Studying for final exams might be a little easier for MSU students with children, thanks to free childcare services being offered this week.
The Spartan Child Development Center, in conjunction with MSU's office of Child and Family Care Resources, is offering the service for student parents looking for a more quiet, focused studying experience.
Parents are able to choose from five care sessions for their children, who must be ages 2-weeks to 9-years-old.
"The classroom will be set up for typical open play," said Cathy Siechtner, assistant director at the Spartan Child Development Center.
The pre-finals childcare has been offered every fall and spring semester since the office of Child and Family Care Resources was founded in 1993. Every semester, the program serves about 80 students, said Lori Strom, Child and Family Care Resource coordinator.
Family community services junior Haida Lopez and her 11-month-old son Lionel are using the resource for the first time this semester.
"I have to study, and it's hard finding a baby sitter during finals," Lopez said.
The 25-year-old mother will be using the time to study for her human nutrition and food final exam. Balancing the different facets of her life often poses a challenge, she said.
"It tends to be difficult because I'm a full-time student, and I work part-time, and I have my son," Lopez said. "It's a lot of things all at once."
The office of Child and Family Care Resources offers a variety of services to those in the MSU community, including a resource and referral service to assist parents with locating quality childcare, pregnancy support services and consultation on work and life issues and flexible scheduling.
Strom estimated that MSU's student body contains up to 4,000 student parents. Information about children is not asked on student applications because of confidentiality reasons, she said.
This semester's remaining sessions are being held Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. and Monday from 6 to 9 p.m.
Some say MSU should be very proud of this resource.
"(MSU's) program is amazing," said Leslie de Pietro, coordinator of the Work/Life Resource Program at the University of Michigan. "We don't have that particular program for students."
U-M offers other resources for student parents, including emergency childcare, which sends medical personnel to homes in dire situations. The program doesn't offer free childcare to students during finals week, de Pietro said.
"We have people who may be able to take students' children," she said. "But they would charge for it."
Strom said MSU's program is worthwhile for struggling parents.
"Childcare is very expensive," Strom said. "This is a good thing we do every semester to try and give these students a break."
A year of full-time childcare at the Spartan Child Development Center is $10,000, or more than $40 a day, a price that drives many young parents away, Strom said.
For this week's sessions, the staff at the center, which is made up of professionals and college students, offer to stay past regular working hours and work on weekends. The Office of Child and Family Resources foots the bill.
"These are young, single moms that are struggling, trying to get their studies done and take care of their families," Strom said. "It's tough enough to get your work done anyway - imagine throwing a kid in the mix."
