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COMMEMORATING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. A civil rights leader will be part of the January program honoring King.
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WALL STREET FALLOUT? Duke’s executive vice president discusses the University’s financial position and impact from the financial crisis.
SUSTAINABLE DUKE With a hurting economy and erratic gas prices, Duke community members are turning to the scooter to get around.
NEWS YOU CAN USE :: Volume 3, Issue 10 : : December 2008/January 2009
Time On Their Side
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Nancy Gump, right, an administrative assistant in Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, received donated time from faculty and staff, so she could care for her husband, Donald, who was diagnosed with colon cancer.
KIEL PROGRAM ALLOWS FACULTY AND STAFF TO DONATE TIME OFF TO COLLEAGUES IN NEED he news for Nancy Gump came as a shock. According to doctors, her husband, Donald, only had days or weeks left to live after being diagnosed with colon cancer. Gump, an administrative assistant in the Fuqua School of Business, needed time with her husband, but she only had a week’s worth of vacation left. That’s when her co-workers stepped in to help. After all her vacation and sick days were gone, Gump relied on Duke’s voluntary Kiel Memorial Vacation/PTO Donation Program to provide her with time off from late June to September of this year. The Kiel program allows Duke faculty and staff to make donations of accrued vacation time or paid time off to fellow employees in time of need. “It’s the benefit of peace of mind,” said Gump, who has worked at Duke five years and has been married to Donald for nearly 30. “It lets you know that you’re loved by your fellow co-workers and that you’re part of a family. I’m so fortunate that I’m at Duke to be able to have that.” During 86 days, Gump benefited from the Kiel donations, so she could care for Donald, who continues to beat the odds and is receiving care at home. She used the time to take care of household chores with some help from Donald, but she was also in charge of paying bills and balancing the couple’s checkbook. Gump said the biggest portion of her time away from work was helping Donald with everyday activities he couldn’t manage on his own – from getting out of chairs to walking to the restroom and helping with daily hygiene. In 2007 alone, Duke employees donated nearly 29,000 hours to fellow co-workers through the Kiel program. In addition to giving vacation or paid time off to a specific person, Duke faculty and staff can also contribute to a general pool. Donated
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hours can only be used by faculty and staff if they or their dependents face serious illness or injury. The Kiel program was introduced in 1999 to honor Susan Kiel, a former Duke nurse who died in 1996. The program was the brainchild of three Duke nurses, Jennifer Kell and two others, all of whom were friends with Kiel and knew her work in the general medicine and pediatric wards at Duke Hospital.
In the 40 years that I’ve been working, I never had that opportunity with other places where fellow employees could help you by donating their time. They didn’t have to do it, but they did and that says a lot about the people at Duke.” — Nancy Gump Administrative Assistant Fuqua School of Business
Kiel worked at Duke for less than two years and didn’t have much time off when she became ill. “We wanted to promote that helpfulness and sprit of community that can come when something bad happens to somebody and you don’t know what to do,” said Kell, who left Duke in 2006. “If you donate eight hours of PTO time, that would be huge to someone and you know you were supporting somebody else.” When the Kiel program launched, there were already more than 1,000 hours worth of donations
2008 Gold Medal, Internal Periodical Staff Writing 2007 Bronze Medal, Print Internal Audience Tabloids/Newsletters
Donate Time The voluntary Kiel program allows faculty and staff to donate vacation or paid time off to co-workers who have exhausted time off because of catastrophic illness or injury to themselves or an eligible family member.
Who’s eligible? Faculty and staff of Duke University and Health System, or eligible family members, must be diagnosed with a medical event that requires the employee to be out of work for at least four weeks.
Who can donate? Eligible faculty and staff can contribute accrued vacation or paid time off in four-hour increments to a specific person, or general pool.
How? To receive or donate time, complete a form online at hr.duke.edu/policies/ time_away/kiel_program
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