Questions arise surrounding available resources for student parents

The office of Division of Enrollment and Student Affairs is in Bellevue Hall on Summerville. (photo by Elizabeth Janiak)

By Elizabeth Janiak | Contributor

For Jocelyn Bogden, a junior English major with a minor in Communications, being a mother of three girls means nightly studies after the kids have gone to bed and many sleepless nights. For her to keep up with the workload from school, she has to work harder.

“There is definitely a difference between being a student with children and a student without children. It means more responsibility and more priorities,” she said, “I have people to worry about other than myself.”

Although Bogden is grateful for professors who are flexible with her unpredictable timetable, she still wonders why the daycare was abolished from Augusta University.

At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Augusta University shut down the childcare system for students due to lack of funding and has not been revitalized since.

Problems arose for the student-mother as she explained that when she first got accepted to AU, she was put on a waiting list for the daycares in her area.

“Out here it is impossible to get in,” she said.

Bogden even considered bringing in her youngest child to class one day when struggling to find support.

“I almost brought her, but I was afraid teachers wouldn’t allow her to be there,” she said.

The struggles for students, like Bogden, are exactly what the faculty and staff at the Augusta University Division of Enrollment and Student Affairs strive to relieve.

“There are student parents who we help, but it usually has to do with withdrawals from classes,” said Student Assistant Corinne Knight. “Or, this just came into my mind, when they tell me that their kid has Covid and are missing classes.”

Knight said that the department usually has a staff member who could help traditional and parent students alike that used to check on the wellbeing of students saying their job was to “call the students to see how they are doing.” Unfortunately, the position is currently vacant as they are in search for a new hopeful.

Questions arise surrounding the number of resources that are available in support of student parents and what solutions could help alleviate the struggles of these parents within the Augusta University system.

Knight states she is unsure of why the childcare was abolished and why it has not been revitalized again, yet she suggests that the Division of Enrollment and Student Affairs could “create a position for the department specifically to help oversee parents.”

“I don’t believe the university system has enough resources for parents,” said Bogden.

Yet, her solution is not unlike those that were attained during the height of the pandemic.

“Record the class lectures,” she said, “I wish more classes were like that.”

She recounted a moment with a professor who was aware of her predicament, as they were also a parent themselves and offered Bogden the option to watch the class either live or in her own time, through the recording of her lecture and discussion.

“She was very understanding of my situation and told me not to worry,” Bogden said. “She understood that there is a life outside of school.”

Contact Elizabeth Janiak at eschneid@augusta.edu.

This story is published in the Monday, April 18, 2022 print edition of The Bell Ringer.