Date: September 8, 2020
TO: Full-Time Faculty and Employees
FROM: Andrew Hamilton, President and Katherine Fleming, Provost

Dear colleagues,

As we begin the fall semester, with all the attendant challenges of getting a campus up and running amidst a pandemic, we haven’t lost sight of the fact that many of you — as caregivers — are still unsure about how the next several weeks will look for yourselves and your families. In response to the disruptions in childcare and school plans due to COVID-19, the University is making several special provisions for the 2020-2021 academic year to provide support to NYU families of full-time faculty and employees.

The Bright Horizons Program — Effective September 1, 2020

Increasing Access to Care

We will be temporarily providing all of the offerings available through the Bright Horizons Program to the University’s full-time union staff members for the 2020-2021 Academic Year. The staff have been a vital part of keeping the University functioning, even during the peak of the pandemic. We hope that the access to this program will help alleviate some of the caregiving burden that many of you are currently navigating. More information about in-home care and center-based care can be found on the Bright Horizons webpages for faculty, administrators and researchers, and staff.

Five Additional Care Days

All eligible, full-time faculty and employees will have access to 5 additional days of back-up child and adult care for a total of 15 days for 2020 and 15 days for 2021. Bright Horizons offers back-up care while ensuring the health and safety of families and their care providers.

Bright Horizons Enhanced Family Supports

This program now includes access to:

  • “Ready to Teach” sitters through Sittercity
  • Preferred enrollment at select Bright Horizons child care centers for full-time care and tuition discounts at partner centers
  • Discounted tutoring and test prep services through Varsity Tutors and Revolution Prep
  • Adult care resources, planning, and senior housing search tools

With the delays in K-12 school openings and potential closings, we understand that many of you are struggling with how to juggle work and caregiving responsibilities, and we know that these additional supports will not address all of that. Recognizing this, the University is continuing to explore additional childcare supports. In the meantime, we encourage you to fully explore the Bright Horizons offerings available to the NYU community, as well as the updated Work Life COVID-19 Resources webpage. We sincerely hope these supports help to make life a little more manageable during this challenging time.

Sincerely,

Andrew Hamilton, President
Katherine Fleming, Provost