As a graduate student, Anathea Portier-Young just wanted a safe, convenient and affordable source of childcare. Unfortunately, that was not something she found readily available on Duke’s campus. She was hardly alone.
Now an assistant professor of the Old Testament in the Divinity School, Portier-Young recalled how she and several other Divinity School students tried to establish a parent-run co-op in the fall of 2003 to address the insufficient daycare options. Not only did they hope to avoid the expenses of formal childcare, but they also sought to create a safe environment for their kids.
“Child care has been the single greatest issue I’ve had to deal with as a graduate student, and the same is true for many other grad-student parents,” Holly Taylor Coolman, a Divinity School graduate student and parent who participated in the same co-op as Portier-Young, wrote in an e-mail.
Professional school students like to maximize the flexibility of their schedules in order to spend as much time as possible with their children, Portier-Young said. “Many graduate students don’t want full time daycare,” she added.
The numerous factors that come into play when establishing student-run childcare makes starting co-ops extremely difficult.
Coolman said the two most crucial things her group needed from the University were space on campus and an initial investment. “As graduate students, we already have so much on our plate; we really needed help with the initial organization and administration of the thing,” she said.
One of the root causes of the childcare problem is that the University does not offer enough formal daycare facilities, students said, and the services that are offered are prohibitively expensive for many students.
For some, the Children’s Campus on Alexander Street provides a potential option. “Childcare is important since this is the stage in life when we tend to start families,” said Heather Dean, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council. She noted, however, that “it costs $1000 a month per infant at the Children’s Campus, which is extremely expensive.”
The capacity at the Children’s Campus, moreover, is limited to 153 spots—a number that remains inadequate for graduate students’ needs even after the daycare’s expansion a few years ago.
This shortage means that many families end up putting their children on the center’s waitlist and fitting academics around childcare.
“One law couple, Derek Dillman and Lindsay Pennington, have scheduled their classes at different times so they can ensure baby coverage,” said Noah Clements, a law student and parent.
In recent years, efforts have been made to establish an on-campus, parent-run daycare center, but few solutions have been produced.
“The proposal to provide a facility on campus just didn’t go forward,” said Judith White, assistant vice president for Campus Services. White, who in the fall of 2003 chaired a Women’s Initiative committee aimed at improving childcare at Duke, cited several key issues such as the tight schedules and complex time commitments of graduate and professional school students as counterproductive to establishing on-campus daycare.
White also said there were human resources personnel problems and by the time these had been resolved, many families had found alternative childcare sources.
Coolman echoed these sentiments. “Childcare is such an immediate need,” she said. “Each student and each family just had to go ahead and make individual arrangements.”
The University has partially responded to students’ financial limitations by providing $100,000 a year to help doctoral students with childcare. But he professional schools have not budgeted for expenses of this sort.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.