Antonio Foncillas
Staff Writer

The University of La Verne has changed its children in the workplace policy, limiting ULV faculty parents as to how often their children can visit them on campus.

According to the human resources policy, the University strongly discourages its employees from bringing children 17 or younger to campus. If a situation arises where a university employee needs to bring children to work, the employee will be required to submit a request in advance to his or her department chair and to the chief human resources officer.

Chief Human Resources Officer Frank Montalvo worked on the policy and distributed it by e-mail to ULV staff.

“Concerns were brought to my attention about the appropriateness of having children in the workplace,” Montalvo said. “It disrupted the workplace.”

Some faculty members welcome the change in policy. Andrea G. Labinger, a Spanish professor at ULV, said child visitation rules should be strict because children may distract workers’ attention.

“I think children can be disruptive in an adult learning environment, especially if they're unsupervised,” Labinger said. “An occasional visit with parents is probably alright, but it isn't really appropriate or fair to anyone involved – students, faculty, staff, and especially to the children themselves – to bring them to campus on a regular basis.”

Suzanne Beaumaster, professor of business and public management agrees that children should accompany their faculty parents “only in an emergency and for very limited amounts of time.”

According to University rules, exceptions to the new policy will be made for special cases.

If all other options have been exhausted prior to the request to bring the kids to work, if the child’s visit will not interfere with performance of the employee or others in the work area and if the child’s presence will not cause safety concerns, the visit may be allowed.

?In addition to the problem of children interfering with employee performance, children also are not able to get the attention they need in the workplace, said Professor of Sociology Sharon K. Davis.

“Because the role of parent is so different than the role of occupational professional, there is a potential for role conflict to develop, especially when the child and the work are brought together,” Davis said. “The work environment does not allow parents to focus on and give attention to their children, the way they may at home.”

“In American society, the two institutions of family and work are not always complementary of each other,” she added.
However, Davis also recognized that there are some times when faculty must bring children to work.

“I believe that after other options have been considered, a parent’s last resort may be to bring their child to campus,” Davis said.

“Occasionally, I have had a student bring a child to my class,” he added.
Many University of La Verne faculty and staff with young children take advantage of the Child Development Center at the nearby Fairplex.

“ULV has a wonderful partnership with (the center),” Davis said. “Many of our undergraduate students work and/or do internships there ... It is convenient and since it is affiliated with ULV, it is also excellent.”

Antonio Foncilla can be reached at boueron_11@hotmail.com.