The new Career-Life Balance Initiative at UMBC is sponsoring a February 2015 workshop on preparing career paths that will include a healthy integration of work and those things that are important to life, e.g., health and wellness, family. This workshop is sponsored by UMBC’s initiative new project, “On Ramps” to Full Professor: Institutional Support for Post-Family Leave Faculty Research Reintegration, National Science Foundation Grant #1446406.” The series of workshops and seminars will be open to the campus community at UMBC, and guests from the University System of Maryland. The sessions will cover topics that support development of a better integration of career and activities that shape everyday life.
The precursor event will be a Career-Life Balance “Writing Corner” breakfast session for graduate students on Monday, Feb. 23. During this session, graduate students will be able to have some dedicated time to work on grant submissions, CV updates, dissertations, applications, etc. The Career-Life Balance “Writing Corner” is a new initiative that is taking the best practices from the PROMISE Dissertation House, PROMISE Writing for Publication, and PROMISE Postdoctoral Writing Suite activities, and combining them with needs that graduate students expressed in a CLB poll launched at UMBC during the Fall semester 2014. The “Writing Corner” concept was developed by the CLB GA, Amanda Lo, who worked with graduate students to gauge interest. Amanda describes the space as follows: “This room will serve to help others achieve career-life balance by providing a comfortable environment where graduate students, post-doctorate fellows, faculty, and staff can allocate time to work at ease on their writing. All participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops and any materials that they might need to assist them with their writing.” Students may RSVP for the Monday, February 23rd “CLB Writing Corner” here: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/careerlifebalance/events/30310.
The key CLB event for the month will be a Wednesday, February 25, 2015 workshop on planning your career portfolio. This workshop will be led by Dr. Laura Koppes Bryan, Dean of the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, at the University of Baltimore (UB). Dean Bryan is an advocate for effective strategies on managing both work and life responsibilities. She worked as an independent consultant for LK Associates, where she consulted with organizations on various areas, including work-life effectiveness. She also served as Director of Work-Life at the University of Kentucky where she analyzed data surveying the work-life culture for both faculty and staff members. She developed and implemented the UK Work-Life vision and strategy; through her advocacy and presentation to the University Board of Trustees, she was approved of a budget of 11 million dollars for the work-life initiatives. Dr. Bryan is a member of the PROMISE AGEP STEM Deans Council, and is partnering with The Career-Life Balance Initiative at UMBC, The PROMISE AGEP for the University System of Maryland, UMBC’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, and The Graduate School at UMBC, to provide this seminar for all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, in all disciplines. All members of the campus community are invited to attend.
- Event: Developing A Career Portfolio
- Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2015
- Speaker: Dr.LauraKoppes Bryan,
- Dean Laura Bryan from UB will discuss developing a career portfolio with a focus on managing both career and life responsibilities. At this event, attendees will be able to walk away with ideas or an outline for developing their career portfolio. All attendees will receive a complimentary copy of Dean Bryan’s latest book, Shaping Work-Life Culture in Higher Education: A Guide for Academic Leaders.
- About Dr. Bryan: http://www.ubalt.edu/cas/faculty/alphabetical-directory/laura-k-bryan.cfm
- Location: UMBC, The Commons, Room 329 (Directions to events co-sponsored by the PROMISE AGEP.)
- Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
- Lunch will be served
- This event is free, and is sponsored by NSF #1446406.
- REGISTRATION: The event is open to all graduate students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and alumni. The event will be applicable to all academic disciplines. Visitors from other USM institutions are invited, as part of our PROMISE AGEP alliance.
- Members of the UMBC community can register here: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/29579
- Visitors from other campuses can reply in the comment section of this email so that we will know that you are coming.
The Career-Life Balance project at UMBC is part of a special initiative that is being sponsored by the National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov/career-life-balance/, in concert with objectives on the topic that are being put forth by the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/15/career-life-balance-fair-continues-promote-flexible-workplaces-america-s-scientists-. Read more from the press release by the White House here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/26/white-house-and-national-science-foundation-announce-new-workplace-flexi
PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP 2003-2018 
I would love to attend this, but I will be doing my field observations at another university during this time, will this be recorded? or will additional information be provided from the key points shared?
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Dear Erin, This particular event will not be recorded, but Amanda Lo (Biology) will be posting notes with key points here in the comment section following the event. Amanda will provide an excellent summary, so please check back later in the week.
Best,
Renetta Tull
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Dr. Tull is there any way you can (preferably) record or live-stream these sessions for those of us who can’t make the trip. I NEED THIS INFO!!
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sorry for the repeat comment – I did’t see the one above when I was given the option to post. I look forward to reading the notes.
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Hi Jaye,
Unfortunately, we did not record or live-stream this session. However, I will be posting notes shortly. I also recently received handouts from the guest speaker, Dean Laura Bryan, who gave permission to share with the public for anyone who wanted to attend, but, could not come in person to the seminar.
Sincerely,
Amanda
Graduate Assistant for the Career-Life Balance Initiative
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Hi everyone!
I know there were some people who were unable to attend the CLB Seminar: Developing a Career Portfolio on Feb. 23, 2015. However, need not worry! I have taken notes and composed them below for all to see:
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.
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If you would like a copy of the handouts, please send an email to both: promisestaff@gmail.com and alo3@umbc.edu. I will try to upload the handouts on here soon. 🙂
Amanda Lo
Graduate Assistant for the Career-Life Balance Initiative
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