daycareCenter12.05.08
Faculty and staff members at Virginia Tech balance family life and parenthood with their dedication to their jobs at the university. But the day care process, taking care of sick children and finding ways to uphold the commitment to a career can be difficult.
Perhaps the most difficult roadblock when address in finding child care is high demand. Waitlists have become a reality that many parents must face when it comes to enrolling their children in a day care center.
A JUGGLING ACT
The Work/Life Resource Center at Tech helps to meet these needs in many ways, by providing help finding child care options, professional advice on familial issues, support groups for newcomers on staff, work-life grants and community connections.
Tech also provides a day care through the Child Development Center in Learning and Research, run by Victoria Fu, a professor in human development. There are approximately 40 slots, all of which are reserved for children of faculty and staff as well as graduate students. However, would-be patrons still encounter long waiting lists and limited space.
To address the demand for day care, the center has changed its hours to accommodate the needs of Tech's staff. It is now open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
"The changeover from the university calendar from part-time to full-time is directly to address the needs of the faculty and staff," said Lynn Ann Wolf, curriculum coordinator and instructor at the center.
Fu added that the hours aid the university in retention and recruitment of quality staff members.
The center is nationally certified, holding it to more stringent standards of day care and research. For example, the center must have a high ratio of teachers to students, increasing the individual attention that each child receives. These standards of quality are what Fu believes faculty and staff are seeking in day care for their children.
"I think the most important aspect is having qualified teachers with educational background previous supervised experience," Fu said. "We see our teachers as teachers-researchers. When you look at child care from a national perspective it's about quality, affordability and compensation."
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