Purdue commits to additional child care space
May 12, 2014
President Mitch Daniels announced Monday (May 12) that Purdue will be adding child care capacity for more than 100 children at the West Lafayette campus.
The additional capacity will move Purdue to the midpoint of child care capacity available at other Big Ten and peer institutions. An exact location, timetable and pricing policy will be determined soon. The University is working with Purdue Research Foundation to maximize use of existing assets as a way to minimize cost to parents, Daniels said.
“One of the earliest suggestions I received as I took up my duties last year was that the University needed more child care capacity,” Daniels said. “Benchmarking of similar institutions confirmed a shortfall. So I asked that a task force move quickly on a plan for improvement.”
The University and PRF are working to find the land or facilities needed to offer the additional capacity, said Al Diaz, executive vice president for business and finance, treasurer. Updates on the effort will be announced as more information is available.
Daniels specifically asked for the task force to recommend changes that would be cost-effective, significant and achievable in the near term to strengthen Purdue's efforts in recruiting and retaining high-quality employees and students.
In addition to adding capacity for additional children, the University intends to appoint a child care coordinator, also a recommendation of the task force.
Made up of nine faculty and staff members from across campus, the Child Care Task Force submitted its report late last year.
"Each person on the Child Care Task Force was passionate about the family needs of members of the Purdue community, especially needs related to child care," says Mindy Paulet, who was the task force's co-chair.
"We are thankful to all who took time out of their busy schedules to meet and provide input or direction for this very important task of supporting families at Purdue."
A full link to the Child Care Task Force's report is here.
Members of the task force were:
* Keith Cherkauer (co-chair), associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering.
* Mindy Paulet (co-chair), manager of site services, Vice President for Human Resources.
* Maricela Alvarado, director, Latino Cultural Center.
* Nancy Emery, assistant professor of biological sciences and botany and plant pathology.
* Christine Keller, graduate student representative.
* Lorraine Kisselburgh, assistant professor of communication.
* Christopher Martin, director of business managers.
* Linda Mason, associate dean of graduate school and professor of entomology.
* Catherine Pope, managing director, Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence.
