Women’s Center

2016-2017 Annual Report

Table of Contents Section I: Director’s Narrative ........................................................................................................ 1

General Women’s Center (WC) Updates .................................................................................... 1Program Overview ...................................................................................................................... 2Conference Presentations ............................................................................................................ 6Outreach and Promotion .............................................................................................................. 6Campus Service ........................................................................................................................... 6

Section II: Details ........................................................................................................................... 6Program Updates ......................................................................................................................... 6

Engagement at Programs and Events ...................................................................................... 6Program and Event Evaluation ................................................................................................ 8Engagement at the Women’s Center ....................................................................................... 9Collaborations and Co-Sponsorships ..................................................................................... 10

Risks and Opportunities ............................................................................................................ 11Challenge: Center Attendance ............................................................................................... 11Challenge: Budgetary Limitations ......................................................................................... 11Challenge: Limited Staff Hours ............................................................................................. 11

Budget ....................................................................................................................................... 12Appendix A: Women’s Center Snapshot (Infographic) 2016-2017 ............................................. 14

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Section I: Director’s Narrative General Women’s Center (WC) Updates

Staff Changes Dr. Alicia Johnson was hired as Director of the Women’s Center in July 2016 at .50 FTE. Program Assistant Eliza Farrow remains on staff at .58 FTE.

New Tagline The previous tagline for the WC was “Connect. Serve. Lead.” The tagline was updated to “Intersectional Innovation for Gender Equity.” During 2017-2018, the WC Director will implement an advisory board to shape the future direction of the WC. The new tagline served to reflect the priorities of the new director in that intersectionality and innovation are key factors when working toward the realization of gender equity.

Level Up! A Feminist Gaming Initiative Shortly after Dr. Johnson’s arrival, the WC was able to purchase a 55-inch, 4K television and PS4 due to financial support from Dr. Sylvia Carey-Butler through the Division of Academic Support of Inclusive Excellence. This enabled the WC to launch Level Up! A Feminist Gaming Initiative. During the fall semester, the WC staff began to develop the initiative and promoted gaming in the WC.

Level Up! was more formally launched in Spring 2017 with a video called Non-Gamers Guess Gaming Slang, which can be found on the WC YouTube channel. The video was filmed and edited by University Marketing and Communication. Eliza facilitated weekly discussions during the Spring 2017 semester on a range of topics. Meetings were held every Wednesday from 6-8pm in the WC and entailed news, group updates, free play/gaming time, guided discussion on a new topic each week, and action steps that participants could take to make the gaming community more inclusive. The topics for each week were chosen based off of group interest and intersectional diversity and included women and minority developers; female and minority streamers, lets players, and online players; sex in games and women as reward; portrayal of mental health in video games; trans identity exploration through games; and gamer identity and stereotype threat. Two sessions were purely social in nature and one focused on action planning. On average there were six participants in each session, with a high of 10 and a low of three.

Future directions include fundraising to build the WC’s video game library and books about gaming in the WC library, collaborate with faculty and instructional staff to include Level Up! in course curriculums (media literacy, reading games as texts, how virtual experiences affect real world behavior, etc.), and work on executing more action steps. The WC will also launch a feminist video game review page on the WC website to feature critical analysis and reports of video games played by students.

Craft Corner As a result of leftover craft donations from the Spring 2016 Craftivism program, the WC has an abundance of craft supplies. One of the corners in the back area of the WC has been turned into a craft area for people to use for projects, programs, or to de-stress.

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New Social Media Milestones and Platforms Prior to 2016-2017, the WC maintained accounts on several social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. On March 13, 2017, the WC Facebook account reached 1,000 “likes”! This number has grown to 1,033 as of June 2017.

This year the WC started an Instagram and Snapchat account. The Instagram account has 123 followers as of June 2017 and regularly experiences multiple engagements (likes, comments) for each post. The WC Snapchat account is regularly used during events. However, since the WC has also started to use the WC iPad to stream events via Facebook Live, it prevents the use of Snapchat during the event. There has been positive feedback about the use of Facebook Live, as it provides an opportunity for students, staff, faculty, and community members to engage with the events even if they are not able to attend them in person.

