Citing a lack of high-quality, affordable child care available to employees and students [at Iowa State University] as a "critical problem," President Wendy Wintersteen formed a task force last fall to study the issue. A report with recommendations is expected in March.

Kristi Darr, interim vice president for university human resources, said the report will include both short-term and long-term recommendations. Darr is serving as a task force co-chair with associate provost for faculty Dawn Bratsch-Prince and Graduate College associate dean Carolyn Cutrona.

"As the task force works through its recommendations, we have been focusing on creating strong community partnerships and talking about how to sustain the momentum from the group," Darr said. "Appropriately addressing the childcare needs is not a 'one-size-fits-all' solution. It will take a collaborative effort over a long period of time to address the needs that we have as a community."

The task force is reviewing recommendations from the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, a report compiled by a faculty experience workgroup, and input from the university child care committee and ISU's child care and family resources (CCFR) office, including its 2015 feasibility study. Child care access also was a common issue identified in the 2017 campus climate survey.