Initiave Updates

We continue to implement our Climate Workshops for Department Chairs. This three-part workshop helps chairs investigate and address climate issues in their own units. We have served 20 departments, with over 2,000 faculty, staff and graduate students responding to the web-based climate survey that is an integral part of this workshop. In addition, we have completed an evaluation of the program. Most participating chairs have found the workshop to be helpful, and 84% of them credit the workshops with enhancing climate in their departments to some degree. All chairs reported that the workshop met the following goals: an increased awareness of climate and its influence on the research and teaching missions; assessing climate in the department; and learning from the other participants and the facilitator.

We continue to implement our Workshops for Chairs of Hiring Committees, in a variety of formats. We trained at least 70 persons, most of them chairs of search committees, in running more effective and efficient searches. We will continue to run these workshops at UW-Madison as requested in the 2005/2006 academic year, in addition to evaluating the results of our 2004/2005 training sessions.

In an effort to recruit more faculty and staff who would be available to act as presenters and facilitators for our Workshops for Chairs of Hiring Committees, we implemented a 1-day workshop entitled "Searching for Excellence & Diversity: Implementing Training for Search Committees." this workshop included not only new facilitator recruits from UW-Madison, but was also opened up to faculty and staff at UW System Colleges and Universities who might like to implement training for search committee chairs on their own campuses. IN this way, WISELI has taken a large step towards disseminating our work throughout Wisconsin.

We continued to film interviews, workshops, and other WISELI events for our second documentary video. This video is in final editing this summer, and we will show it to the UW-Madison campus at one of our WISELI seminars in the fall. It will also be distributed nationally via the ResearchChannel, as was the first video.

The Office of the Provost and the Graduate School generously provided funds in order to run a round of the Life Cycle Research Grant pilot program in Fall 2004. Throughout the pilot phase, 10 awards were made to 20 applicants, averaging $31,000 per award. An evaluation of the program showed that it was very successful in meeting its goals. In Spring 2005, the Estate of William F. Vilas has generously agreed to fund this program. Renamed the Vilas Life Cycle Professorships, faculty and permanent PIs at UW-Madison may now apply for funds to support their research programs in times when personal life events are impinging on research progress. This development signals WISELI's first "victory" in institutionalizing our programs!

The "Celebrating Women in Science & Engineering" grants have continued to gain momentum. We have awarded 19 grants since the inception of the program, funding the visits of at least 35 scholars. A preliminary evaluation of this program showed that this program advances WISELI's mission to promote the advancement of women in science and engineering by: providing role models, addressing career/family concerns, speaking to climate challenges women face in science and engineering, suggesting alternative career paths, providing research support, providing leadership and networking opportunities, and providing mentoring.

Our WISELI seminars continue to be well attended. In 2004/2005 we included three different panel presentations ("Discovering the experiences of senior women in academic science & engineering," "WISELI Update," and "Child Care on the UW-Madison Campus: Past, Present, and Future"), two presentations from on-campus researchers (Margaret Harrigan from the Office of Academic Planning and Analysis presented "The Impact of Strategic Funding on Hiring Minority and Women Science Faculty at UW-Madison," and Catherine Middlecamp, Distinguished Faculty Associate from the Department of Chemistry presented "Teaching Chemistry: The Intellectual Challenge of Diversity"). Finally, we hosted a visit from WISELI External Advisor Sally Gregory Kohlstedt. Dr. Kohlstedt is a Professor of History of Science and Technology from the University of Minnesota, and she spoke on "The Rajender Consent Decree: Discrimination, Institutional Response, and Women's Alliances."

We completed two more evaluations of existing campus programs, combining our interview data from women faculty and staff with quantitative indicators from the Study of Faculty Worklife at the UW-Madison. The first, "Evaluation of Childcare Needs and Practices at the University of Wisconsin-Madison," was highlighted in the March 9, 2005 WISELI Seminar. The second, "Evaluation of the Tenure Clock Extension Policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison," has been submitted for publication. Executive summaries of these evaluations will be posted on the WISELI Reports page. The full reports will soon be available on our Research and Evaluation page.