News and Media Appearances The WC developed a strong relationship with student and campus media during 2016-2017. A total of 16 articles either focused on a WC event or featured an interview with the WC Director. Additionally, the WC was featured or included in two UW Oshkosh Today articles, one Oshkosh Northwestern article, and four Titan TV episodes. The WC Director was also on a local radio show twice to promote Take Back the Night and Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.

Awards and Honors The WC competed in the Homecoming Office Decorating Competition and won third place for the second year in a row! The theme was circus and WC staff got creative in tying together the homecoming theme and work with which the WC is engaged. The various WC circus acts included an oppression juggler, safe sex clown, flying uterus, man in a box, anti-transphobia bearded lady, and the bra-burning firebreather. There was also a circus course in the back of the WC that took people through the great leap into gender equity, condom toss, the balance beam of intersectional identities, circles of innovation, the –ism toss, and overthrowing the patriarchy. There was also a display of books about the history of women in the circus and a circus-themed video game. Pictures of the event can be found in the Homecoming photo album on the WC Facebook page.

The WC, along with the Women’s Advocacy Council, African American Studies Program, and Fit Oshkosh, was awarded the 2016-2017 Outstanding Academic/Educational Program during the Celebration of Student Leadership. The award was for the co-sponsored program Deconstruct! Images of Black Womanhood, which was a workshop held in October 2016 and facilitated by author Tamara Winfrey-Harris.

Program Overview

The WC continued series programming, including the Diversity and Inclusion Film Series, Global Google Hangouts (GGH), and Panels on Popular Culture (POPC), hosted Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® Oshkosh (WAM) for the fifth year, and also hosted and co-hosted a variety of additional events. A select number of 2016-2017 WC sponsored events are described below.

Diversity and Inclusion Film Series The Women’s Center collaborated with Reeve Union Diversity and Inclusion Programs to co-sponsor three films in the Diversity and Inclusion Film Series. The film series provides a way for the campus community to be exposed to subjects related to the Women’s Center mission in a

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relatively “painless” way, as the documentaries chosen are intended to make the issues they discuss accessible and interesting to the viewer. The films selected for showing in the series cover a wide range of topics, with the intent to draw in campus populations we may not always reach with other programming.

The Fall 2016 film was UnSlut, which addresses the sexual shaming of girls and women, especially sexual assault victims, and was additionally co-sponsored by the Women’s Advocacy Council. The filmmaker, Emily Lindin, facilitated a talkback after the film.

The first Spring 2017 film, held during Women’s History Month, was additionally co-sponsored by the College of Business, International Business Club, and African American Studies Program. Dream, Girl highlights the experiences of female entrepreneurs from a range of backgrounds and businesses. Dr. Ivana Milosevic from the College of Business facilitated discussion before and after the film.

The second film of Spring 2017, Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story, was additionally co-sponsored by the LGBTQ Resource Center. The film follows Kristin Beck, who served over 20 years as a U.S. Navy Seal, as she navigates the world as a transgender woman. After the film, Chris Annis (Reeve Union), Thomas Wolfe (University Books & More), and Garrett Denning (student) engaged the audience in a discussion of the film.

Global Google Hangouts Global Google Hangouts give the Oshkosh community the opportunity to interact with international experts on the subject matter with relatively little cost to the campus, due to the virtual nature of the interaction. The Women’s Center hosted a Global Google Hangout in both the fall and spring semester.

The Fall 2016 Global Google Hangout: Female Paralympians and Deaflympians was co-sponsored with the Women’s Advocacy Council, Reeve Union, Department of Kinesiology, Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Department of Special and Early Childhood Education, and United Women of Oshkosh. The virtual panelists included two female Paralympic athletes and one female Deaflympic athlete. The panelists shared about their intersectional experiences as female athletes who competed in the highest level of international sport for athletes with physical impairments. Number of attendees and evaluation results for this event are included in the next section.

