Community Resource Directory

If you are having difficulty finding affordable, quality child care convenient to the U-M campus, you are not alone. The U-M, Ann Arbor's largest and most visible employer lags well behind other peer universities in addressing the childcare needs of its employees and students. For example, Harvard, MIT, Ohio State, Princeton, Stanford, Univ. of Califomia-Berkeley, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, and Yale offer both on-site childcare centers, and information and referral services. Nationally, on-site childcare services are offered by 38% of universities and colleges. Locally, both Eastern Mich. University, which has the largest childcare program of Michigan's 15 state universities, and Washtenaw Community College offer these services.

However, the Alliance for U-M Campus Child Care hopes to soon make a difference at U-M. The Alliance is a group of students and employees who share or recognize the need for affordable, quality childcare services convenient to central campus. We believe that these services should be provided as an integral part of the university's higher education system. Provision of on-site childcare services will: visibly demonstrate U-M's commitment to women and diversity (nontraditional students) through facilitating access to employment and education; enhance employee/student performance by reducing stress and absenteeism related to child care; be an inducement in recruitment and retention of female faculty (currently only 8% of full professors and 28% of assistant professors are women); contribute to research in child-related disciplines like education and social work; and provide a model for the community as the largest employer in the area.

The Alliance's goals are to increase community awareness of the need for on-site childcare services, assess student need for these services, develop a proposal to meet student and employee needs, and advocate implementation of the proposal. A springtime "Family March for Day Care" is planned to protest the university's lack of childcare services. Employees and students will be asked to bring their children to work/school for the day as part of this protest.

The Alliance meet every Friday at 1pm in the U-M Women's Studies Program offices, 234 West Engineering Bldg. Anyone interested in affordable, quality, on-site childcare services at the U-M is welcome to attend - women of color and men are especially encouraged.

Please consider that actions taken today affect the range of possibilities for tomorrow. Will child care be a problem for you in the future if not today?

Alliance for U-M Campus Child Care (UM-ACCC), 234 West Engineering Building, Ann Arbor, Ml 48109 (Janet Ostendarp Reifenberg 973-1983)