As part of our cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation, and with the help of the Office of Academic Planning and Analysis, WISELI continues to collect and monitor major quantitative indicators of gender equity at UW-Madison. We see the percentage of women faculty in biological and physical sciences slowly increasing from 2002 through 2004, with the biggest increases occurring at the assistant professor level in physical sciences (from 17% in 2002 to 24% in 2004), and at the associate level in the biological sciences (from 25% in 2002 to 30% in 2004). Women as a percentage of new hires is increase since WISELI's inception in 2002, particularly at the senior level. About 40% of new tenured hires in the biological and physical sciences are women, compared to 20% prior to the ADVANCE grant. One area of concern highlighted by this data collection includes the percentage of women awarded prestigious campus awards (Vilas Associate, Hilldale, Romnes, and Kellett). The percentage of recipients who were women decreased between 2003 and 2004, and early indications show another decrease for 2005. WISELI is working with the appropriate campus units to understand the processes at play.

Two of the three "issue studies" are underway. The first study, "The Department Chair and Climate: Alternative Realities" uses qualitative and quantitative data to show the role department chairs play in influencing the experiences of women faculty. It is being drafted and will be submitted for publication. The second issue study, entitled "Why Women Leave," will report on in-depth exit interviews with women faculty in the biological and physical sciences who have left the UW-Madison in the past ten years.

Professor Cecilia Ford continues her discourse analysis of women's communication strategies. While on her sabbatical in 2005/2006, she will be preparing a book manuscript entitled "Women's Talk in the Professional Workplace: Talking Change," to be published by Palgrave/Macmillan.

Professor Patricia Brennan embarked on a study of gender differences in entrepreneurship activity of UW-Madison faculty. She is working with WARF, the Wisconsin Women's Council, the School of Business, and other interested parties to explore the process of technology transfer from invention disclosure to business start-up, and uncover the reasons why so few women faculty start their own businesses.

WISELI co-PIs have had three articles addressing gender equity in science and engineering accepted for publication in 2005. Jo Handelsman led a group of distinguished authors in preparing a Policy Forum for Science entitled "More Women in Science," which should appear in August 2005. Molly Carnes will have two papers appearing in upcoming issues of Journal of Women's Health. A commentary entitled "Diversity in Academic Medicine: The Stages of Change Model" will appear in the July/August 2005 issue, and the article "NIH Pioneer Awards: Could the Selection Process Be Biased Against Women?" will appear in the October 2005 issue.

In November 2004, WISELI successfully underwent an NSF site visit. Eight external reviewers visited campus, meeting intensively with WISELI PIs and staff, Leadership Team members, deans and other administrators, and other affiliated faculty, staff and students. The written report from the site visit team was very positive and encouraging, but also included some new ideas and suggestions for improvement.

Staff changes in 2004/2005 include the addition of University Grants and Contracts Specialist Carol Sobek. Also added to the WISELI "fold" include WiscAMP Executive Director Manuela Romero, and WiscAMP Evaluation Director Maria Julia Brunette. WISELI's Evaluation Director Christine Maidl Pribbenow has substantially reduced her appointment percentage, although she will continue to direct evaluation in the important last year of our grant.

The new ADVANCE program solicitation was released in April 2005. While there is a new dissemination grant (PAID) for which WISELI could compete, there will be NO RENEWAL of ADVANCE Institutional Transformation awards.

When Harvard President Lawrence Summers made some "off the record" remarks speculating on the reasons for women's lack of participation at the highest levels of academic science and engineering on January 14, 2005, WISELI recognized the potential far-reaching impact of his remarks and immediately began tracking the copious media attention paid to the remarks. By tracking the media responses on our website, WISELI became increasingly well-known as a national leader in gender equity efforts in academia. During the January/February months, hits to WISELI's website increased from approximately 200 per month before 1/14, to approximately 1000 in the months immediately following the media flurry, and we are holding steady at approximately 600 hits per month now. The increased visibility culminated in a Boston Globe Article on May 1st entitled "A woman's place in the lab: Harvard studies efforts to boost women faculty at U-Wisconsin."

In response to the 1/14 remarks of Harvard President Lawrence Summers, WISELI teamed with Science Alliance to offer a panel of local UW-Madison experts to discuss the research related to his remarks, entitled "Women in Science and Engineering: What the Research REALLY Says." Video and transcripts from this panel are available on the linked web page.

WISELI co-PI Jo Handelsman has become a resource for the two Harvard task forces addressing issues for women faculty and women in STEM at Harvard. In March, she advised the committees and gave them many of WISELI's resources for consideration in their status of women reports. At that time she met with President Summers and presented him with the essay "Advice to the Top: Top 10 Tips for Academic Leaders to Accelerate the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering" [

] and other WISELI materials. In July, Handelsman returned to Harvard to work with the Deans at their annual retreat. The discussion with the deans focused on implementation of department chair and search committee training, which were recommended by the task forces.

