The Career-Life Balance Initiative at UMBC ("On Ramps" to Full Professor: Institutional Support for Post-Family Leave Faculty Research Reintegration), receives support from the National Science Foundation, grant # 1446406. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

UMBC welcomed the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for a regional grant-writing workshop on February 20, 2015. The workshop, conducted by the NEH’s Division of Research Programs, was sponsored by the Dresher Center for the Humanities; the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS); and the Office of the Vice President for Research. 

Faculty participants from UMBC and seven area colleges and universities learned about NEH grant and fellowship programs, and special initiatives. The Maryland Humanities Council also spoke about its grant opportunities. A “mock” evaluation panel, led by UMBC NEH Fellows Kate Brown (History), Thomas Field (MLLI), and Anna Shields (MLLI), discussed the NEH proposal review process. Grant application-writing strategies were also shared. 

"The Dresher Center was pleased to welcome the NEH to campus,” noted director Jessica Berman. “Workshops like these give a shot in the arm to researchers, who then begin to consider how their work fits into national priorities and initiatives. The workshop also showcased the strengths of UMBC faculty work in the humanities.”

With an annual program budget of $108 million, the NEH awards grants to individuals and groups of humanities researchers at universities, museums, libraries and archives, and other cultural and educational organizations. These highly competitive grants, which are evaluated by scholars and other experts in their field, have an average award rate of between seven and ten per cent per year. If denied, NEH encourages applicants to re-submit.

The Endowment also supports public programs and special initiatives, like the new “Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square,” which seeks to bring humanities scholarship to public attention in new, significant ways. The NEH’s Office of Digital Humanities provides grants to projects that integrate new technologies in humanities research, as well as those that study digital culture from a humanistic perspective. 

NEH-funded research projects often cross the disciplinary boundaries between the arts, humanities, and social sciences. At UMBC, NEH fellowships and grants have been awarded to CAHSS faculty in the departments of Africana Studies; English; Geography and Environmental Systems; History; Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication; Political Science, Sociology-Anthropology, Theatre, and Visual Arts. 

For information on NEH programs, contact Rachel Brubaker, Assistant Director for Grants and Program Development, Dresher Center for the Humanities: rbruba1@umbc.edu. 

Photo (from left to right): Anna Shields, MLLI; Tom Field, MLLI; and Kate Brown, History

by Sierra Francis

This year, in an interdisciplinary collaboration with evolutionary biologist Timothy A. Mousseau (University of South Carolina), UMBC environmental historian Kate Brown was awarded the highly competitive Collaborative Research Fellowship by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). According to ACLS, “The ten teams of scholars selected for funding cross boundaries of discipline, methodology, and geography to undertake new research projects that will result in joint publications.” 

Both professors will co-author journal articles for the 30^th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in April 2016, as well as a monograph that examines the relationship between scientific knowledge and the historical contexts of its production. 

Why is this significant? To this day there is still no consensus on the impact the accident had. The collaborative project between Brown and Mousseau will explore how both knowledge and ignorance of Chernobyl’s disastrous effects have been produced over the last thirty years. ACLS states, “The researchers will analyze the historical trajectory of the funding, production of three decades of scientific research on Chernobyl from 1986 to the present, and in Fukushima from 2011 on, in order to describe what is known and debated about the impact of long term, low dose exposure to ionizing radiation on plants, animals, and humans.” 

For more information please visit: https://www.acls.org/research/fellow.aspx?cid=0dd290b2-00a8-e411-9417-000c29879dd6

Congratulations Professor Brown!

Hi everyone! 

I received emails from several people, who have indicated that they could not attend the Feb. 25, 2015 Career-Life Balance Seminar on Developing a Career Portfolio. Therefore, I have written notes from the seminar below for anyone who who wanted to come, but was unable to: 

Work-Life Balance

Work-Life Balance. Dean Laura Bryan says that the term, “balance,” is a very strong word. It implies that balance can be achievable; however, Dean Bryan says that, sometimes, work-life balance cannot be achieved. Instead, she prefers to utilizes other phrases, such as “work-life satisfaction” or “work-life effectiveness.”

Work-Life Culture

Work-Life culture is important as it sets the environment for the individual. It impacts both the wellness of the individual and the successfulness of the company. As Dean Laura Bryan puts it, “Every individual is appreciated for being a contributor and as a human being.” Work-life balance is an important factor to impacting long-term satisfaction. In a Horizons Workforce Survey that was recently conducted, Dean Bryan reported that “nearly 80% of all faculty members would consider leaving their current work situation for a more supportive work environment.” She also provided statistics of faculty members who would consider leaving to spend time for elder care and child care. These statistics are not meant to discourage prospective faculty members from pursuing a career in academe, but, are meant to show to importance of work-life balance.

Career-Life Considerations

As you look to find your own career path, there are several things to keep in mind. For example, in the academe, the job expectations for faculty members have been increasing with time; job expectations for a faculty member decades ago is now a fraction of a faculty’s job expectations today. Examples of some factors Dean Laura Bryan asks us to consider include, but are not limited to: job expectations, flexibility in career advancement and job responsibilities, having a relationship, having a family, health and wellness of the individual, family responsibilities (child care and elder care), financial stability, and transitions to retirement.

Career-Life Balance Strategies

In Dean Laura Bryan’s presentation, it said, “Career affects life; life affects career.” I find this to be a very important sentence. Dean Bryan mentioned that as we develop our career portfolio and find our own career path, it is best to choose a career where we can still be satisfied with our life responsibilities. If pursuing a career in the academe, it would be beneficial to look for whether the institution provides work-life polices, resources, and programs. If having a family, sometimes, institutions also provide such as career-life balance research grants, dependent care travel grants, and adoption assistance. These are a few examples of financial support options, but, are good to look at when considering a career.

At the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), there are family support plans and policies that promote work-life balance. For faculty and staff members, UMBC provides Family and Medical Leave and Parental Leave. For graduate assistants, UMBC provides Maternity leave. Located in the Commons is the Women’s Center, which offers a lactation room for mothers. A child care facility is located on campus as well. It is currently closed; however, it will re-open soon. Fathers, for example, can also utilize the family friendly policies, such as Family and Medical Leave, as well.

Leadership

Leaders affect the work-life environment. Dean Laura Bryan
n says, “Know and understand faculty and staff work-life challenges.” Faculty can be busy with work-life responsibilities as well, so, it is necessary to be flexible and have a sense of a shared purpose about work and life. Dean Laura Bryan mentions that communication is important. Good leaders who advocate a work-life culture would not have bias against caregivers, who care for children, parents, or others. Leaders who are responsive would establish clear expectations, are flexible, are supportive for the individual’s success, knows the legal do’s and don’ts, and provides resources/referrals to help assist the individual. Dean Laura Bryan says that most institutions would have a work-life balance website. We are currently working on the Career-Life Balance Initiative at UMBC webpage.

As Dean Laura Bryan ends her presentation, she provided everyone with wonderful tips. She also provided handouts for creating a career-life portfolio. All handouts that were supplied at the seminar will be shared on the PROMISE AGEP website.

Note:

Below are the handouts from the Feb. 25, 2015 Career-Life Balance Seminar on Developing a Career Portfolio: