Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Dear UNCW Faculty and Staff,

As UNCW approaches the start of fall semester, we are aware of the planning process occurring in the local K-12 schools and the potential impact that those decisions could have on our faculty and staff with school-aged children.  These circumstances are challenging for families to say the least and require flexibility and creativity to ensure employees can balance their work responsibilities with their personal situations.  

The University already has a process in place for faculty and staff who may need flexibility for health-related concerns due to COVID-19 for themselves or their family members. We plan to use a similar approach for employees who are parents of school-aged children. Each division Vice Chancellor supports and has authorized supervisors to be flexible with scheduling, allow working remotely, and consider temporary reassignment of duties, etc. to help employees balance the performance of their job duties and caring for their children and/or others.  Faculty and staff with school-aged children should begin having conversations with their supervisors; working together to develop solutions that will ensure business and operational needs of the department/unit can be met while providing faculty and staff with the flexibility to manage their personal responsibilities. 

This new scheduling obstacle is the latest challenge caused by the pandemic, and together, we can find workable solutions to overcome these hurdles. Supervisors and the affected faculty and staff members are in the best position of working together to find a flexible schedule solution. If a supervisor and employee are struggling to find a viable flexible schedule option, Adam Hall, HR Employee Relations Consultant is available at halla@uncw.edu (910-962-3856) and Felicia Nolan HR Employee Relations Consultant is available at nolanf@uncw.edu (910-962-7765) and ready to assist in those cases.  

Thank you,

Liz Grimes
Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources