University Child Care added a third toddler classroom to its facility off this fall.
This increases the capacity of the program, located off University Drive, from 78 full-time equivalent spaces, to 87 in its six classrooms. Overall, the program hopes to enroll about 98 children during this academic year, up from 88 in 2004-2005. The program includes both toddler and preschool services for members of the university community.
“While our numbers may be small compared to the thousands of students and employees of the total university; UCC makes a tremendous impact on the lives of the students and employees who use our services. The undergraduate and graduate student parents and employee parents that use UCC tell us that they would not be at UMass and able to do what they do without the service that UCC provides,” said Maryanne Gallagher, the director of the program. Additionally, the program provides a learning experience for up to 40 undergraduates each semester as assistant teachers. The students gain experience working with the children along with “course related practicum and student teaching assignments.”
Last year, 101 parents affiliated with the university, or one of the other five colleges, had children enrolled in UCC. Graduate students made up the bulk of those, 40%, who used the service. Staff and faculty provided another 25% of the utilization. Undergraduate students totaled 20% of the parents taking advantage of UCC. The remainder was university alumni and members of the five college community and the community at large.
The program is funded partly by tuition paid by parents and a variety of tuition assistance programs, including the state’s Office of Child Care Services. It is also funded in part by university funding to operate the two flexible-schedule classrooms as per the University/GEO contract.
University Child Care, which had been going from one fiscal year to the next since 2003, was on uncertain ground thanks to three years of state budget cuts to some of the programs that helped to fund the program and the university itself. Operating costs at the program consistently exceeded revenues so the first priority was to create an operating plan that would lead to some degree of self-sufficiency over the next three to five years.
“There was a turnover in administration, so we decided to wait for a new vice-chancellor before reworking anything,” said Gallagher.
That incoming vice-chancellor was Michael Gargano, who said of the program in a March 7 news release: “We value the high-quality services offered by University Child Care, and under the plan developed by Director Maryanne Gallagher, families can depend on those services in the years ahead.” The plan in question was one that called for many changes, including tuition increases over the next few years and a gradual elimination of the two-tiered tuition system now in use for the program.
“Interest in these services is already strong, and we anticipate the need will grow as the size of our faculty increases in the coming years,” stated Gargano in a July 29 release. Gallagher was happy to see that the university was really committing to the program, though she wasn’t entirely sure how any further expansion would proceed because that was the province of the vice chancellor and chancellor.
Although the facility on Clubhouse Drive houses space for an additional preschool classroom as well, it was determined that providing toddler care was a greater priority because of the higher demand. There is a waiting list for all of the toddler classrooms, though Gallagher was quick to point out that there was still enrollment space in the preschool. Those interested in UCC and its services should contact the UCC office at (413) 545-1566.
