Tag Archives: Education

Great Total Solar Eclipse of 2017!

A composite image of what the total eclipse looked like from
the Lowell Observatory in Madras, Oregon

 

Mary Watson Whitney (1847-1921)
Goddess of Wisdom
AAUW Member & Professor at Vassar College

On 2017 August 21, a total eclipse of the Sun was visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses the United States of America. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow began in northern Pacific and crosses the USA from west to east through parts of the following states: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina. The Moon’s penumbral shadow produces a partial eclipse visible from a much larger region covering most of North America.

According to our AAUW archives, many women have contributed to our knowledge of Astronomy and the universe.  For instance, Astronomer and AAUW member and professor at Vassar College in 1861, Mary Watson Whitney (1847-1921) built the school’s Astronomy program into one of the nation’s finest.  Under her direction, the Vassar Observatory issue 102 articles. Her classmates called Mary “Pallas Ahene”, our Goddess of Wisdom. She fought against the popular notion that women could not carry on sustained scientific research.  She was a passionate mentor, specially committed to securing jobs for women trained in Astronomy and Mathematics.

June 2017 Content Suggestions

#1 Faces of Student Debt

AAUW’s new research report Deeper In Debt has shown that women bare a disproportionate amount of student debt. These six women invested in themselves and their future by pursuing higher education. But those degrees came at large price.
Read more.
Image link: https://www.aauw.org/files/2017/06/College-of-DuPage-Celebrates-50th-Commencement-2017-118-min.jpg
Caption***: (Photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/codnewsroom/”>COD Newsroom</a>)
***You must use this as a caption to give proper credit to the photo’s source

#2 Three Musts for Intersectional Feminism
Intersectional feminism is to acknowledge multiple overlapping social identities and related systems of oppression. So, while we may want to work under the umbrella term “women,” there is not one global women’s experience. Here are three ways to make sure that your feminism is intersectional.
Read more.

Image link: https://www.aauw.org/files/2017/02/Create-Community.jpg
Alt text: Younger Women’s Task Force – Greater Lafayette Chapter

#3 Reflecting on the First AAUW Lobby Day
With our 49th AAUW National Convention coming up this June, take a minute to look back at our very first Lobby Day. This takes us back in time to 1989 and the 35th AAUW National Convention, where the theme that year was “Choices, Changes, and Connections.”
Read more.

Image link: http://convention.aauw.org/files/2017/05/Lobby-Day600.jpg

Highlights of AAUW StartSmart Salary Negotiation – NYIT April 22, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Start Smart AHA moment was when I realized that I could have gotten a much higher salary during the role playing exercise. I feel that instead of taking the employer’s word, I should have negotiated more; now I know better!  I really enjoyed the workshop and I learned quite a bit. I want to thank you and everyone involved for taking the time to share this very valuable information with us.
Maryam Khan, NYIT Student
Tues, October 26, 2016

AAUW StartSmart Salary Negotiation
NYIT 2017

The Empire State Virtual NY Branch AAUW &
The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) invite you to join us at
Student Leadership Development and Career Fair at the NYIT on
Tuesday, April 11, 2017, 4:00 – 6:00pm
Free to all students!
NYIT, 16 W 61st St, New York, NY, 10023, 11th floor Auditorium

Come join us to learn how to negotiate your first job and learn about what employers are looking for in potential employers.

Register at http://goo.gl/forms/eBWMRZXrYO
For more information, email Michelle Messenger at mmesseng@nyit.edu
Or Maria Ellis at mellis@fsacap.com

AAUW NYS District V Conference on “Diversity and Inclusion in Today’s Workplace

Congrats to the organizers, speakers
and all those members and friends
who contributed to the success of
the AAUW NYS District V Conference on
“Diversity and Inclusion in Today’s Workplace”
held at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City on October 15, 2016.

aauw-nys-district-v-conference-speakers-organizers

The participants included keynote speaker Bich Ha Pham, Public Advocate NYC; Azadeh Khalili, Executive Director, Commission on Gender Equity, Office of the Mayor, NYC; Pamela Abner, Chief Administrative Officer, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Mount Sinai Hospital; Rippi Karda, Assistant General Counsel, Verizon, Basking Ridge, NJ and Gabrielle Lyse Brown, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, NYC Bar Association. Congrats to the District V Leadership for such a successful Conference!

