NACAC - Spring 2020 - 48

SUPPORTING NEW PARENTS
Beyond parental leave, there are other factors that need to be
considered if the counseling and admission profession wants to
support new parents in the workforce and make sure students are
still being served.
We asked members what that support would look like in an
ideal world.
Quincey Malauulu Otuafi, director of undergraduate admissions
at Westminster College (UT), would like to reinvent parental leave
as a parental transition period. This would take place for the
entire first year after becoming a new parent and would include
initial leave, part-time work, and then on-campus child care.
"Helping with child care within that first year would really
retain your staff. That would be huge," she said. "I would never
leave! I would have many children!"
Rob Lundien, a counselor at Park Hill South High School (MO),
sought out a job that included adoption in its parental leave policy
and he wants more employers to factor that in.
"It's two different sets of challenges. When you have a baby
naturally or (by) C-section, there are all kinds of things you have
to work through, the recovery time at home is important. Even
though we didn't deliver a baby ourselves, there have been so
many other things with adoption," he said, noting the monthly
home visits and court dates that are added on top of the typical
baby responsibilities.
Denise Dalton, division chair for student services at Lemont
Township High School (IL), said that she wishes new parents could
take all of the time they need with their children and not return to
work until they are fully ready. But to make that happen she would
want "a pipeline of substitutes like we have for teachers."
"I would want to hire a certified, competent counselor with
experience to come in and swoop down like Mary Poppins to take
over her caseload while she's gone and then go away when she's
no longer needed. I would want the counselor to feel supported
and loved, but I would want to have that outside experienced
help. That is probably the biggest challenge," Dalton said.
"When you need somebody for six to eight weeks, where are
they coming from? It's easy to find someone who can come in and
teach US history for six weeks. It's a lot harder to get somebody
that can handle everything from cutting (to self-harm) to coming
back from hospitalization to having special needs to getting into
Harvard...In a dream world, we'd have a temp agency of retired
counselors or something like that who could pop in and do these
things at a moment's notice."
-Ashley Dobson

48

THE JOURNAL OF

COLLEGE ADMISSION

"I know it depends on where you
are in the country, and the strength
of your school, and the history of
your school, but there are plenty of
really great policies out there and
then there are also schools that
offer nothing."
-Meghan Waddle, assistant upper school head,
The Overlake School (WA)

Denise Dalton, division chair for student services at Lemont Township
High School (IL), said she wants to make sure her counselors feel
supported and celebrated when they take leave for a new baby.
"Maternity leaves are never fun to cover and yet, 'Yes! Bring it on!'
How do you ever not celebrate?" she said. "Our training teaches us to
be flexible people so as a supervisor of course we're going to be flexible.
We'll always make it through."
Wint, who manages 43 people, doesn't take his responsibility to shape
the culture of their office lightly.
"It starts from the top... I've had several staff members since [my
leave] come and say they want to take paternity/maternity leave and it's
almost a pay-it-forward. That's the domino effect," he said.
"Because I received such uncompromising support to take my paternity
leave, the requests for leave that have come, I've made a point to go out
of my way to congratulate them and tell them that we'll be okay and that
they should take full advantage of the benefit."
Otuafi also found that her position as a leader in the office and as a
mother has made her an even bigger proponent of parental leave. She
has an even stronger desire to combat any stigma that still exists around
taking leave.
"We have to be accepting of these new identities as parents and
all the things it entails, just as we would with cultural differences
and identity differences. This is a component of diversification in the
workplace," she said.
"It's a priority for me as I work with my staff. It's okay to want a family
as a young professional. It's okay to take the time that you need for
yourself and for your family."
Ashley Dobson formerly served as NACAC's senior manager of
communications, content and social media.
NACAC - Spring 2020

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