APRIL 1, 2022 — UTSA Academic Affairs today announced plans to assess the needs of its student parents and evaluate how the university can best support students with children as they pursue their education.
The initiative will be led by Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Students LT Robinson who, in partnership with Business Affairs, has been charged to create a new model to address the changing needs of Roadrunner student parents through the Division of Student Affairs.
As part of this transition, the Child Development Center will cease operations May 31.
In the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated long-term challenges facing the childcare industry in the US. A July 2021 survey by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which is the accreditation agency of the CDC, revealed that four out of every five responding centers were facing staffing shortages; centers that were open were operating at an average enrollment rate of 71% of their licensed capacity.
“UTSA is committed to supporting our student parents, and we are proud of the Child Development Center’s history of providing high-quality early childhood education,” said UTSA Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy. “Unfortunately, the pandemic has changed the needs of student parents, and it is important for us to consider how to develop a more sustainable model for services to meet their needs for the long term.”
The Child Development Center closed temporarily in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic and reopened in January 2021 for the Spring 2021 semester. Since then, it has experienced low enrollment and short-term closures due to outbreaks and a November 2021 fire that damaged the HVAC system and attic-level insulation. Though it is licensed to enroll 80 children, it currently has 23 enrolled students.
Developing solutions for what is an ongoing problem nationally will challenge her team to be creative, Robinson said, adding that university leadership and Student Affairs staff are open to exploring all options, particularly the opportunity to collaborate with community partners. The first step, she said, will be working directly with UTSA’s student parents to determine their needs.
“Providing services that address the changing needs of students who are parents is our top priority,” she said, “and we are committed to exploring new options and support systems.”
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Covidence is a systematic & scoping review tool used to streamline the process of screening and reviewing articles. Using this software, research teams can easily import studies, perform automatic deduplication, and extract data using templates. This workshop will show attendees how to start a review in Covidence, add collaborators, and get started on screening.
Virtual (Zoom)In this workshop, attendees will be introduced to Pandas, a Python tool for working with data easily. It makes it simple to organize and analyze information when data is organized and categorized, like spreadsheets or tables.
Group Spot B, John Peace LibraryEach fall and spring semester, students convene at the Main Campus at UTSA with booths, ideas and prototypes. A crowd of judges, local organizations, students, faculty and sponsors walk around and talk to the students about their projects and ask questions. Students get the real-life experience of "pitching" their project with hopes of getting funding or support to move to the next level.
UTSA Convocation Center, Main CampusJoin the doctoral candidates for the Doctoral Conferreal Ceremony and celebrate their accomplishments.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusCelebrate the graduates from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
AlamodomeCelebrate the graduates from the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
AlamodomeThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
