In 2009-2010, FWIG sponsored research and outreach related to birth and adoption policies. These efforts were initiated in response to interest by an ad hoc group of mostly junior faculty from a number of universities – the information “parental leave interest group.” The group identified potential research and information needs and prioritized outreach opportunities. To respond to these interests in a manner useful to both planning faculty and administrators, a number of efforts were conducted, including surveys of planning faculty and administrators summarized in a report linked below. In addition, research on family leave and related policies in U.S. planning schools was conducted. These efforts were supported by FWIG, with funding from ACSP.
Report
Authored by Carissa Schively Slotterback, University of Minnesota, this reporthighlights the results of recent surveys (2009‐2010) of planning faculty and administrators. The report addresses the availability and adequacy of policies related to birth and adoption for urban planning faculty and highlights recommendations for future action.
A press release related to the report was prepared in December 2010.
Presentations
Past:
- ACSP Annual Conference Birth and Adoption Policies Roundtable – October 4, 2009, Crystal City, VA
- ACSP Governing Board – April 10, 2010, New Orleans, LA
- ACSP Annual Meeting FWIG Luncheon – October 8, 2010, Minneapolis, MN
Upcoming:
- ACSP Administrators’ Conference – May 6-7, 2010, Austin, TX
Leave Policy Links
As part of the birth and adoption policies initiative, Katherine Lieberknecht, Cornell University, conducted an inventory of family leave and related policies for planning schools in the U.S. These summaries of family leave policies were developed from a web search of the 92 ACSP member schools’ human resource department websites, faculty handbooks, and departmental websites. The web search encompassed a broad definition of family leave, including maternity, paternity, and parental leave; leave for pregnancy, birth, adoption, and foster care; leave for personal and family medical reasons; and leave to care for elderly relatives.
ACSP member schools handle family leave in a wide variety of ways, including paid and unpaid leave of absences, flexible work hours, course releases and other workload reductions, and tenure clock extension. At the date of this writing, all but three member schools post some information about family leave online. This information posted about each member school is a summary, and faculty are encouraged to contact their own universities and departments for up-to-date and complete information. Faculty should also consult with their human resources staff.
If you have information on updated policies, please send them to Carissa Schively Slotterback at cschively@umn.edu
Literature Review
Coming soon.
Contact Information
For additional information on FWIG’s birth and adoption policies work, please contact Carissa Schively Slotterback at cschively@umn.edu.