The Spring 2017 Global Google Hangout: Black Cyberfeminism was co-sponsored with the Black Student Union, Women’s Advocacy Council, and Fit Oshkosh. Virtual panelists included Dr. TreAndrea Russworm, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Melissa Brown, University of Maryland, and Tamara Winfrey-Harris, author and Bitch Media contributor. The discussion focused on the intersecting oppressions Black women experience in virtual spaces. Number of attendees and evaluation results for this event are included in the next section.

Panels on Popular Culture As in previous years, the Women’s Center hosted two panels on popular culture during 2016-2017, one during each semester. These panels remain useful in developing understandings of media literacy and using the engaging medium of popular culture to discuss sensitive issues. Both panels were filmed; however, due to panelist restrictions of video use, only the Spring 2017

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panel is available as part of the Educational Videos section of the WC website. The Fall 2016 video can be requested for educational purposes.

The Fall 2016 panel engaged a critical analysis of the Ghostbusters remake. Dr. Susan Rensing, faculty in History and Women’s and Gender Studies, facilitated the panel. Panelists included Dr. Liz Cannon, Director of the LGBTQ Resource Center, Caryn Murphy, faculty in Radio, TV, Film, Dr. Norlisha Crawford, faculty in English and African American Studies Program Director, and Dr. Shu-Yueh Lee, faculty in Journalism. This event reached maximum capacity in the Reeve Union Theater! Number of attendees and evaluation results for this event are included in the next section.

The Spring 2017 panel focused on the representation of female superheroes and general diversity in superhero-based comics. Garrett Denning, undergraduate student, facilitated the panel. Panelists included Eliza Farrow, WC Program Assistant, John Pata, local filmmaker and House of Heroes employee, Loren West, UW Oshkosh undergraduate student, and Kat Garcia, UW Oshkosh alum and UW Madison graduate student. Thanks to a personal donation from Chris Annis, the WC was able to facilitate a giveaway of four comic books to event attendees. Number of attendees and evaluation results for this event are included in the next section.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® Oshkosh Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® has been the Women’s Center’s signature program for several years, with Spring 2017 marking the fifth year of bringing the event to campus. The walk, an international men’s march against gender violence and sexual assault, emphasizes the importance of male allies in ending gender violence. It calls for men to walk a mile in high heels to highlight the falsity of the myth that one’s clothing can make gender violence acceptable. Because the prevalence of sexual assault is a significant concern for college women in particular, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® remains important in reaching the broader campus community and illustrating the need for everyone to involve themselves in challenging gender violence.

In its second year at Oshkosh, the Sole Man awards were instituted as a part of the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® event. These awards highlight men on campus who are taking an active role in challenging gender violence and promoting gender equity. Award recipients in 2017 included staff member Aaron Abram, students Aaron Beiser and Garrett Denning, and community member AJ Wetterau. Chancellor Leavitt opened the event with a welcome while Chris Annis, Reeve Union Diversity and Inclusion Programs, and Ceasar Mendros, undergraduate student and CARE member, emceed the portion of the event prior to the actual walk. Pheng Thao, Coordinator for the Men and Masculine Folks Project in Minnesota, delivered the keynote talk and got everyone excited to take to the streets! A total of 220 people participated in the 2017 Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.

Color-Brave Community Read: The Sisters Are Alright In an effort to engage in outreach with the Oshkosh community at large, the WC partnered with Fit Oshkosh, a local non-profit that works to increase racial literacy in Oshkosh, to co-host a Color-Brave Community Read of Tamara Winfrey-Harris’s book, The Sisters are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Womanhood in America. The book was broken into three sections so that one section could be covered during each of the three meetings. There was an early afternoon and an evening session for each date. Also, a local Black female leader started the conversation by connecting a passage from the assigned reading for the respective session to

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her own personal experiences. Number of attendees and evaluation results for this event are included in the next section.

Women and STEM: Dr. Taviare Hawkins In collaboration with the Black Student Union, UW System Women and Science Program, and Fit Oshkosh, the WC hosted Dr. Taviare Hawkins during Black History Month. Dr. Hawkins shared about her journey to becoming the 50th Black woman to earn a PhD in Physics. Number of attendees and evaluation results for this event are included in the next section.

