The Urban Institute published a rubric on Oct. 18 to guide higher-education leadership in supporting student parents through inclusion, representation and data collection.

Kimberly Salazar, research assistant at Urban Institute and co-author of the rubric, said as a student parent she noticed a disconnect between universities and their student parent populations. This prompted the Urban Institute to create a tool for universities to assess their student parent engagement, she said.

“I had a lot of experience as a student parent (being) talked at and being looked at from a theoretical framework,” Salazar said.

The authors set four categories for student parent engagement: representation in change efforts and mentorship opportunities, inclusive spaces, involvement in data collection and interpretation and community-building support. 

Student parents are represented in the First-Year Experience Office’s non-traditional student advisory board, said Jeffrey Mayo, director of the First-Year Experience Office and university advisor of the Student Parent Organization. 

Mandy Vachon, a higher education master’s student and member of the Student Parent Organization, said the organization and the first-year experience office are helpful for resources and connection.

According to the rubric, spaces should meet specific criteria to be inclusive to student parents. They must include support of basic needs, childcare access or child inclusion in communal spaces and flexible or asynchronous program formats.

UT offers an on-campus daycare option, the UT Child Development Center, available to university faculty, staff and students. Vachon, who sends her two children to the center, said she appreciates the center’s staff and facilities. However, she said on-campus childcare is expensive.

“It costs more than our rent to pay for daycare at this point in time,” Vachon said. “It’s certainly a challenge, and it is why I decided to take out student loans to help support our family with those expenditures.”

Mayo said there are UT subsidies and federal grants available to assist students with paying for childcare.

However, space is limited in the center, said doctorate physics student Maile Marriott, graduate student representative of the Student Parent Organization. She said her child remained on a waitlist for three years until a spot became available.

UT offers priority registration for student parents in compliance with Texas state law. UT also offers some online and asynchronous classes, which is helpful for parents who commute or experience time poverty, or have no time.

“I think (more asynchronous or online courses) could really help non-traditional students, and especially those with children, participate more actively in class,” Vachon said. “I know I’ve missed class because my kiddos were sick.”

The University does not have public statistics about student parents, but will collect demographic and academic data about student parents in compliance with Texas legislation passed last year, Mayo said in an email. Marriott said another important factor for student parents is inclusivity on campus.

“I’d also like to see more conversation, more awareness in the student population because I think even students can be insensitive sometimes,” Marriott said. “I definitely got stared at a lot pushing a baby stroller on campus.”

Student parents are committed to education, and their success impacts the next generation, Mayo said.

“They have that extra motivation at home to succeed,” Mayo said. “They have a generation that is watching them as students and as Longhorns.”