 |
Linking
The concept that underlies the Linking element of the ACE Network
IDEALS is basic: women working together today can improve the landscape
not only of their own lives or of higher education, but also of the
entire future that succeeding generations will inherit.
Internal linkages work on two levels. The first connects individual
women in higher education to one another through the events offered by
their ACE State Network, without the strictures of a particular academic
discipline, administrative silo, or home campus. Such events may take
the form of, for example, statewide conferences, Network committee
meetings, sessions for institutional representatives, receptions for new
women presidents, or luncheons for women of color. This level also
includes the interaction of coordinator and planning board with their
presidential sponsor, Executive Board liaison, and OWHE. Additionally,
Regional and National Leadership Forums link participants both to one
another and to presidents, senior leaders with particular expertise,
search consultants, and OWHE staff members.
The second links Network to Network, primarily through the State
Coordinators, who gather annually for the Coordinators' Conference to
exchange ideas, widen their personal networks, and engage in
professional development. However, Network to Network connections also
make it possible for a member in one state to get information about
potential position openings, to identify possible candidates from one or
more other states, to recruit speakers and experts, or to have an
immediate source of support when moving into a new position across the
country. [If we get the blackboard site up, this is where info on that
would go.]
As essential as these internal links are to the purpose of the ACE
State Networks, they depict only half the goal. Network women need to
ally themselves with women and groups from outside higher education when
their agendas are in alignment. External linkages could include such
formal organizations as The White House Project, the YWCA, the League of
Women Voters, or the National Council for Research on Women. A myriad of
informal liaisons are equally possible: for example, joint meetings with
women state legislators, corporate and civic leaders, or pupils from a
local girls' school or club. The Maryland Network, for example, hosts an
annual dinner for the women legislators in the state, allowing them to
have informal conversation about where the concerns of state government
and those of women in higher education may meet or diverge. The D.C.
Network hosts regular luncheons for women in the higher education
associations that abound in the city. A former Network Board Liaison
created a project to support further education for the forgotten women
of her city. Participating in any such project can expand your personal
network, extend your sphere of influence, and enlarge your knowledge of
higher education and its contexts beyond those of your own
institution—any one of which enhances your capacity to lead.
The possibilities for alliances that better the life of one woman or
all women remain just that—possibilities—until one group of
women decides to act.
Please direct questions about this page to:
owhe@ace.nche.edu | Contact
OWHE/Staff Directory
This page last updated: 08/19/2009
| Linking, OWHE, ACE Network IDEALS |
|
|
