| Parents petition for family leave |
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| Written by Chava Thomas - Argonaut | ||||||
| Monday, 26 January 2009 | ||||||
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 Rebecca Payne with her daughter Heidi, left, and her neice, Chloe Mitchem, right. Payne is a mother of four and a general studies major at the University of Idaho. Jake Barber/Argonaut Parent-students of the University of Idaho are petitioning to have the option to stay home with their sick children and count it as an excused absence. Many undergraduate classes have “rigid” attendance policies, said Lysa Salsbury, program coordinator at the UI Women’s Center, which costs students who miss days valuable participation points. Currently, the only instances under which a student can have an absence count as excused are a medical absence with a doctor’s note, a sanctioned UI field trip, a call to military duty or a leave of absence granted by the student’s dean. Parent-students of the University of Idaho are petitioning to have the option to stay home with their sick children and count it as an excused absence.Many undergraduate classes have “rigid” attendance policies, said Lysa Salsbury, program coordinator at the UI Women’s Center, which costs students who miss days valuable participation points. Currently, the only instances under which a student can have an absence count as excused are a medical absence with a doctor’s note, a sanctioned UI field trip, a call to military duty or a leave of absence granted by the student’s dean. Salsbury is a graduate student and a parent. She said a sick child was a valid excuse for not being able to come to class and believes it should be added to the list of excused absence conditions. Salsbury said sge wished she had attended graduate school before having kids. “I wish I had gone to graduate school before I had kids,” she said. “I’m not a non-traditional student, but I am a student and a parent, so I know what it’s like to structure your life around that,” Salsbury said. Senior Jennifer Whitney, a sociology major, said schools and daycares will not allow sick children to stay, and there is not always someone else to take care of them. Whitney is a single mother of three. “They’re really not capable of taking care of themselves,” she said. Whitney said another issue arises when school is canceled. She doesn’t have daycare for her children, and sometimes has to bring her children to class with her. “You want to be respectful to other students, but you also want to learn,” she said. Deirdre Sommerlad-Rogers is one professor who said she is sympathetic to young mothers in her classroom — she is the mother of 4-month-old twin boys. “I breastfeed my children, so I have to pump at work, which takes up a good chunk of time,” she said. Sommerlad-Rogers said she didn’t know where students would go to pump or breastfeed on campus. “Who wants to eat in the toilet?” she said. Her children are also hitting milestones while she is at work. Her husband stays home with the boys while she teaches, and she often comes home to learn they had done something new that day, such as rolling over, and she had missed it. Sommerlad-Rogers allows her students to bring their children to class if necessary. “If the baby starts fussing, pick him up and take him outside,” she said. Rebecca Payne is a mother of four, and this is her first semester as a full-time student. She said she has not had to miss much school because of her children, but she would like to have the option to do so. “I’m going to be here for a while, and it’s nice to have the ease of mind that I can have the chance,” she said. Salsbury said students with children are looking for equity, not equality. “I am of the opinion that for young women if the university’s intent is to help them get an education, (the university) needs to give them the resources,” she said.  Add as favorites (73) | Views: 859
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