In this great big university, it is the little ones who matter most to us. Gifts to campus child care touch many young lives and have a lasting impact on the UW early childhood and education community. Your support makes it possible for children of UW students, faculty, and staff to thrive in top-notch learning environments; ensure that struggling student parents stay on the path to degree completion; assists lower-income University Staff employees with the cost of child care; and empower our early educators to achieve their vast potential. Science confirms what our common sense already knows — that investing in the early years creates human and economic capital essential to successful futures.
Where will your gift make the greatest impact? Make a difference now and in generations to come.
If you have questions please contact Cigdem Unal, Director of the Office of Child Care & Family Resources at cigdem.unal@wisc.edu.
The Children's Journal
A bi-annual newsletter with news and updates about campus child care.
Our Funds
Student Child Care Scholarship Grant
Student parents experience many challenges over the course of their university career. Multiple stressors or unforeseen events (change in family structure, natural disasters) can undermine their ability to complete their studies and/or cover the cost of their child’s care. Support student parents during times of crisis with a gift to this fund that provides direct financial assistance to qualifying student parents.
University Staff Child Care Grant
Quality early education and care is expensive, yet it has a dramatic impact on the development of young children. It is well known that children who participate in high-quality settings have higher language and cognitive skills and that their ability to regulate behavior prior to public school enrollment is an indicator of academic success. This fund was established to help University Staff manage the high cost of child care when emergency situations place unexpected financial burdens on the family. This one-time grant helps families get back on track, with the goal of preventing disruption in care for the child, and ensuring continuity in job attendance and performance for the employee.
New Campus Child Care Initiatives
Launch new curriculum and create top-notch learning environments with a gift to the New Initiatives Fund. This fund supports major campus child care initiatives such as expansion projects for infant and toddler care to increase enrollment capacity, new playground designs, or large equipment purchases that fall outside of a center’s budget.
Lynn E. Edlefson Fund for Early Education Advancement
The purpose of this fund is to support early education students who participate in full-semester practicums at one of the five child care and early education centers. Qualifying students may be eligible for a scholarship grant from this fund. In addition, this fund will support campus early educators and professionals working at the five child care and early education centers who wish to pursue career advancement opportunities in their field. Qualifying employees may apply for grants for professional development or for educational degree advancement.
Connie L. Wilson Center Grant Fund
This fund ensures that professional development activities with nationally known experts keep our campus early education professionals strong, credentialed, and informed and that cutting-edge resources and program needs of the center are within reach. Connie L. Wilson, with her extended family, created this fund to support the operational needs of UW child care centers.
Office of Child Care & Family Resources Fund
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent campus child care center closures, our office established a new fund to assist our centers with lost income. Center budgets rely on tuition for economic survival and allow for little contingency. With low enrollment levels, current tuition intake does not begin to pay the bills. The financial effects of this crisis will ripple outward for the unforeseeable future. It is critical to support our centers and their staff during this difficult period and to ensure that they serve the needs of campus families.
This office made it possible for me to attend grad school and work, it also made it possible for my partner to work to support our family. Thanks to CCTAP we were able to find a licensed and certified provider that we could afford. The Office of Child Care and Family Resources is an ESSENTIAL part of the UW-Madison experience for any student who has young children.
Linda O.