NC State, Bright Horizons Partner for New Employee Day Care Benefit

Aug. 2, 2006

Starting this fall, university employees will be able to take advantage of a new benefit: university-affiliated day care for their children. The university has secured more than 20 dedicated slots, as they become available, for the children of NC State faculty and staff at Bright Horizons child care facility.

The center is about 10 minutes from campus, at Raleigh Corporate Center (off Chapel Hill Road), about a mile past the College of Veterinary Medicine. Employees can enroll their children on a first-come, first-served basis, tentatively effective Sept. 1. There are a limited number of slots at each age level. The cost to employees will be competitive with comparable top-quality facilities. 

Provost Larry Nielsen said the partnership with Bright Horizons will help determine how the university continues to work toward a long-term response to employees’ request for convenient and reliable day care. 

“This child care capacity has been a long time coming and is a great first step,” Nielsen said.  “Obviously, quality and convenient child care is high on employees’ list of work-life priorities.”

According to Charles Leffler, vice chancellor for finance and business, “Many faculty and staff have expressed their strong interest in an on-campus facility. That option carries a cost of about $5 million, so developing an on-site center involves considerable planning and fundraising. By partnering with Bright Horizons in the short term, we have an excellent interim solution, and we’ll continue to look for ways to enhance this initial arrangement.”

Barbara Carroll, associate vice chancellor for human resources, said the university conducted a thorough needs assessment before choosing Bright Horizons.

“We looked at all the accredited child-care centers within a five-mile radius of campus, and analyzed our employee population by zip code and other factors,” she said. “This Bright Horizons facility presented the best combination of quality, available openings and location.”

The three-year agreement with Bright Horizons allows the university to increase its dedicated slots in the second and third years.

“We’re excited to formally partner with NC State,” said Brandi Nobel, the center’s director. “We already have a number of NC State families at the center, so this arrangement further strengthens our collaboration with the university.”
 
The center also partners with other top employers in the area, including IBM and GlaxoSmithKline.
 
Details are being completed and will be available shortly on the HR Benefits child care resource Web site: http://www7.acs.ncsu.edu/benefits/child_care/default.asp.