Caregiving Reports + Recommendations Now Available

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 10:30:07 -0400
diversityandinclusion

Over the course of the spring semester, two working groups at UMBC surveyed UMBC faculty and staff caregivers to better understand the needs and experiences of caregivers at UMBC. While the pandemic created a greater visibility of caregivers challenges, many of these challenges had already existed. As we return to campus, this is an opportunity to re-think and re-evaluate the ways in which our campus community can create a more holistic and supportive workplace, particularly for those employees who have dual roles as caregivers.

Staff Caregiving Report + Recommendations

The UMBC Professional Staff Senate designated a Caregiving Committee, who in turn developed a survey and collected responses from a broad cross-section of UMBC staff. The survey gathered quantitative and qualitative data regarding productivity, mental and physical health during the pandemic, work-life balance, and staff attitudes regarding an array of potential benefits that would support caregivers returning to campus.

This is an opportunity to leverage what our community has learned during the pandemic to address challenges around accessibility, child care/elder care responsibilities, mental health, and chronic illness/disability, with the goal of creating a workplace that is more accessible, flexible and responsive to the needs of staff, and consistent with UMBC values. You can read their full report and recommendations here.

Faculty Caregiving Report + Recommendations

In March 2021 UMBC’s Faculty Caregiving Advisory Committee which was appointed by the Provost reached out to faculty members to ask them about their experiences and to suggest possible solutions in order to better understand and address the needs of faculty caregivers as our community transitions out of the conditions of the pandemic into the uncertainties of university life after Covid-19. After reviewing the caregiving crisis during Covid-19 and its implications specifically for women faculty, this report shares findings drawn from listening sessions and anonymous surveys conducted in Spring 2021 with 80 faculty caregivers (8.6% of the faculty) across the colleges at UMBC. It offers recommendations based on these findings—for the university, divisions, departments and programs—to ensure that faculty caregivers are provided with the support they need now and in the future.

The report was released along with the commitment that the Provost and Council of Deans will draw upon the recommendations of the Committee in their efforts to provide post-COVID-19 support for faculty caregivers whose research, teaching, and service has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the full report and recommendations here.

Both reports are also available below for download.