Undergraduate students looking for spots in the new University of Lethbridge Daycare facility have had their initial application process extended through the end of September.
The new U of L Daycare is scheduled to open in January 2010, pending facility construction completion, and will provide 51 childcare spaces for children of students, faculty and staff of the University of Lethbridge. The construction of this facility was made possible through contributions from the Graduate Student Association (GSA), the University of Lethbridge Students' Union (ULSU) and the University of Lethbridge Faculty Association (ULFA).
The new University of Lethbridge Daycare continues to take shape.
The initial application process, a lottery procedure, took place over the period Apr. 14 to Apr. 21, 2009. This process resulted in sufficient applications to fill the reserved spaces for both graduate students and faculty. However, the volume of applications for the undergraduate students was not enough to fill the 25 reserved spaces for this group. It is believed that the low participation of undergraduate students resulted from the timing of the process, it being the end of semester and beginning of the exam time period.
Throughout the daycare financing process the University has recognized the first priority groups (undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty) for their capital contributions to the facility. Without these contributions the daycare facility would not have been able to be financed. In recognition of these valuable contributions the University wants to ensure that the first priority groups have sufficient opportunity to fill their number of reserved spaces.
As a result the University has extended the application period for undergraduate students to apply for the initial intake of spaces on a first come, first serve basis until Sept. 30, 2009. If there are insufficient undergraduate applications and from the first priority groups before the end of the Fall semester, a decision will be made at that point and may be filled by non-faculty employees' children.
The University Daycare will be located near the Residence Village at the south end of campus and operated externally by A Child's Second Look.