Princeton University recently announced the expansion of its family-oriented initiatives to improve support for students with families.
Joan Girgus, Princeton professor of psychology and special assistant to the faculty dean on matters relating to gender equity, said the most notable change is providing graduate students a semester delay of academic work, which had been previously given only to faculty members.
"What we've tried to do is to take all the programs that support families at Princeton and make them available to graduate students at Princeton as well as faculty and staff," Girgus said. "We wrote some policies specifically for graduate students."
According to Girgus, Princeton began planning these new family policies about three years ago.
"We wanted to become more family-friendly across the board, not just for faculty members but for fellows and postdoctorates as well," she said.
According to a press release, Princeton has created a "continuum" of support that specifically addresses issues concerning maternity leave and child care.
Education School Dean David W. Breneman said the University has not "dramatically" changed any of its policies for graduate student families in recent years.
"We have a standard program for young faculty," Breneman said. There are "maternity benefits if people have children. We've done a series of things for faculty members."
Breneman said the main obstacle surrounding a change in the University's policies is a lack of money.
"Those are benefits Princeton is providing using their wealth to support them," he said. "I don't know if there is any school in the University that has as much graduate student financial support as we wish"
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