Women’s Caucus General MeetingThursday, November 1, 12:30-1:45Trabant University Center, Room 206

Agenda

• Introduction of Executive Board members

• Co-Chairs’ report on accomplishments and goals

• General discussion of issues of concern to membership

• Introduction of subcommittees / subcommittee meetings and sign-ups

Board of DirectorsGretchen Bauer Professor and Chair, Political Science and International Relations

Catherine Chanoine Intramural Sports Coordinator, Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Services

Rebecca L. Davis Associate Professor, History (Co-Chair)

Megan Gaffney Senior Assistant Librarian, University Library

Christine Grott Assistant to the Chair, Sociology

Deborah Hill Director of Administration, Development and Alumni Relations (Treasurer)

Helga Huntley Assistant Research Professor, School of Marine Science and Policy

Stephanie Kerschbaum Assistant Professor, English

Shannon Lennon-Edwards Assistant Professor, Behavioral Health and Nutrition (Secretary)

Marcia Nickle Emergency Preparedness Manager, Campus and Public Safety (Co-Chair)

Christine Scheirer Associate Director, Alumni Relations

Suzanne Stewart Staff Assistant, Alumni Relations

Chairs’ Report• Changes to Faculty Handbook to reflect leave policy language in current CBA (2010-2013)

http://www.udel.edu/provost/fachb/IV-A-15-maternityleave.html

• Regular meetings with Maggie Anderson (PDI) and JJ Davis (Vice President for Finance and Administration)

• UDaily article about new “flex time” policy for staff http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2013/oct/flexible-work-schedule-101712.html

• Report on push for new ombudsperson to handle employee concerns and complaints regarding sexual harassment and/or sexual or racial discrimination

• Growth in listserve and Board of Directors; growing participation of membership in subcommittees

• Continued improvements to the content and layout of our website, where we aim to gather information and resources of importance to our membership http://sites.udel.edu/women

Our SubcommitteesPublications• Publication of our 2012 Annual Report!

Childcare• Researching childcare policies and provision, leave policies, and related issues at peer

institutions to start data-collection process

• Working with OEI to develop a new “climate survey” that would include questions about childcare

• Meeting with Peg Bradley at Early Learning Center to get ideas about improving options for UD employees

Promotion and Retention• Meetings with A. Ardis, N. Brickhouse, and G. Turkel about strengthening language re:

parental leave in new CBA during this contract year

• Continued advocacy with people in central administration regarding the collection and reporting of data relevant to our membership

Our Subcommittees (cont’d)

Leave Policies• Debbie Hill on HR committee to look into creating sick leave

bank / donated leave bank• Collection of information on leave policies for faculty and staff

at peer and aspirational institutions

Two new subcommittees?• Mentoring programs for female faculty and staff (perhaps in

partnership with Delaware ACE Women’s Network)• Climate survey

Women’s Caucus Announcements

• Clipboards with sign-up sheets for subcommittees after discussion

• General meeting in April will have elections for new Board members. We’ll circulate request for nominations in March.

• At our spring event in May we will present the Torch Award and celebrate the year’s accomplishments

General Announcements1. EthicsPoint: http://www.udel.edu/compliance/. Here you can file a formal, anonymous complaint about anything, including discrimination or harassment

2. New OEI website: http://www.udel.edu/oei/support-services/ss_employees.html. They completely revamped this and have a flow process for filing a complaint at UD on this site (they also have one for students, and although we don’t focus on students, some of our constituents might find that helpful).

3. All Caucus Winterfest: December 3rd 5:00 to 7:00, Trabant Multipurpose Room A. This is an event open to entire membership of each of the nine affinity Caucuses. Come out and celebrate the holidays/end of the semester and meet some colleagues in other Caucuses! Food and drink provided.

Issues of Concern• Cultural change is important, in addition to policy.• “Culture” of UD: what is it? Unclear / uncertain. Not sure

whom to go to with problems. Let’s talk more about the “open door” policy. Something we can bring to JJ Davis. What can we do to make it more functional?

• HR orientation. Knowing what the resources are: making sure that new employees hear about the Flex time policy / parental leave.

• Work-Life balance needs to be an emphasis of UD. • People used to feel comfortable and safe. Now people are

worried about job safety. Afraid to bring up issues for fear of losing their jobs.

Issues of Concern (cont’d)• Culture: time warp. Good ole boys’ network.• Dispersal of diversity issues: pros and cons. Communication is

a problem / little coherence. Although can be useful because there isn’t one person who is expected to handle all diversity issues.

• Any one at UD can bring an issue to the Faculty Senate. Karen gets it to the right person. Faculty Senate has a Diversity Committee and it’s looking for business!

• Problem with lower-level management: door isn’t “open” there

• Flex time policy needs to have telecommuting provision.

Subcommittee Meetings / Sign-Ups