The University Committee pondered the question: Why, given all the
studies and reports, had there been so little change? As noted earlier,
neither the data nor the issues raised by untenured faculty women
suggested that there had been much improvement in the numbers of women
on faculty or in conditions that would retain women who were on the
faculty.
From this deliberation, the University Committee arrived at the conclusion
that UW-Green Bay's apparent lack of progress in recruiting and retaining
women faculty members was an issue that demanded the attention and
intervention of the faculty as a whole. Many of the recruitment and
retention issues, such as the climate in academic units, the quality
of mentoring, and equity in merit, tenure, and promotion reviews,
are areas for which faculty carry major responsibility. Certainly,
the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor's Offices must support, encourage
and facilitate broad institutional efforts, particularly in the area
of salary inequities; however, in faculty matters, faculty clearly
must take the lead. Thus, in December 1991, the University Committee
recommended to the Senate that a special faculty committee be appointed
by the University Committee to address the issues of concern. The
Senate concurred and in January 1992, the special committee was appointed.
C. Composition and Charge to the Committee
The Committee was composed of six senior, tenured members of the
faculty who were selected from the four voting districts. Hence, there
were two members from the Natural Sciences, two from Professional
Studies, and one each from the Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences.
Membership included three men and three women. The Committee was chaired
by the immediate past chair of the University Committee.
At the time of its appointment, the charge to the Committee included:
1. Review of reports made to System and other data that are available
pertaining to the recruitment, retention, and salaries of women. It
is not intended that the committee will conduct surveys, etc. to secure
data. Rather, the committee will request data from Chancellor's Office,
AA/EEO, and others. While the available data clearly indicate that
a problem exists, the committee needs to review existing materials
so as to assure that all members have similar understanding of the
issues.
2. Development of specific recommendations arrived at correcting
negative situations indicated by the data and from the meetings of
untenured female faculty and that are within the power of the faculty,
budgetary units, the Vice Chancellor and Chancellor's Offices to remedy.
Such recommendations may pertain to: (a) the adequacy of the current
mentoring system; (b) the climate for women in units and ways that
improvements can be made; (c) salary inequities; (d) supports that
could be provided so that more women can advance in rank, etc.
The above charge indicates the decision of the University Committee
and Senate to confine committee activity only to women with faculty
status. This was not to suggest that other women in the University
Community do not have issues of concern. Rather, it was to emphasize
that the focus of this Committee, given the time and resources available,
would be to deal with issues specific to the faculty.
D. Committee Activities
During the period February 1 to August 1, 1992, the Committee engaged
in a number of activities. As previous reports and campus data were
examined, we discovered several significant omissions of crucial information
on the condition of women faculty at the University. We concluded
that several efforts to gather new data would be essential to meeting
the objectives stated in the charge above, even though the Committee
was not mandated to engage in such data collection. This section of
the report describes each of these activities, presents new data where
available, and highlights the findings of both previous analyses and
the Committee's own research.
1. Review of Pertinent Documents and Past Studies
A number of studies dealing with the status of women on this campus
have been carried out in prior years. Some of these have already been
referred to in Section B on background information. In addition, the
Committee reviewed the report of a University Committee-appointed
Task Force on Orientation for New Instructors. Along with these studies,
the Committee reviewed annual reports made by the Affirmative Action
/Equal Employment Opportunity (AA/EEO) office to the UW System, such
as reports on exit interviews with women and minority faculty.
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