University of Nevada Child & Family Research Center

There are some great things about CFRC, including some very dedicated teachers and long-​term assistant teachers. It’s also very convenient (particularly if one works/​studies on the south end of campus). Parking can be easy, but can be a nightmare.
There are some jarringly bad things about CFRC.
First, CFRC is there to train those in UNR’s child development program. With it’s paucity of spots, in no way can it ever be a real child care option to UNR’s large body of faculty, staff, and student families. It does serve special-​needs kids of Washoe county on a limited, afternoon basis.
Second, perhaps due to the first point above, CFRC makes no attempt to target the parts of the UNR community that most need the convenience or reduced costs it provides. Unlike other campus child care programs (the University of Oregon, for example), student families have no priority for enrollment (though they can take advantage of an income-​based sliding scale). Despite published policies, those families who are allowed to enroll are often loosely associated with UNR (for example working for an agency or organization with an on-​campus office, yet no UNR paycheck). Worse, families with an existing child in CFRC are allowed first choice in enrolling younger children even after neither parent is affiliated with UNR (in some cases several years later). Policy updates may eventually appear in CFRC’s official handbook, but for years (and likely still) they thumbed their nose at their own rules (according to several sources, this was a huge improvement over a previous enrollment director who simply offered spots to her friends!). The effect this has is that it is virtually impossible to enroll a first child for whom a space was not reserved when the child was newly in-​utero. Okay, perhaps not impossible: you may get a spot 3 – 4 years later, at which point you are likely already established in another child care center. Or you may find a spot in their less-​in-​demand kindergarten program for your older child, allowing your younger child to jump to the front of the line. I know personally of several families who went this route; resulting in enrollment for two or more children over the course of 6 months while other families had waited for 4 years without enrollment.
Third, consistent with the nepotism shown to existing, almost completely non-​student, and often ex-(if ever)-UNR-affiliated families, CFRC teachers and administrators appear over-​accommodating of poor behaviors of some of their long-​term students (often older or younger siblings of current or past CFRC children). The same sorts of repeated behaviors from a Washoe County student would almost certainly result in removal from CFRC (which I observed). The unfortunate effect of this over-​accommodation is an essential «robbing» of staff attention by CFRC teachers and assistants that could be more evenly distributed among students without (or with far fewer) behavioral issues. Parents of children without these issues essentially pay the same for less.
With a growing UNR faculty and student body, it’s time for the College of Education to get real about providing a child care option that both fairly and adequately serves the UNR community. Unfortunately, from all appearances, the administration of CFRC seems happy with the dysfunctional status quo.

Updates:
We now have a front door with automatic open and key code/​key card entry. Yay!
We ow have a nutrition policy due to a new rating system we’re participating in.
You can subscribe to a google calendar with closure reminders.
Part time spots are no-​longer an option for new-​enrollments.
Furloughs are slated to end in the 2015 – 2016 school year, which may allow the center to close for fewer days for professional development, etc. Cost to send your child anyway and have student workers watch the kids is $ 50 per child.