[Your Address
126 Park Avenue, 5th Floor
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Dear Dr. Qureshi:
While UB provides an exceptional academic program and ranks as one of the nation’s best universities by U.S. News and World Report, there is one area that needs serious attention: on-campus childcare. Therefore, as a student and parent at UB, this note presents the need and benefits of offering a quality childcare program.
I have experienced several challenging situations trying to find good childcare at an affordable price. Similar concerns have also been expressed by others at UB who have the dual-role of student and parent.
The benefits of providing an on-campus nursery include decreased anxiety for child’s welfare, more focused on studies, less stress balancing school and family, along with minimum absences from class. Children are less anxious knowing that a parent is nearby and can visit or check on them during lunch or between classes. It’s also comforting for parents to know that their child is being cared for by a member of the UB community. Not only does an on-campus nursery benefit parents and children, but this new addition could also benefit the university by attracting more students as well as recruiting good employees to UB.
In a News Bureau article from UI (University of Illinois), Professor Brent McBride outlines the college drop-out rates of traditional student-parents as it relates to on-campus day care programs. According to McBride, an expert in early childhood education, “A good investment is one that’s made in human capital, so marginalizing someone who is unable to complete a college degree simply because of a child care issue is, from a social justice perspective, a tragic mistake to make.” UI’s program is known as CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents in School) and funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education (2010).
Since your program is “designed to identify and provide services” that assist students in accomplishing academic goals, I hope you will seriously consider providing childcare services for the UB community: students and employees.
You can contact me at or by email (). Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
[Signature]
Works Cited
Ciciora, Phil. On-campus child care needed for increasing number of student-parents. News Bureau/Illinois, February 22, 2010. http://news.illinois.edu/news/10/0222childcare.html
Gewin, Virginia. Small steps towards campus child care. Nature: Special Report, September 2005. http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7057-446a
National Coalition for Campus Children's Centers. Campus Child Care Bill (Child Care Access Means Parents in School Act, S. 1151 and H.R. 3926). http://campuschildren.org/policy/fact.html
