Present: Karen Baker, Barbara Burrell, Virginia Cassidy, Deborah Haliczer, Sharon Howard, Doreen Mace, Carol Patch, Julie Robertson, Lise Schlosser, Judy Skorek (Acting Director, Women’s Resource Center), Randi Wolfe, Josephine Umoren.
Absent: Stacy Allie, Sally Conklin, Michelle Emmett (Guest), Kathy Hotelling, Glenda Jones, Lisa Kay, Amy Levin, Regina Rahn, Jan Rintala, Natalie Santiago, Denise Schoenbachler, Lorraine Scurti, Lois Self (Acting Director, Women’s Studies), Debbie Smith-Shank.
Guest: The President’s Task Force on Salary Equity and members of other Presidential Commissions.
The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. by Chair, Josephine Umoren in the Heritage Room, Holmes Student Center. Barbara Burrell made a motion to approve the minutes from the April 12, 2006 meeting. Deborah Haliczer seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Affirmative Action Diversity Resources Report: No Report
Campus Climate and Quality of Life: A rough draft of a survey on campus morale has been completed and distributed to the sub-committee. PCSW members can review and discuss whether this is something they want to pursue in the fall. The members have also begun to review the AAUW Sexual Harassment Report. It was noted that a summit on sexual harassment is scheduled in June 2006 as part of AAUW’s Conference for Women College Student Leaders. It was suggested by the committee that before too much time and effort is put into this project we wait for the results of this summit to prevent duplication of efforts.
Personal Professional Development: No Report.
Research: No Report.
25th Anniversary Gala Event: Josephine Umoren reported that the Gala had a very positive review.
Awards and Recognition: Sharon Howard announced that she was pleased with the outcomes of both the Outstanding Women Student Awards and the 25 Amazing Women Awards. They increased opportunities for recognition of women on campus and lifted sprits of those attending.
FY07 PCSW officers: Josephine Umoren graciously agreed to chair the PCSW again next year and Lorraine Scurti agreed to serve as vice-chair. Deborah Haliczer made a motion that we accept them both as our officers for FY07. The motion was approved unanimously.
Dr. Brian Hemphill, Vice President of Student Affairs, has requested to meet with the PCSW to discuss the vacant Director’s position of the Women’s Resource Center. He would like in-put on the current job description. Dr. Umoren will schedule a time convenient for members that the job description can be reviewed and member may inform Dr. Hemphill of the needs of NIU. Sharon Howard will supply some background materials for members prior to this meeting.
Josephine Umoren thanked the members for their support this past year and adjourned the first portion of the meeting at 1:30 p.m.
********************************************
Salary Equity Task Force Presentation
Steve Cunningham, representing the President’s Task Force on Salary Equity, presented information on the Salary Equity Study to the members that were present of the various commissions (Presidential Commission on Disabilities, Presidential Commission on Sexual Orientation, Presidential Commission on Minorities, and Presidential Commission on the Status of Women). We were reminded that Fred Schwantes, Ivan Legg, and himself met with PCSW on December 14, 2005 at our regular meeting and gave a thorough presentation of the study to members. It was then decided the information should be presented to a larger group and this meeting was scheduled. He then distributed a listing of task force members and the Executive Summary of July, 2005. He reminded members that the task force was comprised of two sub-groups: qualitative and quantitative. The study is a starting point and will be adaptable for future needs.
Christine Sorensen and Promod Vohra addressed the qualitative sub-group results of the report. They worked with RISE from Iowa State University, in a series of seven focus groups comprise of sample groups of 8 – 12 individuals. The reason for focus groups was that surveys might miss appropriate questions and interviews are too expensive. Results showed among other things that shared governance was highly valued and the consultant did not find issues of race. NIU now has a systematic process to track salary equity which is a big step forward. The most significant variances were found in discipline and starting wage. Colleges provided data which was included in the report, as well as, data that is public. A synopsis was distributed of the Qualitative results that include: the recommendations for action; recommendations for future review; a summary of the study’s findings; and the focus group narrative and questions.
Harold Kafer, Joe Grush, and Peter Middleton presented the quantitative sub-group results of the report. The quantitative group used regression analysis. Key factors are described on the first page of the summary. This system was used because the legal system holds it to be best and other universities have used regression analysis successfully to gather their data. This does not make a statement about scholarship. Now that data has been gathered and a baseline is established it needs to be maintained at least on a three year routine basis. A synopsis of the quantitative report containing the recommendations for the future; a summary of the study and findings; and the conclusion was distributed.
Respectfully submitted,
Betty Baugh