Continue to implement workshops for hiring committee chairs in a variety of formats. WISELI will begin to train and use new workshop leaders and facilitators around campus, thus increasing the numbers of search committee chairs and members that our information will reach.

Continue to implement climate workshops for department chairs. This year, we will be looking for new facilitators to help us expand the number of departments served by this program.

Continue to administer the new Vilas Life Cycle Professorship program, with deadlines of September 30 and December 31.

Complete evaluation reports of existing programs: Sexual Harassment Training Sessions and Gender Pay Equity Studies.

Design the interview schedule and survey instrument for the final evaluation of WISELI and its programs.

We successfully implemented our Climate Workshops for Department Chairs. This three-part workshop helps chairs investigate and address climate issues in their own units. The first session of the workshop was presented on March 30th, as part of the Academic Leadership Series. Eighteen chairs from across campus attended. Five chairs then completed the process of surveying their departments, and returning for smaller-group discussions.

A new brochure created for our Workshops for Chairs of Hiring Committees has been in great demand. It is entitled "Reviewing Applicants: Research on Bias and Assumptions" and contains a succinct summary of research on bias and assumptions, and how these subtle "schemas" can affect evaluation of candidates during the hiring process. Hundreds of copies of this brochure have been distributed to faculty and staff search committees throughout campus, and to administrators at the UW System level. Other universities have also requested this brochure and are using it on their own campuses. The content of the brochure is available online [

] and copies of the actual brochure are available by simply emailing wiseli@engr.wisc.edu with your request.

Results from our Study of Faculty/Academic Staff Worklife at the UW-Madison were presented to no less than 14 different groups (department chairs, committees, departmental brownbags, informal faculty groups, etc.) during the spring semester, with each presentation specifically tailored to the group.

"The Women in Science & Engineering Leadership Institute: Year One" documentary video was screened for WISELI affiliates and the campus community at large on March 1st, 2004. As a result of the successful screening and surrounding publicity, the video was picked up as a UW-Madison contribution to The Research Channel, and made its national debut in June 2004.

Through the efforts of several WISELI Leadership Team members, the College of Engineering will now be making space available for nursing mothers in Engineering. A lactation room will be created in the new Mechanical Engineering Building, and until that building project is complete, space will be made available in Engineering Hall.

Our brochure entitled "Advancing Your Career through Awards and Recognitions" is complete and is available for distribution. The brochure details the many awards and honors available to faculty throughout their careers, and provides some tips and suggestions about how to achieve them, and why it is important to do so. To date, over 250 of these brochures have been given to faculty and administrators, particularly in the Medical School and to administrators throughout campus. To request copies of the brochure, simply contact WISELI at wiseli@engr.wisc.edu.

The deadline for our "Celebrating Women in Science & Engineering" grants was moved to spring semester this year; six grants were awarded (one was continued from the previous year.) They are listed at: http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/celebrating/Awardees_0405.htm.

We awarded three new Life Cycle Research Grants, in collaboration with the Graduate School. With the awarding of these three grants, the pilot phase of this initiative is now complete, and evaluation and institutionalization efforts are currently underway. We will post a summary of evaluation completed thus far, and updates on our institutionalization efforts, on the WISELI website.

Our WISELI seminars continue to be well attended. The 2004 spring semester presenters included: Prof. Cecilia Ford (English, "Getting our Voices Heard: Patterns of Participation in University Meetings"); WISELI Evaluation Director Dr. Christine Maidl Pribbenow ("The Climate for Women Faculty in the Sciences and Engineering: Their Stories, Successes, and Suggestions"); and Prof. Virginia Sapiro (Political Science/Provost's Office, "Through a Glass Ceiling Darkly: The Political Psychology of Not Getting to the Top"). Visit: http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/seminar.html for more information.

WISELI contributed to five different sessions at the Third Annual Georgia Tech NSF ADVANCE Conference (April). Jennifer Sheridan coordinated the "ADVANCE Institutional Data" session; Molly Carnes presented in the "Women from Underrepresented Groups" session; Bernice Durand coordinated the "Senior Women & Advancement - A Facilitated Discussion" session, Provost Peter Spear was a speaker at the "Sustainability of ADVANCE programs" panel, and Jennifer Sheridan presented in the "Campus Climate Surveys" session. The conference was very successful and well attended, and many WISELI initiatives were highlighted, leading to dissemination of our work to other campuses (particularly our materials designed for hiring committees, and our campus climate surveys for faculty and academic staff.)