AAUW StartSmart Salary Negotiation – NYIT

aauw-startsmart1   business-women-400-1          participants-in-salary-negotiation1
                  Business Women 400                                            Participants in Salary Negotiation

gender-pay-gap-by-race1              you-are-your-own-brand1
            The Gender Pay Gap by Race

My Start Smart AHA moment was when I realized that I could have gotten a much higher salary during the role playing exercise. I feel that instead of taking the employer’s word , I should have negotiated more; now I know better!  I really enjoyed the workshop and I learned quite a bit. I want to thank you and everyone involved for taking the time to share this very valuable information with us.

Maryam Khan, NYIT Student
Tues, October 26, 2016

Empire State Virtual Branch Won Many Awards!

NY State Convention Logo 2016Congrats to all the ESVB members and friends who made possible winning so many awards at the AAUW NYS Convention April 15-17, 2016, Saratoga Springs Holiday Inn, NY

Awards!

1) Award of Distinction for our quarterly Empire Virtual Times newsletter
2) Award of Distinction for our Website
3) Award of Merit for Social Media
4) Award of Excellence for Visibility
5) Membership Award with 10% increase for recruiting and maintaining members
6) 21st Century Program — Silver Award for the  Mentoring
at the College of Mount Saint Vincent
7) Public Policy Award for Voter Registration & Education Award
8) Public Policy Award for STEM
9) Legal Advocacy Fund (LAF) Star Branch      Fourteenth (14th) Place Per Capita
Contributions. Specials thanks to our generous members including Dot McLane,
Dr. Chigurupati Rani, Joan Monk!

NYSE: Empowering Women & Girls to lead

nyse-600x320 (1) NYSE Press Photos | American Association of University Women
March 30, 2016 | Opening Bell

It was with great pleasure that Edwina Martin, AAUW NYS president, Melissa Guardaro, UN representative and Maria Ellis, AAUW NYS C/U Director & ESVB President participated in the New York Stock Exchange Opening Bell on March 30, 2016.  Representatives and guests of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) visited the New York Stock Exchange to highlight Women’s History Month.  In honor of the occasion, AAUW CEO Linda D. Hallman, CAE and AAUW Board Chair Patricia Fae Ho, rang the NYSE Opening Bell®.

Attendees included AAUW’s national staff, our Public Relations manager, Ryan Burwinkel, Nicole  Phillips and representatives from Verizon and Symantec and other AAUW corporate partners.

What is happening in Diversity?

Heide

Heide Parreño
Diversity Director
Empire State Virtual Branch

In September 2015,  Governor Andrew Cuomo  announced a new “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy” for the State University of New York . It was immediately adopted by the SUNY Board of Trustees. The plan  requires  a chief diversity officer in each of the 64 SUNY campuses. The officer will   promote inclusiveness and implement best practices for diversity.  Included in the policy’s plan is a tool where students can voluntarily self identify their sexual orientation and gender identity. The goal of the plan is to define diversity broadly to include race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. It also includes more options for registering age, socioeconomic status, status as a veteran, disabilities, first generation students and whether or not a student plans to work on or off campus while in school. The policy includes plans to increase diversity among students faculty and staff. ((Democrat and Chronicle, Saturday, September12, 2015, p. 9a)

There has been a surge of protests nationally from colleges and universities about racial discrimination and lack of diversity. Across the nation, students demand an end to systemic and structural racism on campus. The top 7 most common demands at 51 U.S campuses are: 1). Increase diversity of professors, 2) require diversity training, 3) fund cultural centers, 4) require classes for students, 5) increase diversity of students, 6) track race related offenses, and 7) expand mental health resources. These has been collected on a website called THE DEMANDS.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/here-are-the-demands-from-students-protesting-racism-at-51-colleges/

Locally, in Rochester, New York, the University of Rochester medical students focused their protest on racism as a public health concern. “ We, as future physicians, could not stay silent because we know that medicine is not immune to the racism that is rooted in our education, housing, employment and criminal justice system.” Guylda Richard, president of the Student national medical education.

Where is AAUW in all of these?

On December 15, 2015,  a Webinar was held to take a first look at AAUW’s New Tool Kit.
How many of NYS Board of Directors attended, branch leaders, diversity officers?
What is a follow-up in public policy?
Where do we get the information?

At ESVB we continue to have a Facebook page. I recruited a new member of our diversity team.  Her name is Dr. Doris Meadows. I will do a formal introduction in our next newsletter. I welcome suggestions for our diversity team and active participation in our membership in diversity and inclusion.