Back to School! Student Parent Writing Groups - Autumn 2015

The new quarter is almost upon us, and so is a new season of Student Parent Writing Groups. Student Parent Writing Groups (SPWGs) offer a supportive space for you to make progress on your writing/research while free childcare is provided in the Family Resource Center. SPWG's are funded by Student Government and Grad Council and run by student volunteers. In order to continue making Writing Groups possible, we need your input and your help!

- First, we need input: what days/ dates and times would Writing Groups be most beneficial for your family? Possible times include weekday afternoons and Saturdays (morning or afternoon). Respond to me at clairenadine @ uchicago.edu with your preferences.

- Second, many hands make WG's light work. Tasks include scheduling babysitters, communicating with FRC staff, registering parents, pointing WG's, funding applications, and ordering refreshments. Some of these are very light, and volunteers get priority registration as well as more say in the scheduling of WG's! Respond to me (not the list) if you are interested in helping out. Writing Groups will not be possible this quarter unless we get enough volunteers. 

Student Parent Group Writing Sessions

The Student Parent Group (SPG) has just released the schedule of planned writing groups for this quarter. You can sign up for one or more of these sessions here.

In order to sign up, you need to be a registered student at the University of Chicago (undergraduate or graduate), and also to have completed your registration at the Family Resource Center, where the childcare takes place.  

About the SPG Writing Group:

The SPG, the registered student organisation for student parents on campus, developed the Writing Groups to provide an opportunity for student parents to get work done in a supportive environment, with free childcare if needed. Children are cared for by experienced babysitters  at the Family Resource Center (now located in the WSSC Building at 950 E. 61st St), while parents get academic work done in a dedicated room in the same building. Parents are asked to remain in the building during the sessions, so that they can be easily reached by babysitters with any questions or concerns. 

Childcare for the student parent writing groups is provided by undergraduate and graduate students (mostly the former), all of whom are CPR-certified and have experience with childcare in various settings (babysitting, summer camps, etc). The child to carer ratio is 3:1.

Childcare is provided in the Family Resource Center, which is a safe and well equipped with a collection of toys and books mostly targeted for babies and children aged 0-8. Although we have not specified a minimum age for the children participating in these sessions, it should be noted that our childcarers do not necessarily have experience in caring for infants.

To register for one or more sessions, please see  here.  We will do our best to accommodate everyone's schedule, so do let us know in the comments section if you have a preference between available dates, because we expect a high demand and thus may not be able to register you for all the dates you request.

Please contact me (email: florajroberts@uchicago.edu) if you have any questions about logistics, childcare providers, or anything else.