Women’s Faculty Council (WFC) Report 2020-2021

Prepared by: Dr. Tracy Quan

Executive Officers:

Past Chair – Dr. Kim Loeffert
Chair Elect – Dr. Tracy Quan
Vice-Chair - Dr. Erin Dyke
Secretary - Asst. Prof. Madison Chartier
Treasurer – Dr. Jennifer Glenn
Faculty Council Liaison – Dr. Elizabeth McCullagh

The WFC was very active for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Membership Meetings:

We held 6 WFC meetings, all virtual via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Three meetings included presenters from outside OSU, including a panel co-sponsored by EQuAL.

August 31, 2020 – WFC meeting and reports. Presentation provided by Dr. Sarah J. Donovan, Assistant Professor of Secondary English Education, and Dr. Sheri Vasinda, Associate Professor of Literacy Education. Fostering Inclusive, Accessible, and Engaging Virtual Education Spaces: A Panel Discussion.
October 5, 2020 – WFC meeting and reports. Presentation provided by Dr. Alexis Smith Washington, Senior Inclusion Officer and William S. Spears Associate Professor of Management. Dispatches from "the Borderland"; What Executive Black Women Know about Managing (In)Visibility.
November 2, 2020 – WFC meeting and reports. Presentation provided by Dr. Hendratta Ali, Associate Professor of Geoscience at Fort Hays State University. The Not-So-Soft Skills: Creating Diverse Academic Networks Through Professional Communities.
February 1, 2021 – WFC meeting and reports. Panel: Supporting Student and Faculty Mental Health in the Pandemic. Panelists: Dr. Madeline Brodt (Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology), Dr. Tonya Hammer (Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology and Director of the BIDE Lab and the RCT Lab), and Dr. Sarah Johnson (Professor of Counseling Psychology and Director of the OSU-Tulsa Counseling Center).
March 1, 2021 – WFC meeting and reports. Presentation provided by Dr. Jessica Metcalf, Associate Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado St. University, and Dr. Kimberly A. Yuracko, Judd and Mary Morris Leighton Professor of Law, Associate Provost for Academic Project, Northwestern University. Addressing the Academic Impacts of COVID in K12 and Higher Education.
April 5, 2021 – WFC meeting and reports. Panel – Inclusive Research Practices, co-sponsored with EQuAL. Panelists: Dr. Corinne Schwarz (Assistant Professor of Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies), Dr. Juniper Simonis (Owner and Lead Scientist, DAPPER Stats), and Dr. Louise Siddons (Associate Professor of Art History).

Administrative Work:

Planning: The Executive Board met as necessary between August 2020 and May 2021 to work on programming, increasing membership participation, and organizing general logistics.
WFC Research Awards: In Fall 2020 the executive officers focused a lot of time and effort soliciting funding for the annual WFC Research Awards, as well as sending out communication requesting application for the WFC Research Award and the Undergraduate Scholarship Award due March 2021. The WFC Research Award description was refined to make the Awards more inclusive of all areas of research and creative/performance projects, and the application process was streamlined.
- We reached out to 18 different colleges and divisions on campus and received commitments of support from 11, totaling over $17,500 in commitments. We received confirmed actual cash transfer or fulfilled commitments for $17,500.
- We awarded $17,750 to 25 undergraduate and graduate students. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we featured student award winners’ research via infographic or brief video on our social media channels and webpage in lieu of our traditional awards reception and poster symposium.
- Sponsors for the WFC Research Award included:
  - College of Arts & Sciences
  - College of Education and Human Sciences
  - College of Engineering, Architecture, & Technology
  - Ferguson College of Agriculture
  - Graduate College
  - Institute for Technology and Learning Excellence
  - Office of the President
  - Office of the Provost/Academic Affairs
  - Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs
  - Spears School of Business
  - Vice President for Research
- There were 44 volunteer WFC Research Award application reviewers representing all the different colleges. Sarah Milligan volunteered to chair the awards committee and work was done between March 1 – April 5 to review and score the applications and notify the awardees.

Undergraduate Scholarship: The Ann Ryder and Clara Smith WFC Leadership Endowed Scholarship for Undergraduates realized $800 from the endowment to be awarded for this scholarship. There were 6 volunteer reviewers to review the 7 person application pool. Tracy Quan chaired the review committee.

Budget:

The WFC started the 2020-2021 academic year with $6844 in our budget as a total of the WFC ID and OSU-Foundation accounts. We received $1000 from Institutional Diversity for our general expenditure account. After solicitation for WFC annual research awards donations, we were pledged $17,500 for research awards and awarded $17,750 to WFC research award recipients. We awarded Outstanding Achievement and Mentorship of Women Awards to three faculty for $450 (net pay) for a total of $2064 dispersed (including taxes). We also spent $184.44 on plaques for the awardees.

Special Programmatic Efforts:

Outstanding Achievement and Mentorship of Women Faculty Awards: The WFC awarded three faculty awards to recognize outstanding achievements in research and creative works of women and have demonstrated a record of encouragement, mentorship, and advancement of women toward professional success. 26 nominations were received. An awards committee headed by Kay Bjornen selected three award winners, representing three different levels of career development: Rising Star Award for younger faculty, Outstanding Achievement for mid-career faculty, and Inspiring Excellence for established faculty. Each awardee received $450 and a commemorative plaque. The award winners were:
- Rising Star Award: Dr. Emily Graham, History, College of Arts and Sciences
- Outstanding Achievement: Dr. Tonya Hammer, Applied Health and Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Sciences
- Inspiring Excellence: Dr. LaRicka Wingate, Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences

Targeted Committees/Efforts:

Best Practices for Supporting Caregivers during COVID-19: The WFC began the process of updating their 2020 document outlining best practices for supervisors supporting parents and caregivers during the pandemic to reflect changes in the OSU in-person instruction status and the continued disruptions for caregivers. The revised document was posted in Aug. 2021 and can be found here.
Proposal: Developing a Far-Reaching Mentorship Initiative through the Oklahoma State University Women's Faculty Council: The WFC Executive Committee and Dr. Kay Bjornen wrote a proposal for the WOSU Partnering to Impact Program to develop a mentorship initiative designed to recognize scholarly and mentoring achievements of women faculty and increase education for faculty and students on best mentorship practices. The proposal was submitted in Oct. 2020 but was not awarded funding.
Addressing Inclusion and Accessibility in Higher Education: A Statement from Women's Faculty Council Leadership: In light of recent events that focused attention on issues of systemic racism and inequality, the WFC leadership composed a statement of commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equality of access for all Black women, Indigenous women, and Women of Color (BIWOC), especially in higher education. The statement also welcomed efforts to understand and advocate for BIWOC and other marginalized groups and grow as an organization in ways that center their perspectives and experiences. The statement was posted in Aug. 2020 and can be found here.

Officer Nominations:

WFC membership were invited in May to nominate 2021-2022 Secretary and Vice Chair candidates as well as volunteers for the WFC Faculty Council Liaison.

Elected WFC executive board for 2021-2022 academic year:

Past Chair: Dr. Tracy Quan - Geology
Chair- Elect: Dr. Erin Dyke – Curriculum Studies
Vice Chair: Dr. Laleh Tahsini – Chemistry
Secretary: Dr. Corinne Schwarz – Sociology
Treasurer: Dr. Jennifer Glenn - Industrial Engineering and Management

Appointed by Executive Committee:

WFC Faculty Council Liaison: Dr. Aditi Grover - Marketing and International Business