Elect Her: Campus Women Win! Elect Her, a workshop developed by the American Association of University Women, is designed to encourage women to run for student government office, on the grounds that participating in student government increases the likelihood of running for office outside of school. Because of its workshop format, the number of students who participate each year is small, but the potential impact of the program is considerable, given its explicit focus on women in leadership. The workshop offers concrete strategies for promoting oneself and brings in speakers to discuss message development and the distinctive challenges that young women face in entering politics. It also provides an opportunity to feature female students on campus who hold a variety of leadership positions.

Each year, the AAUW and WC partner to send one Elect Her attendee to the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders in Washington, DC. This year Hannah Foley was the recipient of the AAUW and WC scholarship.

Start Smart Salary Negotiation Workshop Start Smart, developed by and licensed from the AAUW, is a salary negotiation workshop that educates participants on the wage gap. It provides negotiation tips and strategies with the rationale that one of the causes of the wage gap is that women are less likely to negotiate starting salaries. Attendees learn how to develop a budget, research salary ranges for a given position, and how to handle the process of negotiating itself, including opportunities to practice through role-playing. Relative to its cost (the three-year license is $1500), the number of students who participate in the training is small compared to some other programs, but the impact on the students who do attend is considerable. Post-workshop surveys are overwhelmingly favorable, with more than 90% of students rating the workshop as “Good” or “Excellent.” The WC collaborates with Reeve Union and Career Services to host these workshops.

Finals Survival Night & Faculty and Staff Unwind The WC continued with Finals Survival Night, which was first held in December 2015. In conjunction with the LGBTQ Resource Center, Student Health Center, Counseling Center, and a variety of student organizations, the WC held Finals Survival Night during both the fall and spring semester. During this event, the WC stayed open until midnight, offering study space, quiet activities for study breaks (e.g., coloring, puzzles, video games, board games), chair massages during select times, and “survival kits” filled with school supplies and small amusements donated from around campus. Mythbusters was the fall theme and the spring theme was superheroes. In addition to providing students an alternative venue for studying, the event also helped increase the profile of the WC, as it attracted many students who had never been to the WC before.

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During the week following the last day of the semester, the WC, in collaboration with the LGBTQ Resource Center and Counseling Center, hosted a Faculty and Staff Unwind. The WC hours were adjusted from 12-4 to 9-4, Monday-Wednesday, so that faculty and staff could stop in at any point to de-stress after the semester. Many of the de-stress activities offered to students were also offered to staff and faculty, including unwind kits. The WC added chair massages to the Faculty and Staff Unwind, which was received favorably by staff members. The massage schedule quickly filled!

Conference Presentations

During the spring semester, Eliza and Dr. Johnson presented about Level Up! during the 2017 Social Justice Week. Additionally, they presented about Level Up! at the 4W Summit on Women, Gender, and Well-being/40th Wisconsin Women and Gender Studies Conference. The WC Fall 2016 interns, Micah Coates and Ali Christensen, both presented their intern projects at the 4W Summit, which was the first time either of the students presented at a conference.

Outreach and Promotion

In addition to the many events hosted and co-hosted by the WC, staff also engaged in outreach activities to further promote the WC. The WC staff collectively participated in a total of 35 outreach events, reaching approximately 1,300 people. Outreach events included leading or participating in workshops, presentations, and panels for campus and community organizations (e.g., Fraternity and Sorority Life, international student orientation, McNair Scholars Program, Inclusive Excellence Pedagogy Workshop, Learning in Retirement), guest lectures given by Dr. Johnson, tabling at large-scale events (e.g., Take Back the Night, Transgender Day of Remembrance, LGBTQ Ally March), and other assorted events.

Campus Service

While both the Director and Program Assistant’s hours are limited, campus service has provided an additional vehicle for promoting the WC. Dr. Johnson serves on the steering committee for the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and African American Studies Program. She is also a trainer for SAFE training through the LGBTQ Resource Center and Bystander Intervention. Dr. Johnson was also a member of the search committee for the Reeve Union Diversity and Inclusion Program and serves on a variety of committees (e.g., World AIDS Day).

