Childcare Committee

Cornell Childcare Services Sub-Committee Meeting
Day Hall B16 Conference Room
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
10:00 — 11:30 p.m.
MINUTES

Present

Brenda Marston*, KC Rose, Amy O’Donnell, Mark Jasinski, Michelle Artibee, Sue Dale-Hall (by phone), Laurie Miller, Eileen Whang *Minutes recorder

Unable to attend

Yael Levitte, Sharon Sassler

I. Welcome and introductions. Volunteer to take minutes. (None.)

II. Committee business:

1. Meeting time. Can we make every 3rd Tuesday from 10:00–11:30 work? No proposals of another time that works for everyone. Agreement to keep this time that we set aside and made room reservations for last spring.
2. Membership update. Open positions for 09–10.
   1. Our committee’s website doesn’t reflect this yet, but KC Rose has been made an official member as a staff representative and Laurie Miller has been made a presidential appointee.
   2. We have spots open for 2 grad/professional students, 1 undergrad, 1 faculty, and 1 presidential appointment.
3. Voted to approve our Future Priorities Document with 5 yes votes. (Committee currently has 7 voting members.)

III. Human Resources:

1. Update on Human Resources reorganization and impact on this committee’s work. Student child care grant program. (Michelle Artibee)
   1. Work Life Services. EAP is now named the FSAP, Faculty and Staff Assistance Program. New Director of Work Life Services, Linda Croll Howell, who also sits on Family Services Committee; also on EA.
   2. Cassie is on Faculty and Staff Diversity Team.
   3. Eileen Whang continues as the Dependent Care Consultant, and now also is the liaison to the CCCC. Background in early childhood education, non-profit Princeton day care.
2. Updates on the algorithms adopted for this year’s child care grant programs and how the process is going. Also, student child care grant program. (Michelle Artibee)
   1. Staff/faculty child care grants are now managed now by Benefits office; able to drop off applications in person. Will invite Teresa Rapacki to our Nov. meeting to report on this year’s grants and start feedback for next year.
   2. Student child care grant: rising cost of care led to rising grants given; but have $150,000/year for 80–90 students. In past max was $5000, but went over for CCCC families. This year responsibility transferred to Graduate School, working with Financial Aid and other units. HR no longer doing student parent services. The grant committee decided to offer $1500 for each kid under age 5 and $750 for age 5–12. This is going to affect CCCC families a lot, and this year there will be no extra funding for CCCC families. Applications just came out today. This year recipients won’t know their award amounts until mid-Dec. Grad School doesn’t have additional staff to handle this.
   3. For undergrads, students can get temporary loan (from whom?) until the grant is processed.
   4. Awards the same regardless of whether students attend 1, 2, or 3 semesters.
   5. Invite Brenda Wicks to Nov. meeting to report on how this year went. To get info on # of applications. How to improve process. Has been on student childcare grant committee for years.
   6. Complaints from students have made it to Provost. Michelle met with Susan Murphy and Dean Hubbell. How to keep student-parent initiative going? Tentative plans include oversight by the Women’s Resource Center. The possibility of a work study student designated to this initiative is being considered. Members noted that while feminists have been among those to champion better childcare, it is an issue that also affects men. Is the Women’s Resource Center the appropriate place to handle the student-parent initiative? Might they have a student volunteer who would want to serve on our committee?
   7. Sue: one way to make $ stretch further is to have more than one distribution during the year. But how to implement this given staff restraints? Sue sat on this committee in past. Have them come discuss the process with us to see if we can help them improve the process and make it work better.
   8. Suggest trying to put one of our committee members on the student childcare grant committee.
3. Update on CCCC current issues. (Eileen Whang) Cathy Jones, Asst. Director now. Changed Program Coordinator role. Nicole Wallace Right filled this role before resigning. BH/OHR determined BH teachers need more support than one program director can manage. Changed model to 3 coordinators, 1 for each wing. Will provide teachers additional time for mentoring, observation, and general support. The program coordinators will also spend time in classrooms. No increase in FTE. Program Coordinators will meet with each other weekly, and will meet with Center Director Patty Sinclair.
4. Sue: does this create a new career ladder? Yes, can move up from classroom teacher to PC, and these are salary positions. BH and Center Director will do the training. Mindy Poohl from Ohio came to help provide additional training.
5. Turnover and transitions are a concern of HR. Confident in Patti, and she has high expectations of staff. Some staff have left for higher paying jobs, public school jobs. With new PCs (Program Coordinators), more mentoring time, more support for individuals — hope to see turnover decrease. 14.29% turnover of staff over first year. Sue: local turnover lower than 10% at other large centers. Sue will be gathering data via survey, and will publish it along with parent profile. Expect to have it out by end of 2009. Other large centers are offering better benefit packages. Sue hosts center directors meetings.
6. Waiting list of 209? Trouble filling some infant spots. Parents wanted spots, but can’t afford it now. Authorized switching 8 spots to part-time spots since need there was still high. Sue: other centers asking for more part time care, and openings for infant spots. Infant care costs the most. With economic insecurity, trying harder to juggle schedules to avoid having to pay for infant care.
7. Have been better able to accommodate emergency care demands of Cornell families. Several weeks of backup care to 8–9 families bumped out of Drop-In Center temporarily in February.
8. Had one year celebration at end of August. PAC organized it.
9. Helped them coordinate training on disability etiquette. Finger Lakes Independence Center. Component at monthly all staff meeting.

IV. Report on Family Services Committee’s review of our position statements (Brenda)

1. I met with the FSC on Sept. 8. We are a subcommittee of FSC. They all had read the 3 position statements we approved last academic year and met to discuss them. They were favorable toward them all and impressed with our work. They voted to send the Vision Statement and Affordability Statement on to the UA. They were particularly interested in the Computer/Media Use Statement, and wondered if we would add a provision to revisit the issue in a certain amount of time. Helen Steh and others wanted it to be easy for parents to indicate that they opt out of any computer time for their child, and for the classroom to be managed in a way that such kids would not feel singled out or excluded. Our committee approved some amendments to the original position statement that address these issues. Brenda will send the revised statement back to FSC.
2. Mark Jasinski was our liaison to the FSC last year, but can’t do it again. Laurie Miller volunteered.

V. Other updates? New issues?

Communication advice on reaching all parents. Cassie did a lot of promotion of the grant.

VI.

OHR would like to be able to let new employees/students and parents who adopt or have a new child be able to apply for childcare grants and not wait until fall, but have not been able to as a result of budget constraints. The committee may want to make a formal recommendation, similar to how it submitted a proposal earlier in the year regarding percentages of coverage

VII. Adjourn (11:30)