Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman has charged a working group
with planning for a significant expansion and improvement of child care
at the University.
The Child Care Working Group began meeting earlier this month and is
expected to complete its recommendations by the end of December. The
group is an outgrowth of two recent reports by presidential task forces
that identified improvements in child care among key recommendations.
In fall 2003, the Task Force on the Status of Women Faculty in the
Natural Sciences and Engineering pointed to affordable and high-quality
child care as a "critical element in a larger strategy to recruit more
women and help them to succeed." In fall 2004, the Task Force on Health
and Well-Being made a number of recommendations to expand and improve
child care at Princeton.
"As someone who has had to balance the needs of two young children and
the requirements of a demanding scientific career, I know how important
child care programs are to both solving logistical problems and
fostering peace of mind," said Tilghman, who raised her daughter and
son as a single mother while working as a young professor.
The group is chaired by Joan Girgus, professor of psychology and
special assistant to the dean of the faculty on matters relating to
gender equity.
"It's simply crucial to our ability to recruit and retain not only
faculty but administrative and research staff, postdocs and graduate
students, and not only women but men as well," said Girgus, who served
on the Task Force on the Status of Women Faculty in the Natural
Sciences and Engineering. "Knowing that their children are well cared
for allows people to work to their fullest capacity. It's not just a
matter of recruiting people and encouraging them to stay, but also a
matter of having them be able to work and flourish here. Knowing that
one's children are happily settled is really central to that."
In a survey conducted by that task force, current and former faculty
members were asked what changes at Princeton would make a significant
impact on the climate for women. Improving child care options was the
second most frequent suggestion after hiring more women.
In its report, the task force noted the importance not only of nursery
school programs, but of programs for infants and toddlers and for
"school's out" and "back-up" care during school vacations, bad weather
days or when other child care arrangements fall through.
Princeton currently offers two University-affiliated child care
programs, both located in a University-owned building at 171 Broadmead:
U-Now, a full-day/full-week program for children from three months
through four years; and U-League, a 10-month morning cooperative
nursery school for children ages two and a half to four that also
offers noncooperative programs through early evening.
As part of its effort, the Task Force on Health and Well-Being engaged
Bright Horizons, a highly regarded company in the child care field, to
conduct a thorough child care needs assessment among graduate students,
postdoctoral researchers, faculty and staff and to provide advice on
the development of a comprehensive long-term child care strategy.
In its report, the task force suggested that the University provide
better information and coordination and greater flexibility and that it
clarify and enhance relationships with the existing U-League and U-Now
programs. It also called for the creation of greater child care
capacity, especially for infant and toddler care, and the acquisition
-- through purchase, renovation or construction -- of new child care
facilities.
"While the task force made some initial estimates, more careful
analysis needs to be done to determine how many children we should aim
to accommodate and at what age levels, how much infant and toddler care
and school's out and back-up care we should provide, and what the
relationships might be between this additional program and the two
existing programs," Tilghman wrote in her charge to the Working Group
on Child Care.
The group expects to use the data collected in the Bright Horizons
study in formulating its recommendations. It also will consult with
representatives from the facilities department who are considering
possible locations and designs for buildings to house child care
programs.
Tilghman asked the working group to consider whether the University
should contract with an outside provider to operate its new child care
program, as recommended by the task force. If that is the case, she
requested advice on how the University should select such a provider.
She also encouraged the group to explore options that could result in
immediate improvements. "While your principal focus should be on the
kind of significant expansion," Tilghman wrote, "I hope you also will
identify any measures that you believe the University could take in the
short term to achieve an immediate expansion in child care capacity or
an improvement in existing child care programs, or to meet currently
unmet child care needs."
Other members of the working group are: Ann Halliday, associate
secretary of the University and special assistant to the president; Ben
Hammond, manager for administration in the Office of the Vice President
for Administration; Robin Moscato, senior associate director of
undergraduate financial aid; Alison Nelson, manager of benefits in the
Office of Human Resources; and Terri Harris Reed, associate provost for
institutional equity.
Those with suggestions or questions should contact Halliday.