Eliza serves on the College of Letters and Science’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, Take Back the Night Committee, and is a trained affirmative action representative for search committees.

Section II: Details

Program Updates

Engagement at Programs and Events As in previous years, the majority of student contact with the Women’s Center occurs at programs and events not located in the WC. Events were promoted via posters, flyers, tables

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promoting the event in Reeve Union and other high-traffic locations on campus, Campus Vision, and social media.

In total, the WC sponsored 31 programs and events and co-sponsored 20. Approximately 1,362 and 1,568 people were reached through WC sponsored and co-sponsored programs, respectively.

WC Sponsored Events Attendees Fall Open House 63 Global Google Hangout: Female Paralympians and Deaflympians 103 International Day of Rural Women: Panel on Women’s Healthcare in Rural Areas 14 Elect Her Campus Women Win 25 Voices of Men Annual Community Breakfast Livestream 33 Election Film: Iron Jawed Angels 19 Panel on Popular Culture: Ghostbusters 164 Fall Finals Survival Night 56 Fall Faculty and Staff Unwind 24 Color-Brave Community Read (January sessions) 25 World Hijab Day 60 National Girls and Women in Sports Day 25 Talks and Visits with Majidah Nantanda, Head Coach of the Ugandan Senior Women’s National Soccer Team 150

Color-Brave Community Read (February sessions) 45 Women and STEM: Dr. Taviare Hawkins 94 Global Google Hangout: Black Cyberfeminism 18 Career Closet Professional Dress Fashion Show 30 International Women’s Day: UW Oshkosh Faculty Feature 74 Panel on Popular Culture: Female Superheroes 39 Spring Finals Survival Night 43 Spring Faculty and Staff Unwind 35 *This table does not include events with their own subsection.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® Oshkosh Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® is the largest program sponsored by the WC each year, and considerable effort is put into promoting it, including tabling across campus, postering campus and downtown Oshkosh, Facebook advertising, and brief interviews of the WC Director about the event on community radio. Attendance in 2017 was comparable to previous years, which marks it as a success.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® Oshkosh Attendance by Year Spring 2013 Spring 2014 Spring 2015 Spring 2016 Spring 2017

150 289 218 239 220

Start Smart Salary Negotiation Workshops The total attendance each year varies considerably based on the number of workshops held; in Spring 2017. Two workshops open to all were held during Spring 2017 and two workshops were

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held for classes. For 2017-2018, the WC Director will target senior seminar/capstone courses for workshop facilitation as the open sessions have extremely low numbers (1-2 per session).

Start Smart Salary Negotiation Workshop Attendance by Semester Spring ‘13 Fall ‘13 Spring ‘14 Fall ‘14 Spring ‘15 Spring ‘16 Spring ‘17

28 28 20 49 68 34 63 Elect Her Attendance at Elect Her was comparable to previous years, but it was clear that some attendees had been required to attend for class, and they left partway through the workshop. It has been decided that due to rising costs and minimal interest in the program, Elect Her will not be held in 2017-2018. However, the WC will work to create a leadership program to replace Elect Her and will continue to collaborate with AAUW to fund one student in attending the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders.

Program and Event Evaluation

A standard WC event evaluation was created prior to the start of the Fall 2016 semester. The evaluations were created so as to gauge how effective WC programs and events were in working toward achieving the UW Oshkosh Strategic Priority D: Building an Inclusive and Supportive Institutional Environment. While the WC evaluations focused on Strategic Priority D, we believe the WC contributes to all four strategic priorities.

While not all events were evaluated, a comparison of averages of evaluated events is below. Evaluated events include the Fall 2016 Panel on Popular Culture: Ghostbusters (F16 POPC), Fall 2016 Global Google Hangout: Female Paralympians and Deaflympians (F16 GGH), Color-Brave Community Read: The Sisters Are Alright (CBCR), Women and STEM: Dr. Taviare Hawkins (Women & STEM), Spring 2017 Global Google Hangout: Black Cyberfeminism (S17 GGH), and Spring 2017 Panel on Popular Culture: Female Superheroes (S17 POPC).

