Dorothy Kates says she had no plans to go to college until she became pregnant.

I hated high school, she said. I would not have gone to college if it wasn’t for my circumstance. I wasn’t headed in that direction at all.

Kates, a senior in plant biology from Oak Park, decided to attend SIUC and enroll her son Rane into on-campus day care. Kates said even though she had to wait six months for an opening at the SIUC Child Development Laboratories, it was worth the wait.

Advertisement

I can walk to CDL any time of the day and check on how he is doing, she said. If I had to drive from one place to another I could never do it.

According to the Child Care survey taken in 1990, Kates belongs to a group of 994,000 single parents who attend school in the nation. Fourteen percent of these parents rely on day care services to help take care of their children, the survey said.

SIUC provides two on-campus day care services. Child Development Laboratories, a division of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Rainbow’s End, a subsidiary of Student Development.

These programs are available to SIUC students, staff and faculty. Both have at least a year’s waiting list.

Day care is a necessity for a single parent, Cherie Rummel, a junior in University studies from Xenia, said. She said putting her five-year-old daughter Hannah in a day care program is the only way for her to finish her bachelor’s degree.

There is no way I could go to school if Hannah wasn’t in day care, she said. I have no parents or grandparents in the area. I have no people here to rely on.

Sophia Gossett, a senior in business education from Chicago, said she came to SIUC in 1992 with her daughter Ashley. Gossett said SIUC’s day care program was the reason she attended the University.

Advertisement*

I wanted to attend college, and day care was my only route, she said. I had no choice. It was either that or not go to school at all.

Gossett said Ashley was the driving force behind her return to school. She said her goals have changed since she has become a mother.

Before you have a child, you only have to think about yourself, she said. Now there is someone else you have to take care of and provide for.

Rummel said she does not get to her homework until her five-year-old daughter Hannah goes to sleep. She said she feels it is important to have a lot of contact with her child at night because she does not see her all day.

We have a whole entire nighttime routine, she said. Even if I’m only reading her a story, it’s important to have that contact.

Rummel said homework only conflicts with Hannah on the weekends. If I have papers on the weekend, I have to explain to her I have homework, she said. But, you always get the questions like, Can I type on the computer?’ or Will you hold me?’ That makes studying a lot harder.

Eva Murry, director of the Rainbow’s End center, said the traditional student role is changing at colleges. She said students are enrolling in colleges at older ages, and many have children.

A lot of students now have children, and if there is no day care center associated with the school, nine times out of ten that student is not able to find child care because it is very expensive, she said. Most of the time it is too expensive in the community for a student to handle and still be a student.

Rainbow’s End receives funding through Student Development fees. The assessment of tuition and fees for the parent is based on the number of hours the students’ children are enrolled at the center.

Murry said the program is designed to serve 133 children and is close to capacity. She said 90 percent of the children enrolled are children of students.

Murry said there is adequate day care on campus, but improvements could be made to meet the child-care demand.

Day care is better than it used to be, she said. There was a time before we acquired the new facility in 1994 when we could only take but 50 children, but if there was adequate day care, we wouldn’t have a waiting list.

The primary goal for the Child Development Labortories, is to provide education and training experiences for students majoring in Early Childhood, while offering child care services, Sarah Starbuck, director of the program, said.

The staff includes a head teacher, student workers and student teachers. They have a 80 child capacity and is currently at capacity. The program is funded through parent fees and provides day care services to SIUC faculty, staff, students and the Carbondale community.

Sarah Starbuck, director of the program, said a university location is ideal for a day care center. She said the day care can take advantage of the museums, music department and events for daily activities.

Starbuck said if a person is looking at day care services, he or she should put themselves on a list immediately.

Spots are always opening up, but if you’re pregnant, you probably won’t get into the center until your child is between one and three, Starbuck said.

Kates said an on-campus day care is more convenient for her because she spends all her time at school. She said she can take advantage of time between classes to visit Rane.

Kates said one of the best features of day care is the opportunity to have time to herself.

When you’re a single parent at a university there is no one to share responsibility with you, she said. If I had to stay at home for a full day, I would become bitter and probably end up neglecting him. Because I see him so little, I never take our time together for granted.