Doing It All When Your Children Are Small: A Support Group for Faculty Parents
Attention, faculty parents! The demands of parenthood can be overwhelming and the pandemic has only intensified these challenges. Faculty parents are not only teaching courses, trying to write and conduct research, but also caring for and schooling their children. Do you sometimes feel as though you’ll never sleep again, let alone have a clear intellectual thought? Does publishing seem like a pipe dream? You are not alone.
Each quarter, we will host two drop-in Zoom support group meetings at various days to accommodate faculty parent schedules. Meet and connect with other faculty as we share ideas and strategies for engaging in research and writing while parenting. Please feel free to join these web meetings at any time between 12-1pm and for as little or as long as you like. The meetings are open to UC Davis and UC Irvine faculty parents.
All parents are welcome, as are their children!
Fall 2026 Schedule
Thursday, October 22, 12-1pm
Protecting Time to Write and Preparing your Dossier
This session is relevant for professors at all levels. Former Academic Senate Chair and Professor of Economics Katheryn Russ, also a former department chair and a parent, will share her insights and advice about the ongoing challenges of protecting your time for research and writing when the demands of parenting are impossible to ignore. She will also offer helpful advice about preparing your dossier for merit and promotion. Please come with your questions!
Wednesday, November 11, 12-1pm
Working Alongside Your Child: Parallel Work-Play at Home
Parenting and Family Educator Sierra Armién Funk, M.Ed., joins us to share tips for designing spaces and a daily rhythm that will help your child stay engaged in at-home activities while you work. She will offer practical ideas for developing shared work/play routines for parents with babies, toddlers and preschool-aged children but parents of all children of all ages are welcome to join the conversation. Join us to gain some new ideas and bring your questions.
Sierra is the Associate Director at the Early Childhood Lab School and Family Coordinator at the Center for Child and Family Studies at UC Davis, where she provides consultations, workshops, playgroups and parenting discussion groups.
Winter 2027 Schedule
Tuesday January 19, Noon
More Advice on Preparing Your Dossier
This session is relevant for professors at all levels. Former CAP Oversight Committee Chair and Professor of English Gina Bloom, also a former departmental chair and a parent, will offer her insights and advice about preparing your dossier for merit and promotion. Please come with your questions and concerns!
Date TBD
The Challenges of Parenting: Setting Limits and Boundaries
Parenting Coach Jill M. Rosenthal, MSW, will talk about the common struggles between parents and their children with regard to eating, dressing, sleeping, and simply doing what parents ask of them, dynamics that change as the child evolves developmentally. Despite what Super Nanny preaches, there is not a “one size fits all” response to these issues! Join us with your questions and current challenges.
Jill M. Rosenthal, MSW is a parenting coach in the Bay Area, who specializes in early childhood. She was the co-director of a childcare center and continues to run programs for toddlers.
The convener of the Faculty Parent Support Group, Professor Emerita Diane Wolf, is also available for one-on-one confidential consultations to fit your schedule, including faculty parent of all school-age children. Please contact her directly via email at [email protected].
For additional information and all other inquiries, please contact Diane Wolf, [email protected], or Brad Horton, Program Coordinator for Faculty Relations and Development, [email protected].