The Problem. Universities struggle to create cultures that provide a welcoming home for women and underrepresented minorities. Department chairs often emerge reluctantly from among the faculty and are ill prepared to engage faculty and staff to achieve deep culture change, yet their role is vital if such change is to occur. The Solution. Recognizing a need for a completely new type of leader, Ohio State created the President and Provost’s Leadership Institute (PPLI) to develop a pool of women and underrepresented minority faculty who might move into leadership positions. The Stakeholders. The PPLI can provide a useful template for HRD practitioners who wish to tailor leadership development and succession planning strategies to address higher education’s unique culture and leadership pool challenges. For institutions interested in broadening the diversity of individuals prepared to lead, and developing leaders prepared to lead change, the PPLI is an example of one successful approach.

The problem and the solution . Lesbian and gay (LG) employees experience work—life challenges due to exclusionary language and social norms that ignore the existence of their families; denial of medical, retirement, and leave benefits; and sexual orientation discrimination that can raise legitimate fears about job loss and family survival.A supportive and inclusive work culture is needed for employers to build loyalty, increase retention, and enable employees to perform at their peak.This article examines work—life benefits at 10 public universities.Work—life benefits are often taken for granted by the vast majority of employees within an organization because the inequitable application of these benefits across all kinds of employees remains invisible.Thus,work—life benefits inequitably applied have the potential to significantly damage the performance, psyche, financial status, and well-being of LG employees and their families. Recommendations for changes in organizational practices, policies, and language are provided.

Since the 1969 Stonewall riots gave birth to the gay rights movement, radical changes have occurred regarding awareness and acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay pride marches, civil unions and gay marriage, adoption by LGBTQ individuals, statutes barring sexual orientation discrimination, health benefits for domestic partners, and popular televisions shows featuring prominent gay characters are just some evidence of these changes. These changes provoked fear and backlash in some quarters, spurring the November 2004 passage of eleven U.S. state ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage. In the midst of such a culture war, it is crucial that organizations secure policy changes that protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination and foster inclusion.Other trends pressing for LGBTQ-inclusive workplace policies and practices include labor force constriction caused by baby boomer retirements, an emphasis on work/life balance and family-friendly employers, and expectations for acceptance of LGBTQ individuals by younger workers entering the labor market. Given the impending retirement of millions of baby boomers, employers in health and educational services, among others, face difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified workers (Dohm, 2000). Although 79 percent of baby boomers (American Association of Retired Persons, 2004) plan to work part time after retirement, employers will compete for this labor pool and will need to provide inclusive and flexible workplaces. Another trend in public and private sector employment is programs to promote greater work/life balance. Most of these focus predominantly on 73 7

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