When Emily Leffler found out she was pregnant in fall 2005, the director of the University Child Care Center was near the top of her list of people to tell.
That is because Leffler, manager of the reporting and analysis group for university advancement, knew what she was in for.
"I was advised by some friends on campus who had kids go through the Child Care Center to get on the waitlist as soon as possible," Leffler said. "So I got on the waitlist before I even told my boss I was pregnant."
She was confident that there would soon be availability at the UHCC, so she didn’t shop around for other childcare centers.
"I did not look elsewhere. Frankly, since this was my first child I had no idea how I was going to feel – if I was going back to work." Leffler said.
Leffler found out the UHCC had availability for her son, Brody, a month into her maternity leave and about two months before Brody began school.
The UHCC’s mission statement is "to provide exemplary child care, for the children of students, staff and faculty at the University of Houston, by offering a model program tailored to ensure the quality of a child’s daily experience."
Located on Wheeler Avenue, the center first opened in 1975 and has a capacity of 153 children.
With such limited space, the battle of the waitlist, which requires a $45 non-refundable payment, is the toughest to beat in order to get a child into the UHCC.
The 2007 Status of Women at the University report prepared by the University’s Commission on Women raises this issue in its findings.
The report states, "Only 153 spots for childcare are designated for University-affiliated individuals, including 3,000 staff members, over 1,000 instructional faculty and over 34,000 students." The report also states "a waiting list of over 50 people exists for nine infant care slots."
While there are 50 names on the waiting list, not all 50 of those names are for the nine infant care slots, Director Sherry Howard said.
Fighting that waitlist battle is precisely what Heidi Hofer didn’t have time for when she moved to Houston from the United Kingdom in Aug. 2005 with her two young daughters.
"There was no space and I needed to work," said Hofer, an assistant professor at the College of Optometry.
Her main frustration was that the University used the availability of an on-campus childcare facility as a recruitment tool, but she was unable to take advantage of it because she did not have the luxury of time.
"If I had the option to have my kids in a good quality daycare center at my place of work I would have done that, but it didn’t seem possible," Hofer said.
Hofer decided to look elsewhere when her older child, Emily, was eventually accepted, but her younger daughter, Carmen, still was on the waitlist.
"I pretty quickly decided that I’d be better off with a nanny," Hofer said. "All the other daycare centers were either expensive, not conveniently located to my work or house, or they were scary."
The report recommends "a campuswide survey be conducted to assess the need for childcare for faculty, staff and students."
Leffler, a member of the UHCC Advisory Board, agrees that the University needs to take a closer look at the demand for more childcare options.
"I think it would be exciting to see the University take an analysis to see if the University is allocating (an) appropriate amount of resources based on the demand of the population of students, faculty and staff," Leffler said.