F16 POPC

F16 GGH

CBCR

Women & STEM

S17 GGH

S17 POPC Totals

Able to better understand the intersectional experiences of identity groups in society 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.4 3.7 3.6 3.5 Have a stronger sense of social responsibility in relation to the event topic 3.1 3.4 3.5 3.3 3.6 3.4 3.4 Better understand the importance of exposing oneself to people from a variety of backgrounds or beliefs 3.4 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.8 3.7 3.6 Feel more prepared to inform or educate others about the topic discussed 3 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.5 3.3 3.4 More likely to embrace diversity and inclusion in the work with which I am engaged 3.3 3.7 3.8 3.5 3.9 3.7 3.6 More aware of the actions I can take to contribute to a more equitable society 3.1 3.4 3.6 3.4 3.7 3.6 3.4

*Averages are out of a 4-point Likert scale: 1 = Disagree, 4=Agree

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Engagement at the Women’s Center During the 2016-2017 academic year there was an increase in the number of visitors from the 2015-2016 academic year. The charts below include attendance data through June 2 (end of Spring Interim). Total attendance from September 2016 to May 2017 was 705, while in 2015-2016 it was 488. There were a total of 239 first-time visitors and 317 unique visitors in 2016-2017.

Total Attendance Comparison by Month and Year Year Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

2016-2017 182 71 38 105 80 55 31 39 94 N/A N/A N/A 2015-2016 93 73 46 79 37 31 47 69 13 N/A N/A N/A 2014-2015 387 256 197 98 70 147 137 105 45 58 35 115 2013-2014 363 406 272 156 72 229 249 233 108 35 38 62 2012-2013 38 32 37 45 7 81 63 113 20 12 25 42 2011-2012 78 120 66 40 4 75 66 68 20 2 0 1 Gender of Women’s Center Visitors Women are more likely to visit the Women’s Center than men, as in previous years. Of those who did specify their gender in 2016-2017 as of June 1 (648), 22% identified as male, 73% identified as female, 2% identified as androgynous or agender, and 3% identified as trans.

Total Women’s Center Sign-Ins by Gender and Year

Year Male Female Androgynous Trans Not Specified Total

2016-2017 140 472 15 21 57 705 2015-2016 151 242 19 5 71 488 2014-2015 172 740 63 6 519 1500 2013-2014 280 1309 21 8 505 2123 2012-2013 100 361 7 - 47 515 2011-2012 40 502 - - - 542 Race/Ethnicity of Women’s Center Visitors The Women’s Center began collecting race/ethnicity data from sign-ins in 2015. Of those who did specify their race or ethnicity at sign-in as of June 1 (669 of 705), 83% were white, 8% were Black/African American, 3% were Asian (including Hmong, Indian), 1% were Native American, 3% were Hispanic/Latino and 2% were multiracial.

Total Women’s Center Sign-Ins by Race/Ethnicity and Year

Year White African-American Asian Native

American Hispanic/

Latino Multiracial Total

(Specified) 2016-2017 556 53 19 4 23 14 669 2015-2016 330 19 23 5 10 N/A 387 Reasons for Visiting the Women’s Center Meetings and “Other” remain the most common reasons specified for visiting the WC. “Other” was often selected when an event was happening in the Women’s Center. In the future, we will

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direct people visiting for an event to select “Program” instead of “Other”. While zero people indicated that the library was their reason for visiting the WC, there were multiple people who checked out books or videos throughout the year.

Total Reason for Visit by Year Year Class Program Library Meeting Computers Study Other

2016-2017 89 77 0 127 3 64 261 2015-2016 34 52 0 128 20 7 209 2014-2015 236 88 4 480 58 69 437 2013-2014 249 272 36 828 173 156 462 2012-2013 71 82 NA 173 8 6 21 2011-2012 7 0 NA 0 0 0 0 Collaborations and Co-Sponsorships

The WC considers collaboration with other parts of campus crucial to its success. The goals of the WC cannot be achieved without considerable participation from the campus and community, and involving other groups in WC events is one of the ways in which the WC works to achieve that. During the 2016-2017 academic year, the WC collaborated with 67 different departments and organization on campus and in the community.

