Student parents struggle to find their place on campus

Esteban Carrasco is constantly running from his University Park South dorm, he runs to classes, different on-campus meetings and then back home to check up on his son. During a short break in his busy schedule, he recalled three students saying: “You’re the guy that’s running all the time. Take it easy.”

On top of his full-time class schedule, Carrasco also dedicates some of his time as the treasurer of the Student Parent Union at San Francisco State University. The club was founded by the organization’s president, Katarina Argandar back in 2023 to create more visibility and resources, as well as mobilize the community for a student-parent space on campus. 

Both of them are single parents. Carrasco has a 13-year-old son and Argandar has a 3-year-old daughter. Based on their experiences on campus, the club organizers have been adamant about the necessity for a dedicated facility that caters to the needs of student parents. 

This facility would include a space for student parents to study with their children as well as a centralized hub for resources including a lactation room, breast pumps and children’s books. While some of these resources can be found in the Health Promotion & Wellness department, the lack of centralization can make it difficult for students to access them.

“They’re very hard to navigate,” Argandar said. “Sometimes it can be a little difficult as a student parent because we have so much on our plate. We don’t always have the time to do the extensive research to try to find everything online.”

Carrasco’s motivation for a dedicated facility comes from his struggles to find accommodations for his son. His son has a rare genetic disorder, adrenoleukodystrophy, which makes him high risk for cardiac failure and necessitates remote schooling. Therefore, Carrasco must spend most hours of the day with his son, leading to difficulties in finding places that can accommodate his son.

“I went to the library with my son. We got shushed and I thought, ‘Okay, I’m supposed to be with my son, right?’ But there’s no place currently accommodating us,” Carrasco said.

Currently, the Early Childcare Education Center is one offered on campus to student parents. The facility provides childcare and preschool services for children from infants to 5 years old and can serve up to 100 families. Argandar sends her daughter to ECEC, however Carrasco’s son exceeds their age limit. 

“Our priorities are student parents, the parent that is in need of childcare,” said Alejandro Rios, the executive director for AS.

According to Rios, because the ECEC’s tuition is set on a sliding scale based on a student’s income, the facility counters childcare costs by receiving grants from both the city and federal governments. He says while 75% of the facility’s capacity is reserved for students, the ECEC also sets aside 25% of its facility for children of SFSU faculty and community members.

One of the most utilized resources by the student parents in the SPU has been Food+Shelter+Success, SFSU’s Basic Needs initiative within the Health Promotion & Wellness department. 

FSS provides assistance such as emergency meal cards, emergency rent assistance grants, and hygiene/child care. HPW also provides parents with free nursing equipment, diapers and snacks.

In Fall 2023, it was mandated that CSUs offer priority registration for parents. This required student parents to self-report their status as parents, which helped the university get more comprehensive data from parents on campus. Using this information, HPM reached out to parents and found out what assistance they need on campus. According to Karen Boyce, director of HPW, 716 students self-reported as parents in Spring 2024. 

The SPU found some success in its journey to establish a resource center for parents on campus. Talks with the J. Paul Leonard Library have led to a child-friendly area in the library’s study commons. SPU hopes to have space for a more dedicated center sometime in the future.

“There is hope and a plan for the future of having a designated space in the library just for parenting students. That has been postponed because of various construction projects that are going on around campus [and] have made the space in the library that we were hoping to use temporarily unavailable,” Boyce said.

While that space is in talks, the library is planning to launch a program in which students can rent out toys and other items. This new program has yet to set a launch date.

“They’re called kid kits, and it’s part of a program that the library is doing called The Library of Things — so that you can go to the library and not just check out books or get help with your research — but you could check out puzzles, or you could check out a study kit or sensory kit or games or kid kits,” Boyce said.

The SPU meets every Monday at noon in the library. The group is still awaiting any confirmation of plans for a dedicated facility for student parents.

“We understand other parents with their children. We have that common bond,” Carrasco said. “We’re all really just trying to be with our kids, to find a place where we can finally build that community without struggling with where we fit in. Where do we fit in?”