Forum Post
I was a little surprised to read in recent emails from the Provost that “the University has already agreed to create a variety of new programs for ASEs, including a new child and dependent care subsidy program unavailable to any other WSU employee group.” Childcare is an issue in the WSU community and has been brought to the attention of administration numerous times and there has been little done to resolve the lack of access and increasing costs. ASEs will now have a child and dependent care subsidy of $2025 per semester and $1550 in summer term. Can WSU find ways to equitably support faculty and staff who also have a need for child and dependent care? ~Anonymous Faculty
Response
The Faculty Senate executive committee has investigated how childcare is funded at WSU and notes wide variation from campus to campus. As an example, the WSU Vancouver campus has a third-party provider for childcare on campus which offers a 20% discount to students, employees and faculty alike while Pullman and Spokane offer subsidies for students only and Everett and TriCities have no childcare agreements or provisions within the campus. We would appreciate hearing further from faculty on all campuses to provide further details regarding individual impact and how centralized policies might be suggested.
~Tracy Klein, Faculty Senate Chair Elect
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