In addition to fixing burst pipes, doing work around the high rises and renovating buildings, Facilities officials are working with graduate-student leaders on baby-changing tables.
In an effort to create a family-friendly environment for graduate students, Facilities and Real Estate Services plans to begin installing spaces for new parents around campus this semester.
Officials have ordered about five baby-changing tables to be installed around graduate student hubs at a cost of $600 each. A number of private health rooms -- temporary spaces that can provide seclusion for breast feeding or other private procedures -- are also slated for construction.
While there are not yet any estimates for the total cost of the initiative, the Office of the Provost has pledged to fund the program.
Several graduate student leaders initiated the project in an attempt to assist students who have children.
According to Graduate Student Center Director Anita Mastroieni, these issues have been on the agenda for graduate student leaders for the past three or four years. Last semester, the issue was finally brought to administrators' attention.
"The administration is aware of the special needs of graduate parents who require extra support ... and wants to make it as easy for them as possible," Mastroieni said.
Though the University does not have any official data on the total number of students with children, Mastroieni estimated 500 to 1,000 students -- between 5 and 10 percent of the graduate student population.
Senior Facilities Planner Dan Garofalo said that the diaper-changing stations are slated for installation as soon as they arrive. He added that Houston Hall and School of Medicine buildings are the few structures on campus that currently equipped with stations.
However, Garofalo added that officials are still in the planning stages of setting up the health rooms.
"Every square inch of a building is being competitively used," Garofalo said. "We need to be clever in creating a space that provides sufficient privacy ... but, when you're done, [is] available to everybody. ... It is a battle for resources."
While Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Chairwoman Lela Jacobsohn said that she expects to see results by the end of this semester, Garofalo did not provide a specific date.
According to Jacobsohn, the details of the project have been discussed with Facilities Services, and officials have already identified the buildings that will see the first round of installations.
This initiative is part of a larger project to create a family-supportive environment for graduate and professional students undertaken by GAPSA, the Graduate Student Center and the Graduate Student Associations Council.
Privacy please The following buildings will see the first set of 'private health rooms' on campus - Graduate Student Center - Graduate School of Education - Nursing Education Building - School of Social Policy and Practice -- Caster Building - Annenberg School for Communication - Houston Hall
