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Work-life 'integration' is a priority for community college leaders-but it's not always easy
Sarah Parker, president of Washington State College of Ohio (WSCO), has four children in elementary and middle school. Mordecai Brownlee, president of Community College of Aurora (Colorado), has two children in elementary school. Kim Barnett-Johnson, chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College's Fort Wayne & Warsaw campus, has a son who turns 14 this year and two grown children.
Given their competing, ongoing and time-consuming, demands, these leaders-none of whom has a stay-at-home spouse-and others like them need to strike and re-strike the right balance for themselves, their families and their employers. Tough decisions continuously present themselves about where and when to look for a job, attend after hours work-related events, and go on work-related travel-as well as when and how and to delegate some of those leadership-related tasks to their direct reports.
'Take Care of Yourself'
Parker became interim president at WSCO last July after serving as vice president of academic affairs for six years, a role she has continued to hold since being named permanent president in November; although Jona Rinard, who has been academic dean of technology and transfer, is poised to take over the vice president role. Parker's family is blended-she has two biological children and her current husband, who is WorldStrides embedded regional director for nearby Ohio University, also has two. Her ex-husband and his parents live nearby.
"Im lucky that I have so much support," she says, adding that her husband has some flexibility in his work hours. "For him, that's really important. Raising four children is not easy. On a podcast once, I heard the phrase 'work-life integration. It made a lot more sense to me [than work-life balance] in terms of how work and life actually works. Work ebbs and flows. There are really busy times, with certain things I need to get done. Other times, things slow down a little bit and I can maybe prioritize my family a little bit more."
For example, the college gives Fridays off during the summer, which gives everyone more family time, Parker says. "If I can shift needs to make my family a priority when possible, I try to do that, especially if there's something important...