TO: UOG Employees
FROM: Thomas W. Krise, President
SUBJECT: President’s Directive 2021-04: Temporary Policy for Children in the Workplace or Classroom

This temporary Directive shall be in effect until a UOG Policy for Children in the Workplace or Classroom is approved by UOG’s Board of Regents after being reviewed under UOG’s normal governance process and procedures.

1. Purpose. The University values its employees and students and recognizes the importance that families fulfill in the lives of employees and students. This policy addresses and outlines the circumstances under which it is appropriate to bring non-student, minor children to the workplace or classroom. This policy is intended to foster respect for the needs of all parties impacted by the presence of non-student, minor children on the campus, in the workplace, or in the classroom.
2. Definitions. As used in this policy, the term “non-student, minor child” means a minor child who is not enrolled in classes at the University. In addition, the term “parent” means any employee or student who has responsibility for a non-student, minor child while in the workplace or classroom regardless of the employee’s or student’s relationship to the child.
3. Policy. In general, the workplace and the classroom are typically not appropriate places for nonstudent, minor children to be present on a frequent or continuing basis.
4. Exceptions to Policy. Exceptions to the aforementioned general rule include:
   1. Minors who are enrolled as students at the University.
   2. Officially sponsored institutional programmatic activities for non-students and minor children with appropriate adult supervision.
   3. Workplace assignments in which one of the conditions of the employment is residency in a campus facility, e.g., live-in resident hall director.
   4. Brief visits, e.g., an employee brings his or her child, grandchild or other minor relative in to introduce that child to co-workers, provided the employee supervises the child or children at all times during the visit.
   5. Special occasions that are employer-sanctioned and at which attendance by children is encouraged. Special occasions should be coordinated with and approved by the employee’s supervisor after considering and satisfactorily addressing the factors set forth in paragraph 5 below. The employee’s schedule for the special occasion should take the child’s presence into consideration.
   6. Visits coordinated with and approved by the employee’s supervisor after considering and satisfactorily addressing the factors set forth in paragraph 5 below. Children may be brought to the workplace by parent employees for brief visits or other exceptional times when common sense would dictate that it is more efficient for the employee to bring the child into a workplace (e.g., following or before a physician’s appointment). The parent employee must supervise the child(ren) on such visits and ensure that the child(ren) is not disruptive to the parent employee or other employees in the workplace. It is not appropriate for non-student, minor children of any age to be in the workplace on a regular basis, including after school each school day or on regularly scheduled school holidays.
   7. Visits coordinated with and approved by the student’s instructor after considering and satisfactorily addressing the factors set forth in paragraph 5 below. Children may be brought into a classroom by a parent student for brief visits or other exceptional times when common sense would dictate that it is more efficient for the student to bring the child into the classroom (e.g., following or before a physician’s appointment). The parent student must supervise the child(ren) on such visits and must ensure that the child(ren) is not disruptive to the parent student, the instructor, or to other students in the class. It is not appropriate for non-student, minor children of any age to be in the classroom on a regular basis, including after school each school day or on regularly scheduled school holidays.
   8. In the event of an emergency, and if there are no other alternatives, parent employees may have children present in the workplace for brief periods of time not to exceed two (2) hours duration, provided the parent obtains the immediate supervisor’s prior approval. Similarly, in the event of an emergency, and if there are no other alternatives, parent students may have children present in the classroom for brief periods of time not to exceed the duration of the class, provided the parent obtains the instructor’s prior approval. Such arrangements are only to be temporary in nature and may not exceed two (2) days in duration, and may be granted only in circumstances where the employee and supervisor or the student and professor have considered and satisfactorily addressed the factors set forth in paragraph 5 below. When authorized, the parent employee or student must supervise the child(ren) at all times and should not leave such child(ren) in the custody of another University employee or student, even for brief periods of time.
5. Procedure for Exception to Policy. The exceptional circumstances under which children may be brought into a particular workplace or classroom setting should be established in a discussion between the employee and supervisor or the student and instructor, respectively, taking into account the following factors:
   1. Whether the parent is willing to accept full responsibility for the child’s safety and for any damage to property or injury to persons that is caused by the child’s presence.
   2. When considering the presence of children on campus, the extent to which the child’s presence in the workplace or the classroom creates a potential danger to the child or exposes the department and the University to liability must be considered. Safety is a primary concern for parents, supervisors and the University.
   3. The extent to which the child’s presence in the workplace or the classroom poses a risk of breach of confidentiality with respect to information in the workplace.
   4. The extent to which the child’s presence in the workplace or in the classroom disrupts or has the potential to disrupt the work or classroom environment and or creates an atmosphere that is not conducive to achievement of the specific goals and objectives of the workplace or classroom.
   5. Whether the parent agrees to assume responsibility for the child at all times and to ensure that the child’s presence does not disrupt his or her work or interfere with the workplace or classroom activities.
   6. Whether the parent agrees to supervise the child at all times and agrees that he or she will not leave the child with another employee.
   7. Supervisors shall not give permission for minor children to occupy a workspace of a UOG employee who is not the parent of the minor child or children.
   8. Supervisors and Instructor shall not give permission for parents to bring their minor children into the workplace or classroom for longer than a two (2) hour duration, and for no more than a two (2) day period, per employee or student request.
   9. Such other factors as the supervisor or instructor deems appropriate.
6. Prior Authorization Required.
   1. The above-exceptions are not applicable to, and non-student, minor children are not permitted as visitors in, work or classroom areas where safety or confidentiality factors exist unless prior permission from an appropriate University authority is obtained. Short-term visits may be authorized for approved guided tours or other reasons if:
      1. Permission from the appropriate authority is obtained, e.g., the director for access to the power plant and the employee’s supervisor and laboratory head or principal investigator for laboratories or specialized areas.
      2. Appropriate precautionary measures are taken and hazards have been considered or removed during the visit.
      3. Direct adult supervision of children is required at all times in hazardous areas. 
      4. Department heads may require additional safety measures prior to such visits and may require written parental consent authorizing the site visit.
   2. Examples of such high-risk safety areas generally include, but are not limited to: i
      1. Power plants, shops, mechanical rooms, confined spaces, food preparation areas;
      2. Any areas, indoors or outdoors, containing power tools or machinery with exposed moving parts or rotating equipment;
      3. Areas with excessive noise, temperatures, inadequate ventilation or pollutants from University vehicles, including water vehicles, heavy duty or other motorized equipment; 
      4. Any other high-risk areas (stairwells, elevators, doorways, rooftops, construction zones, etc.);
      5. Laboratories or specialized work areas that include chemicals, biological hazards, radioactive hazards, flammables, explosives, compressed gasses, sharp objects, lasers, research animals, hazardous wastes or other environmental hazards.

Questions concerning guidelines on employees can be referred to the Human Resources Office by email at hro@triton.uog.edu or by phone at (671) 735-2350. Questions concerning guidelines on students can be referred to Enrollment Management and Student Success by email at lcamacho@triton.uog.edu or by phone at (671) 735-2290.