Metropolitan State considering on-campus child care facility

By Teri Brisson

The Metropolitan State University Student Senate’s Child Care Center Committee has a mission to implement a child care center into the St. Paul campus. Metropolitan State is currently the only school in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system that doesn’t have such a facility on campus—and is in desperate need of one.

The average age of Metropolitan State students is higher than the average age of students attending the other schools in the MnSCU system. Additionally, significant portions of Metropolitan State students are also parents. According to a poll taken by the Committee at the spring 2008 session of the new student orientation at Metropolitan State, about 43 percent of entering students were parents.

Other schools in the MnSCU system—Bemidji, Mankato, Moorhead, St. Cloud, Winona and Southwest—all have child care facilities located on campus. So why does Metro-politan State, which has more adult learners on average than these other schools, not have its own facility? Metropolitan State’s child care center committee is trying to change this situation for the better.

According to the Committee, the implementation of a child care facility could give more benefits to the entire institution than just somewhere for students to leave their children while they are in class. The creation of a center on campus could raise retention and also assist with recruitment.

Students who are parents can feel as though the role of a student and the role of a parent are separate; a center on campus could help student parents stay in school. If a parent could not find child care for the night of class, he or she would no longer have to choose between school and the child. Students with children could possibly take more classes and finish their degrees earlier.

A child care center could assist with recruitment of students searching for affordable tuition and child care, it could possibly be the deciding factor for prospective students that would otherwise delay continuing their education due to lack of child care.

According to research Student Senate President Melissa Heinz studied in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice, a 1991 study found that 95 percent of student parents in New York stated that campus child care was a factor in their retention, degree completion and collegiate success. Additionally, 80 percent stated that the availability of on-campus child care facilities influenced their decision and capacity to return to school.

The addition of a child care center to the campus could give Metropolitan State an opportunity to compete with other affordable institutions which have such facilities. Retention could help stabilize the cost of tuition, which benefits every Metropolitan State student.

Students who are not parents could also benefit from the installation of a child care center. Classmates who bring children into classrooms and the library may be doing so as a last resort and having children present may cause distraction for the other students. A child care center could alleviate this problem by housing the children in an entertaining environment where they can learn and interact with other children. When class is done, parents can conveniently pick up their children at the on-campus facility.

A facility on campus may benefit students without children further by assisting them with their degree program. For example, if a student is studying early childhood de-velopment, he or she could complete an internship at the child care center.

Metropolitan State has many groups that can contribute to operating the center, including the sociology, nursing and psychology departments and the Urban Teacher Program.

“A full-day program would be most effective for meeting the academic needs of students. Psychology and early-childhood-studies students could use the center to complete observation, participation and teaching assignments,” says Professor Heidi Malloy of the psychology department. “If the administration worked closely with faculty, the quality of care provided to children would also be greatly enhanced.” The addition of a center would benefit the parents, the university and the children attending the center.

To the Student Senate committee, the need for implementing a child care center is just common sense. The 13-person committee was formed in the summer of 2008 and has met regularly over the past year with the goal of gaining approval for the establishment of a child care center on campus. According to Susan Rydell, the Child Care Center Initiative has been in the making for 37 years and was founded in 1972. The Committee includes Heinz and Chairpersons Clara Ware and John Kobler.

Since the formation of the Committee, the goal has been to re-establish a strong foundation for the initiative. They have focused primarily on research and the collection of relevant information while building strong relationships with university departments, the Dayton’s Bluff community and the administration to make the idea of a center a reality.

Since its formation, the committee has met with campus support personnel including retention specialist Stanley Hatcher of the African American Student Association and Sidney Smith, head of Women’s Services. Hatcher said he would like to see a center on campus because it would be “providing a service that is greatly needed in allowing students the opportunities to finish their degree or degrees while they are in school.”

According to Smith, “traveling time for women transporting their kids, cost of tuition and other living expenses are issues that student parents deal with every day.” She con-tinued, “Working adults going back to school need services that will take away that burden.”

The committee has also conducted comprehensive research assessments on the university and the student community. Such research has included interviews with all Min-nesota State University on-campus child care center directors.

The Committee partnered with the campus Film Plus Club to compile video testimonies of students and the community on the need for a child care center. Furthermore, Heinz has written a literature review on the need for on-campus child care centers.

After this research was compiled, a proposal was presented for the establishment of a center to the university president and council. University President Sue Hammersmith is moving the initiative forward by conducting a student survey to assess the options for a campus child care center. The proposed center would initially be located on the St. Paul campus because it is Metropolitan State’s main location. After the St. Paul campus initiative moves forward, its effectiveness would be assessed and the creation of childcare facilities at other locations is possible.

Until then, Metropolitan State students attending any location would be welcome to use the facility located on the St. Paul campus. Similar to other on-campus child care centers, Metropolitan State’s would probably require an hourly charge. However, a child care grant through financial aid could be utilized to help pay for the costs.

The ideal child care center would be able to take care of infants and up to the age of 12. Realistically, the initial center would serve young children and perhaps toddlers. Once it becomes better established, it could expand to include infants.

Before the center can be built, Metropolitan State students must voice the need for the addition, then it must gain support from administration, the MnSCU system and the president of the university.

The Committee’s best argument for the need of a childcare center on campus is that the addition substantiates the university’s mission. The mission states, “The university will provide accessible, high-quality liberal arts, professional and graduate education to the citizens and communities of the metropolitan area, with continued emphasis on un-derserved groups, including adults and communities of color. With the context of lifelong learning, the university will build on its national reputation for innovative stu-dent-centered programs that enable students from diverse backgrounds to achieve their educational goals.”

Currently at Metropolitan State University, student parents belong to an underserved group. Moreover, an on-campus child care center would be an innovative student-centered program.

The Committee is devoted to informing all students of all the benefits. Students who are not parents need to be encouraged to support their fellow students who are parents towards the improvement of the campus community. One day we will all leave Metropolitan State, so while we are here, it is up to us to encourage and support change that will leave a legacy of which we can be proud.

The Committee would like readers to know that Metropolitan State University is a unique commuter campus. This makes it difficult to advocate for students who have needs like child care and advocate for busy students who may not have time to voice their opinions on the matter.

There are many legitimate issues for which to fight. It doesn’t matter who the student is, it is important that his or her voice is heard and their needs addressed. Committee chair Senator Clara Ware states, “Even though Metropolitan State University is a non-traditional university, having a child care center is highly needed, not only as a support system but to reflect the diversity of Metropolitan State and that we care about the education of our students.”

If you would like more information about supporting the Committee in their efforts to gain approval for the campus child care center, please contact Senator Ware at wa-recl@go.metrostate.edu or Student Senate President Heinz at heinzme@go.metrostate.edu.