The ISU ADVANCE Program recognizes the importance work-life issues to recruitment and retention of excellent faculty.

Our national conference in October 2008, The New Norm of Faculty Flexibility: Transforming the Culture in Science & Engineering, focuses on ways that faculty and administrators can work to re-create academic careers, careers that allow for the management of both professional and personal lives.

Each year the ISU ADVANCE Program has identified a theme for our campus activities and the theme for
Year 3 (2008-09) is Recruiting the Best: The role of work-life flexibility.

Dr. Mary Harris, the ADVANCE Faculty Fellow for 2008-09 (supported by the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost), will focus her activities on work-life issues. In this Administrative Fellowship, Dr. Harris will focus on enhancing the university's programs and materials on work-life balance and flexible faculty careers, particularly for faculty in STEM disciplines. She will work with others in the EVPP's Office, in the ISU ADVANCE Program, and in colleges and departments to create, refine, and communicate work-life policies and practices.

During Collaborative Transformation work in the first three focal departments, work-life emerged an one of six critical issues, as reported in the Collaborative Transformation Synthesis Report (Executive Summary):

"ISSUE: ISU's 'family friendly' policies have gained recognition in recent years and are generally supported by faculty. Many faculty members, at the same time, are unaware of the extent of these policies and how they are operationalized. And among those faculty who are aware of the policies and how they operate (most of whom are women but also some men), a general consensus exists that parental leave provisions (including the tenure clock policy) are well-meant but impractical and that child care facilities are woefully lacking due to cost and limitations on enrollment" (Bird and Debinski 2008, p.vi).1

1 Bird, Sharon R. and Diane M. Debinski. 2008. "Executive Summary." Pp. ii-vi in ISU ADVANCE Collaborative Transformation Project: First Round Focal Department Synthesis Report (March 2008) by Sharon R. Bird and Florence A. Hamrick. Iowa State University ADVANCE Program.

The website of the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost provides resources for managing personal and professional lives at Iowa State University, including resources that support faculty flexibility, such as the Dual Career Program to accommodate faculty partners, part-time appointments for tenure-eligible and tenured faculty and resources for new parent employees.