Offer Convenient and Affordable Childcare

Issue
Locating high quality and affordable childcare for pre-school age children can be challenging for faculty, particularly when a university is located in an area with a high cost of living. A university that offers on-campus childcare and childcare subsidy programs will enhance the ability of faculty to succeed professionally, increase faculty satisfaction and ultimately improve the university’s ability to attract and retain the best talent. Staff as well as professors need child care; best practice programs recognize this.

Provide On-Campus Childcare

650-Child Capacity on Campus
Stanford University offers seven programs on campus that serve approximately 650 children in either a full-time, part-time, nursery school or combination schedules.[1]

158-Child Capacity On-Campus, with Back-Up Care
In the fall of 2008, Cornell University opened an on-campus childcare center that can accommodate up to 158 children.  The center also offers limited part-time and back up care.[2]

Provide Childcare Subsidy Grants

Up to $5,000 per Year in Childcare Subsidy
Cornell University offers up to $5,000 annual Childcare Subsidy Grants to eligible faculty and staff based on income, type of child care, and cost of child care.[3]

Stanford University’s Childcare Subsidy Grant Program also provides grants of up to $5,000 a year (based on family income) to faculty and staff with children under 10 years old.[4] 

Secure Childcare Positions for Recruitment Purposes

Because securing childcare is very difficult for faculty at the University of Washington, the university purchased "priority" childcare slots at two local childcare centers. On a case-by-case basis, deans may offer these slots to candidates during the recruitment process in order to ensure quick childcare placement.

Offer Dependent Care Travel Grants

Issue
Faculty with primary childcare responsibilities often incur additional costs when they engage in the professional travel necessary to sustain an academic career. This financial burden can weigh heavily, particularly on junior faculty. Some institutions offer financial support to defray the incremental costs such as extra dependent care at home while the caregiver is traveling, on-site care at a meeting, or transportation costs for a dependent and/or caregiver.

Travel Grants up to $500 per Year
The University of Chicago, Northwestern University and Stanford University each offer up to $500 per academic year in dependent care travel grants for faculty who are travelling for professional reasons.

Travel Grants up to $1,000 per Year
Harvard University’s Dependent Care Fund for Short-Term Professional Travel (DCF) provides financial assistance to tenure track faculty who would like to travel for a professional event that will advance their academic careers, and who also have child care or adult dependent care obligations.  Faculty may apply for up to two grants per academic year, with a maximum of $1,000 in funding.[5]