University students, faculty and staff will soon find it easier to spend time with their children between class and work.
On May 31, the University’s new child care center will open. The center, located on Gourrier Avenue on the south side of campus, has been under construction since February 2003.
In a broadcast e-mail last week, the center announced it now is accepting enrollment applications.
According to the center’s Web site, “the LSU Child Care Center will serve the child care needs of students, staff and faculty regardless of race, gender, class, ability, ethnic background of children from the age of 6 weeks through pre-kindergarten.”
“We want to be an integral part of LSU,” said Mary Sciaraffa, the director of the child care center. “We are going to offer a high-quality child care center with degreed teachers.”
This is the first center of its kind to be located on campus, Sciaraffa said. In the past, parents have had to rely on private and church-based child care.
She said most of LSU’s peer universities, including the University of Texas and Texas A&M University, have similar centers.
Sciaraffa said the new center is an important addition to LSU.
“Because we will be close, student-parents will be able to spend time with their children between classes,” Sciaraffa said.
She also said the center’s location will allow faculty and staff to visit their children while on breaks or between classes.
The center is entirely self-funded and was built with bond money that Sciaraffa said will be repaid. Currently, the center is raising money to fund a playground.
Sciaraffa said they are selling permanent and customizable tiles for $100 each in a fund-raising effort. Also, she said the center is seeking help from private donors and corporations.
In the meantime, she said children still will participate in outdoor activities and the center is hoping to install a “grassy hill” on the property that children can play on.
Sciaraffa said there is no hard application deadline, but they will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis.
The center can accommodate as many as 150 children. Students, faculty and staff will receive priority, but children from the community will be accepted if space is available, Sciaraffa said.
According to the Web site, the tuition for children of students, faculty and staff for full-time care ranges from $505 to $655 per month, depending on annual household income of participants. If children from the community are accepted, their tuition is $675 per month.