In a meeting Tuesday afternoon, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution to give support for graduate students to take parental leave.
As the seats in the Faculty Senate chamber filled up, English professor Hans Kellner took his place at the center podium to commence the meeting.
“I would like to first address the controversial nature in which the resolution on parental leave has been reported,” Kellner said. “I would like to express that the senate has nothing but positive and supportive opinions of this resolution.”
This positive sentiment was proven when the Faculty Senate unanimously voted to pass the resolution, approving parental leave for graduate students.
According to Resolution 57, the N.C . State Student Senate Academics Committee will work in conjunction with the N.C . State Faculty Senate Academic Policy Committee to include graduate students in the current congressional Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which currently allows University staff and faculty to take six weeks of paid leave with the birth of a new child.
Duane Larick , graduate school dean, says he has heard nothing but positive feelings toward this resolution. Provost Arden Warwick has had a positive reaction the resolution, and is interested in beginning the process of putting it in place.
While the resolution passed unanimously, and without any further discussion of the policy or debate over its merits, the faculty senate’s decision to pass the resolution is not the final step in implementing the process. It is only the beginning of the process toward implementing the policy.
“Some administrative things have to happen even after the Faculty Senate vote on the resolution. We have to write a regulation and we would certainly pattern a regulation at N.C . State very closely to the one at UNC Chapel Hill,” Larick said.
The parental leave policy at UNC Chapel Hill, mentioned in Resolution 57, provides graduate students with “six weeks of leave from their graduate program, continued enrollment in combination with sustained stipend support and health benefits, and a one academic semester extension for all academic responsibilities,” according to the resolution.
“I was married and had a child as an undergraduate and I had a second child as a graduate student, and I know that the additional challenges of having a child can put stress on a graduate student,” Larick said. “One of the hurdles that we can take away is having to worry about leaving their assistantship and not having to worry about their salary for six weeks. We can make sure they have their insurance coverage and their degree isn’t impacted.”
He emphasized that the first few weeks with a new child is important in development and starting a family off the right way. While most of the paperwork and requests would fall into the hands of the graduate student, he’s hoping it’s a process that can be implemented without problems.
“It’s just something we should do,” Larick said.
Meredith Jones, a former graduate student, said giving parental leave to graduate students is only fair because the University technically employs them.
“I believe that graduate students should be treated equal to faculty and staff,” Jones said. “Since they are employed by the University, they should have both equal rewards and consequences.”
