UW-Green Bay opened a childcare and human-development study facility in fall 1972 with 41 toddlers. Financed by student fees and gifts from the University League, an organization of campus and community women, the center found a home in a refurbished ranch house near the campus entrance. With annual operations running in the red, badly in need of repair and lagging behind modern design and code for contemporary child care facilities, the center closed in 1995. Student Government Association leaders and others have periodically encouraged the University to revisit the concept of an on-campus service. A consultant suggested a viable alternative might be to dedicate student fee support for contracting with privately run facilities nearby to hold slots open for student parents. Students who use such a service could be partially subsidized and reimbursed by way of a voucher system.
I worked there part time when I was a student. It was nice to have a campus job and flexible hours. I’m saddened to find out it is no longer there as I am sure there is a need for students with kids to find affordable care on an as needed basis I have good memories of the day care. Hopefully they can get it up and running again.
It is inspiring to hear from alumni and past directors about the wonderful past of the Children’s Center and the fight to keep it alive. You may be interested to learn that UWGB students voted in 2014 to increase their Segregated Fees in support of bringing a Children’s Center back to campus. Just as in the past, the goal is to create a place where transformative education occurs, both for the young children and the students who can research, intern, and work in the Center, and to support the needs of student-parents. UWGB Student Government Association leaders like Heba Mohammad and Samantha Braatan, now alums, have been working hard to advocate for the educational opportunities that a center brings to the campus and the community. These efforts build on those of countless faculty and staff who have made the case for childcare year after year. We’ve formed a group, called the Childcare Alliance, and we’ll be holding informative events and fundraisers, as well as presenting concrete plans, in this historic 50th year. If you are interested in joining or supporting this effort, or just staying in the loop, please send me an email and I’ll add you to our “Friends of the UWGB Children’s Center” mailing list!
The child care center was the best. It had such a special character and great and loving staff. It didn’t have the fancy bells and whistles of modern day care but was nestled in the woods. The staff emphasized good healthy food and you could feel the love the minute you stepped in. So sad that it want continued. It was a nice opportunity for the student workers too. Thanks Pat..
All three of my sons are graduates of this outstanding daycare facility. The staff were exceptional, and they even had a grandmother present to always help the children that needed special attention or love in a rocking chair. It was sad to see it close, as it provided stability to those who had to work or attend school here,and a fun learning environment for the children.
I was direcotr of the UWGB Children’s center from 1980-1990. In 1989, we had blueprints for a new facility in hand, and full funding available from reserves to build it. It would have been a state of the art facility, that would have continued on with the tradition of providing valuable training for students in human development and early childhood education fields, a fun and interesting work-study employment opportunity, and quality child care and educaation for faculty, staff, and students.
We had by then become one of the few UW System Child Care Centers and the second child care center in Green Bay to be fully accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. (NAEYC) Dr. David Outcaltl, then Chancellor of the GB campus, gave this project his blessing, markng two years of effort to get this project pushed through.
For whatever reason, and to this day, I still don’t understand the logic, the UW System administration did not approve our project, and this was the death sentence for the UWGB Children’s Center. I found employment elsewhere as a result of their actions.
In order to keep fees for services affordable for students, we depended on annual subsidies from SUFAC. Faculty and staff paid their full share for the service. SUFAC supported this for many years; and I have no doubt they would have continued to support it.
I am proud of what the UWGB Children’s Center did for countless students, those with children and those exploring the field of early childhood education. It was very sad to have to let it go.