CSW Annual Report (2006-2007)

 

We would like to begin by thanking all our members and those from the Greater NAU Community who supported our efforts.  CSW met once a month between September 2006 and April 2007 with members to discuss its goals and agendas. Here some of that work is shared:

 

CSW Co-Sponsored Events in Spring 2007

January 2007:  Hotel Rwanda inspiration Paul Rusesabagina spoke at NAU on Saturday, January 27th, 2007 to help raise awareness about genocide and to raise funds for survivors of the war in Rwanda. About 80% of the survivors are women and children, according to Rusesabagina. CSW co-sponsored the event.

March 2007:  The Guerilla Girls performed at NAU at Prochnow. CSW co-sponsored the event.

 

CSW Campus Safety Committee

 This is the summary of activities by the CSW Campus Safety Committee. After much correspondence online our fall meeting decided on three specific goals for the committee this year. The first goal was to rejuvenate the Campus Safely Escort Service by the NAUPD. The tasks were to research existing resources and services, coordinate with other services that exist, design cards that provide escort information, and find funding for card distribution. The tasks were distributed among the members during the fall meeting. The second goal decided by the committee is to set up Self-Defense Classes for campus students and staff. The tasks for this goal were to research existing resources available on and off campus, contact various NAU offices for procedures to hire off-campus services to provide services off-campus, contact various NAU offices for possible existing on campus classes, contact off-campus services, contact various NAU organizations that may want to coordinate with us. The tasks were distributed among the members during the fall meeting. The third goal decided by the committee during this fall meeting was to improve the effectiveness of women’s services on campus. Several ideas were put forward. One was to contact other women’s services on campus and begin collaboration of what a centralized resource center for women could look like. The tasks were distributed among the members during the fall meeting. During the 2006-07 school year, much progress has been made with Goal 1: rejuvenate the Campus Safely Escort Service. With the support of the NAUPD and committee members, were able to design, fund, print and distribute safely cards, card stands, and flyers to various locations on campus. The committee met several times and kept correspondence flowing via email and phone to bring us to this point. During one meeting we decided to distribute the cards, flyers, and stands in three phases. Phase One took place during May 2006 when flyers, cards, and stands were distributed in the Cline Library, College of Education, Student Union, Student Orientation, North Union, and Residence Life. Phase One acted as our pilot for this distribution. Phase Two will take place in August 2007. Distributions will be to the International Office, Fronske, Recreation Center, Bookstore, and the remaining colleges. Phase Three will take place at the end of September dependent on additional funding. The committee’s work on Goal 2 consisted of researching on-campus self-defense classes and services that exist off campus. To date, on-campus self-defense classes appear to be most viable option as off-campus services find it very expensive to bring their services to the NAU campus because of insurance considerations. Self-defense classes on-campus currently are limited to what’s offered through the academic calendar. Goal 3 work is ongoing, corresponding with other services on campus and brainstorming. Mary Lane-Kelso chaired this committee.

  

CSW Domestic Partner Benefits Committee

This is the first year CSW has proposed to look at Domestic Partner Benefits plans. The State of Arizona has not yet formalized Domestic Partner Benefits plans, though things are in motion. CSW wanted NAU to begin the discussion on such a plan in the event it does become available to AZ state employees. CSW looked at other universities and corporations that had offered domestic partner benefits plans to gauge what might be happening in higher education. Trish Rensink and Susan Rain Co-Chaired the committee.

 

CSW Child Care Committee

CSW was informed that the Child Care Development Center land was intact, and that fundraising options where now being explored. Pam Powell Chaired this committee.

  

CSW Garage Sale & Fundraising Committee

 CSW raised over $800 in garage sale proceedings which will go to finance scholarships for women at NAU. Bee Valvo graciously hosted the event at her home. CSW Members and the NAU community donated their time, energy and belongings to make this happen. It was a wonderful event. Bee Valvo also proposed a plan for future garage sales. CSW also decided that it will try the garage sale every two years and look into other fundraising possibilities also. Bee Valvo chaired this committee.

 

CSW Scholarship Committee

As every year, CSW gave out $500 scholarships to two outstanding women who were full-time students at NAU as well as being full-time employed and single moms.  There were a long-list of candidates with exceptional academic backgrounds from whom the winners were chosen. The Scholarship Committee headed by Heidi Fogelberg led the effort.

