Women in the Academy: Defining our Roles

A conference co-sponsored by the ACM Committee on the Status of Women (CSW) and the Midstates Consortium for Math and Science (MCMS). Funding support from the ACM Faculty Career Enhancement (FaCE) Project.

September 25-27, 2009

  • Host: Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  • Organizers: Siobhan Moroney (Lake Forest College), Jeanne Williams (Ripon College), Marie Baehr (Coe College), Karen Nordell Pearson (MCMS), and John Ottenhoff (ACM).

Conference Schedule

Friday, September 25

Perrine Gallery, second level of Stewart Memorial Library

5:30-6:30 pm Registration and Social hour

6:30 –9:00 pm Dinner and Keynote address

Introduction of Keynote Speaker by Jeanne Williams (Professor of Educational Studies, Ripon College; Chair, ACM Committee on the Status of Women)

Keynote Speaker: Joey Sprague, Bauer Professor of Sociology at the University of Kansas

"How Gender Shapes Students' Evaluations of Teaching"

Dr. Sprague is author of Feminist Methodologies for Critical Researchers: Bridging Differences (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). Other recent publications include "The Impact of Gender on the Evaluation of Teaching: What We Know and What We Can Do" (with Heather Laube, Kelley Massoni, and Abby Ferber; National Women's Studies Association Journal, 2007) and "Student Evaluations and Gendered Expectations: What We Can't Count Can Hurt Us" (with Kelley Massoni; Sex Roles, 2005). She is Past-President of Sociologists for Women in Society and co-editor of The Gender Lens book series (Rowman & Littlefield).

Saturday, September 26

9:00-9:45 am Continental breakfast (Stuart Hall, Room 405)

10:00-11:00 am Panel Discussion: Defining our Roles

Marie Baehr (Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Coe College)
Jane Jakoubek (Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Monmouth College)
Karen Nordell Pearson (Director, Midstates Consortium for Math and Science)
Barbara McGowan (Professor of History, Ripon College)
Ruth Lanouette (Associate Professor of German, Lawrence University)

11:15 am-12:45 pm Breakout Session I (Stuart Hall, rooms 103, 104, 105, 203, 205, 209)

The conference will feature three breakout sessions Saturday focusing on issues of classroom management, advising, division of labor, and campus climate. Participants will be asked to sign up on Friday night for the sessions that they are most interest in, and groups of 8-12 will then be formed for the sessions.

Member of the ACM Committee on the Status of Women will facilitate the sessions, and each breakout group will appoint a note taker. Groups will report out at the end of Saturday's sessions.

12:45-1:45 pm Lunch (Gage Union, Lower level)

  • focus on networking: sit with people you haven't talked to yet

2:00-3:30 pm Breakout Session II

3:45-5:15 pm Breakout Session III

5:15-5:45 pm Wrapping Up (Stuart Hall, Room 405)

This plenary session will focus on summarizing the three breakout sessions, looking for common threads and solutions. Each of the breakout groups should have notes to share with the larger group.

This session will also serve as a means of organizing groups for dinner and activities Saturday night and for pointing ahead to Sunday's work on identifying action and projects that will follow the conference.

Evening: Conference packets will include a list of restaurants and activities.

Sunday, September 27

9:00-10:30 am Breakfast (Stuart Hall, Room 405)

This will be a time for campus groups to talk about ideas heard throughout the weekend that can be implemented on campus. If you do not have a campus group, please join a group from a neighboring institution to talk about the possibilities of collaboration.

10:30-11:30 am Plenary Session: Defining our Roles; Making an Impact

A discussion facilitated by CSW members; Siobhan Moroney as discussion leader. The key questions for this session are:

  • What's sustainable?
  • How do we build sustainable networks of colleagues who can build on the work of this conference?
  • What kind of resources would be useful for building on the conference and carrying this work forward?