The 3,700-square-foot, pre-fabricated building, to be located on St. Rita's Way near Baird Point, will serve up to 60 children.

The UB center will continue to operate its South Campus facility, which serves 110 children.

The South Campus center is licensed by the state Department of Children and Family Services and is one of only a handful of child-care centers in Erie County that is accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs.

The North Campus center is being developed jointly by the UB Child Care Center and the university, both of which will contribute to the center's start-up costs. The center's operating costs will be funded by tuition and grants, primarily from SUNY Central Administration and New York State Labor/Management. The university will cover the cost of utilities and maintenance.

"The development of the North Campus Child Care Center will significantly expand existing day-care services for members of the UB community," said President William R. Greiner. "UB continues to be a regional leader in providing on-site child-care services to members of our campus community."

Howard Lasker, professor of biological sciences and president of the center's board of directors, noted that "a tremendous number of individuals" at the center and in the UB community worked hard over many years toward the goal of opening a child-care center on the North Campus.

"It's wonderful that those efforts are beginning to bear fruit," he said. "We're extraordinarily proud of the care the center staff provides our children and we're really excited we're going to extend the opportunity for child care at UB to more families."

Dennis Black, interim vice president of student affairs and the university's liaison with the child-care center, echoed Greiner's and Lasker's comments.

"Day care got off to a great start on the South Campus more than a decade ago, and since that time the university has been asking when a similar service will be available on the North Campus," Black said. "Today, we've been able to answer that question: this fall."

The need for expanded child-care facilities-and specifically a site on the North Campus-has been an issue on campus for many years.

In 1994, a blue-ribbon panel studying the issue concluded there was a pressing need for child-care facilities on the North Campus.

Moreover, a survey of faculty, staff and graduate assistants by the child-care center's board of directors in Fall 1996 underscored the need, finding that one-quarter of respondents-376 families-expressed an immediate need for child care, and 40 percent more stated they would have used the service if it had been available when they needed it.

The President's Task Force on Women at UB recommended in August 1996 that "adequate child-care facilities should be provided on campus to meet existing demand," finding that "improved child care was an extremely urgent priority for women of all UB constituencies." The task force's report identified a North Campus day-care center as "a very pressing need."

The day-care issue "is especially important because day care is an amenity that affects all members of the community, men as well as women," added Bernice Noble, professor of microbiology and co-chair of the task force.

The new center will feature two infant rooms, serving children from ages 6 weeks to 18 months; two toddler rooms, serving children ages 18 months to 3 years, and one pre-school room for children 3-5 years of age.

Tamar Meyer, director of the South Campus center who also will oversee the North Campus site, noted that about half of the slots at the new center will be filled by families who choose to transfer their children from the South Campus center. The rest of the slots, and available slots at the South Campus site, will be filled by families who are on a waiting list. About 100 families are on the waiting list.

Tuition costs at the center are based on a sliding-fee scale, and some financial aid is available for students, Meyer said.

Once the North Campus site is up and running, center officials will consider the possibility of expanding services to include after-school care and drop-in care, she said.

The modular facility will serve North Campus child-care needs for the next several years, Black and Lasker said, while long-term plans are developed to build permanent facilities on both campuses.

The building that has housed the South Campus center for 13 years was erected as a temporary structure.