As MTSU students, faculty and staff attend to their responsibilities each day, some may rest assured that their children are attended to by caring professionals on campus.

Others may find that current child care options might not have space available or match their needs.

A forum for expressing ideas for possible improvements and revisions to on-campus child care is slated for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, in the MTSU Child Development Center’s Conference Room 111, 820 Fairview Ave., in Murfreesboro.

The public is welcome to attend this free opportunity to explore the challenges and opportunities presented by the need to tend to the MTSU community’s youngsters.

Children at MTSU’s Child Care Lab sit captivated while adults show them simple science experiments in this file photo. (Submitted photo)

Dr. Leigh Anne Clark, MTSU professor of management, is using the event as a teachable moment by involving students in her “Not-for-Profit Management” class in its planning.

“My students are excited to develop proposals for expanding the child care options for MTSU students that improve a student’s ability to succeed,” Clark said.

“There is no better way for my students to learn the material than to apply what they have learned in a real situation. This project allows them to do so.”

Clark’s class and the MTSU President’s Commission on the Status of Women are co-sponsors of the forum.

“This is certainly not the first time this issue has been discussed and researched on campus,” said Dr. Samantha Cantrell, commission chair and proposal development specialist in the Office of Research Services.

“Our goal with this forum is to be sure we keep the conversation going. Anyone who is not able to come is still welcome to send comments on this topic to pcsw@mtsu.edu.”

Child care options available on campus include the MTSU Child Care Lab, which is open to children ages 3-5; the MTSU Child Development Center, which serves children ages 1-5; and Project Help, Rutherford County’s only specialized inclusive preschool for young children with and without developmental delays.

Further information about all MTSU child care facilities, as well as off-campus child care options, is available at www.mtsu.edu/pcsw/childcare_Dir/childcare.php.

Refreshments will be provided. Child care will be available for children ages 18 months to 5 years old, but arrangements must be made by 4:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, by contacting Cantrell at 615-494-8751 or samantha.cantrell@mtsu.edu.

Requests for child care will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis. Children of other ages are welcome as long as they remain with their parents during the forum.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)