What are the benefits of flexible work options for employees and organizations? Can they improve life for employees and boost productivity for the company? How can employees create momentum for these changes? These are among the questions that will be explored at "Moving Beyond Convention: Reinventing Our Work Life, " a program co-sponsored by DePaul University's Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at Old St. Patrick's Church Hall, 700 W. Adams St., on two consecutive Wednesday mornings, May 19 and 26.

At the May 19 session, Beth Sirull and Kathy McDonald, authors of the forthcoming Random House book "Redesign Your Work, Reclaim Your Life," and Linda Stroh, director of Workplace Studies at Loyola University, will discuss the employee point of view. They will explore how flexible work options can benefit employees and how employees can convince senior management to institute these programs.

The May 26 program will examine the benefits and challenges facing organizations with flexible work options programs. The speakers will be Alice Campbell, director of Work and Life, Baxter International; Marci Koblenz, President, MK Consultants; and Lynn Desenberg, Central Region Human Resources Director, Deloitte Consulting. They will discuss how organizations can implement innovative flexible work option programs.

"One of the goals of DePaul's Institute for Business and Professional Ethics is to identify critical issues facing professionals in a changing workplace and provide a forum for provocative discussion of the personal and organizational dimensions of these issues," said Jason Drucker, associate director of the institute. "Flexible work options is definitely one of these issues."

The institute is co-sponsoring the event with The Crossroads Center at Old St. Patrick's Church, St. Peter's Church, Women Employed and Chicago Temple.

Both programs begin with a check-in and optional breakfast at 7:15 a.m., followed by the program presentations from 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Breakfast is $10 per person per session and reservations are required for the breakfasts. Reservations will be taken by phone until noon May 17. The programs are free and program walk-ins are welcome. For reservations and information, call the Crossroads Center at 312/831-9354.