The University Childcare Center, at only nine months old, already has achieved major developmental milestones. The newly renovated facility on UGA’s Health Sciences Campus welcomed many new students this fall and is currently serving approximately 130 students (65 percent of whose families are associated with UGA). It is on track to achieve full capacity by its first anniversary, six months earlier than anticipated.
Additional teaching and administrative staff members have been hired to support the increased enrollment, including a parent resource coordinator. All 13 classrooms are open, and Spanish and music classes are offered weekly.
“The University Childcare Center is a great addition to the university community, providing another quality childcare option for UGA faculty, staff and students,” said Tom Gausvik, associate vice president for human resources. “Because of the excellent staff, facilities and programs, the center has exceeded our enrollment expectations.”
The UCC is operated by a third-party provider, Prodigies Child Care Management, LLC.
“We are extremely pleased with how the first nine months have gone,” said Wes Zwirn, Prodigies’ president. “The director, management staff and classroom teachers have done a fantastic job of implementing our goals of operating a top-notch childcare center while always being flexible enough with our children and families to adjust when necessary. Having a strong relationship with UGA Human Resources, the Child Development Lab at the McPhaul Center and the UCC Advisory Committee has given us the ability to fine-tune our policies and procedures to focus on what is important to the UGA community.”
The UCC Advisory Committee, which meets quarterly, is charged with advising and making recommendations to the senior vice president for finance and administration concerning the scope and quality of service at the UCC. Members also serve as faculty and staff liaisons and welcome questions and comments concerning the center. Committee members include Chad Cleveland, associate controller; Anne Bothe Marcotte, professor of communications sciences and disorders; Wendy Jones, executive assistant to the vice president for public affairs; Robert Gordon, public service assistant in the Carl Vinson Institute of Government; Timothy Meyer, assistant professor of law; Alison McCullick, director of outreach and communication for the GHSU/UGA Medical Partnership; and Amy Kay, director of the McPhaul Child Development Lab.
“The rapid success of the UCC does not surprise me at all, given the enormous need that had been documented for high-quality and flexible childcare options in the UGA community,” said Marcotte. “I’m grateful for the privilege of serving on the UCC advisory board, and I’m especially gratified, as a member of the faculty and as a working parent, to see how open the UCC leadership and staff have been to working with the university to make the UCC the best it can possibly be.”
Licensed by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, the center operates on the most stringent standards of national accrediting childcare associations with regard to child-to-teacher ratios, classroom sizes and teacher training.
