Office of Work-Life Presentation
Office of Work-Life Presentation
Transcript
Hi my name is Amy Rabinowitz and I'm one of the Associate Provost at Columbia. I am also the Director of the Office of Work Life. Some of you may have had an Office of Work Life in your prior jobs and for some of you this may be new. Our
mission is to foster the well-being of the Columbia community and its people in their pursuit of meaningful and productive academic personal and work lives. In this session I will explain a little bit more about what that means for you. On the next slide I'm gonna review the agenda and I'm gonna highlight some of our programs before going into more detail. Today I'm gonna introduce you to our general work-life offerings. I'm gonna review the personal and family care programs that we have, I'll highlight the health and well-being initiatives will explore housing and relocation services and I'll tell you about some additional benefits offerings. I'll also tell you about some benefits that we collaborate on with the HR benefits team. So first
I'd like to give you an overview of the Office of Work Life and our programs. Our services and events include programs that support your family care needs, career flexibility well-being and housing resources for living in New York. Even if these programs don't seem to relate directly to your needs today it's important to keep us in mind for the future or if you're a manager or supervisor you may be very helpful for the needs of your staff. Our office also hosts many interesting events and workshops throughout the year we communicate about them through occasional emails so watch your mailbox
for more information. We cover a diverse group of topics that we are about to discuss. There is something for everyone please remember that additional information on all these programs and more is available on the work-life
website where we post new items of interest regularly. Let's begin with family resources. We know that many of you have young children or maybe school teenagers or maybe you're thinking about having children in the future. The school and childcare search service provides families with personalized support as they navigate the many options for child care as well as K to 12 schooling there are also affiliated Early Learning Center's located near Columbia's campuses which serve many Columbia families the back-up care program run by by Bright Horizons is available to all Full-time Officers and
Non-union Support staff. It's a subsidized care program for children and adults for when normal care is interrupted. Say your caregiver is ill or maybe there's a school vacation and you still need to attend to your work responsibilities for children, there's a choice of in-home or center based care and for adults and elders there's in-home care the adults don't get to
live with you as long as they are relatives who you would have to take care of in an emergency. There's a small copay for this program in addition to better care adult and elder care services are available through the Employee Assistance Program which provides assistance to caregivers including individualized research and referral services and many other
resources. We also have a breastfeeding support program to ease nursing mothers transition back to work after childbirth and that includes a new lactation policy as well as lactation rooms on all of Columbia campuses equipped with
hospital-grade breast pumps. A breastfeeding workshop is led by a conflation consultant and offered every semester. Next I'm going to tell you about some supports for your health and well-being. We're pleased to offer a number of programs to help support your health and well-being in a range of areas our goal is to develop a healthier Columbia. Some
of the examples include physical activity programs each semester such as walk to wellness a guided lunchtime walking program stair challenges and step challenges. We offer interactive cooking workshops with the goal of eating 5 cups of fruits and vegetables each day optimizing energy and developing general healthy eating habits. There are weight management programs offered across the university including a program through the weight control center at CUIMC. We're concerned about your mental and emotional well-being so we offer meditation and yoga classes both in person and virtually and there are many online options too. We offer ergonomics workshops and consultations in conjunction with HR if you're
interested in biking to work there are bicycle commuting classes. The Work-Life website also lists a number of University discounts including bicycles, childcare centers, gym memberships and prenatal classes. On our website we also
highlight well-being programming being offered by other Columbia groups as well as resources available through the help Columbia health plans and the EAP. Once you'll hear about and the benefits portion of the presentation next I'd
like to share some information about relocating in and around New York City. We know that many of you relocated to New York in order to take your job. With Columbia relocating to New York City can be challenging affecting you and the
people in your life including your spouse or partner, children, parents and others. To help meet these needs we offer a comprehensive program to assist with non Columbia housing and other aspects of relocation. For example our housing information and referral service assists employees interested in renting or purchasing apartments or homes in the New York City area. There's also the affinity lending program where you may receive assistance with financing your current mortgage consolidating debt or purchasing a new home. There are workshops each semester on these topics. We recognize that relocating is more than just housing. As we mentioned earlier we have the school and childcare search service to assist with families who have children. These specialists often work in collaboration with our housing information and referral service specialists. In addition we can also support the spouses and partners of incoming faculty through our faculty spouse partner dual Career Service. Finally I'd like to highlight some work life related university benefits and policies. Although the Office of Work-Life does not manage these benefits and programs directly we feel it is important to highlight them for you now. You'll hear more about them during the benefits portion of the presentation. Please note that their specific eligibility requirements for these policies you can visit our website or the HR Benefits website for more details. Columbia provides reimbursement of up to $5,000 for specific adoption related expenses for eligible faculty and staff who also provides reimbursement of up
to $30,000 for surrogacy assistance for specific related expenses for eligible faculty and staff surreality programs are covered under Columbia's medical plans through UnitedHealthcare. In addition your HCS Fertility Solutions
program provides support and understanding diagnosis and treatment options finding care and more contact the
benefits service center. For more information Columbia's flexible work arrangement policy recognizes the benefit of finding new and better ways to manage people time space and workload effectively although many of us are
currently working remotely typically these benefits apply to officers of administration libraries and non-union support staff please keep in mind that all formal flexible work arrangements must be approved by the department in
advance and must allow the department to meet the business needs and operational goals the office of work life is here to help you think through whether or not a flexible work arrangement is a good for you or for your staff for the next slide
I'll share with you the contact information for the Office of Work-Life as we transition to the benefits presentation
you please remember that each semester the Office of Work-Life offers workshops and events to help support you you can find more information at any time on our website work-life.columbia.edu. You can also email us at [email protected]. If
