Members of the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) may soon be able to get in shape and have their children entertained at the same time.

The ARC may implement a morning and early evening babysitting program for members, said Campus Rec associate director Robyn Deterding.

The creation of the program is still up in the air, she said. The ARC’s Wellness Services department is researching programs from other campuses to see how these child care services are organized. Surveys are being sent out in October to potential users of the program to see if they are interested in enrollment.

Many faculty members have children, but even students are beginning to need child care services, Deterding said.

“We are seeing more students, mainly grad students, come to campus with children,” Deterding said. “The biggest issue is if people even want it.”

Deterding said they have received more than 200 responses to the surveys, with 59 percent of those responses being positive. Seventy-five percent of the positive responses are from faculty members and staff.

While some students may take advantage of the program, others are expected to babysit. Deterding said the ARC would likely hire students studying early child education. Since these students need hours to meet requirements for their degrees, they can work to earn them.

The program should provide more supervision for the children, said Dottie Squire, outreach coordinator for the Child Care Resource Service.

“I think it sounds like a great idea, but if students are still earning credit for their degree, there should be a more skilled person present who has an overall knowledge of child care,” Squire said. “You don’t want to hire a ‘Joe Schmo.'”

Besides hiring employees, Deterding said ARC must figure out the cost for members. According to the research that Wellness Services has conducted, other University programs charge their users about $3 to $5 an hour.

“We would hope (the program) would recoup the costs,” Deterding said.

For children ages 4 and older, the program would provide activities such as cooking at the instructional kitchen, yoga lessons and a rock climbing wall.

“When you travel like I did, it’s hard to get your kids in activities,” said Judith Flink, executive director of Student Financial Services and Cashier Operations for the University of Illinois system.

As a working parent, Flink said she put her children through child care that provided various activities.

“It’s nice to have your kids do things other than story time,” she said.

The possibility of the program will be reviewed by Wellness Services before it is presented to the Campus Recreation Advisory Committee. If passed, the program will go into effect in Spring 2010 at the earliest, Deterding said.

“It’s a genuine gesture (from the ARC) of a family friendly perk,” Squire said.