Staff Editorial: Parental leave policy long overdue

During its last meeting of the 2002-2003 year, the Academic Council approved changes to the University's parental leave and tenure-clock relief policies. These changes have been a long time coming, and will result in major benefits for faculty members and their families.

Under the new plan annoucned by Provost Peter Lange, a one semester or three month leave will now be granted with pay to faculty memebrs, with no tenure-associated penalties, in the event of the birth of a child, the birth of a spouse's child, or in the event of adoption. Previously, as specified by the plan in effect since 1989, the adoption of a child did not entitle a faculty member to a paid leave. However, adopted children and their parents must undergo adjustment and socialization periods just as long, if not longer than those of other families. By extending the policy, adoption will be encouraged and will become a more feasible option for Duke professors.

The parental leave policy also specifies that for a three month or semester-long paid leave to be granted, the child adopted must be under the age of six. Lange cited six as the age where most children begin to attend school, and thus spend less time during any given day at home. Some age limit must be specified in the policy, but determining an age at which a child requires less attention is difficult, especially in the case of adoption. If the age had been capped higher, at 18, parents would be assurred the opporunity to give children of all ages the level of attention deemed necessary during pivotal points in their child's development.

These new policies have brought Duke in line with many of its peer institutions which offer similar leave packages to faculty members. The next step in the process is extending such plans to University staff and employees. These changes will make Duke more appealing to young faculty and staff members whose employment decisions may be based around starting families.