Juggling classes and child-care

By Natasha Dukes
The Collegian

Child-care isn't something the majority of students think about as they go to class and work.

However, it became important to Ann Rodriguez when she faced the same challenges other mothers face while attending school.

Rodriguez, a 20-year-old sophomore majoring in electrical engineering, relies mostly on her mother to care for her three-month-old son, Anthony, while she attends classes. Still, it would be more convenient if child-care on campus was adequately available, Rodriguez said.

“If child-care were easily accessible, I would be able to take more classes because I wouldn’t have to work around my mother’s schedule,” Rodriguez said. “I would be able to take Anthony with me to school, drop him off at the childcare facility, go to my classes and pick him up when I was done.”

There are approximately 200 children enrolled in the child-care program at Fresno State, according to Shareen Abramson, coordinator of the Early Childhood Education Graduate Program at Fresno State.

“Of those 200 children, about 85 percent belong to students who attend Fresno State,” Abramson said.

However, while a large majority of the children do belong to students, there still exists the need for a wait-list, where students’ names are placed according to their financial need for the services.

The lack of child-care is not a problem that is unique to Fresno State parents. According to the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, there is only enough childcare supply in Fresno County to serve 23 percent of children with parents in the labor force.

Kathryn Forbes, associate professor of women’s studies, said the shortage of available child-care is a problem because it can inhibit students’ ability to learn.

“Child-care is the number one issue for both faculty and staff at Fresno State,” Forbes said. “We’re simply not doing a great job making either the workplace or the educational environment family friendly — especially to the students who are parents of very young children.”

Gena Gechter, coordinator of Psychological Services at Fresno State’s health center, recommended that when no other child-care options are available, students who are parents should seek the assistance of loved ones.

“It’s important to have a support system and a network of people who can help you when you need it,” Gechter said.

Maddie Gonzalez, a graduate assistant in counseling at Fresno State’s Women’s Resource Center, said there once was a peer counseling group on campus geared toward students with children.

“We used to have a student-parent support group at Fresno State that provided an outlet for students who are also parents,” Gonzalez said. “But it faded out when the graduate student who started it finally graduated.”

Rodriguez said she would benefit from such a support group because it would answer questions she has about topics such as child-care and allow her to relate to others who are in the same situation.

“It would be nice if Fresno State had some type of program where a parent could go to for miscellaneous information regarding anything that deals with parenting, childcare, and assistance,” Rodriguez said. “Something similar to the resource center but aimed at helping out students who are parents.”

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