Regular Collaborators As in past years, the WC frequently collaborated with Reeve Union Diversity and Inclusion. This collaboration allows the WC increased reach through programming and access to resources through Reeve Union.

The Women’s Center also frequently partners with the Women’s Advocacy Council, a student organization. It is part of the WC Director’s position to co-advise the group. Because the goals of the Women’s Advocacy Council and the WC are closely aligned, collaboration and co-sponsorship on events serves the mission of both the WC and WAC. The Women’s Advocacy Council has been invaluable in ensuring the success of WC events, by helping sustain the cost of events through co-sponsorship, by helping with event promotion, and volunteering at events as needed. The WC similarly provides support for Women’s Advocacy Council events.

The WC also works with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) on some of our most important programs. Elect Her and Start Smart are both programs developed by AAUW; the WC purchases a license from AAUW to bring these events to campus each year. Although attendance at these programs is lower than at some other WC events because they are workshops, they are some of the most important events that the Women’s Center hosts, as each directly targets inequalities women face. The WC also collaborates with the local AAUW chapter to fund one student’s attendance at the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders.

During 2016-2017, the WC has also increased collaborations with the Student Health Center through their Health Promotion Program as well as the Counseling Center. These collaborations will continue to be fruitful while taking a holistic approach to helping female-identified students be successful in the classroom and in life.

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Lastly, the WC forged a strong relationship with Fit Oshkosh. Collaborating with Fit Oshkosh has been a beneficial experience. Fit Oshkosh also assisted the WC with fundraising by helping the WC sell cookbooks and bowties at the Color-Brave Community Read sessions and in their office. Working with Fit Oshkosh has been productive in situating the WC as a community resource.

Risks and Opportunities

Challenge: Center Attendance The number of visitors in the WC has historically been low and the 2016-2017 WC visits were consistent with past years. When asking students what prevents them from coming to the WC, the most common responses were the limited number of hours in which the WC is open and the location of the WC on campus (i.e., that it is far away from academic buildings).

Solutions The WC staff continues to find innovative ways to host programs and events to drive traffic in the WC. Examples of these programs include Finals Survival Night, Faculty and Staff Unwind, and the Fall Open House. In terms of addressing the number of hours that the WC is open, the staff will explore staggering staff and intern schedules to increase the number of open hours. Lastly, if granted funds to hire a STEP student for 2017-2018, the position will focus on communication and increasing traffic in the WC.

Challenge: Budgetary Limitations

The WC’s expenses exceeded its allotted $3,004 annual budget, with fundraising making up the shortfall. This was not unexpected, as the expenses were virtually all associated with scheduled programming.

During the 2016-2017 year, the WC continued sales of bowties and cookbooks, raising approximately $2,500. This fundraising significantly offset the costs of WC programming, but the sale of bowties, in particular, is not sustainable; the bowties being sold were hand-made by the former director (Dr. Murray) and will run out. The cookbook is more sustainable, as it has already been developed and more copies can be ordered indefinitely.

Solutions As in previous years, WC staff work to establish partnerships with other campus organizations, not only to help diffuse the costs of programming but also to increase program visibility. Because the WC can expect to have a similarly limited budget in future years, this will remain an important part of the WC’s work.

Ultimately, a source of funding that does not rely on sales would be preferable. Given the university’s larger budgetary situation, this may not be possible.

Challenge: Limited Staff Hours The WC Director position is currently at .50 LTE and the WC Program Assistant position is at .58 LTE. This collectively gives the WC 43 hours of staffing (not including student employees). While the WC has great potential to continue growing, increasing the LTE of both positions will need to be accomplished for the WC to reach its full potential.