We completed our first evaluation report of an existing gender-equity program, "Evaluation of the Women Faculty Mentoring Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison." This report uses data from the faculty survey and from in-depth interviews with women faculty in the biological and physical sciences to make recommendations to the WFMP leadership.

As part of our efforts to determine whether any gendered discrepancies exist in resource allocation, we collected and are currently analyzing considerable data on laboratory and office space, and on faculty startup packages. Data on lab and office space was collected and reported to NSF for the College of Engineering, the School of Pharmacy, and the School of Veterinary Medicine. Office space data was collected from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and aggregated office/lab data were reported by the College of Letters & Sciences. Data on startup packages from 2000-2003 was collected and reported from all six of WISELI's participating Schools/Colleges. Further analyses of these data are underway. Our results, along with other institutional indicators, are available upon request at wiseli@engr.wisc.edu.

Two of three "issue studies" are underway. The first study, "The Department Chair and Climate: Alternative Realities" uses qualitative and quantitative data to show the role department chairs play in influencing the experiences of women faculty. This study combines qualitative and quantitative data to show the importance of chairs to the experiences of women faculty. The second issue study, entitled "Why Women Leave," will report on in-depth exit interviews with at least ten women faculty in the biological and physical sciences who have left the UW-Madison in the past ten years.

Professor Cecilia Ford continues her discourse analysis of women's communication strategies. She presented some preliminary results at the WISELI seminar in February 2004, and is writing a book to disseminate the results of her research. She also presented a paper entitled "Having our ideas ignored: CA and a Feminist Project" at the American Association for Applied Linguistics Annual Conference in May 2004.

A paper outlining the benefits and challenges of using "discovery interviews" to uncover issues facing senior women faculty has been accepted in a special issue of the Journal of Technology Transfer.

Jennifer Sheridan presented a paper applying the concepts of the Transtheoretical Model of Behavioral Change to WISELI's efforts to increase the gender diversity of STEM faculty at the American Sociological Association meetings in August 2004.

Other news

WISELI has become engaged in several cross-institutional collaborations with other ADVANCE sites. In January, Virginia Tech invited us to their ADVANCE program kickoff meeting so that faculty, administrators, and ADVANCE personnel at the newly appointed site could learn from some of our experiences. Leadership Team member Amy Wendt was an ADVANCE Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington and brought back several ideas for programs and research as a result of the visit. We have shared our survey instruments and human subjects protocols with many sites, in addition to our two brochures, "Reviewing Applicants" and "Advancing Your Career."

WISELI hosted two "site visits" in early June. Our External Advisory Team met with WISELI leaders and campus administrators on June 2nd, and NSF Deputy Director Joe Bordogna visited on June 4th. Both visits provided an opportunity to share with outsiders the important work that WISELI is doing on campus, and resulted in valuable feedback that we can use to make our program even stronger.

WISELI co-Director Prof. Molly Carnes, in partnership with Prof. Douglass Henderson of the College of Engineering's Diversity Affairs Office, was successful in obtaining a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) grant. Entitled "Wisc-AMP", the program is designed to increase the diversity of students graduating with STEM undergraduate degrees at all participating colleges and universities. The momentum to increase racial and ethnic diversity in science and engineering has continued with the successful submission of an Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) grant in July 2004.

WISELI plans for the next six months include:

Below, we highlight some of our major accomplishments since our last update in July 2003:

Successfully piloted a new workshop series, entitled "Searching for Excellence and Diversity: A Workshop for Faculty Search Committee Chairs." After the pilots, revisions to the materials were made, and a NEW brochure for distribution to all members of search committees was developed. Search Committee Chairs have been invited to participate in workshops to be offered later this month and next month.

Successfully piloted a new workshop series, entitled "Enhancing Department Climate: A Chair's Role." This three-part workshop helps chairs investigate climate issues in their own units. The first session of the workshop will be presented on March 30th, as part of the Academic Leadership Series. Chairs who are interested in completing the process will be invited to return for smaller-group discussions.

On October 3rd, 2003, Virginia Valian visited campus. Prof. of Psychology and Linguistics at CUNY-Hunter College and author of Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women, Dr. Valian visited with numerous campus groups (including faculty and administrators), and gave a well-attended public lecture. Her visit was galvanizing, and continues to have repercussions as some of the ideas generated during the day have been implemented.

In June 2003, WISELI was approved by the University Academic Planning Council to become an "official" UW-Madison Center.

