May 16, 2007 Announcement from the Office of the President
To the Campus Community:
I am writing to announce the formation of an ad hoc committee, the 2007-08 Task Force on the Status of Women at Middlebury College. I have charged this group with responsibility for following up on issues identified in the 1997 Report of the Task Force on the Status of Women, and exploring other issues that have arisen since that time relating to the experience of female students, faculty, and staff at Middlebury.
The Task Force will be chaired by Carrie Rampp, LIS Area Director of Resource Development and Services. In addition, the following campus members have agreed to serve on the Task Force: Vicki Backus, Associate in Science Instruction in Biology; Alison Byerly, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Harriet Buffington Fox, Class of 2009; Marichal Gentry, Associate Dean of the College; Karin Hanta, Director of Chellis House; Ellen Usilton, Compensation Manager; Michelle McCauley, Associate Professor of Psychology; Shirley Ramirez, Dean for Institutional Diversity; Erin Quinn, Director of Athletics; Michael Sheridan, Assistant Professor of Anthropology; and another student yet to be appointed.
A review of the 1997 Task Force Report suggests that the College has made a great deal of progress in addressing some of the issues that were of greatest concern at that time, as many recommendations of that report have been implemented. Nevertheless, a number of areas discussed in the report deserve further examination in light of the changes that have taken place at Middlebury and within the academy during the last decade. In particular, the broader landscape of higher education provides a context for systematically assessing how we compare with peer institutions in such areas as: recruiting and retaining women faculty in academic disciplines where they are traditionally underrepresented; creating pathways for career advancement for women in staff positions; and developing programming that addresses the impact of alcohol abuse on the social environment for female students.
Among the topics I have asked the Task Force to engage are the following:
- Representation of women at all levels: administration, faculty, staff, and student leadership positions
- College service – opportunity or burden?
- Working conditions and families at Middlebury
- Program in Women’s and Gender Studies and its relationship to Chellis House
- Gender issues in student social and extracurricular life
- Campus climate and working environment for lesbian/bisexual students, faculty, and staff
- Specific challenges of minority women.
The Committee will be free to explore other areas that seem relevant, and I encourage you to contact members of the Task Force if you have suggestions in this regard. I know that they will be seeking input from all members of the community.
I have asked that the Task Force present a preliminary report to me and President’s Staff no later than March 1, 2008, after which there will be an opportunity for clarification, follow up, and revision. I hope that it will be possible to incorporate recommendations from this report into the implementation process already underway as part of our recent strategic planning exercise, as we have done with recommendations from last year’s Human Relations Committee.
I am grateful to the community members who have agreed to be part of this important project, and look forward to watching their work unfold in the coming months.
Ronald D. Liebowitz