University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chancellor's Committee on the Status of Women

Meeting Minutes

12:00-1:30 p.m., 300 Swanlund Administration Building

I. Announcements

A. Welcome to all members and our guests, Mark Leff, President of Union of Professional
     Employees (UPE) and Manisha Desai, Acting Director, Women and Gender in Global
     Perspectives Program

II. Old Business

A. Approval of minutes of the April 19, 2005 meeting.

B. Status of the Women and Gender Resources Library: Manisha Desai

1. CCSW agreed that they would monitor the services and changes over the two
    years until the evaluation in the library.

C. Recommendations for new members: Kal Alston requested the committee members to send in
     their suggestions for new committee members for next year to either herself or the secretary,
     Mansi Sachdev.

D. Suggestions for next year's meeting calendar: Kal Alston asked the committee members for
     suggestions for meeting times for next year. She also suggested that potential nominees can be
     requested to give their preferences for meeting times also.

1. Kathleen Pecknold suggested that each year's members should be asked for their
    preferences and convenience for meeting times at the very beginning of the year.

E. Recommendations on the Advisory Structure for the Chancellor: Kal Alston reiterated that we
    need to prepare a report at the beginning of the year, which generates a list of issues to be
    tackled during that year. Following the Ohio State University's model, it will be advisable to
    prepare such a report over summer and have a first discussion in fall on the issues raised in the
    report. The data collected and analyzed in the report each year would form the foundation for
    the committee's work. A lot of data already exists on campus and since it is not compiled in a
    coherent manner, it is not accessible to the committee.

1. A discussion on the recommendations made by the Board of Trustees in 2001 was
    held to assess the status of the recommendations.

2. Kathleen Pecknold apprised the committee that the salary equity study is done
    regularly on campus by Carol Livingstone every fall. The Retention Committee
    conducts exit interviews for faculty only. Substantial progress has been made on
    child care issues on campus. The Rape Prevention and Awareness Committee
    on campus did a survey about two years ago and found a host of resources
    available on campus for women's safety and counseling for sexual assault victims.
    The report enlightened the campus about the already existing resources in this
    regard.

3. Stephanie Foote raised her concerns if there was a mechanism in place to deal with
    discrepancies that surface during the equity study.

4. Kathleen Pecknold informed the committee that a mechanism existed to make
    adjustments. However, it was found that the salaries of women were less than men
    to start with, as a consequence of differences in negotiation.

5. Kal Alston pointed out that there has been no management system on campus to
    evaluate and reward deans and departments heads for their success in recruiting,
    retaining and developing the skills of women faculty and staff as was recommended
    in the Board of Trustees report.

6. Ginger Winckler suggested that this system should be institutionalized so that it is
    carried out on an annual basis.

7. Kal Alston suggested that a unit level study by all colleges should be done and
    certain rewards should be attached to encourage the process.

8. Ginger Winckler inquired about the effectiveness of the exit interviews system for
    faculty.

9. Kal Alston informed the committee that Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessey's report in
    November suggested that this process was very effective.

F. Leadership Mentoring: Kal Alston apprised the committee that based on a detailed study of the
    policies of University of Michigan, University of Minnesota and Ohio State University, the
    committee will make recommendations on the issue.

1. Kathleen Pecknold suggested that by using the CIC program, we could broaden the
    nomination process.

2. Stephanie Foote inquired about the mechanism by which a faculty member can
    participate in the program.

3. Kal Alston informed the committee that from each campus four to five faculty
    members are chosen to participate at a conference/workshop at one of the
    participating campuses for three weekends in a school year.

4. Kathleen Pecknold informed the committee that there are three main sections where
    the faculty members can participate, namely Human Resources, Budget and Finance
    and Future of the University.

5. Kal Alston apprised the committee that Ruth Watkins and she were contemplating
    of extending these three weekends to actual projects. She informed the committee
    that such programs actually set up development leaders for the participating
    universities and simultaneously encourage women and people in minorities.

6. Stephanie Foote inquired if any study was ever done to analyze the results of such
    programs on the participants later in life.

7. Kathleen Pecknold informed the committee that a study was done and interesting
    results surfaced. A number of the CIC participants went on to become provosts, etc.

G. Flexible Appointment Structures for Faculty: Kal Alston reiterated the need for a streamlined,
    small questionnaire for the faculty and would be administered in the third week of fall. She
    emphasized that the survey should be very focused and should situate the issue in the context of
    the national picture. She advised that it would be beneficial to put a small excerpt from the
    national conversation going on like the Sloan Foundation Report. This would enable the people
    to understand the issue in the larger context and convey that the survey is being conducted to
    actually improve the existing situation.

1. Kal Alston suggested that we need to be more specific to know what people feel
    about the issue, their interests. She volunteered to send a rough draft of the
    questionnaire prepared by Cheryl Bullock to the committee.

2. Mark Leff pointed out that initiative will bring about a change in the academic
    culture. He reiterated that there is a lot to be learnt from such initiatives. It will be
    seen as an impetus by UPE members to know more about women's issues. He
    pointed out that it is believed that to get academic success one has to give up family
    life.

3. Kal Alston reiterated that people need to be told that this is part of a national
    conversation.

III. Other Items