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The Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Faculty Career Flexibility
$1.25 Million Awarded to Implement, Expand Faculty Career
Flexibility Initiatives
Despite Economic Pressures, Campuses Continue to Emphasize
Career Flexibility, Work/Life Balance
Washington, D.C. (Sept. 10, 2009)—The American
Council on Education (ACE) today announced six recipients of the 2009
Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Faculty Career Flexibility: Albright College
(PA), Bowdoin College (ME), Middlebury College (VT), Mount Holyoke
College (MA), Oberlin College (OH), and Washington and Lee University
(VA).
Each award of $200,000 will enable the institutions to expand and
enhance flexible career paths for faculty. The 2009 Alfred P. Sloan
Awards for Faculty Career Flexibility recognize baccalaureate colleges
for their leadership and accomplishments in implementing groundbreaking
policies and practices supporting career flexibility for tenured and
tenure-track faculty. The awards program is sponsored by the Alfred P.
Sloan Foundation and conducted by ACE.
In addition, Dickinson College (PA) and Smith College (MA) will
receive $25,000 awards in recognition of innovative practices in career
flexibility. All eight awards will be formally presented during ACE's
Board of Directors meeting on Sept. 14 in Washington, DC.
"Campuses across the country are grappling with the economic downturn
and making difficult decisions about how best to deploy their
resources," said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. "The dedication
these eight campuses have shown to advancing faculty career flexibility
options in light of these economic conditions is admirable. These
efforts send a clear message to faculty that their institutions are
committed to attracting and serving the needs of an increasingly diverse
faculty."
"Since the inception of the awards program, we have seen remarkable
changes on campuses with much greater awareness of the need for career
flexibility, as well as significant advances in practice," said Kathleen
Christensen, program director for Workplace, Work Force and Working
Families at The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
The awards program was open to the 287 institutions defined in the
2008 Carnegie Classifications as baccalaureate-arts and sciences
institutions. Applicants were evaluated in a two-part process. During
the first round, tenured and tenure-track faculty completed an
institutional survey about career flexibility. The second round included
a faculty survey and an institution-wide accelerator plan for the
development and use of career flexibility programs among faculty. Among
the issues considered were faculty recruitment and retention;
strengthening faculty commitment, engagement, and morale; achieving
institutional excellence; and maintaining academic competitiveness in a
global market. In all, 60 colleges participated in the first round
survey and 30 advanced to the second round of competition.
"These baccalaureate institutions are at the forefront of providing
career flexibility to their faculty," said Claire Van Ummersen, ACE vice
president, Center for Effective Leadership. "These awards will assist in
the full development and implementation of critical management policies
that are part of a growing national trend and will assist in the
recruitment and retention of valued faculty."
Descriptions of the recipients' proposals are below:
- Albright College will address faculty issues by analyzing faculty
work load, governance responsibilities, and promotion and tenure
criteria, and how these variables affect faculty members' work/life
balance. Additionally, Albright will establish a shared position policy.
A database pulling on the prior two years' usage of flexibility will be
developed and monitored.
- Bowdoin College will continue its work to accommodate partners using
half-time tenure-track positions, job sharing for academic couples, and
a "research associate" title for partners seeking an institutional
affiliation. Bowdoin recently re-apportioned committee and governance
responsibilities to promote a better balance between teaching, service
and scholarship.
- Middlebury College will extend its "associate status" program,
currently offered to faculty phasing into retirement or pursuing
demanding scholarly activities, to new faculty parents. Middlebury also
plans to develop a "clipping service" or RSS feed on a new work/life web
site that will highlight significant articles or new initiatives to
increase awareness about work/life strategies.
- Mount Holyoke College will increase the attractiveness of phased
retirement for senior faculty by consolidating several flexibility
options into a standard comprehensive work plan for phasing faculty.
Additionally, the dean will provide monies for faculty to keep their
research going during and after a family leave.
- Oberlin College will promote their generous policies, such as
full-paid maternity leave for full- and part-time faculty, temporary
shifts to part-time appointments for dependent care, and tenure clock
extensions. Oberlin also will incorporate discussion of career
flexibility into its junior mentoring program.
- Washington and Lee University recently launched a study of key
issues related to work-life balance in relation to expectations for
teaching and research. The resulting initiatives will provide more
options for child care, offer technological alternatives to compensate
for necessary time away from campus, and create a culture of acceptance
for flexible career trajectories that are different from the more rigid
timetables for tenure and promotion of the past.
- Dickinson College will enhance its Faculty Career Cycle Program to
include support for faculty dealing with health and family issues. The
Career Cycle Program is currently limited to faculty who are completing
a period of intense, significant service to the college and are
returning to their teaching and scholarship activities.
- Smith College has established a Center for Work and Life that
focuses on the challenges of negotiating career, family
responsibilities, and personal well-being. Faculty report that one of
the most challenging aspects of work-life balance is caring for an aging
parent. The Center for Work and Life will develop a model for eldercare
support, including a comprehensive web site with referral information,
local support groups, and information on new research findings.
A panel of recently retired college and university presidents and
chancellors reviewed and rated the plans, including Ann H. Hasslemo,
former president of Hendrix College (AR); Stanton Hales, former
president of College of Wooster (OH); Barbara Hill, former president of
Sweet Briar College (VA); Richard Kneedler, president emeritus of
Franklin and Marshall College (PA); and Bette Landman, former president
of Arcadia University (PA).
About the American Council on Education: Founded
in 1918, ACE (www.acenet.edu) is
the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education
institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university
presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks
to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education
issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and
program initiatives.
Please direct questions about this page to:
jean_mclaughlin@ace.nche.edu
This page last updated on 11/03/2009
| leadership, faculty, tenure, retention, flexibility, Sloan Awards, ACE |
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