Work Life

Caring for Children

Local and National Resources

As you face the joys and challenges of parental responsibilities, the university can provide support in a number of ways. The Parental Guidebook is a good starting-point to understand the wide array of benefits and programs available.

Adoption Assistance

The university can reimburse you and your family up to $5000 when you adopt a child to help cover adoption expenses. Visit the Adoption Life Event page or the Adoption Assistance page for more information.

Breastfeeding/Lactation Space

Ohio State is building a family friendly work environment on its quest to become an employer of choice. University leaders understand that work life initiatives are a fundamental strategy to improve faculty and staff satisfaction, commitment, performance and retention.

President’s Cabinet approved a proposal in March 2006 to include lactation rooms in all newly designed and constructed buildings on campus and supported the “zone approach” to increase the current number of lactation rooms. A zone approach involves identifying locations across campus where new lactation rooms will be created.

Increasing lactaion spaces around campus:

Aligns with the work life philosophy to support faculty, staff, and students as they pursue greater integration of work and personal life.
Supports the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation that mothers nurse for 12 months to maximize the benefits of breastfeeding. As an employer with a world class medical center, it is important that we promote health practices in the best interest of the child and mother.
Resolves issues created by current open space work environments that are not conducive to the privacy required for breastfeeding.
Decreases absenteeism/presenteeism rates; working mothers with healthier babies as a result of breastfeeding will be more productive.
Increases employee commitment to and engagement with the university;

Ohio State has and will continue to identify locations on campus that are ideal for a lactation room based on geographic location and/or future renovation projects. Currently there are 18 existing lactation spaces. Click here for a full list of lactation spaces around OSU’s main campus.

Child Care

The Ohio State Child Care Program provides quality child care that allows parents in the university community to participate in and fulfill their responsibilities to the university. The A. Sophie Rogers Laboratory for Child and Family Studies serves the university and Columbus community by offering an exemplary child care program to support research and learning about childhood development. Both have limited space, so apply as soon as possible to take advantage of these programs.

Summer Camps and Fun Activities for Kids

Working Mothers Support Network

Ohio State's Working Mothers Support Network provides a bi-quarterly brown-bag lunch venue for Ohio State women (students, staff & faculty) to discuss and find support for issues related to work/life balance and work/life integration. Together, the group forms a university-wide bond and support network for women across campus who are actively contributing to the success of the university who have the common challenge of managing multiple priorities both at work and in their personal lives.

Working Mothers Support Network 2009 Calendar of Events:

All meetings will be scheduled from noon – 1pm and will be centrally organized using the OHRC training database.

Register online at http://hr.osu.edu/ohrd/training/index.asp then click on Additional Training Opportunities or go to: http://hr.osu.edu/ohrc/ld_customizedtraining.aspx .

January 22, 2009 – PREDATOR PREVENTION—from 12-1 pm,
Gateway Bldg. Ste 430, Room 421- This seminar will explore ways parents can create an atmosphere where children can learn prevention strategies regarding sexual and other types of abuse. We will discuss the importance of children understanding the dangers both strangers, as well as those people known to children, present to them. Participants will also have an opportunity to prepare tools they can use with their children to communicate this difficult subject.

March 18, 2009-FOOD ALLERGIES & SPECIAL DIETARY NEEDS- from 12-1pm
155 Davis Heart and Lung Institute
Peanuts and dairy and gluten... Oh My! This seminar will be lead by Nadiya Timperman who will discuss menu planning and preparation to accommodate children with food allergies, intolerances and other special dietary needs while serving nutritious, delicious foods.

April 14, 2009- CHOOSING A SUMMER CAMP FOR YOUR CHILD from 12-1 pm RPAC, Meeting Room #2
Discussion facilitated by Lindsay Meyer, Coordinator
Adapted Recreational Sports and Learn to Swim Program. Parents can choose from a variety of camps for their child during the summer months, from science camp, to soccer camp, to day camp, and more. In this session, participants will learn to choose a camp program that best suits the parent and the child. Topics will include selecting a camp most appropriate for your child's age and interests, the questions every parent should ask about a summer camp, and tips to prepare parents and children in order to have the best camp experience possible.

June, 2009- BULLYING from 12-1pm - Newton Hall, Room 198
Discussion facilitated by Lissa Barker, Associate Professor in the College of Nursing. Bullying is behavior intended to harm or disturb the victim. It can be physical or emotional and can occur in person, electronically, or indirectly. Bullying usually repeats itself over time. This session will focus on how to know if and when your child is being bullied and how to help them through the situation.

July 16, 2009- TECHNOLOGY AND TEENS from 12-1pm
Ramseyer Hall, Room 329
Discussion facilitated by Fawn Winterwood, PhD., Director of Instructional Technology, in the College of Education and Human Ecology. American teenagers are savvy in a variety of communication technology. In this session we’ll discuss how teens are using technology to communicate through media such as face book, my space, IM, gaming devices, cell phones, texting etc. Explore the pros and cons of your kids using these technologies on a daily basis.

MORE EVENTS BEING SCHEDULED FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2009!

Dependent Care Task Force

Child care and elder care continue to be important issues in retaining faculty and staff at Ohio State. The president and provost established a task force to examine how to increase dependent care options available to the university community. The task force began meeting in 2006 and will continue its progress in the following academic year.

Teenagers

School’s back in session. This guide can help keep teens safe from risky behavior. For parents of teens, this can be a challenging time. It is very important to be able to recognize the early warning signs of trouble. Click here to get your Teen and At-Risk Behavior Guide

Resources for Coping with Tragedy

The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) has created a special area on their website to provide resources for helping children and families, caregivers, and school personnel cope with this tragedy as well as resources for recognizing the early warning signs that may lead to youth violence. For this website and additional links regarding a variety of tragedy responses please click here.

Promoting Your Child’s Development

Employees with young children are often overwhelmed by the challenges of parenting during the early phase of their child's development. But encouraging healthy development simply takes knowing how to be actively involved in the learning process -- Just click on this link to download your complimentary copy.

The Ohio State University

www.osu.edu