Where's Mom? She's at the Concordia Student Parents Centre

Malene Bodington can occasionally be seen on campus pushing a stroller carrying her 2-year-old son Marcus.

Outside of the daycares, it’s not every day that you see children on campus. Bodington soon learned that universities are not designed with children in mind. For two years, Malene was one of Concordia’s estimated 5,000 students with dependent children.

Student parents are an often overlooked segment of university populations.

When the term “student parents” is used, most people think of the parents of university students, not students themselves. These students face special challenges and barriers to their studies including increased financial strain, time management problems, higher stress and role strain, and few childcare options to suit their needs.

“Children become more and more time consuming for the parents. They become a major distraction and your energy gets focused elsewhere,” notes Bodington.

The challenges she faced juggling school with parenthood were sometimes overwhelming. “I felt very alone. I was struggling and feeling a lot of guilt about not getting work done, and had I met others in the same situation I might not have felt so terrible. Feeling like I wasn’t the only one would have helped.”

Dean of Students Elizabeth Morey recognized these challenges and developed the Concordia University Student Parents Centre (CUSP), which formally opened its doors in April 2009.

The centre provides a child-friendly space where students can study, write papers, or connect with other student parents. In its first year, CUSP welcomed 200 members and developed several programs including a support group, two internship opportunities, a workshop series, a babysitting club, and summer camp subsidies for student parents. It also organized monthly cookouts for student parents and their children with food donations from Mourelatos.

“CUSP will maintain the programming offered last year, but it will also offer study days, monthly activities such as excursions, and we are hoping to encourage student parents to start their own association,” beams Morey.

After graduating in April, Bodington was hired to conduct a university-funded research project on the profile and needs of student parents at Concordia. She encourages students to take the time to respond to the survey, expected to be sent out in the coming weeks.

Student parents can visit CUSP online or in person at 2150 Bishop St., room 200, call 514-848-2424, ext. 5954 or send an email.