Off-campus child care facility under consideration

The UA will remain the only Pac-10 school without on-campus child care for at least several more years, although an off-campus center is being considered.

Saundra Taylor, UA vice president of campus life, said Monday that building a facility on campus would be difficult, but an off-campus location may be feasible.

"The problem we have is we are very space-poor, we are cramped," Taylor said. She added that the school does not have a request for construction funding for on-campus child care in the Arizona Board of Regents capital improvements package, which extends out two years.

The University of Arizona has services available for students and faculty to assist with child care - subsidies, a referral system and a sick-child care program - but it has not had an on-site facility for many years.

UA Coordinator of Child Care Initiatives Mimi Gray said the UA does not have a center because it no longer has a major in early childhood development, which required on-campus labs so students could gain hands-on experience. She added that students have not pushed to find a mechanism for funding an on-campus facility.

The UA stands apart from the rest of the Pac-10 schools, which cater to faculty and students by providing on-campus child care.

The University of Southern California's center helps to help improve faculty productivity and shorten maternity leaves, said Sandra Schwarm, director of child care programs.

"Also, being able to visit children during the day helps families become closer," Schwarm added.

Karen Logvin, child and family services administrator at the University of Oregon, said the students at her school appreciate the services.

"Getting child care for smaller amounts of time, while in class or studying, and not having to pay for a full day really is a benefit," she said.

Schwarm and Logvin both added that such a benefit helped when recruiting and trying to retain faculty and students.

Taylor said there are preliminary plans to build a child-development research center on College of Agriculture land, north of campus. The plans are awaiting approval of UA President Peter Likins, who is expected to make a decision within three months.

The center would be funded through private money solicited by the Institute of Children, Youth and Family, in the College of Agriculture's School of Family and Consumer Resources.

Mari Wilhelm, UA associate professor of family and consumer resources, said the center would be run in conjunction with an outreach program that was approved by the regents in May 1997. The outreach program will offer classes in child care, parent education and child development to the Tucson community.

Wilhelm said that while the school has no plans to add a specific major in early childhood development, the center would be of use to many departments.

"Lots of academic units are interested in child development, and the lab would offer an opportunity to observe children in a classroom environment," Wilhelm said.

Gray said the new facility would be of great worth to the UA.

"It would offer us the opportunity to tie teaching, research and child care together," she said.

Taylor said she thought the facility would help with UA child-care needs, but would only be a "drop in the bucket.

"It would have a child care facility, but not all the needs of faculty and staff will be met by it," she said.