President Romo receives Women's Institute Report

(May 7, 2002)--The Women and Gender Studies Committee at the University of Texas at San Antonio yesterday (May 6) presented its final report to President Ricardo Romo at a meeting at the 1604 Campus. The report outlines recommendations by the 15-member committee comprised of faculty, staff, students and community representatives following last fall's restructuring of the Center for the Study of Women and Gender into a program in the Department of History due to budgetary constraints.

The committee recommends the university establish a Women's Studies Institute at the 1604 Campus with a search for a director to begin immediately. A search committee, chaired by Sonia Saldivar from the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, is already in the process of developing position descriptions and soon will begin accepting applications.

The committee also recommended that UTSA establish a Women's Resource Center at the Downtown Campus, to include collaboration of existing campus services, such as the UTSA Women's Health Clinic and Counseling Services. The committee's report also recommends an expansion of additional resources at UTSA that focus on women's needs.

"The committee's proposal for a Women's Studies Institute is thoughtful, innovative and visionary," said Romo. "I believe this is the beginning of a program that can become a national model."

The UTSA Women's Studies Institute is charged to promote the advancement of women by expanding and sharing knowledge through the stimulation and support of interdisciplinary research, education and public information about and for women.

The Women's Studies Institute also will house UTSA's women's studies degree program, allowing the program access to additional resources than are currently available, Romo added. He also committed the university to seeking sources of funds that will support the institute as a separate program.

The Women's Resource Center will be a collaborative program of the Office of Student Affairs, the College of Education and Human Development, other campus departments and community resources.

"As committee members deliberated, members concluded that there needed to be two structures at UTSA that address the needs of women at our campuses,” said Rosalie Ambrosino, vice president for student affairs and chair of the committee.

The committee views the combined efforts of the Institute and Resource Center, along with other campus committees and student groups, as the most productive way to promote scholarly interaction, secure funding for programs and provide services to female members of the university and local community, according to Ambrosino.

Other existing campus groups focusing on women's issues include the University Committee on the Advancement of Women, the Ad Hoc Committee on a Women and Gender Studies Program (focusing on the degree program), the Women's History Week Committee and the Women Faculty and Staff Association.

"We have worked well as a group, beginning with a somewhat negative situation and moving to a very positive and constructive interaction of perspectives from individuals representing a variety of backgrounds," said Betty Merchant, chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at UTSA. "The report represents a new direction at UTSA, and one that I think will significantly and positively affect women in many ways."

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