Dear Deans, Academic Associate Deans & Chairs,
The Executive Committee of the Bloomington Faculty Council has asked that we share with you a document containing suggestions to ensure that we maintain a supportive and equitable work climate even over the course of the time we are asked to work remotely. As you well know, working from home creates new challenges for individuals with a variety of family commitments, including caring for children and for family members whose medical conditions put them at higher risk for illness. You are welcome to share this document or a portion of it with your faculty should you wish.
The overarching message underlying the Executive Committee's suggestions is that people in leadership roles must be mindful of how our changing work patterns affect faculty, and should look for ways in which to support faculty and distribute work thoughtfully. As we learn more about the direction our campus will take this fall, we are likely to be required to be flexible and creative as we adjust to new practices. With this in mind, we expect that this document is, indeed, the start of an ongoing conversation rather than a final solution.
In addition to sharing their recommendations, we invite you to let us know if there are particular practices that you have employed to support faculty as they seek to manage new demands at work and at home simultaneously. We would like to include these practices in our future conversations as well.
Best regards from,
Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty & Academic Affairs & the Executive Committee of the Bloomington Faculty Council
Reminder for deans and chairs
Most of us are working from home until further notice and some version of this situation is likely to persist through the summer and fall, and possibly into spring. It is not business as usual. Beyond the demands of moving instruction online and of trying to continue research, faculty are also continuing to respond to the service and administration duties that keep IU going. As we all negotiate this together, the BFC asks that we all be mindful of the added burdens faced by those with special care-giving responsibilities, particularly parents of young families.
Some factors to bear in mind when scheduling meetings and assigning service opportunities include the following:
- Childcare will be an issue for many through the summer since summer school and day care remain closed, and summer camps have been cancelled.
- Some families are coping with significant economic worries.
- Faculty and staff have mental health challenges in these times just as students do.
- The constraints that apply to many of our students and impact their ability to work remotely apply to some faculty and staff too. For instance, low bandwidth, inadequate devices, and multiple family members using limited tech resources at the same time all contribute to uncertain connectivity.
Recommendations:
- Ask your faculty and staff to post their "work from home hours" when they can be available for meetings or other synchronous activities
- Use asynchronous media wherever possible: even faculty discussions can often take place via email, Canvas discussion, Slack channels, etc.
- Be flexible. Is that report really due on the original deadline?
- Be kind.