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Family Friendly Policy Implementation

The University Committee for Family-Friendly Policy Implementation (UCFPI) is a standing committee of the Faculty Senate Welfare and Governance Council.  This committee is charged with reviewing all requests that are submitted under the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policies.  One member elected by each of the academic units and the Provost are voting members of the committee, and the Assistant to the Provost for Human Resources serves and an ex officio non-voting member.  Alternate representatives are elected by each of the academic units and are non-voting members except when they serve as substitutes for voting members.  Committee members and alternates serve three-year terms, and the Chair serves a one-year term.

Family Friendly Leave Policy

UCFPI Membership, 2020-2021

University Committee for Family-Friendly Policy Implementation Operating Papers

I. Status

The University Committee for Family-Friendly Policy Implementation (UCFPI) is a standing committee of the Faculty Senate Welfare Council. It is the committee that is charged with reviewing all requests that are submitted under the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policies.

II. Membership

A. Composition

1. The committee shall consist of one member elected by each of the academic units: College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Dental Medicine, School of Education, School of Engineering, School of Library and Information Services, School of Nursing, and School of Pharmacy.

a. For the purposes of this policy, the terms “faculty” and “faculty member” refer to full-time faculty members who hold appointments as tenure-track, tenured, and clinical faculty, and are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

b. In addition, faculty members who are appointed as Chairs, Assistant Deans, Associate Deans, or Deans are ineligible to serve on this committee.

2. The Provost (or representative of the Provost) shall also serve as an additional, voting member of this committee.

3. The Assistant to the Provost for Human Resources shall serve as an ex officio, non-voting member of the committee.

4. The committee shall also consist of one alternate representative that is elected by each of the academic units: College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Dental Medicine, School of Education, School of Engineering, School of Library and Information Sciences, School of Nursing, and School of Pharmacy.

5. Alternate members of the committee are not voting members except when they serve as substitutes for the elected members specified in Section II(A)(1). Rather, they serve as substitutes on a temporary basis if the member from the committee from his or her college or school is unable to attend.

B. Term of Office for Elected Faculty Members

1. Committee members and alternates shall serve three-year terms.

2. Terms shall be staggered (including when initially establishing the committee) so that one-third of the committee shall be elected each academic year.

3. To establish the committee initially, three of the committee members shall be chosen by lot to serve three-year terms, three shall be chosen by lot to serve two-year terms, and two shall be chosen by lot to serve one-year terms. Selection by lot means selecting persons from a randomized membership list, starting at the beginning of the list.

4. The terms of office for each alternate member of the committee shall run concurrently with the member’s term from his or her respective college or school.

C. Election of Faculty Members

1. The academic units are responsible for electing their representatives to the committee following the units’ established procedures of selection. By February 1 of every year, the Chair of the UCFPI shall notify the Dean of the unit that an election must be held to fill anticipated vacancies for that unit’s representation on the committee.

2. This election must be completed by April 15.

III. Chair

A. The Chair shall serve a one-year term of office.

B. When initially established, the committee shall elect its chair. Thereafter, the committee shall elect annually at its last meeting of the spring semester its chair for the following academic year.

C. Notification of the election of the chair of the committee shall be provided to the chair of the Faculty Senate Welfare Council and the Director of Human Resources prior to the end of the spring term.

D. Duties and Responsibilities of the Chair

1. The Chair (or designee) shall be responsible for convening the committee to meet in accordance with the deadlines specified in the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policies.

2. The Chair (or designee) shall be solely responsible for all communications with applicants for leave under the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policies, department/unit chairs, deans, the Office of Human Resources, and the Provost.

3. The Chair (or designee) is responsible for meeting all deadlines specified in the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policies. The Chair can remind all relevant parties of the deadlines specified in the Family-Friendly Leave Policies as necessary.

4. If the Chair is scheduled to be absent, the Chair may select a designee to conduct business on his or her behalf for the duration of the absence. The committee shall be notified ahead of time about the identity of the designee, to the extent that it is possible to do so.

5. Other duties and responsibilities of the Chair will be determined by the members of the committee.

IV. Powers and Functions

Family-Friendly Leave Policies are an important contributor to faculty morale, faculty commitment to the University and students, and the University’s ability to recruit and retain faculty members of high quality.

