The University Council on Women and the Child Care Center began research at the beginning of the semester to find ways to cope with the high demand for daycare centers and parents who are striving to find one that meets the needs of their children in the best way possible.
But as the semester winds down, the effort to pinpoint alternatives for child care for the University community is only beginning.
“Our part is to figure out what the need is and create a collection of information of local providers,” said Maribel Dietz, UCW faculty representative and associate history professor.
Dietz said so far, the UCW child care subcommittee found that 10.4 percent of all University employees have a dependent who is 5 years old or younger — approximately 582 dependents.
“We don’t have a good way of figuring out how many students, grad and undergrad, have children,” Dietz said.
The state of the art, self-sufficient Child Care Center on campus is an option, Dietz said, but the center can only hold 172 children. She said the center is currently filled to the brim, and there are 445 names on the waiting list.
Michelle DeMeulenaere, University Child Care Center director, said the tuition for children of students is $650 per month, and the tuition for children of University faculty and staff is $750 per month. The rate is $780 per month for unaffiliated community members.
DeMeulenaere said a state voucher program called Child Care Assistance can help to cover the costs of daycare for an eligible family.
“The Child Care Center is a top-notch child care center,” Dietz explained. “Unless we do a massive expansion, we have to look at other options as