings.”