This is the sixth in a series of articles examining the challenges life at the University of Wisconsin brings to many students.

Saturday afternoon, a Student Parent Social was held in the Memorial Union. Angela Cunningham, co-founder of the Parent Resource Center Advisory Board, sat at a large conference table in the Langdon Room of the Memorial Union with her two-year-old son.

Surrounded by three other student parents, children coloring with markers and a spread of tortilla chips and dip, Cunningham shared her struggle as an undergraduate student parent.

“Everything is hard. Between taking care of my son and homework, it is hard to find time for myself,” Cunningham said. “The worst is when professors throw last minute assignments at me — I ask myself, how am I supposed to do this?”

To support students with children and encourage them to attend classes, the University of Wisconsin offers a range of daycare, child development and support programs at seven centrally located sites. For many student parents, these centers make earning a college or graduate degree possible.

The Office of Campus Child Care, located in the Human Ecology building, acts as a valuable resource for students with children.

Many student parents struggle financially to make ends meet. Other Big Ten schools offer services for student parents; however, many young parents choose to attend UW for the rare child-care grant program.

The Child Care Tuition Assistance Program (CCTAP) provides student-funded awards to eligible student families to help pay for quality regulated childcare while the student attends class, works outside the home or studies to complete a degree.

In 2002-2003, CCTAP will provide approximately $670,000 in awards to student parents. On average, CCTAP assists 400 full- and part-time student families per semester and pays for about 25 percent of semester child-care fees per family.

CCTAP is based on financial need and is supported by student segregated fees through the Student Services Finance Committee and the Teaching Assistants’ Association.

In May 2002, the Office of Campus Child Care created an interim position for recent UW graduate Katie Aulwes, who was hired as a full-time parent resource specialist.

Aulwes has spent the past six months compiling parenting resources in Madison.

“We have found that in a university this big, people do not know about the many resources for student parents. We are here to provide more programs and services and let students know what is already out there,” Aulwes said.

Even though the population of student parents on the UW campus is large, there has been relatively low attendance at the first few programs.

Aulwes said she is committed to promoting programs, such as family yoga, discussion groups, lectures and social events.

Besides the Office of Campus Child Care, student parents can seek support and child care from other on-campus resources. University Health Services offers professional individual and group counseling for interested student parents. The Eagle Heights Community Center offers a wide range of affordable, quality child care.

The Campus Women’s Center also assists students with child-care needs.

Kidstime matches student volunteers with student families to provide free, high-quality daycare. The program gives volunteers the opportunity to gain child care experience and lightens the load for student parents.

Beth Mattson, UW senior and child care coordinator at the Campus Women’s Center, said Kidstime is the most widely used on-campus child care program.

“Student families can use our child care services for a three-hour period each week. To ensure children’s safety, all of our volunteers have been interviewed and undergone a police background check,” Mattson said.

UW junior Angela Cunningham said there are problems within CCTAP and student parent housing.

“Many people do not know about CCTAP. I found out about it by word of mouth,” she said.

Cunningham said that the university-run student parent community, Eagle Heights, offers convenient housing and childcare services, but the rent is too expensive for many undergraduate students.

“Eagle Heights is in a convenient location, but they do not accept any subsidized housing vouchers,” she said.

Cunningham and another undergraduate student started the Student Parent Advisory Board to make life on campus easier for students with children.

“There are all these scattered resources,” she said. “The purpose of the advisory board is to establish one place for information.”

By working closely with the many student parent-related organizations, the Parent Advisory Board disseminates information about child development, behavior and support services and seeks to mend the cracks within the university’s child care programs.

One major goal of the board is to obtain statistics about the exact number of student parents at UW.

“People have been trying for years to get the Registrar’s Office to ask about the number of student parents,” Cunningham said. “There are no available statistics. Financial aid is as close as we can get, but not every student parent applies for financial aid.”