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Solutions The WC Director position is set to increase to .75 LTE starting on July 1, 2017. This will be of great benefit to the WC, Division of Academic Support of Inclusive Excellence, and campus as a whole. However, the WC Program Assistant position remains at .58 LTE and is classed at the lowest University Services Associate level. The WC Director will continue advocating and demonstrating the need for re-examining the classification and LTE of the Program Assistant position.

The WC Director also continuously advertises the WC as an internship location. During the Fall 2016 semester, the WC had one intern from the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and one from the Social Justice Program. There were no interns during the Spring 2017 semester, which strained the staff. Continuing to have a STEP student employee would also be beneficial for the WC. Fortunately, the WC has secured two interns from the Department of Social Work for the entire 2017-2018 academic year. This will help ensure the workload is consistently covered and manageable throughout the academic year.

Budget

The WC has a budget of $3004 per academic year for routine operating costs, including room reservations, office supplies, buildings and grounds services, telephone services, postage, and printing. The $3004 budget is fully used on these expenses, with a projected shortage of $562.22 to be covered by funds in the 133 account.

The WC’s 133 and Foundation accounts thus supply the majority of funding related to WC programming and events. The WC began the academic year with $3,864.76 in its 133 account and $6,191.66 in its Foundation account.

Costs associated with printing were the largest expense for the WC during 2016-2017. While the total printing cost for the year is $1,565, $893 of that cost is related to reprinting of the cookbooks that will become future revenue for the WC. The next largest single expense was the purchase of the Start Smart license fee from AAUW, a cost of $1500 to offer an unlimited number of workshops on campus for three years. Originally this cost was part of the 2015-2016 budget; however, there was a delay in the processing of funds and the cost then became part of the 2016-2017 budget.

As in 2015-2016, fundraising through sales contributed significantly to the WC’S revenue. Approximately $2,500 was raised through bowtie and cookbook sales and donations. Off-campus sales sites included Free Comic Book Day at the House of Heroes, Fit Oshkosh office and collaborative events, and the 4W Summit in Madison, WI.

An overview of projected versus actual expenses and remaining balances in each of the WC accounts is below.

WC 102 Account (Annual funds from the university)

Description of Transaction Projected Expenses Expenses to Date Remaining Balance Room Reservations $534.00 $302.00 $232.00 Office Supplies $700.00 $920.71 -$220.71 Postage $20.00 $2.35 $17.65 Buildings and Grounds $50.00 $25.00 $25.00

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Printing $800.00 $1,565.08 -$765.08 Telephone and STS $750.00 $667.30 $82.70 Misc. $50.00 $0.00 $50.00 Term Leave $100.00 $83.78 $16.22

Total $3,004.00 $3,566.22 -$562.22

WC 133 Account (Revenue)

Description of Transaction Expenses to Date Remaining Balance Initial Amount $3,864.76

Parking -$225.00 -$225.00 Speakers -$0.00 $0.00 Misc. -$2,016.23 -$2,016.23 Reservations -$351.00 -$351.00 Hotel-Travel -$1,584.00 -$1,584.00

Revenue $1,870.32 Total -$4,226.23 $1,508.85 Deficit in 102 Account -562.22 Carryover Balance $946.63

Misc. included the 3-year AAUW Start Smart license ($1,500), a 2017-2018 advertisement in the Titan Guide ($145), chair massages for the Faculty and Staff Unwind ($70), subscription to Game Informer magazine ($26), and the screening license for Iron Jawed Angels ($275).

WC Foundation Account

Description of Transaction Projected Expenses Expenses / Revenue Remaining Balance Initial Amount $6,191.66

Quarterly Fee's $60.00 -$32.54 $6,159.12 Speakers $200.00 -$200.00 $5,959.12 WAM Donation 2016 -$260.26 $5,698.86 WAM Donation 2017 -$520.00 $5178.86 4W Summit Lodging -$253.34 $4,925.52

Revenue +$650.00 $5,575.52 Total/Remaining Balance $616.14 $5,575.52

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Appendix A: Women’s Center Snapshot (Infographic) 2016-2017