you'd like to give us a call we're at two one two eight five four eight oh one nine.Congratulations were so excited to welcome you to Columbia University
mission is to foster the well-being of the Columbia community and its people in their pursuit of meaningful and productive academic personal and work lives. In this session I will explain a little bit more about what that means for you. On the next slide I'm gonna review the agenda and I'm gonna highlight some of our programs before going into more detail. Today I'm gonna introduce you to our general work-life offerings. I'm gonna review the personal and family care programs that we have, I'll highlight the health and well-being initiatives will explore housing and relocation services and I'll tell you about some additional benefits offerings. I'll also tell you about some benefits that we collaborate on with the HR benefits team. So first
I'd like to give you an overview of the Office of Work Life and our programs. Our services and events include programs that support your family care needs, career flexibility well-being and housing resources for living in New York. Even if these programs don't seem to relate directly to your needs today it's important to keep us in mind for the future or if you're a manager or supervisor you may be very helpful for the needs of your staff. Our office also hosts many interesting events and workshops throughout the year we communicate about them through occasional emails so watch your mailbox
for more information. We cover a diverse group of topics that we are about to discuss. There is something for everyone please remember that additional information on all these programs and more is available on the work-life
website where we post new items of interest regularly. Let's begin with family resources. We know that many of you have young children or maybe school teenagers or maybe you're thinking about having children in the future. The school and childcare search service provides families with personalized support as they navigate the many options for child care as well as K to 12 schooling there are also affiliated Early Learning Center's located near Columbia's campuses which serve many Columbia families the back-up care program run by by Bright Horizons is available to all Full-time Officers and
Non-union Support staff. It's a subsidized care program for children and adults for when normal care is interrupted. Say your caregiver is ill or maybe there's a school vacation and you still need to attend to your work responsibilities for children, there's a choice of in-home or center based care and for adults and elders there's in-home care the adults don't get to
live with you as long as they are relatives who you would have to take care of in an emergency. There's a small copay for this program in addition to better care adult and elder care services are available through the Employee Assistance Program which provides assistance to caregivers including individualized research and referral services and many other
resources. We also have a breastfeeding support program to ease nursing mothers transition back to work after childbirth and that includes a new lactation policy as well as lactation rooms on all of Columbia campuses equipped with
hospital-grade breast pumps. A breastfeeding workshop is led by a conflation consultant and offered every semester. Next I'm going to tell you about some supports for your health and well-being. We're pleased to offer a number of programs to help support your health and well-being in a range of areas our goal is to develop a healthier Columbia. Some
of the examples include physical activity programs each semester such as walk to wellness a guided lunchtime walking program stair challenges and step challenges. We offer interactive cooking workshops with the goal of eating 5 cups of fruits and vegetables each day optimizing energy and developing general healthy eating habits. There are weight management programs offered across the university including a program through the weight control center at CUIMC. We're concerned about your mental and emotional well-being so we offer meditation and yoga classes both in person and virtually and there are many online options too. We offer ergonomics workshops and consultations in conjunction with HR if you're
interested in biking to work there are bicycle commuting classes. The Work-Life website also lists a number of University discounts including bicycles, childcare centers, gym memberships and prenatal classes. On our website we also
highlight well-being programming being offered by other Columbia groups as well as resources available through the help Columbia health plans and the EAP. Once you'll hear about and the benefits portion of the presentation next I'd
like to share some information about relocating in and around New York City. We know that many of you relocated to New York in order to take your job. With Columbia relocating to New York City can be challenging affecting you and the
people in your life including your spouse or partner, children, parents and others. To help meet these needs we offer a comprehensive program to assist with non Columbia housing and other aspects of relocation. For example our housing information and referral service assists employees interested in renting or purchasing apartments or homes in the New York City area. There's also the affinity lending program where you may receive assistance with financing your current mortgage consolidating debt or purchasing a new home. There are workshops each semester on these topics. We recognize that relocating is more than just housing. As we mentioned earlier we have the school and childcare search service to assist with families who have children. These specialists often work in collaboration with our housing information and referral service specialists. In addition we can also support the spouses and partners of incoming faculty through our faculty spouse partner dual Career Service. Finally I'd like to highlight some work life related university benefits and policies. Although the Office of Work-Life does not manage these benefits and programs directly we feel it is important to highlight them for you now. You'll hear more about them during the benefits portion of the presentation. Please note that their specific eligibility requirements for these policies you can visit our website or the HR Benefits website for more details. Columbia provides reimbursement of up to $5,000 for specific adoption related expenses for eligible faculty and staff who also provides reimbursement of up
to $30,000 for surrogacy assistance for specific related expenses for eligible faculty and staff surreality programs are covered under Columbia's medical plans through UnitedHealthcare. In addition your HCS Fertility Solutions
program provides support and understanding diagnosis and treatment options finding care and more contact the
benefits service center. For more information Columbia's flexible work arrangement policy recognizes the benefit of finding new and better ways to manage people time space and workload effectively although many of us are
currently working remotely typically these benefits apply to officers of administration libraries and non-union support staff please keep in mind that all formal flexible work arrangements must be approved by the department in
advance and must allow the department to meet the business needs and operational goals the office of work life is here to help you think through whether or not a flexible work arrangement is a good for you or for your staff for the next slide
I'll share with you the contact information for the Office of Work-Life as we transition to the benefits presentation
you please remember that each semester the Office of Work-Life offers workshops and events to help support you you can find more information at any time on our website work-life.columbia.edu. You can also email us at [email protected]. If
you'd like to give us a call we're at two one two eight five four eight oh one nine.Congratulations were so excited to welcome you to Columbia University