20 years of Student Parents Services

As Portland State’s Student Parent Services celebrates its 20-year anniversary, its coordinator Lola Lawson reflects upon the milestones the program has reached along the way, including the installation of additional childcare equipment and an expansion of services.

SPS began in 1989 to promote a family-friendly campus and to serve as a student parent support program. It helps enrolled students obtain reliable childcare and financial assistance. According to Lawson, PSU was one of only five schools to receive the Childcare Supplement grant, which was a pilot program for the Oregon Student Childcare Grant Program.

Other need-based financial aid programs SPS offers include the Jim Sells Child Care Assistance Program, which awards childcare subsidies by term, and the Ron Ronacher Student Parent Emergency Loan Program, which provides emergency, interest-free loans to eligible PSU student parents.

“When students have financial assistance for their childcare, they have a better retention record and a better GPA,” Lawson said.

The SPS Web site provides information regarding on- and off-campus childcare resources, as well as referral networks to childcare providers in Washington and Oregon. In addition, it provides student parents with tips about what to look for in a daycare center in order to guarantee the right placement of their children.

Lawson also looks toward community resources when helping student-parents.

“In this economy, more and more parents have been desperate for things like rental assistance, utility assistance, and food,” Lawson said. SPS also refers students to pediatric and mental health services, as well as to parenting groups in the community.

“Trying to link them with those resources both on and off campus is what I do because they don’t have the time to do it,” explained Lawson.

SPS has implemented several student parent amenities throughout campus.

“One of the things we were able to achieve last year was to have a family study group in the library, and we’re negotiating a family friendly computer lab,” Lawson said.

The program also takes part in clothing exchanges and lends out materials related to childcare, including books on child development, family communication, and single parenting.

With the help of Mark Russell, manager of Smith Memorial Student Union’s Auxiliary Services, SPS has reserved an area in SMSU as a nursing station. It was established after an altercation occurred between a PSU student-parent and another student in a restroom. The nursing station is located in the women’s lounge, on the third floor of SMSU.

“Something needed to be done for the safety of the students,” said Melinda Olsen, an undergraduate student-parent.

According to Lawson, SPS is also working toward establishing more changing tables in both the men’s and women’s restrooms, and to obtain more booster seats in SMSU’s cafeteria.

“[SPS] has helped me stay in school. I’ve been able to get help from Lola on various issues, whether it be about a class or with a childcare grant,” said undergraduate student-parent Ruth Whited, who has worked with Lawson for three years as a work-study student.

“This is a safe place for students to come to cry if they need to. We’ve listened to a lot of stories,” Whited said .

SPS is located in SMSU, room 124, near The Children’s Center. For more information, visit their Web site at www.sps.pdx.edu or call their office at 503-725-5655.