Graduate Student Affinity Group Advocates for Parents and Caregivers at Rutgers—New Brunswick
Graduate students at Rutgers University—New Brunswick are a key part of our university campus: they contribute to cutting-edge research, teach and grade important university classes, and may even serve as full-time staff members at Rutgers, too.
Balancing academic and parenting responsibilities is not easy, especially given that national data shows student parents often feel that they do not have the necessary support to succeed. That’s where the Graduate Student Affinity Group Supporting Parents and Caregivers at Rutgers (SPCR) fits in.
SPCR, founded in spring 2021, emerged from the efforts of graduate student parents who recognized the potential for Rutgers to better serve its parenting students. Since its founding, SPCR has centered three main goals: to connect graduate student parents and caregivers with each other, to direct them to relevant university resources, and to advocate for the needs of graduate student parents and caregivers at departmental and university-wide levels.
Tracy Youngster and Emily Hanselman, two former co-presidents of SPCR instrumental in these changes, were determined to make Rutgers—New Brunswick a more supportive environment for students like them.
“I found it difficult to juggle my graduate work with caring for two infants, especially with the heavy cost of childcare,” said Hanselman. “I was searching for community among other parenting students and joined SPCR to try and make Rutgers a better place for parenting students.”
Youngster, who co-founded the group, had similar motivations for engaging in this work.
“I couldn’t afford childcare, and the COVID shutdown happened when my kid was one year old,” Youngster said. “That was super tough, and when I came out the other end of it, I started looking around at Rutgers for organizations or resources for graduate student parents, and I couldn’t find anything.”
SPCR grew slowly at first, then gained more traction with the Spring 2023 Rutgers-AAUP strike, which brought more attention to graduate student parents. Today, offices within the Division of Student Affairs are working closely with SPCR to implement changes that directly improve the student experience for graduate students with caregiving responsibilities.
Beginning in fall 2023, SPCR has partnered with key university offices such as the Office of Graduate Student Life and the Title IX Office.
The Title IX Office, led by associate dean Dr. Amy Miele, actively supports parenting students by visiting all lactation space on campus annually to ensure they meet standards, revamping Title IX’s website to better assist pregnant and parenting students, and hosting trainings for faculty and staff on how to best support pregnant and parenting students.
Molly Rynn, assistant director for support and accommodations within the Title IX Office offered insight on the collaboration that SPCR has engaged in over the past year, as well as the importance of the affinity group.
“I was first introduced to SPCR in fall 2023, when we attended their welcome breakfast to promote and share information about pregnancy accommodations available through Title IX,” Rynn said. “Over the past year, we’ve been working together to make the New Brunswick campus more welcoming for pregnant, parenting, and caregiver students.”
The Office of Graduate Student Life (OGSL) also offers vital support and ensures the voices and needs of graduate student parents are heard. The OGSL supports SPCR events, consults with their leaders, and has also posted a comprehensive list of resources for graduate student parents on its website to provide a one-stop webpage for resources, services and support within Rutgers and community partners.
Assistant dean Ghada Endick has been a champion for SPCR and their advocacy and community building efforts, emphasizing the need for dedicated support systems that meet the unique needs of parenting and caregiving graduate students.
“Pursuing graduate studies is challenging, and having a child while completing a graduate program is even more challenging,” said Endick. “It is critical for graduate student parents to be in community and to support one another, and SPCR is integral to that.”
“The Division of Student Affairs, in partnership with SPCR and our graduate and professional schools,” Endick continued, “is also committed to supporting success for our graduate student parents through strategies and support systems that will allow them to reach graduation and thrive in their time at Rutgers.”
This September, the Office of Graduate Student Life planned an inaugural set of events in honor of National Student Parent Month, including an informational session on the rights and resources available to pregnant and parenting graduate students, as well as an appreciation initiative that encouraged faculty, staff and peers to submit notes of encouragement and empowerment to student parents.
SPCR, for its part, hosted events such as a back-to-school lunch and an information session to welcome and build community for new and continuing students. Moving forward, its current co-presidents, Halimat Oyeneye and Aila Inaba, are optimistic about the future of their organization and continued collaboration with the offices of Graduate Student Life and Title IX.
“Our vision is to work collectively towards effective solutions that improve the experience of graduate student parents and caregivers,” Oyeneye said. “This includes advocating for more accessible childcare options, more flexible academic policies, and additional mental health resources tailored to student parents.”
SPCR has come quite far since Spring 2021—and, with the recruitment of new graduate student leaders, collaboration from university offices, and support from Rutgers—New Brunswick, it is far from finished in taking steps to support students who are balancing the demands of academia and parenthood.
“We will continue to raise awareness about our unique challenges as students, foster a sense of community among student parents and caregivers at Rutgers, and ensure that no student parent or caregiver feels alone or unsupported in their graduate school journey,” Oyeneye said.
To learn more about and join SPCR, you can click here. You can click here to join their mailing list, and you can click the following to access their email, website, and X (formerly known as Twitter) handle. Donations to SPCR can be made here with a fund name of “Rutgers Parents Fund (General Donation).” To learn more about graduate student affinity groups, you can click here. To read our previous article on the Graduate Student Association (GSA), you can click here.
