DAYCARE
REPORT
People are most likely familiar with the adage “no news is good news,” and although I have been clinging to these words, I am not convinced that they apply to the daycare situation at Acadia. As a reminder, the Joint Committee on Daycare submitted a report to the Joint Committee in the spring. It was decided that the University would prepare a business plan related to establishing university daycare at Acadia, and a report was promised by October. There has been no report made available to AUFA at this time, although our members on the Joint Committee are continuing to request one. Meanwhile, Acadia administrators have been in negotiation with Wolfville Children’s Centre; the daycare currently leasing space from Acadia, and providing daycare for some faculty, staff and students. Eric Alcorn has been actively involved in this process, attempting to negotiate a deal with the University that would see Wolfville Children’s Centre expand and provide some dedicated spaces for children of students, faculty and staff. Although these negotiations are outside the mandate of the Joint Committee for Daycare, it is possible that a solution could be reached that would fulfill the recommendations outlined in the Daycare Committee Report, while helping to maintain the financial viability of Wolfville Children’s Centre. These negotiations, however, should not be viewed as a substitute for the University’s report outlining a business plan for establishing a daycare on campus. We need, therefore, to continue to press the administration to follow through with its commitment to thoroughly examine the feasibility of establishing university daycare – we need the ‘no news’ to become ‘good news’- and sooner, rather than later!
Darlene Brodeur