Syracuse University will expand child and elder care resources for faculty, staff and graduate student family needs beginning Jan. 1, 2019.

The Benefits Advisory Council, a group of faculty, staff and students that evaluates SU’s work benefits, recommended the new subsidies to increase the accessibility of affordable dependent care. BAC evaluated the basic family needs following a recommendation by the Chancellor’s Workgroup on Diversity and Inclusion in 2016 and corresponding survey reports.

Nina Brown, an assistant professor of communications law at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, has been a member of BAC since 2016. When she was invited to join the BAC, she said she saw it as “a great opportunity to understand the university’s benefits plan and have a voice in discussions about those benefits.”

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“I think it’s fantastic that the university was able to expand benefits in such a meaningful way to assist with family needs,” she added.

Andrew Gordon, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, was appointed as the BAC chair in 2016. Gordon said the BAC centralizes resources by improving the online user experience, which will ultimately aid in attracting and retaining talent at SU.

The human resources department has also scheduled a series of workshops for families. Those workshops are centered around supporting a work-life balance for faculty and staff and focus on topics such as changing family dynamics and finding the right balance of digital media time. The workshops will begin in October.

Gordon said the new subsidies are expected to benefit a greater number of families and more employees will apply to receive the benefit. He added that the Faculty and Staff Child Care Subsidy, introduced in 2014, provides a subsidy of $1,000 per eligible child under the age of 6 to benefits-eligible faculty and staff with a household income of $100,000 or less.

“Since the inception in 2014, the number of faculty and staff applying for the subsidy has been low,” Gordon said. “This may be attributable to the household income threshold not increasing over time or perhaps a decreasing awareness of the benefit.”

The number of families eligible for benefits has been broadened by increasing the annual faculty and staff household income maximum from the current $100,000 to $150,000, Gordon said. More support and assistance for faculty and staff will also be made available by raising the annual tax-free child care subsidy for children under age 6 from $1,000 to $1,500 per child.

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Other new and expanded subsidies include additional support for older children of faculty and staff, ages 6 to 12, who may need after-school or other care with a new annual tax-free subsidy of $750 per child, according to summer SU News release. Faculty and staff caring for an elder or dependent with disabilities can receive a new annual tax-free subsidy of $750 per dependent. The annual cumulative household maximum tax-free subsidy for faculty and staff has also increased from $2,000 to $3,000.

Gordon said support has been doubled for graduate students earning less than $65,000, with the subsidy being doubled from $500 per child to $1,000 per child under age 6. The maximum subsidy per family has also been raised to $2,000.

This program will continue to be run by the Graduate School Office, with the same application process, Gordon said. The release also said the subsidies will be taxed due to federal law.

Gordon said that the board will continue to review other opportunities as they arise.

Published on September 4, 2018 at 7:50 pm

Contact Sajida: skkunjum@syr.edu