University provided daycare facilities

[dLee_at_medicine at CCMAIL.LLU.EDU]

LLU has its own day-care center, which is actually run as a "ministry"
by the University SDA Church (the SDA church owns and greatly
influences LLU).  It also has a long waiting list.  Unfortunately, it
is also prohibitively expensive.  My wife and I checked in a few weeks
ago since our current baby-sitter is moving out-of-state next month,
and found that day-care for a 6-month-old and a two-year-old would
cost 25% more than my graduate stipend!  I realized quickly what a
disincentive it is for women to return to graduate school after a few
years off for child-bearing if the stipend doesn't even cover
day-care :-(

We are currently looking into forming a daycare "co-op" with friends
who are in similar circumstances.  The parents will rotate weekday
baby-sitting responsibilities.  Given 4 couples (4-6 kids), each
person would only have to rearrange for a weekend workday every other
week.

You might consider something similar in your department.

Dean Lee
dLee_at_medicine at ccmail.llu.edu