By
Eric Swedlund
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UA lags far behind other school in providing for student parents
Although the child care services and facilities offered by a university varies greatly among the schools of the Pacific 10 Conference, the UA is a distant last in offering options for its student parents.
The University of Arizona is the only Pac-10 school without a program to care for students' children, an entity which officials at most universities consider vital to retaining and recruiting students.
Subsidies for child care range from $35,000 to $360,000 in the Pac-10, with the University of Oregon coming out on top. Most universities offer child care services for students, faculty and staff under one roof, so subsidies aren't always geared just to students.
Dennis Reynolds, child-care coordinator for Oregon, said students have continually pushed for quality child care for more than 30 years.
"We have some of the most comprehensive services offered in Western schools here," Reynolds said.
The child care programs at Oregon started in 1969, after a group of student parents occupied the university president's office and demanded adequate programs.
"A lot has happened for child care for students here," Reynolds said. "Students have continued to work at this for 30 years." He added that the student government has shown a continued commitment.
Reynolds said Oregon has three child care facilities on the edge of campus, two classroom facilities on the Student Union and an additional two units in university family housing complexes.
The university subsidy comes from student incidental fees, which are fund-controlled by the student government. Another program offers supplemental funding to low-income students who qualify.
Reynolds said a primary strength of the Oregon programs is the flexibility it offers to student parents.
"Students don't work 8 to 5," he said. "It (flexible child care) makes all the difference in terms of a student's ability to be here. Without a child care subsidy, some students cannot access higher education."
"Student parents are by definition non-traditional. The majority tend to be older than average," Reynolds said. "It's very difficult for teen parents to make the transition immediately to higher education."
Maureen Duane, senior program coordinator who has been working with the child care issue at Arizona State University for 11 years, said her university offers several child care programs.
Duane works for the Campus Children Center, which serves only faculty, staff and students. The $714,000 facility opened in 1992.
The center serves about 90 families a semester, and this semester about 50 of those are student families.
The on-campus facility contracts with an organization to provide the child care services. As a nationally accredited center, Duane said the center is comparable to private child care facilities.
ASU subsidizes the center with $60,000 a year, which goes to maintaining the 6,500 square foot facility and to providing the janitorial services and some supplies.
"It's very important to serve the parents. They're not all non-traditional older students, some of them are right out of high school, and they're not all single parents," Duane said. "It's phenomenal to see these parents come in all shapes and sizes."
"Most universities will never meet their needs or demands, that's just a reality," Duane said. "Universities tend to offer a higher caliber of care."
At the University of Southern California, a private institution, two facilities provide child care services to students, faculty and staff for children from 6 months through the sixth grade. One is on the main campus, while the other is at the university's Health Sciences Center.
Brad Gabel, business analyst for the child care programs, said USC serves 180 children and about 30 student families.
The program is subsidized by USC, and while the amount varies, the subsidy usually covers 50 percent or more of the fees. USC gave $800,00 in subsidized funding to child care last year, and Gabel said this year may be more.
"Our costs are very similar to UCLA and large private centers in the Los Angeles area," Gabel said.
USC has plans for a $500,000 construction project that will add a new infant care addition and renovate administrative offices on the main campus facility.
The Health Sciences Center facility is less than five years old.
"We are better than what is required by the state of California," he said. "We have more care available."
For infant care, the state requires one child care provider for every four infants. Babel said USC's program has one adult for three infants.
"It's extremely important to provide child care because of the proximity and safety for student parents," Gabel said.
The University of California at Berkeley has five centers for student parents on or near campus, serving children ages 3 months to 7 years, said Gail Ward, director for child care services.
"We're pretty good quality based on ratio of children to staff, as well as staff retention," Ward said. "For us, it (child care) has to do with recruitment and retention of students. It gives parents peace of mind."
The programs are flexible, Ward said, but parents are encouraged to participate with their children at least once a week.
The Berkeley programs started as a parent co-op in 1969, but none of the current facilities were built as child care centers, just converted from other buildings. Ward said the university is working on plans to build more facilities, but like with anything else, costs are critical.
"We don't have enough space to accommodate all the families looking for child care, period," Ward said. The centers serve 137 children, but there are more than 200 children on a waiting list.
Stanford University, the second private institution in the Pac-10, has on-site child care for about 100 children of student parents, and provides referrals to those on a waiting list.
The newest of four facilities was completed in 1988, at a cost of $1.4 million.
The University of Washington operates a subsidy program for full-time students that pays a 60 percent of the cost of child care for children under 7 and 35 percent for those older than 7.
While the university doesn't have its own facility, it has build up an association with two facilities within a mile of campus.
"Child care is incredibly important," said Kelly Langager, UW child care program coordinator. "Students oftentimes can't attend school because they can't afford to pay child care."
At Washington State University, the primary child care facility is an old dining hall that was renovated in 1991 by a legislature-funded $2.7 million project, said Mary Ellen Radziemski, director of the Campus Children Center.
The two centers, which may be merged with another $2 million renovation project, serve children from 6 weeks to 12 years.
"Child care is considered to be a recruiting tool for students," Radziemski said. "Our quality is a very important key to aiding the retention of students. People will stay in school if they are happy with where they have their child."
