I have an additional question that perhaps Dr. Friedl can answer:

While the lab programs provided by the Children's Center for 300+ Early
Childhood Education majors does not COST money, what money does it save?  I
know that our department must allocate significant resources to coordinate
(find, issue contracts, schedule, supervise, communicate) student field
placements (clinical practicums and internships).  The resources are not a
fixed dollar amount, rather they are personnel resources (faculty and staff).
Perhaps there are some old numbers available to see what resources UTC had
to provide when the Children's Center did not provide this valuable
educational service.


At 02:27 PM 3/18/2004 -0800, Amye Warren wrote:
>I agree that the budget pressure is external and ask that we try to direct
>it there rather than at one another.  But as others have persuasively
>argued, as we must make difficult decisions within the academic side of the
>budget, there should be similar attention paid to the non-academic budget,
>and I hope that additional information about those decision making
>processes (not just the final decisions) will be forthcoming.
>
>Specific to my concerns about the Children's Center, I appreciate the
>additional information provided by Provost.  However, it does not answer my
>questions.  Again, I want to know if we are comparing apples to apples.  So
>the number of children served at UTK or UT Martin is not sufficient.  What
>kind of programs do they have?  (full-day, all year, infants and young
>children versus after-school?),  Where does their money come from? (Are
>directors paid from faculty positions or does all salary come from the
>Children's Center budget lines).  The same for the local child care centers
>selected for comparison (and why were those selected?).  We can tell
>whether or not they serve infants and we know their weekly fees.  However,
>what is the quality and training of their staff?  What wages do they
>pay?  Do they provide benefits?  What is their rating and/or are they
>accredited?  Whether or not we can determine a specific $$ amount it costs
>"extra" to run the Children's Center as a lab school, it is clear to me
>that a large part of that "extra" cost is likely to be the higher wages and
>benefits we MUST provide our staff if they are to serve as models for best
>practices.
>
>Amye Warren

Nancy Fell, PT, PhD, NCS
Assistant Professor
Department of Physical Therapy
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37403

(423)425-2240 Phone
(423)425-2215 Fax
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