WFA Cafe
--
online support and mentoring among women
faculty
*(for info on subscribing to the discussion board,
see note below, or contact me at x3807 or by email at <delashgari@csupomona.edu>)
Come join us for good conversation, congenial
company, and a chance to share our experiences as women teaching
at Cal Poly Pomona.
The WFA Cafe threaded discussion board is especially designed to facilitate mentoring of relatively new women faculty by those who've been around awhile. But the sharing of problems and creative ideas can work for all of us.
As issues arise, we can post our concerns on the board and (we hope) get a range of responses, commiseration, and strategic suggestions from other WFA members.
If you're interested in taking part, email the WFA Mentoring Coordinator, Deirdre Lashgari. Let me know your field and how long you've been here.
Also let me know if you're interested in meeting
with a mentor/mentee on an individual basis--perhaps for a monthly
lunch. List your particular interests, and I'll try to match people
in similar fields or with common concerns.
Why hang out at the WFA Cafe?
D.D. Wills gave the best arguments
in her October 1997 memo
"Some reasons why it is important for you to be a member
of WFA"--
1) Women on the Advisory Board, the officers, and the long-time
members collectively have at least 100 years of experience at
Cal Poly Pomona. We are ready to share that experience and whatever
knowledge it has yielded with you as you struggle with RTP, FMIs,
committee assignments, the balancing act of home and work, the
bureaucratic structure, department colleagues, administrative
authority, insufficient funds for professional activity, demanding
students, commuting, and on and on and on.... Have you mastered
these challenges?
2) The women on the campus provide a great deal of the
social and intellectual life of the university for one another
and for all community members. We work together to organize events,
plan outings, and initiate new programs. We study together, present
research and news to others, explore community issues, and raise
money together for causes we believe in. We spend time with students.
We are friends to each other. We are a personal and professional
resource.
3) It has been suggested that groups such as ours are no
longer practical from the standpoint of scheduling meetings or
holding programs. I realize that everyone is over-burdened with
the administrative work that has crept into our teaching jobs,
the new learning that is required of us, and the fulfillment of
the more extensive and intensive demands made of us if we want
to hold on to our positions and our pay. You may not wish to give
up so much as an hour per month to additional campus activities.
Even if you do not assume an active role, even if you do not attend
a single meeting during a given quarter, WFA can be at the least
a source of information and support. WFA is not engaged in carrying
out the administrative business of the university, officially
or unofficially. Your performance in WFA is not going to be assessed.
WFA was created by women faculty, not by management, because we
had issues of our own that no one else was going to address, and
we are still addressing them. That makes it practical to be a
member, however hard it may be to make the meetings.
4) Some people may feel that WFA and similar groups are vestigial
organizations, reflections of a past political era. No so. We
have been partially successful in our struggle for equal access
to the opportunity structure and to resources, in that we are
increasingly well represented in department ranks at all levels.
However, we have not achieved much success in slowing the bureaucratization
and polarization of the university along hierarchical lines, which
works against the general interest of women. Ours is one of the
tiny handful of organizations on campus that have no elaborate
formal governing structure, that are not agenda- or work-driven,
and that are broadly representative and inclusive rather than
selective.
5) Accompanying our serious political and professional
purposes on campus, we are engaged in various struggles off-campus
as well. Whatever may be your personal opinion concerning affirmative
action, privatization of education, immigrant issues, human rights,
the upward redistribution of wealth, domestic violence, hate crimes,
corporate media monopolization, intellectual property rights,
environmental degradation, welfare repeal, viral epidemics, and
the other issues of the day, WFA at least is willing to tackle
them. The women's groups on campus are links to the local communities,
where people are deeply affected by these things. Perhaps you
feel these issues are not part of your personal world. Even if
that were the case, you can be a more effective teacher if you
understand the circumstances of your students.
6) Strategic planning doesn't humanize your day. WFA does.
We are less concerned that you cough up membership dues than that
you register your support for the organization by joining. Then
I won't write you any more long pleading memos.
-- D.D. Wills, Co-Chair
OK-- so you're
convinced. How do you get into the Cafe?
1) Get an
Intranet account from Gee Gee Crews ( 98-C5-13), Teri Takamoto
or Janet Rice (98-B1-208), or Joy Compton (8-51A). Be sure to
bring your faculty i.d.
2) Click on the "WFA Cafe" link at the top of this page (the WFA Cafe Introduction page).
3) Tips:
To post a message:
To view your message
Enjoy -- (P.S. Sorry, you have to provide your own java and pastries.)
If you like what you see here, great; if not, don't
blame Cal Poly Pomona.
Send your comments to
Deirdre Lashgari.