The minute the semester begins, faculty members assume the role of de facto caregivers for their students. The pandemic exacerbated students’ needs, and faculty members are the front-line first responders who have direct contact with students and can see their challenges and offer support. But what happens when faculty members have competing priorities — when their children, parents, pets or friends need them as badly as their students do? How can faculty members feel empowered to prioritize their caregiving duties off-campus without feeling guilt or shame around taking time away from students?
Take a SIP of this: Empowering faculty members to balance caregiving and work responsibilities
At the time of publication, the author of this SIP is away from campus, taking her daughter to college, and missing several classes at the beginning of the semester. This is a milestone that should not be missed, but the timing is bad and the guilt great. This type of conflict occurs frequently due to illness, child-care disruption, school closures, snow days and myriad other reasons.
Takashi Amano, Ph.D., of Rutgers University writes in a blog post for the Faculty Parent that “Family caregivers … tend to underutilize support services, and one of the major reasons for this underuse is that many do not identify themselves as caregivers, or at least not primarily so” (Forfman, Berline, and Holmes, 1998; Strain & Blandford, 2002; Winslow, 2003). When faculty members prioritize their faculty identity, their identity of caregiver can suffer.
What can faculty members do to empower themselves and support their colleagues when caregiving responsibilities conflict with class time or other work-related obligations?
- Recognize that the organization of the faculty contract makes it difficult to take paid time off. Faculty members plan vacations and special events around the academic calendar, but sometimes caregiving needs occur when classes are in session. Release the guilt and honor your personal priorities while doing your best to meet on-campus responsibilities.
- Do not think in terms of “justification.” You do not have to justify caring for a sick child or taking an injured pet to the vet. These responsibilities are just as important as your professional duties.
- Recognize that the exhaustion of being constantly “on” is real. If you are overextended at home and then are overextended on campus, you will eventually hit a wall. Practice self-care to avoid this from happening.
- Give yourself the same grace you would give your students regarding attendance and turning in work. Be as frank as possible with your students and model good work-life balance.
- Access support services. Take advantage of the Counseling Center or consult with the Colorado State Employee Assistance Program to learn new and free ways to accommodate your caregiving needs.
- Know your rights and responsibilities around extended leave. For more extended or time-intensive caregiving responsibilities, speak with Human Resources about taking time off via the Family and Medical Leave Act.
- Ask for grace regarding your tenure clock and responsibilities if necessary.
- Seek support from peers in similar caregiving roles and offer support to colleagues who are engaged in balancing work with caregiving responsibilities. Empathy and understanding cannot be overestimated.
When you are not debilitated or distracted by your off-campus responsibilities, you will be able to better support your students and perform a caregiving role for them.
Still thirsty? Take another SIP of empowering faculty members to balance caregiving and work responsibilities
- Read the Faculty Parent, a blog produced by the P3 Collaboratory at Rutgers University.
- Take advantage of the fabulous Student Affairs initiative “Don’t cancel that class.” Student Affairs professionals can come to your class to deliver engaging support services and valuable information to your students so you do not have to abandon that class day.
- Subscribe to the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. Metropolitan State University of Denver pays to be a part of this organization. It offers great tips for work-life balance.
- Visit Facultydiversity.org. Then, choose your institution and enter your MSU Denver email.
- A blog post from the vice provost of Faculty Affairs at the University of Denver talks about ways that administrators and chairs can make life easier for faculty caregivers. Ask your chair or supervisor to make some of these concessions for you and then advocate for them to become normalized approaches to work-life balance.
- Visit the Well for more great ideas and resources for Strong Instructional Practices in your higher-education classroom.