Dear all,

On Friday, we celebrated Landis House with an opening reception and our first event--an ODI and Women's Center co-sponsored Ladies' Night!  Now that a crew of visitors has warmed up the space, it really feels like a home for our work.  Please make it a habit to stop in and say hello or use the resource room and reading room as a hangout and workspace as often as you like!

For me, this week is compacted--I'm traveling to Washington, D.C., on Thursday and Friday to participate in a two-day seminar on human trafficking.  This is a partnership between the Women's Center, Religious Life and Community Service, and the Department of Women's and Gender Studies.  Students from my First-Year Seminar on American Women, Spirituality and Social Justice, and students from both sections of this semester's Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies, will be traveling to the United Methodist Church's Office of Church and Society to meet and learn from representatives of local and national organizations that work on violence prevention and safety from trafficking.  Under the guidance of senior department major Nina Antonsen, along with Mira Hewlett, Stephanie Gilmore, and myself, the students will return from the trip with a much more full and concrete understanding of this significant social and international concern.

As I prepare for the trip, I'm also looking ahead to the amazing plans in the works for a conference on campus on March 9th that will focus on Dickinson women's legacy of success.  More details to follow but mark your calendars for sessions on women in leadership, student leaders, and women in science!

Also on my radar:

Files:  because of some moving confusion and the start of the semester, I have not yet been able to unpack my files from the old office! 
  
WGST grading and prep

leadershape group:  This week I'll follow up with my students from the LeaderShape retreat to schedule our next dinner reconnecting our LeaderShape experience with Dickinson

leadership panel outreach:  Specific colleagues would really enjoy the leadership panel at the March 9 Legacy of Success conference, so I'll be doing some direct outreach via email and other methods

YWCA follow-up:  Take a closer look at a series of emails related to a research project for the YWCA that focuses on best practices for helping women in poverty   

Diversity ally award:  I've been asked to help contribute some notes to aid the division in developing a possible award for a student who demonstrates great work around diversity

Assault Coalition minutes and agenda:  The Assault and Sexuality Coalition held a short, sweet and productive meeting last week; I need to type up those minutes and use them to send out the agenda for our next meeting

 March 9 student press release:    A student has asked for more specific information about our March 9th event and I need to remember to respond once that's clarified   

Support staff summary and job descriptions:  Paula and I have a specific outline together but I need to type up our support staff needs into the most effective format       

Student recommendation letters

 Re-read OVW grant:  The writing team for our Office of Violence Against Women grant is having our first meeting tomorrow to hammer out the details and I need to be sure I have a command of the grant's requirements and our past notes and outreach.  Love to hear your thoughts; please email bartlows@dickinson.edu if you'd like to talk about the grant plans!

****

Also, a short note:  because of the weather this week, we've had to cancel Wednesday's Dating Violence Lunch & Learn with Carla Maddox from Domestic Violence Services.  We will definitely be rescheduling this event so stay tuned!  Email women@dickinson.edu if you'd like to be sure you get the direct email about the rescheduled date.

Hope to see you all in Landis House soon!

Be well and warm,

Susannah