When Kathleen Workman, one of the primary coordinators for the ASUO Child Care Subsidy, resigned from her position Jan. 23, conflicts with the work schedule set by ASUO President Jay Breslow had reached a breaking point.
Workman earned wide respect during the past two years as the ASUO non-traditional-student advocate. Workman said she left her position because of the demands Breslow placed on her, which conflicted with her responsibilities as a student and a single mom. Breslow’s mandatory staff meetings on Monday nights and weekend staff retreats didn’t allow Workman to cook dinner or spend time with Whitney, her 6-year-old daughter.
But Breslow said he requires his staff to attend only one weekly meeting and meet their job description requirements. He described the office as a low-stress environment.
“My leadership style is that I hire wonderful people and let them do their jobs,” Breslow said.
Workman’s resignation occurred only hours before Child Care Subsidy asked for a 1.5 percent increase in its budget at the Programs Finance Committee meeting. Child Care Subsidy, which pays a percentage of child care expenses for students who qualify, left the meeting with a 1.5 percent decrease instead.
Breslow said Workman’s resignation was unfair not only because she resigned right before the meeting, but because she didn’t arrange any other student parents to come to the meeting in her place.
While he said there weren’t problems in his working relationship with Workman, Breslow mentioned she was having a rocky semester. Breslow said he didn’t want his staff to get the sense that Workman didn’t have to be in the office.
“Everybody has to be in the office doing productive things,” Breslow said.
Last year, Workman had the same position in the ASUO Executive office run by Wylie Chen and Mitra Anoushiravani. Workman said they understood the responsibilities of being a parent.
“I would be as involved as I could, I would help out as much as I could,” Workman said. “But they never once questioned it if I said I needed to be at home with Whitney.”
Workman said her decisions this year were continually judged by Breslow, despite her battling personal problems such as filing for a divorce, and child custody issues. Workman said Breslow required her to put in 15 office hours a week, but Chen and Anoushiravani were much more flexible by allowing Workman to complete 95 percent of her work from home.
According to Breslow, it has been difficult to keep staff members in the office this year, and Workman’s resignation was unfortunate.
“We cut her a lot of slack. She was having problems,” Breslow said. “I can’t imagine that we could have been any more flexible than we were.”
Even after her resignation, Workman said her job was still a worthwhile experience.
“It gave Whitney a real sense of responsibility, commitment and involvement and a firsthand view of affecting change if you don’t like the way things are,” Workman said.
Upon her departure from the ASUO Executive office, Workman received an overload of e-mails from student parents who said they would miss Workman’s responsiveness to addressing student parent issues.
Workman administered the Child Care Subsidy, which distributes $27,000 to 195 families. Breslow said only about 120 student parents actually take advantage of this available funding.
Breslow said Workman lobbied for a child care block grant to increase funding at the state level and national level. Last year, Workman helped the University to receive a $50,000 campus grant of federal money for four years, and she was active on committees with the University administration so that student parents would not be forgotten.
“People right now don’t think about what life must be like for a student parent,” Workman said. “Most undergrads are 18 to 22, so faculty and administration are not thinking about the 2,500 student parents on our campus.”
Even though Workman isn’t heading movements anymore, she isn’t abandoning her position altogether.
“A lot of change can still be made, and even though I’m not running the campaigns, I get to be involved in them,” Workman said.
Workman, founder of the University Student Parent Association, is still involved with the Oregon Student Association, a student lobby group that aids traditionally underrepresented students by lobbying for state need grants, childcare funding and tuition freezes.
Leaving her job has already allowed Workman more time to focus on her studies and spend personal time with Whitney.
“I took my daughter to ice skating lessons yesterday instead of [going to] a staff meeting,” said Workman, a junior computer science major.
Tris O’Shaughnessy, assistant dean for family programs, said the campus hasn’t seen the last of Workman.
“I don’t think Kathleen is gone,” O’Shaughnessy said. “She will still be a presence for student parents and the University.”
O’Shaughnessy said Sarah DeVore will take over for Workman as the new non-traditional student advocate in a 3-month interim position. Breslow said DeVore, who is also a student parent, met an urgent need by filling Workman’s position, and he is confident that DeVore is a natural fit for the position because she is familiar with current student parent issues.
But O’Shaughnessy said while Workman may be focusing on a different part of her life, she will be missed.
“I think Kathleen, in her position, was one in a million,” O’Shaughnessy said. “She has sensitivity to issues that make her an activist at heart.”
Resigned ASUO staffer calls Breslow’s demands extreme
Daily Emerald
January 31, 2001
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