Faculty Family-Friendly Initiative (3FI)

UCSF is committed to establishing policies and practices that support faculty in their efforts to balance the needs of their career and family.  To remain competitive in faculty hiring and retention and continue its long tradition of leadership in all aspects of university life, the campus has invested in initiatives that will ensure our family-friendly goals are met.

In 2016, Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, Brian Alldredge, convened a committee to assess existing policies and practices that impact the climate and environment for faculty with families, and make recommendations for improvement.  The Faculty Family-Friendly Initiative (3FI) was launched to address the findings.

3FI Report and Action Plan

3FI promotes an environment for faculty that enhances their ability to meet their responsibilities to the University and their responsibilities to children, elders, partners and others. 

Read the full 3FI report.

The 3FI report recommendations have been translated into the following measurable goals and objectives. The initiative will engage faculty through the full process as the goals are implemented over three years (2018-2020).

In Progress      Completed      Not Implemented

Goal	Status	Objective	Action Taken
Goal 1: Enhance and make equitable family-friendly benefits provided by the Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP). Report Recommendation #1 For years 1-2		Objective 1.1: Raise paid childbearing leave to 12 weeks of total salary (X+Y) by July 1, 2019.	Update all compensation plans to 12 weeks of paid childbearing leave by July 1, 2019.
		Objective 1.2: Raise minimum childrearing leave to 4 weeks of total salary (X+Y) in FY18, increasing to 12 weeks by FY21.	Updated all compensation plans to 4 weeks of paid childrearing leave effective July 1, 2019. By July 1, 2021, all compensation plans reflected an increase of 12 weeks of paid childrearing leave.
		Objective 1.3: Increase Chancellor’s fund for childbearing leave to 8 weeks.	This objective was not implemented.
Goal 2: Develop systems approach to track family-friendly benefits utilization for supporting faculty needs. Report Recommendation #5 For years 1-2		Objective 2.1: Implement family-friendly requests online in ADVANCE (Stop the Clock, Temporary Reduction in Time).	Developed and implemented Stop the Clock and Temporary Reduction in Percentage of Time requests in Advance Although not listed as a committee recommendation, an additional module for Active Service-Modified Duties was developed and implemented in Advance.
		Objective 2.2: Review existing systems for leave data at Human Resources and Disability Offices.	Interview HR and Disability Leave offices to ascertain where data are housed. This understanding will help with creating a framework for conducting future data analysis.
Goal 3: Streamline leave requests processes for faculty. Report Recommendation #4 For years 1-2		Objective 3.1: Conduct process mapping of current workflows in key offices that process leaves.	Interviewed HR, Disability Leave offices and faculty to conduct gap analysis on workflows for developing standard/clear processes.
Goal 4: Implement and advocate for a family-friendly approach to policies at the campus and UCOP levels. Report Recommendation #3 For years 2-3		Objective 4.1: Review current UCSF Health Sciences Compensation Plans (HSCP) for language and policy revisions.	Implement compensation plan revisions for all schools to reflect changes in policies.
		Objective 4.2: Identify family-friendly initiatives at UCSF and beyond (e.g. other academic institutions).	The Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs and the VPAA remain engaged with key campus groups that have input on and responsibility for family friendly policies. The VPAA serves as a point of contact for sharing information on publications and other university practices and gathering feedback.
		Objective 4.3: Collate and analyze family-friendly policies and UCSF survey data.	A 3FI faculty working group has designed and collected survey data for UCSF family friendly policies awareness and usage.
Goal 5: Increase awareness and educate faculty of available family-friendly policies and benefits. Report Recommendation #3 For years 1-3		Objective 5.1: Raise awareness and educate faculty of family-friendly policies and benefits.	Develop and disseminate education materials to stakeholders.
		Objective 5.2: Signal a commitment to family-friendly climate through the development of a major publicity campaign.	During the planning stage of the publicity campaign, the COVID pandemic created new challenges for faculty, especially with those with caregiving responsibility. We heard from faculty the great need to address these new pandemic related challenges and the tremendous potential impact both on existing and future challenges. The campaign was put on hold as it was not the right timing or environment to publicize significant improvements made in the program.
Goal 6: Assess the impact of family-friendly benefits utilization on salary and career progression. Report Recommendation #5 For year 3		Objective 6.1: Provide tools to measure, analyze and report on benefits utilization data and its impact.	ASMD, TRPT and Stop the Clock have been implemented in Advance so that detailed reporting of data can now be done effective FY21. Childbearing, Childrearing and Parental Leave without Pay usage data reporting can be done effective FY21 via office records.
Goal 7: Promote and advance a culture of faculty family-friendly policies and practices through an informed and committed leadership. Report Recommendation #3 For years 1-3		Objective 7.1: Measure faculty perceptions of UCSF family-friendly policies and practices with a pre and post-survey assessment.	A working group led by faculty oversaw the creation and dissemination of an assessment through a pre- and post-3FI implementation survey. 1. Pre-survey was disseminated in summer 2018. 2. Post-survey has been placed on hold until when the pandemic induced environment is more settled and after a comprehensive publicity campaign has been implemented.
		Objective 7.2: Promote global messaging by campus and school leadership in support of a faculty family-friendly culture.	The Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs collaborated closely with the EVCP office to communicate and message support of the 3FI to the broader campus community.

Guiding Principles

1. Goal oriented - actions and functions of 3FI are intended to improve the management of current family-friendly policies and benefits.
2. Stakeholder involvement - broad participation from various stakeholders to foster and promote a family-friendly culture.
3. Transparency - where decisions and actions are openly communicated; where information, methods and data are accessible to all; and all judgments, assumptions, and uncertainties in data and interpretations are made explicit.
4. Scholarly validity - seek to assess and refine efforts based on community feedback, documented evaluation, and evidenced-based practices.
5. Performance-based - track, disseminate and use information and data to adaptively manage the initiative to best achieve goals and purpose.

Announcements

November 18, 2020	3FI Update for Family-Friendly Policies at UCSF.
December 31, 2019	ASMD fact sheet and process for requests, VCLS, MyFamily Portal.
July 30, 2019	3FI Update—New policies, resources and processes available to faculty.
July 26, 2019	Summary Results of 3FI Survey on Specific Family-Friendly Policies.
March 7, 2019	Effective July 1, 2019 HSCP faculty receive twelve weeks of paid leave for both Childbearing and Childrearing Leaves.
January 28, 2019	Preliminary Findings from 3FI Survey on Specific Family-Friendly Policies.
August 8, 2018	Update: Childbearing and Childrearing Leaves for Faculty in Health Sciences Compensation Plans
July 19, 2018	Health Science Compensation Plans Updated for Paid Childbearing and Childrearing Leaves.
June 18, 2018	Update on 3FI Implementation.