Without limitation, the responsibilities of this committee include the following:

A. Regularly considering all requests for Family Leave, Extended Leave, Differentiated Workloads, and Modified Leave in accordance with relevant deadlines, University policies, and applicable federal and state laws.

1. Approval of these requests shall proceed as follows:

a. A majority of committee members must be physically present for the committee to conduct business.

b. The committee shall only decide the outcomes of requests for leave under the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policies after it has received documentation from all relevant parties, depending on the type of leave that is being requested.

c. The committee must decide the outcomes of leave requests in a manner that ensures consistency across units and types of leave.

d. If the committee is considering a modification of an approved leave request, then:

i. It may consider whether the proposed modification of this request fits within the context of the academic calendar for units with respect to teaching responsibilities.

ii. It may consider a modified assignment in other areas of a faculty member’s responsibilities to the extent practical until that faculty member can resume his or her regular responsibilities, if relevant to the specific request for leave.

e. The committee shall decide whether to grant, deny, or defer action on all requests for leave under the Faculty Family-Friendly Policies by majority vote of those present within five business days of receiving a completed request for leave.

i. If the committee approves or denies a request, the Chair of the UCFPI must communicate its decision and reasons for it, in writing, to the faculty member, department Chair, Dean, and the Office of Human Resources within five business days.

ii. Deferral of Action on Requests for Leave

1. Within five business days, the Chair of the UCFPI must communicate its decision and reasons for it in writing to the faculty member, department Chair, Dean, and the Office of Human Resources if the committee defers action on a request.

2. If the committee defers action on a request, the committee has 30 business days before it must decide to approve or deny the request.

iii. In any communication about the request, the Chair of the UCFPI may communicate additional information related to the request to the applicant for leave, subject to the approval of a majority of the UCFPI.

f. In the event of a tie, the committee must continue deliberating and voting until a majority decision has been reached.

g. Substantial, good faith compliance with these operating papers or the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policies constitutes full compliance. 

B. Disposition of Records

1. Once a decision about a request for leave is made by the UCFPI, the Office of the Provost shall be responsible for the custody, security, and confidentiality of all records. The faculty member who requested leave may have access to hearing records in the presence of a representative of the Provost's Office. Upon a final decision by the Provost, access to the record of the case must be approved by and arranged through the Office of the Provost.

2. Once the decision about a request for leave has been communicated in writing by the Chair of the UCFPI, and all records of the relevant portion of the committee meeting have been submitted to the Office of the Provost, all members of the UCFPI shall immediately return all other working copies of documentation from the request for leave to the Chair of the UCFPI. The Chair of the UCFPI shall forward all such documents to the Office of the Provost, for placement with the other Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policy materials.

C. Confidentiality

1. Confidentiality of all matters pertaining to a request for leave under the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policy is imperative in order to preserve and protect the privacy interests of the parties. Except as authorized by law or by operation of this Policy, or as granted by the consent of all parties to a request for leave, disclosure to third parties of the content or subject matter of a request for leave is prohibited. This restriction applies to all members of the UCFPI, all persons requesting leave under the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policies, all chairs/unit directors, deans, and the Office of Human Resources. A breach of confidentiality of a request for leave under the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policies may be grounds for removal from the UCFPI, or other consequences, as determined by the membership, university policies or applicable state and federal laws.

D. Report of Requests for Leave

1. The Chair of the UCFPI (or designee) shall write an annual report to be reviewed by the Faculty Senate Welfare Council.

2. The time frame of this report shall be from July 1 of the previous year through June 30 of the current year. This report is due to the Chair of the Faculty Senate Welfare Council by September 15 of each academic year.

3. At a minimum, this report will provide the following information:

a. The number of faculty members who requested each of the following categories of leave: Family Leave, Extended Leave, Differentiated Workloads, Modified Leave, Extension of Leave Requests, and Number of Outstanding Leaves. 

b. The number (and percentage) of faculty members who were approved or denied leave under each category of leave referenced above.

c. Any recommendations for modifying these Operating Papers, or the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policy that will improve the operation of the committee and/or the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policy.

4. This report shall be written in a way that maintains the confidentiality of all faculty members who have requested leave under the Faculty Family-Friendly Leave Policy.

5. After review by the Welfare Council, this report shall be shared with the Faculty Senate and the Chancellor by no later than the November Faculty Senate meeting.

Approved  by the Chancellor June 2, 2014; Approved by the Faculty Senate May 2, 2014, WC#09-13/14

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