Most data from the Study of Faculty Worklife at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have undergone preliminary analysis, and results from the "climate" questions were presented to the campus community at the WISELI Seminar on Nov. 17, 2003. WISELI leadership has also been taking these climate findings directly to deans and department chairs. A summary of the results, available to the public, is being compiled.

Raw data from the Study of Faculty and Academic Staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was received in September, and analysis is beginning.

The documentary video from our first year has been completed. We will be screening the video for WISELI affiliates and the campus community at large on March 1st, 2004, at 1:30 in Union South (TITU). Look for announcements, or on the WISELI website, for detailed information.

WISELI co-Director Prof. Molly Carnes, in partnership with Prof. Douglass Henderson of the College of Engineering's Diversity Affairs Office, submitted a proposal to bring the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program to Wisconsin. Entitled "Wisc-AMP," the program is designed to increase the diversity of students graduating with STEM undergraduate degrees at all participating colleges and universities. A site visit was held in January, and we are guardedly optimistic that this program will come to Wisconsin.

As a result of our discussions with 40 women full professors in the biological and physical sciences, we have developed a brochure entitled "Advancing Your Career through Awards and Recognitions." The brochure details the many awards and honors available to faculty throughout their careers, and provides some tips and suggestions about how to achieve them, and why it is important to do so. The brochure is under revision, and will be mass-produced in the next six months.

Discourse study underway, and preliminary results will be presented at the WISELI seminar on Feb. 16, 2004.

Continued our WISELI seminar series. Due to the popularity of the seminars, we increased the number of presenters to three per semester. Prof. Anne Miner (School of Business) spoke on "Affirmative Action and Organizational Change" in September; Ramona Gunter (Educational Policy Studies) presented her work entitled "Science Faculty Talk about Self, Home, and Career" in October, and Jennifer Sheridan (WISELI) presented preliminary results from the Study of Faculty Worklife at the UW-Madison in November. This fall, two researchers (Gunter, Sheridan) presented work emanating from the WISELI project itself, and this will continue in the spring (Ford, Pribbenow). Visit: http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/seminar.html for more information.

Following are some of our accomplishments since our last report in February, 2003:

Fielded a survey of all faculty, and selected academic staff. We received approximately a 62% response rate for faculty, and a 45% rate for academic staff.

Continued meeting with all women full professors in the biological and physical sciences. At the end of the semester we had met with half of the roughly 80 women, and are preparing a summary of these meetings before pressing on with the remaining 40 faculty.

Began discourse study. Meetings are being videotaped for analysis. If you belong to a committee that wouldn't mind being videotaped for this study (a committee that rarely discusses confidential topics would be best), please contact WISELI to volunteer!

Interviewed 20 male researchers, scientists and faculty across campus using interview protocols that parallel the female sample.

Attended meeting of all ADVANCE Institutional Transformation grant awardees in Washington D.C. It was an exciting opportunity to share successes and challenges, and get new ideas with others working on these issues at their own institutions.

Ramona Gunter presented some preliminary results of her ethnographic study, co-authored with Prof. Amy Stambach, in May at the Gender, Science, and Technology International Conference in Norway. The paper is currently under review.

Prof. Ceci Ford presented some preliminary results from her discourse analytic study in June at the Perception and Realization in Language and Gender Research conference.

Jennifer Sheridan presented the research program of WISELI at the WEPAN conference in Chicago in June.

Continued our WISELI seminar with excellent discussions by led by Shelley Correll (Sociology), and Rima Apple (Human Ecology). The seminars were so successful, we have decided to expand the series to three seminars per semester. We will also working with Sandra Courter in the Engineering Learning Center to create a discussion section on the issues raised in the seminars, so that the conversations about issues related to women in science & engineering may continue! http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/seminar.html

Continuing to develop a series of interactive training sessions for chairs of hiring committees, to be piloted this summer.

Continuing to develop a series of workshops for department chairs and center directors, to be piloted this summer.

Added additional staff to the WISELI team. Deveny Benting is a Research Specialist who will implement WISELI initiatives, along with Jennifer Sheridan and Eve Fine.

Working with many campus groups, including the Committee on Women, the Women Faculty Mentoring Program, the Medical School, CIRTL/DELTA, the College of Engineering, and the Office of the Provost to bring Virginia Valian, author of Why So Slow?, to campus next fall (Oct. 2-3). Look for future announcements regarding this exciting speaker!

Outlined below are just some of the things WISELI accomplished since our last communication in September, 2002:

Analyzed data from interviews with 41 women faculty and academic staff in the biological and physical sciences. A full report of the faculty interviews will appear on our webpage in February; the academic staff interview report will be ready in February or March, 2003.

