Strategic Plan

Women's Studies Consortium
Strategic Plan · 2005-2010

Women's Studies is an academic field which looks directly at women seeking to understand their roles and impact in society as well as the impact of social institutions and processes on them. Multicultural and multidisciplinary, the field of Women's Studies looks at the findings of research on women, the processes used to achieve them, and the uses of research results. Ongoing interaction with the world allows Women's Studies to test academic premises against the realities of women's lives and to encourage positive public policy and change.

Sarah Harder
based on Virginia Sapiro, Women in American Society

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Our Mission
Who we are and why we exist

The Women's Studies Consortium is a network of UW System Women's Studies programs and systemwide initiatives. The Consortium is designed to enhance student learning and service to students, support multiculturalism, lead efforts to develop and integrate feminist scholarship, and strengthen connections between campuses and communities.

Our Vision
What we strive to be

Students and faculty in the Women's Studies Consortium of 2010 will be working together in a transformed, inclusive environment with vital learning communities, expanded opportunities for feminist research, and activism that encourages interconnected and multicultural communities.

Our Community
Who we serve

The Women's Studies Consortium directly served Women's Studies students, faculty, staff, and administrators throughout the UW System. The Women's Studies Consortium is committed to scholarship, teaching and activism that benefit all UW campuses and communities. To accomplish this work, the Consortium invites and considers diverse voices, and seeks collaborations to improve the life of each community.

Our Goals and Our Strategies

How we articulate our vision and what we will do to achieve our goals.

Collaborative and Supportive Structure

We will work toward these goals:

• Shared leadership
• Expanded influence and impact of Women's Studies throughout the system
• Improved climate for all women at all University of Wisconsin institutions

Using these strategies

• Review the Consortium structure and roles of Director and Chair`
• Redefine the committee structure and responsibilities of committee chairs
• Create a process for regular evaluation of Consortium processes
• Disseminate the renewed Strategic Plan
• Compile and expand a Women's Studies expertise and resource list
• Continue and expand communication networks
• Collaborate with other UW System offices on equity issues

Transformed, Multicultural, Inclusive Environment

We will work toward these goals

• Increased understanding of Women's Studies and feminism and their interconnections with issues of race, ethnicity, age, class, ability status, and sexual orientation
• Increased diversity among students, faculty, staff, and administrators
• Participation representative of the entire campus/community

Using these strategies

• Expand connections with women of color
• Plan and host annual conferences
• that advance the Consortium vision and priorities
• that may target specific groups
• for which information/invitation/call for proposals are disseminated widely
• Extend our presence at UW System inter-institutional conferences and workshops
• Establish a close liaison with UW System staff charged with improving the Status of Women, and other diversity initiatives such as the Institute on Race and Ethnicity and the Inclusivity Initiative

Vital Learning Communities

We will work toward these goals

• Be an essential and respected resource for research, teaching and advocacy
• Develop and implement ideas for improved teaching/learning/curricula/pedagogy
• Share feminist scholarship among faculty, students, staff and off campus communities
• Promote the integrating of Women's Studies scholarship into the general curriculum

Using these strategies

• Establish working groups which focus on specific academic areas or outreach initiatives
• Explore potential collaborative projects and grant opportunities
• Maintain a clearinghouse for Women's Studies curriculum material, publications and outreach projects
• Host mini-conferences on effective pedagogy, including distance education pedagogy
• Establish a web-based vehicle for sharing information and articles

Creative Expanded Opportunities

We will work toward these expanded opportunities

• For faculty, staff, and students to engage in research and applied scholarship
• For students to complete Women's Studies courses, majors, minors, and certificates at undergraduate and graduate levels
• For diverse and broad outreach activities
• For transnational and multicultural projects

Using these strategies

• Support campus efforts to expand curricular and degree option in Women's Studies
• Explore web-based or other distance education opportunities
• Support campus outreach initiatives
• Share information on transnational opportunities
• Explore funding sources to support additional activities and travel for students and staff

Consortium Structure

How we are organized to work together

The diagram below is a representation of our structure and the way we do our work together.

(click here for a PDF version of the chart)

Outermost on the diagram are the Women's Studies Programs at each of the UW System Institutions. Within each of these programs are Women's Studies students, faculty, staff and administrators. It is these people that the Consortium serves. The programs vary in size and in degree offerings. Many of the programs have outreach projects and community partnerships that extend their activities into the wider community. Also represented are the two statewide offices: the Woman and Science Program and the Office of the Women's Studies Librarian.

The bold circle represents the Consortium. We are an organization of representatives from each of the Women's Studies programs at all UW institutions and each of the statewide programs. The shaded bars between the campus programs and statewide offices and their Consortium representative symbolize the flow of information between the two. The Consortium connects the components providing for mutual support and sharing of ideas and resources.

With the Consortium are several committees. The membership on these committees may include Consortium representatives, other Women's Studies faculty and staff, students, and community representatives. Some of these are standing committees focused on such on-going concerns as outreach and conferences. The Women and Science Program and the Women's Studies Librarian each have a standing advisory board/panel. There are also ad hoc committees, created around specific topics or initiatives.

At the center is the Consortium Office. The location suggests its central role in strengthening and coordinating all other connections. There is on-going communication between the Consortium Office, the Consortium, all committees and the campus programs.