New UNC student organization offers options and opportunities for student parents

As a student, there is already a ton of work to do– from attending classes, to meeting with professors and faculty, reading books, researching, and more. Imagine adding on the responsibilities of parenthood. This is what the members of UNC’s Student Parent Association (SPA) encounter. They must learn to balance both the identities and responsibilities of being a student, as well as a parent. As their Facebook page states, SPA is for those who fit the description of, “Juggling diapers /tantrums /science fair projects & books? You’re a full time parent & full time student & no one (including you sometimes) knows how you do it.” SPA is a newly founded student organization that provides resources, peer support, and social networking to student parents.

 

The idea of a student organization focusing on student parent issues was suggested in August 2007 by Donna Bickford, the director of UNC’s Women’s Center. Corrie Piontak, a mother of two boys and a graduate student in the Health Policy and Management department at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, immediately took interest and initiated the foundation of the Student Parent Association. Originally conceived as an organization that provides resources for student parents, SPA has now evolved to fit the needs of its members through various programs and services, and, as of this year, will become an official UNC student organization.The Student Parent Association has grown in size as awareness of the organization has increased. There are now 80 members on the listserv and 61 members on the SPA Facebook page. SPA has several forms of communication and outreach, from their listserv to the Facebook page, Google Group and the Tarheel Mommies Message Board -which serves as a means of online discussion. Members of SPA include students not only in the School of Public Health, but also the Pharmacy and Medical School. While the name of the organization is “Student” Parent Association, SPA core leadership stress that SPA is not exclusive to students but open to staff and post-docs.

May S. Li Shih, a Pharmacy student who is part of the SPA leadership team, states: “For student parents, time is of the essence. You want to do a lot, but you might not have the time.” Through SPA, she found others who shared the same difficulties and was able to form, “a fellowship.”. SPA works closely with UNC’s Women’s Center and Office of Human Resources. SPA provides several opportunities for student parents through parenting resource guides and a Childcare Cooperative. The Childcare Cooperative, which is moderated by another SPA leadership team member, Lilah Besser, “allows parents to swap childcare based on a point system.” The Childcare Cooperative provides an opportunity for members to “save money, get to know other UNC parents, and introduce their kids to others of a similar age.”

As a new official UNC student organization, SPA is already on its way to success! Built on a solid foundation with great organization and good leadership, SPA is eagerly welcoming “UNC students who are parenting, pregnant or planning a pregnancy, and offers options and opportunities.” For more information, check out their Facebook page: UNC SPA (Student Parent Association).

For more information on the Student Parent Association and their events, please check out their Facebook page: UNC SPA(Student Parent Association).