Child Care Task Force

Committee Membership:

Dr. Anne Winkler, Professor of Economics
Dr. Andrea Hupman, Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management and Analytics
Dr. Yvette Kell, Director of the Recreation and Wellness Center
Dr. Lynn Navin, Director of the UCDC and Early Childhood Education NTT faculty
Robin Kimberlin, Director of Advocacy and Care
Emmy Naes, Triton Childcare Fund coordinator
Shannon Quinn, Triton Childcare Fund coordinator
Joe Methner, SGA President
Eboni Alexander, Student parent
Karl Guenther, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Economic and Community Development
Beth Eckelkamp, Vice Provost for Student Success and Academic Innovation

Summary of Committee Report and Recommendations 

Recommendation #1: Campus structures that can enhance recruitment of faculty and staff with families or that are of child-bearing age:

The CCTF discussed the challenges that campus hiring managers (in many cases, department chairs) face in providing information about childcare opportunities to young applicants with families or who may be considering starting a family, as well as general information about the St. Louis area for new employees seeking to relocate to join the UMSL team. Committee representatives consulted with Dr Jill Wood, Director of Human Resources, and secured a commitment from HR to develop web resources that hiring managers (including department chairs for faculty searches) will be able share with prospective faculty and staff hires that would include information about quality childcare. The development and maintenance of this website, which will also be made available to students who are parents, is the first recommendation of the CCTF.

Actions taken:

1. Recommendation was supported by Chancellor’s Cabinet (July 28, 2022).
2. HR completed the website and it will be made available to faculty and staff search committees.

Recommendation #2: The unique needs of students who are parents - existing support structures and
exploration of future options:

As the campus continues to focus on removing roadblocks to success, students who are parents make up a population for whom degree completion is highly transformative. To that end assisting with childcare needs can remove one of the greatest roadblocks. The CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents In School) grant, designed to support PELL eligible students, is foundational to the wraparound supports in place for Student Who are Parents through Student Affairs. Opportunities arising from COVID to utilize the CCAMPIS grant funds to provide waivers for students utilizing licensed and accredited child care centers in proximity to home and work have allowed for a broader dispersal of the funding. It is important to note that the CCAMPIS grant alone does not provide a solution for all students who are parents, and not even all limited income students as Pell eligibility as a requirement is a significant factor. This limits the reach of the CCAMPIS grant funding into the greater student body. Opportunities to partner with the Development office to seek and secure donor funding may be one avenue of exploration that could serve as a parallel funding mechanism for the grant. A campus commitment to supporting both the CCAMPIS grant application and for seeking potential
parallel private funding for child care for non-Pell eligible students is the second recommendation of
the CCTF. 

Actions taken:

1. Recommendation was supported by Chancellor’s Cabinet (July 28, 2022).
2. UMSL has CCAMPIS funding through current 2022-23 academic year and will be submitting a CCAMPIS grant in the next submission cycle.
3. Advancement will seek donor funding for childcare.

Recommendation #3: Opportunities to leverage ARPA funding and South Campus Development for a campusproximal childcare provider:

As the campus engages with the North County redevelopment opportunities through ARPA funding, and as a vision for a North County Workforce and Business Development District to be built on UMSL’s South Campus begins to take shape, the opportunity to prioritize a high-quality early childhood center seems providential. Including such a center in this development plan would provide a) an option for faculty, staff, students, and community for high-quality child care and b) a partner with which to develop educational and research partnerships. To that end, the third CCTF recommendation is that the University work to recruit a high- quality third-party run and operated early childhood center on or near campus, with a priority for a center to be located in the North St. Louis County Workforce and Business Development District. The CCTF asserts that a child development center would be most valuable to the broad constituency of faculty, staff, and students if it is able to provide part-time, full-time, and drop-in care.

Actions taken:

1. Recommendation was supported by Chancellor’s Cabinet (July 28, 2022).
2. Communications regarding North County Workforce and Business Development District now include child-care as an example of the type of activity pursued for development.

Recommendation #4: Commitment of campus resources to assist in planning and implementation of
recommendations:

Finally, in order to maximize the potential success of these CCTF recommendations, the CCTF strongly
recommends that current UMSL personnel with deep knowledge of the relevant issues from the
Economic and Community Development Office, the College of Education and Office of Student Affairs
work together to secure an option for an early childhood center and continued funding through future
CCAMPIS grant opportunities.

Specifically, the community development focus of the ECD office, anchored by Assistant Vice Chancellor Karl Guenther, together with the child care expertise of Dr. Lynn Navin from the College of Education will be necessary to ensure the success of securing a campus proximal child care facility. Furthermore, a partnership between Dr. Navin who can bring her experience in strengthening cross agency coordination, and Director of Advocacy and Care, Robin Kimberlin from Student Affairs who can bring the student support service piece to the CCAMPIS grant will maximize the potential for a successful application. In order to ensure success of both initiatives the CCTF recommends that 0.25 FTE of Dr. Navin’s appointment moving forward be committed to childcare initiatives at UMSL and that dedicated support in providing oversight for these recommendations come from Academic Affairs leadership.

Actions taken:

1. Recommendation was supported by Chancellor’s Cabinet (July 28, 2022).
2. Dr Lynn Navin will be assisting in recommendation #2 (CCAMPIS grant) and recommendation #3 (P3 arrangement with child-care center in North County Workforce and Business District).