Awarded six "Celebrating Women in Science & Engineering" grants to departments in Engineering, L&S, and the Medical School. http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/celebrating/celebrate.html http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/celebrating/Awardees_0203.html

Awarded two "Life Cycle Research Grants" to individuals in CALS and the Medical School. http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/lifecycle/LifeCycleGrants.html

Currently meeting with ALL women full professors in the biological and physical sciences, to get their feedback on WISELI activities, discover individuals who are interested in leadership activities, make connections among women on campus, and gather new ideas for WISELI.

Development of a climate survey, to be administered to all faculty, and a sample of academic staff in the biological and physical sciences & engineering beginning February, 2003.

Met with all Deans, CALS chairs, L&S Life Sciences Chairs, Medical School Clinical Chairs, Medical School Basic Science Chairs, and Vet School Chairs as well as several individual departments (Medicine, Plant Pathology, Medical Physics) to present WISELI and discuss the upcoming survey.

Implemented a WISELI seminar. Professor Janet Hyde (Psychology) spoke on "Girls, Women, and Math: Implications for Science and Engineering" (10/02/02) and Professor Pascale Carayon (Industrial Engineering) spoke on "Quality of Working Life Concepts and Methods for Diversifying the IT Workforce" (12/11/02). The next seminar will be on March 5, 2003 by Shelley Correll (Sociology), title to be announced. http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/seminar.html

Currently developing a series of interactive training sessions for chairs of hiring committees.

Currently developing a series of workshops for department chairs and center directors. These interactive workshops will give chairs/directors tools for evaluating the climate in their departments/units, and individualized methods for approaching any problem areas that are uncovered.

Moved to new space in the Deans' suite in Engineering Hall (2640). This space is both visible and centrally-located in the College of Engineering.

A member of our Leadership Team accepted the position of Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Climate.

WISELI plans for the next six months include:

Since our last update in March 2002:

We completed our two Town Hall meetings (thank you to all who participated.) A complete report is available on-line at http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/reports.html. Our major findings from the meetings are: 1) work/family conflict is a major concern for women scientists and engineers on this campus; 2) the Life Cycle Grant Program is a high priority; and 3) providing workshops for professional development of faculty and staff is a high priority. Attendees seemed to enjoy the meetings; in particular, they mentioned the excitement of being in a room with so many other women scientists and engineers, and the fun of using the "gizmos" (automatic response devices) to collect data as the best parts of the meetings.

Personal interviews of 41 women faculty and staff in the biological and physical sciences have been completed. Interviewees were selected in a stratified random sample, and will be interviewed again in five years. Their responses will help us construct the survey we plan to field in the fall, and will help us evaluate the success of the NSF Institutional Transformation award on this campus.

Research on the 25 major initiatives considered by WISELI is underway. Two students have been hired to help research the initiatives, so that creation of new programs and evaluation of existing ones can be done from a strong base of knowledge of other efforts.

The WISELI directors attended a meeting of all NSF ADVANCE grantees in April. The excitement and energy of this group was amazing, and we brought back many good ideas for our campus. Most exciting was the realization that Wisconsin is really a leader in this Institutional Transformation movement!

WISELI helped to sponsor the UW System Work/Life Forum. Several affiliates attended, and enjoyed talks by Kathleen Christensen, Ann Crittenden, and Robert Drago. The organizer of the Forum, Louise Root-Robbins, borrowed the idea to use an Automatic Response system from WISELI, and the attendees enjoyed using their "gizmos" to answer a series of work/life questions.

WISELI announced the "Celebrating Women in Science & Engineering Grant Program" in August. More information and the application form are available on our website at http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/celebrating/celebrate.html. The deadline for applications for the 2002/03 academic year is September 13, 2002.

The WISELI seminar series has been organized. Twice a semester, WISELI will invite local researchers to discuss their work as it relates to WISELI's mission of promoting the participation and advancement of women in science & engineering. Fall dates for the seminar are October 2 and December 11. The talks will be held from 1:00-2:00, and there will be snacks and time for socializing before the lecture, at 12:30. The seminars for fall semester will be held in 4610 Engineering Hall. Our first speaker will be Prof. Janet Hyde, who will discuss "Girls, Women, and Math: Implications for Science and Engineering." Please look for announcements for this and future WISELI seminars, and invite your friends, graduate students, postdocs, and other interested people to attend!

A videographer has been chosen to document our Institutional Transformation on this campus, and filming has begun!