NYU and Cornell University tied for the No. 1 most adoption-friendly workplace in the education industry and No. 71 in all workplaces across the country, according to a study released by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
The ranking criteria is based on financial reimbursement per adoption and the amount of fully or partially paid leave for adoption.
Benefits for NYU employees who choose to adopt children include a reimbursement of $5,000 per adoption, as well as $6,000 for an adopted child with special needs.
As is the case for other parents at NYU, all full-time faculty and staff who have worked at the university for one year are eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave under the Family Medical Leave Act.
Administrators and professional research staff who have been with NYU for two years are also eligible for a paid bonding leave — a period of time for parents to bond with their child — for up to six weeks following adoption.
All full-time faculty members are eligible for workload relief under a university policy that permits one semester of relief from classroom and administrative duties or two semesters of half relief. This policy, unique to NYU, was established in September 2006.
Joyce Rittenburg, the manager of Family and Community Initiatives at NYU, is proud of the university's number one ranking.
"It makes people more committed to the [university]," she said.
But not all universities offer such benefits.
According to Lori Vivian, the employee benefits manager of the University of Connecticut, UConn does not have adoption benefits for its employees.
"Once you've adopted a child, that child would be eligible for health and medical benefits just like a [birth child]," Vivian said.
UConn, however, does not provide additional financial support. Vivian clarified that the decision is not a "UConn decision" but rather "a state of Connecticut decision."
"We're one of the agencies of the state of Connecticut," she said. "A lot of our funding comes from taxpayer dollars, and we are bound by the benefits program of the state of Connecticut."
Dina Rosenfeld, the assistant dean of the Undergraduate Program at the Silver School of Social Work, believes NYU's policy is consistent with the opportunities the city provides.
"I think, generally, NYU is a really progressive school, in terms of understanding what some of the social issues are," she said. "NYU is responding to being in Manhattan and being in the Village and is interested in the diversity of families."
