The university’s child care services and educational programs will expand starting next year as part of a proposal discussed at the Associated Students Finance Committee on Monday.

David Crandall, A.S. general manager, said the project is slated to begin sometime next year after the student government approves its budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The budget approval discussions will start sometime after the first week of January.

Crandall expects the project will receive matching funds from corporations and public agencies once larger amounts are collected. He said for every $1 A.S. spends on this project, $2 would flow from matching sources.

The current $74 per student fee collected by the university’s financial services will not be used to fund the expected expansion on children services, Crandall said.

The A.S. Children’s Center serves as a child care facility for students and faculty. There are currently 19 full-time child care workers and one part-time worker. About 30 to 40 students work in this facility in order to gain experience in the field, said Jennifer de la Torre, assistant director of the child care center.

The center will expand in size and staff. However, the construction of a new building on the site isn’t expected.

The A.S. Children’s Center will hold a fundraiser on Oct. 12. About 750 former CSUN students will be invited. He expects that at least 250 alumni will show up, with their children and adult relatives. Food and drinks will be provided.

“This project will provide us with the really good opportunity to get funds from governments and corporations,” Crandall said. “We also need to get different inputs to get reviews to focus on the costs of this project.”

The child care program expansion will also fund the salaries of employees working on campus who may have the skills to develop designs and architectural plans for the facility.

Students will be able to work in the blueprint of the improved facility.

“We used to get funds to pay outside contractors, to pay legal fees, and others,” Crandall said.

In addition, the finance committee, composed of seven members, voted to allocate the funding of students projects ranging from Holocaust research trips to Dallas, Texas to a study field trip related to a tourism and recreational parks class.

If the A.S. Senate votes to approve the expense, Rob Shafer, a history graduate student, would receive $600 if only he and another student travel to the National Holocaust Museum to do research related to the subject. However, he would receive $1,600 if three other students make the trip with him. Shafer would complement travel and support expenses from a special allocation fund issued by the Academically Related Reserves Fund. Shafer’s group clinched at least $6,500 before the A.S. meeting.

Meanwhile, Kelly Smith, a recreational parks and tourism major, would receive $400 to pay travel and logging expenses for a five-day exploration trip to a public park in Indianapolis, if the A.S. Senate votes to approve the allocation that was made. She would study how tourism and sports activities are linked to public recreational parks.

“I didn’t know about this way of getting funds for studying projects,” Smith said. “If I get money for these project, it’ll be welcomed.”

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