UB Child Care Centers expand

After over two years of design and construction, the renovation and expansion of UB Child Care facilities is complete.

Last Tuesday, UB celebrated 25 years of on campus childcare by announcing the completion of its expanded North and South Campus sites, which will triple the space available for children of UB faculty, staff and students.

The UB Child Care Center offers an accredited program with qualified teachers in a low teacher/child ratio environment. The mission of the Child Care Center is to provide quality, affordable care and education for the families of members of the UB community.

The program follows the guidelines outlined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Additionally, the center offers two meals per day and various field trips throughout the year.

Dennis Black, vice president for student affairs, stated that both locations of the UB Child Care Center have been renovated and enlarged for a few reasons.

"The UB Child Care Center has had a waiting list since the day it opened," Black said. "The expansion was necessary to meet the demands of the UB community and the renovation will provide a permanent and comfortable place for children to spend their days."

The South Campus center, located in Butler Annex A, has been expanded to enlist as many as 90 young students. The North Campus site, located on St. Rita's Lane, has more than doubled in size and can now hold 132 infants and children.

The UB Child Care Center serves solely the UB community, with a majority of the enrollees being children of faculty and staff. Placement offers are made on the basis of the date of application and space availability. Priority is given in the order of current Center students at each site, children of Child Care Center staff, children of UB students, staff and faculty, children of New York State Employees and children of community residents.

Patricia Logan, the director of the UB Child Care Program, hopes that the renovations and additions will enhance UB's ability to provide affordable childcare for students who need it.

According to Logan, the ratio of children of faculty/staff in the program to children of students at UB was nearly equal. In recent years, the majority of children enrolled at the child care facilities have been those of faculty and staff.

"We are here for UB students who need child care," Logan said. "Full time undergraduate students whose yearly family income is under $40,000 are eligible to receive child care at a reduced price."

The new facilities extend a university tradition of providing child care to its community. UB opened its South Campus facility in 1985, thanks to a dedicated coalition of students, faculty and administrators. The second site opened on UB's North Campus in 1998.

Jennifer Temple, professor of exercise and nutritional sciences, and her husband, Scott Wersinger, professor of psychology, have had two children enrolled at the UB Child Care Center.

"We have always loved the high quality child care the center provides," Temple said. "My son, who is two years old, is currently enrolled, and my daughter, who is now six years old, was well prepared for kindergarten after leaving the center."

The UB Child Care Center has always been dedicated to providing high quality child care, and the improvements to both locations have provided additional benefits for its students.

"I am very happy with the new renovations and how they will positively affect the children," Temple said. "The center is all around cleaner and brighter, the new playground is beautiful. The classrooms are larger, and the windows which were previously small and too high up for children to see out of are now large and stretch almost all the way to the ground, so even the youngest children can look outside."

The UB Child Care Center caters to children six weeks to five years old. The child care centers on North and South Campus are open Monday to Friday, from 7:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.

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