  

CSW Equity & Diversity Awards Committee

On March 29, 2007, at the Diversity & Equity Banquet hosted by President Haegar's office, CSW announced winners of the CSW Outstanding Achievement and Contribution Awards and the CSW Scholarships for 2006. Winners of the Scholarships were Christina Gaff and Fern Wesley, two students at NAU. Winners of the CSW Outstanding Achievement Awards were Lisa Downey, Program Coordinator Senior and Laurie Kelley, Head Women's basketball Coach. The CSW Outstanding Achievement Awards nominations were distributed campus wide in early Spring semester including posting in Inside NAU newsletter and via listserv. CSW solicited nominations for both groups and individuals whose contributions were significant in the area of Women's Leadership development. Nomination forms are posted on the CSW website for easy submission of nominations. The Leadership Team compromises this Committee. They met in early March to review the applications. Beth Schuck as CSW co-chair led the Committee. This year there were many excellent candidates and the Committees were regretful that could only select two winners for each award. The CSW award winners received a plaque. The monetary prizes for the Scholarship were $500 each plus a gift certificate donated by the NAU bookstore. The Banquet is an invitation only event due to the high cost of the full dinner. CSW is appreciative of the President's office sponsoring the event, but wishes that attendance could be increased so that broader campus awareness of the great work accomplished on this Campus could be shared.

  

CSW Feminism Panel 2007

 In March 2007, CSW, along with ASWI, PRISM and Women’s Studies hosted a panel to talk about Feminism: Then and Now. The talk was attended by women of diverse backgrounds at NAU, including undergraduate students from WST 491c, and everyone was invited to participate.  The group discussed feminist values today, how they have changed since the days of early feminism, and how the feminist experience varies cross-culturally both within and outside the U.S. The talk was vibrant, educational, and offered a much needed avenue for open debate. Some of the findings were:

 (i) feminist activism in the US has shifted from the legislative-change initiatives of the 1960s and ‘70s to everyday activism in women’s lives today.

(ii) First and second-wave of feminists in the West fought for voting, employment and sexual rights, while in the Third World the movement has been focused on basic human rights, such as land and water rights and literacy.

(iii) new effort is currently focusing on sexual rights of women in the Third World.

(iv) “women’s work” --such as reproductive work, housework etc.--is still considered inferior to “men’s work.”

(v) women are divided on how women approach the notion of women’s body image.  Younger, “third-wave” feminists argued that women are not responsible for men’s reaction to their dress or appearance.  They asserted that men must take responsibility for their own actions.

(vi) within the U.S., different racial groups have viewed feminist movements differently.

 

Working Group to Save the SARV Prevention Graduate Assistantship

In the spring of 2007, a committee was formed and composed a letter of support when it got word that the Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Graduate Assistantship was in jeopardy due to lack of financial support. Erin Stam, on behalf of the committee, consequently met with Beth Applebee and Jon Rudy from Fronske Health Center, who informed her that Fronske would be covering the cost of the Assistantship. This summer, Erin met with Amanda Loveless and Jon Rudy to discuss ASWI’s support of the position’s operation and programmatic costs including financial support of the SET – Sexual Education Team – instructor’s stipend and program costs. SET is currently funded through Planned Parenthood. However, that support might also be in jeopardy. Amanda is Advisor to the group. All financial arrangements must be voted on by members. Plans are to reconvene in Fall 2007 once ASWI gets up and running.

 

CSW Participation in 2007 CSAC Mixer

 This year, CSW held a small information booth at the Classified Staff Advisory Council’s (CSAC) 2007 Employee Appreciation Mixer that took place on March 14, 2007. The late Martha Portree, Dr. Frances Riemer and Sophia Barkat represented CSW.  The objective was to distribute CSW’s informational fliers to CSAC participants and to find out how aware the NAU community was about CSW’s goals and presence on campus. NAUPD safety cards and information about the service were also distributed to students and staff who worked nights on campus. Visitors inquired about CSW’s work on campus, and were glad to learn about CSW’s various goals, such as its interest in creating a Child Care Center at NAU and providing for domestic partner benefits. Visitors to the booth were also invited to attend CSW’s All Commission meetings, and a sign-up sheet with their contact information was collected for sending out future invites.