Sandra Marcella

As a part of our ongoing mission to improve the Commission for Women, appointed members were surveyed in order to determine some of the motivating factors for members' involvement, as well as the factors contributing to persistence in the CFW. Here are Sandra Marcella’s responses.

What motivated you to join the CFW?
I joined the CFW because I believe in women's groups that work to advance the equality of women.

What do you enjoy most about the CFW?
I appreciate the research on the status of women at PSU that the CFW has put forth.

Which of the CFW’s goals are you most passionate about and would like to take a more active role in?
I would like to take a more active role in the CFW in general, however, it seems that the majority of the activities occur at Main Campus and they are during the work day. For female graduate students like myself who work full time and attend classes at night or online at a satellite campus, its somewhat difficult to fully participate.

Additional Thoughts?
I would truly love to see the CFW focus a bit more on female students and the difficulties they face in their programs at their various campuses. The CFW has great mentoring programs for PSU employees, but I would love to see something similar expanded to female students. I would also like to see the CFW promote Women's History Month activities at all campuses every March.

Sandra Marcella is an appointed member of the Commission for Women and a graduate student at The Pennsylvania State University pursuing a Masters in Public Administration.

Karin Foley

As a part of our ongoing mission to improve the Commission
for Women, appointed members were surveyed in order to determine some of the motivating factors for members' involvement, as well as the factors
contributing to persistence in the CFW. Here are Karin Foley's responses.

What motivated you to join the CFW?
I initially joined out of a sense of obligation to give back. As a female administrator, I thought it was time to do something for the women of PSU.

What do you enjoy most about the CFW?
What I enjoy most about the Commission is meeting new people and learning about new people

Which of the CFW’s goals are you most passionate about and would like to take a more active role in?
Some of the goals and initiatives I am most passionate about include the prevention of sexual assaults, maternity benefits for grad students and post docs, and mentoring for pre-tenure female faculty.

Karin Foley is the Associate Dean for Administration for the Eberly College of Science and a Past Chair in the Commission for Women.

Meghan Hayes

As a part of our ongoing mission to improve the Commission for Women, appointed members were surveyed in order to determine some of the motivating factors for members' involvement, as well as the factors contributing to persistence in the CFW. Here are Meghan Hayes' responses.

What motivated you to join the CFW?
I was motivated to join the CFW by the opportunities to meet women across the University, to get involved in championing women's issues at PSU, and to add a dimension of service and volunteerism to my portfolio of work at PSU

What do you enjoy most about the CFW?
What I enjoy most about the Commission for Women is the camaraderie. I also take pride in the feeling of accomplishment when we get new policies or impactful studies out.

Which of the CFW’s goals are you most passionate about and would like to take a more active role in?
I am very interested in the issue of work life balance for working women.

Meghan Hayes is an appointed member to the CFW.

Mary Stansfield

As a part of our ongoing efforts to improve the Commission for Women, appointed members were surveyed in order to determine some of the motivating factors of members' involvement, as well as the factors contributing to persistence in the CFW. Here are Mary Stansfield's responses.



What motivated you to join the CFW?
I joined the CFW as a tool for networking, to broaden my focus and interaction with women's issues, which are a huge concern to and for me, and to attempt to make some kind of change for women in today's society.

What do you enjoy most about the CFW?
I enjoy meeting all the women from across campus and at the branch campuses. I enjoy learning about all the issues we as women face and how we are approaching those concerns and the ways that we are making a difference. I enjoy meeting the different speakers that attend our meetings, as they offer so much information that otherwise many of us would not know, thus allowing me to share some of that information for communication purposes.

Which of the CFW's goals are you most passionate about and would like to take a more active role in?
The committee I have been on. I started with wages and equity, but that has changed now to the Advancement Subcommittee.

Additional Thoughts?
I think we need to engage undergraduate women more effectively since they will be entering the workforce and facing many of the issues that women at the University face.

Mary Stansfield is a Ph.D. Candidate in Tourism Management and a member of the CFW Mentoring Committee.

Help Us Grow the Commission for Women: Share Your Experiences!

In order to effectively evaluate the current status of the CFW and to develop strategies for future growth, we are conducting a survey of all appointed members for the current academic year.

The purpose of this study is to determine what some of the motivating factors have been in member's decisions to join the CFW. We would also like to determine to what extent the CFW has benefited you and which of the CFW's goals the membership is most engaged with.

As an appointed member, your feedback is valued. We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to reviewing your responses. You may complete the survey at the link provided below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dE1RVTczbENlR0VQQUVDckVEczZuc3c6MQ

CFW Executive Committee met on August 23, 2011

Women Atop Their Fields Dissect the Scientific Life

Elena Aprile, Joy Hirsch, Mary-Claire King and Tal Rabin are women scientists on top of their fields. The article describes their lives as scientists, the joys and struggles of research, and the specific challenges women in science face. Read the article published by The New York Times by clicking here.