By the early 1990s, change was beginning to be felt at Stetson, both socially and politically. While (by their own account) some faculty women had arrived at Stetson in the 1980s surprised to find that, in addition to preparing themselves for a successful tenure review, they were expected to join their male colleagues’ wives in traditionally-female activities (planning social events for the community, preparing food for those events), those appointed in the early 1990s no longer felt that kind of pressure. In addition, by this time a university-wide sexual harassment policy had been discussed, developed, and adopted. A campus climate survey initiated by the faculty senate had been conducted to gauge women’s and men’s experience with and awareness of gender issues. The Institutional Research Office had developed a survey on gender relations. The Faculty Women’s Caucus, formed in 1989, was asking the administration to conduct ongoing gender equity analyses of faculty salaries. Dr. Ann Morris was appointed to the newly-created position of Women’s Advocate in order that women’s interests might be represented to a predominantly male President’s Staff. The Women and Gender Studies minor was added to the curriculum; the WGS Committee increased the number of lectures, "book feasts," and discussion groups devoted to the analysis of gender issues on campus and in contemporary American society. The University added sexual orientation to its non-discrimination statement. It later included maternity leave in its short-term disability policy and has subsequently worked to ensure that practices of granting leaves are consistent across departments and schools.
In the later years of the 1990s, change has been no less significant. Indeed, if anything, activity focusing on women, diversity, and gender equity gathered momentum. Working with the Faculty Women’s Caucus, Jane Bradford, appointed Women’s Advocate when Dr. Morris retired, compiled annual statistics to document faculty women’s work on committees and as department chairs; later, working with the Faculty Women’s Caucus, she put together gender equity analyses on salaries and university awards (endowed chairs, McEniry and Hand recipients). Data now regularly collected by the Office of Institutional Research as part of the Faculty Compensation Committee and the Staff Compensation Committee has provided additional means for regular assessment of gender equity in faculty and staff salaries.
In 1996-97, as part of a review mandated by the NCAA, the Subcommittee on Equity identified gender and racial inequities in the Stetson Athletics Program. The administration’s response to the subcommittee’s report resulted in a plan notable not only for its strong and unambivalent support of the principle of gender equity in athletics but for the level of detail in its plan for attaining gender equity goals. That plan was approved by the Board of Trustees on April 17, 1998.
Student enrollment in WGS courses has consistently been high, especially in those courses cross-listed with the WGS minor. When, in the Spring of 1997, the College of Arts & Sciences faculty approved WGS 100 as a course that meets its "contemporary culture" requirement, student demand increased dramatically. Whereas before this change WGS 100 was offered once each year, it is now offered once each semester. Additional sections would probably fill as well: the course now reaches its enrollment cap of 20 during pre-registration. In recent semesters, enrollment has reached 24 (Fall 1998) and even 30 (Fall 1999).
During these same years, President Lee was working with the academic deans, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, and interested faculty to articulate Stetson’s distinctive features and its vision for the future. This process, which eventually involved large numbers of faculty in workshops and discussions, resulted in the creation of the Values Council. Five commitment areas have emerged from these discussions and each forms a key component of the Values Council: religious/ spiritual life, community service, environmental responsibility, and—most significantly from the perspective of this report—diversity and gender equity. A Diversity Council rejuvenated by Dr. Leonard Nance’s leadership hired a consultant, Dr. Rita Nethersole of the University of Massachusetts, who visited Stetson in the Spring of 1998 to evaluate the campus climate for racial/ethnic minorities, religious minorities, gays and lesbians, and women. Drawing upon Nethersole’s work and its own knowledge of the Stetson community, the Diversity Council prepared a plan that established specific diversity goals and recommended strategies for reaching those goals. This comprehensive diversity plan was approved by the Board of Trustees in the fall of 1998.
Also in 1997-98, under the leadership of Dr. Mary Pollock, members of the Faculty Women’s Caucus jointly authored a paper that examines equity issues in the three primary areas in which faculty work is evaluated—teaching, scholarship, and service. This paper, which was distributed to the President and the academic deans, identifies challenges and problems in each area for faculty women at Stetson. It points out that traditional means of evaluating teaching inadequately assess "feminine" teaching styles (whether practiced by women or by men). It notes that women faculty at Stetson have historically received few awards for excellence in teaching or research; similarly, very few women have held endowed chairs. It presents evidence to suggest that while women have been under-represented in service leadership positions, women may be participating in service activities in proportions greater than their percentage of the total faculty. It suggests that women are providing types of service that are invisible to the community. It situates all of the above within a broader cultural context that generally devalues women’s accomplishments, a context that certainly extends beyond the Stetson campus but within which the Stetson campus exists.
As the Faculty Women’s Caucus was conducting the research that would lead to the above-mentioned report, an ad hoc committee on women’s issues was formed. This group included Jane Bradford (Women’s Advocate), Dr. Karen Hofmann (Professional Counselor), Dee Romine (Women’s Athletic Administrator), Dr. Susan Wilson (former coordinator of the Faculty Women’s Caucus), and Pat Benson (Chair, Quality of Service Committee). Aware that it could not speak for all women on campus, the group organized a women’s workshop for faculty and staff in the summer of 1998. Dr. Hofmann facilitated the workshop and prepared a written report that summarizes both the issues that were raised at the workshop and the recommendations that were developed in response to those issues. These issues included concerns about (1) compensation inequities; (2) the lack of professional development and other resources for women; (3) the lack of an effective grievance policy or process; (4) the lack of child care (or assistance with child care); (5) discriminatory attitudes (racist, sexist, homophobic) on campus; (6) the lack of networking opportunities; (7) policies that are perceived to be unclear or inconsistently applied; and (8) the need for a Women’s Council that could work to encourage equity throughout the university community by promoting education, facilitating communication, and recommending changes to existing policies and procedures.
The 1998 summer women’s workshop began to identify issues that faculty and staff women share; it also provided a forum for staff women to explore their concerns. As much of the preceding discussion implicitly suggests, much of the work to increase Stetson’s awareness of gender equity and women’s issues in the 1990s had been initiated by and focused primarily on the experiences of women faculty. Opportunities for students to study women and gender issues (both in and out of class) also increased significantly. While the Faculty Women’s Caucus and the Women and Gender Studies Program were aware that staff women faced issues that were both similar to and different from those faculty women confronted, the 1998 summer workshop was the first serious effort to involve staff women in discussions of those issues. It is our view that in the future, meaningful considerations of women’s issues at Stetson should focus as much on women who serve as members of the staff as on women faculty and students. Further, in attending to "the glass ceiling," we need to be mindful of what some writers have called "the sticky floor"--women’s disproportionate representation in low-paying positions.
In 1999, in preparation for the SACS reaccreditation review, a committee was formed to reexamine and rearticulate the university’s mission statement. The new mission statement explicitly connects Stetson’s educational mission with its values commitments (which include, as described above, gender equity). This indicates just how far the university has come in its support of women, in its understanding of "women’s issues," and in developing a more self-conscious commitment to gender equity.
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