Campus child-care centers give parents peace of mind

Ten years ago, professors, research assistants and students had no options for infant care on campus to help them stay on the path to tenure, return to the lab or continue their studies after having a baby.

“When I came there was no infant care,” says Lynn Edlefson, director of the Office of Child Care and Family Resources.

The No. 1 challenge when Edlefson took over the post in September 1997 was finding adequate space on campus for child care. Although there were many campus centers, none at the time provided care for infants. She discovered quickly that it was critical to act fast when opportunity knocked and explore all options in the quest to provide parents with quality care and close proximity to their children while they work or study.

“It’s such a big system, with so many important issues — I learned that I really had to assert myself,” says Edlefson, who formerly worked as a child and family therapist and administrator for a Kansas City nonprofit organization that aids preschool children who have been abused or neglected.

She secured space for the campus’s first infant/toddler center, which opened in 1999, after then-Provost John Wiley told her the UW–Madison Oceanic Studies Center was moving from its location on University Avenue. Wiley approved using the building for infant care, and Edlefson immediately called space management director Doug Rose to secure the site. Edlefson moved just as fast when she learned that Bethany United Methodist Church on Mineral Point Road had space that would allow an existing campus preschool program to relocate and expand into infant care. “I went to then- (School of Human Ecology) Dean McCubbin and we went to see the space right away.”

Wiley says Edlefson — who won an Academic Staff Excellence Award in 2004 for her work identifying needs and generating the resources to turn her ideas into reality — “has been a tireless advocate for accessible, affordable child care on campus.”

“Her consistently creative leadership has enabled many, many faculty, staff and students to effectively pursue their work and study while having the reassurance of access to quality child care,” he says.

Since Edlefson came to campus, child care has become a mandatory consideration in campus planning, along with issues such as parking and the environment. “I think that my position really helped people focus on child-care needs, and I tried to make sure that people were speaking up within the campus planning meetings,” she says. “Over the past several years, there has been much more planning around child-care needs which have resulted in much better child-care facilities.”

Child care faces the same challenges as major construction projects on campus, including the need for private funds to cover costs, she says. And child-care centers require first-floor and outdoor space, which Edlefson calls “a challenge in this urban campus environment.”

“I’ve always felt that child-care needs were well known and that there was a lot of support from campus,” she says. “But with all the other demands there are, how do we fit child care in?”

Today, Edlefson’s office — under the vice chancellor for climate and diversity — coordinates 10 centers that each week serve 700 children from ages six weeks to six years. The latest addition is a new infant toddler center at 601 N. Whitney Way that opened in October.

When asked about the best part of her job, she answers quickly: “Kids. … If you’re having a bad day, you can go to the infant or toddler room and dance with the kids. They always have something remarkable, and typically joyful, to tell you.”

Edlefson wants to continue her efforts to improve access to child care on campus and make it more affordable.

“There are a number of people on campus who can pay campus rates, but there are a number who can’t,” she says. “We want to have diverse centers for all kinds of reasons. We want teachers to be trained with diverse populations. We want kids who come from lower-income environments to have high-quality early education and care. We want our researchers to have access to all of that. Most of all, we need campus programs to provide model programs and to use our knowledge to contribute to the early education field.”

The child-care centers are used as laboratories for teaching and research in the fields of psychology, communication, nursing, education, and human development and family studies. They serve children of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff of the university and the UW Hospital and Clinics.

At the suggestion of two undergraduate students, the office began developing programs for parents on campus in 2002, including monthly parent luncheons and regular workshops to help them connect with hard-to-find resources. “I saw the immense amount of stress that parents are under, especially student parents,” Edlefson says.

Joyce Jennings Currier, manager of the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program (CCTAP), says that without Edlefson’s work in lobbying student government and university officials, student-parents would have a difficult time getting their education. Edlefson works with student leaders and parents every year to try to increase funding for student-parents eligible for the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program.

“Her ‘voice’ has brought about needed financial assistance to help student-parents defray some of their child-care costs,” Currier says. “With this financial assistance for child care, student parents are often able to both enroll and keep their child in a quality care facility on campus or off campus.”

April Kigeya, who coordinates parent support and education activities and works with undergraduate student parents enrolled in the federally funded Assistance for Infants and Mothers Program, says Edlefson also is focused on making sure child care is run by qualified teaching staff. Overall, teachers in UW–Madison child-care centers have educational backgrounds, experience and longevity surpassing state licensing requirements.

“Lynn goes above and beyond her call of duty to support our campus child-care programs,” Kigeya says. “She supports them in every way she can — whether it’s creating new initiatives to purchasing equipment and supplies for the classrooms … she often comes in early or stays late to ensure that their needs are taken care of. “

For Edlefson, her devotion to quality and access comes from her own experiences.

“I’m a working mom; I’ve always been a working mom,” says Edlefson, whose children are now 17 and 23. “I’ve always appreciated having a career, but it’s just horrible if you’re worried about your child. … Parents have to know that their child is well cared for and nurtured so that everyone in the family can thrive.”