Penn is committed to helping faculty and staff achieve a healthy, productive balance between their personal and professional lives.
Penn offers a number of policies and programs intended to help faculty members address their family and personal needs, while also advancing their careers. Our policies also recognize the changing definitions of family — from blended families, adopted families, and same-sex domestic partnerships, to the demands of caring for aging parents.
Workshops
Attend free work-life workshops designed to support you through personal and professional life challenges. See the full schedule of events on Caregiving, Financial Wellness, Guided Meditation and Mindfulness, Parenting, Professional Development, Resilience, Stress Management, Virtual Wellness, Work-Life Balance and more.
HR Events & Programs
Resources to Support Family Needs
Penn provides a wealth of resources to support your family needs:
- Make connections to caregivers and find support for caregiving your local neighborhood with Caregiver Connections.
- Ease the financial impact of bringing home a new child through Penn’s new child benefit. Penn’s Adoption Assistance Program provides reimbursement for up to $5,000 in eligible adoption expenses.
- Find quality childcare using our list of Penn Childcare Resources and Support. Use our Dependent Care resources and a Dependent Care Pre-Tax expense account.
- Use Penn’s backup care program to find temporary child and elder care for your dependents so you can meet your work responsibilities. Penn partially offsets your cost through a subsidy program that depends on your annual base salary.
- Let Penn’s Nursing Mothers Program help you make a smoother transition back to work when you’re nursing your newborn.
- Register for Snow Day Child Care for access to all-day care for children ages 12 weeks to 12 years when the University is open but Philadelphia public schools are closed due to inclement weather. Snow Day Child Care is generally available between December and March.
- Take advantage of Penn’s exceptional tuition benefits. You, your spouse/partner, and your children can get tuition assistance here at Penn, and your children are also eligible for tuition assistance at other institutions.
- For a complete list of resources to support caregiving see: hr.upenn.edu/PennHR/wellness-worklife/family-care/childcare-resources-and-support
Resources to Support Mental Health and Wellbeing
Penn is committed to supporting faculty and staff with balancing the demands of work and personal life. We offer a wide variety of programs and resources to help you care for your health, your family, and your work life balance.
For a complete list of resources to support Wellness & Work life see: hr.upenn.edu/PennHR/wellness-worklife.
- Access free, confidential, 24-hour-a-day phone and online counseling and support for everyday needs and goals. You and your immediate family members can get practical solutions, realistic answers, and customized resources for a full range of dependent care and other family issues.
- Keep the flu at bay through our annual flu shot program each fall.
- Kick the smoking habit for good by taking advantage of Penn’s quit smoking programs and resources.
- Enjoy discounted fitness club memberships through Penn’s Recreation department and the GlobalFit program.
Leaves of Absence
Penn offers leaves of absence for scholarly leave and employment elsewhere.
Faculty may also request an extension of the probationary period for specified reasons, including a new child in the home, caregiver, serious health condition, catastrophic event, professional event, and military service.
In recognition of the many implications of the pandemic for faculty productivity, in September 2020, the University automatically extended the probationary period for all assistant professors and associate professors without tenure in the tenure, clinician-educator, and research tracks, who are not in your mandatory or terminal year. Learn more here: almanac.upenn.edu/articles/from-the-provost-and-the-vice-provost-for-faculty-new-initiatives-to-support-faculty
Faculty Leaves of Absence, and the Faculty Parental and Teaching Leave Policy
Request a Leave of Absence
Request an Extension of the Probationary Period
