Associated Students, Inc. will vote today on two measures that it hopes will aid in its search for a long-term solution to the fiscally inefficient children?s center.

Last week ASI passed a package of budget cuts that included phasing out the Children?s Center evening program. This week the board will vote on proposed legislation that it hopes will find alternatives to the closure of the evening program.

The proposed legislation comes after protests to the elimination of the Children?s Center evening program by parents, students, and faculty during the September 13 ASI board meeting.

The proposed measures will increase feedback from the Parent Advisory Committee, granting PAC the responsibility for making recommendations to the board of directors concerning the financial efficiency of the Children?s Center.

The second proposal will authorize Vice President Chris Missick to create the task force. The Parent Issues Work Team will look into broad-based issues that affect student-parents campus-wide.

If the measures pass, ASI President Jason Bryant will make good on a promise he made last week to create a task force to look into solutions to the closure and address concerns of parents.

One possible solution that ASI will consider is to transition the current evening educational program into an evening care program.

“The time has come for this transition,” said Carol Ackerson, executive director of ASI. Shifting the evening program from an educational one to simply a care program would be far more economically feasible and could possibly solve the Center?s financial difficulties altogether, according to Ackerson.

“We currently operate an evening preschool, and it?s very expensive because of the staff and license that are needed; transitioning to a care program would be less expensive.” Ackerson said.

Ackerson has also asked her assistant, the Children?s Center?s former director Pat Worley, to help Terri Mahan, the Center?s new director, to research the legal responsibilities and license needed to transform the educational program into a care program.

Ackerson said that the board will be considering numerous options and is open to ideas. Other legislation the board will vote on will be a number of appointment positions to the Academic Related Activity Committee, the Council for University Planning and the Campus Safety Committee. Also, Bryant hopes to pass a motion to create a working board.

This will allow the board to meet to discuss legislation every Wednesday that the board does not have its regularly scheduled meeting. The board will not be able to vote on any bills, due to its three-day posting requirement.