RIT Family Leave Task Force | Late Spring 2020

The Family Leave Task Force was charged by Associate Provost Carmie Garzione in the Fall of 2019 with the purpose of ensuring that RIT’s Family Leave policies and practices promote the career success of faculty who utilize this leave. In a collaborative effort; the Office of Academic Affairs, the Parental Leave sub-committee of the Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC) of the Academic Senate, the Council for the Representation and Engagement of Women (CREW), and Human Resources assembled this Task Force to benchmark and review family and parental leave policies. The Faculty Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate was charged “to review policies regarding parental and new parent leave and their effect on faculty work life before and/or after the leave. Where appropriate or needed, the FAC will make recommendations for policy change, with attention to training for department heads and deans.” The charge to the Family Leave Task Force was to review previous work that has been done at RIT, carry out a benchmarking study to document best practices at peer institutions and host open forums to solicit faculty input. The Family Leave Task Force will compile results, develop recommendations, and present findings and recommendations to the Parental Leave sub-committee of the FAC of the Academic Senate.

The Family Leave Taskforce completed their report and recommendations in Spring semester around the time of the turmoil caused by the pandemic.  Due to the disruption, the release of the report and recommendation are on hold at this time.  The studies completed by the Family Leave Taskforce are available on the CREW website and include reports on a benchmarking study of modification of duties policies, results from a Faculty Feedback session, and the Family Leave at RIT survey. To read these reports or learn more about the Taskforce, please visit the Family Leave Taskforce tab of the CREW website.