WEBER STATE WOMEN'S STUDIES NEWS

VOL. V, NO. 6  February 1999

COORDINATOR’S CORNER                             

Belated Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Groundhog Day! The little fellow did not see his shadow, so winter is almost over. A pair of engaging and energizing conferences started the semester off like dynamite. Diane Krantz attended the American Association of Higher Education conference in San Diego along with other administrators from Social Sciences. The conference theme was "Faculty Roles and Rewards," and several sessions and workshops were particularly useful in terms of Women’s Studies. A workshop on "Voices of Faculty on Collaborative Teaching" provided new ideas and directions for using feminist pedagogy in our classrooms. Anyone interested in obtaining a bibliography or the workshop packet, please let Linda Shoemake know. A plenary session that discussed program interaction with community members led to revisiting how Women’s Studies might enter into increased dialogue with the Ogden community at large.

Community interrelationship also surfaced as a topic at the annual program directors’ meeting of the Southwest Institute for Research on Women in Tempe, Arizona. Gloria Wurst and Diane Krantz participated, sharing the strengths and challenges of Weber State’s Women’s Studies program and hearing those for Women’s Studies programs at colleges and universities throughout an expanding "Western" region. The group discussed ideas for revitalizing student groups, establishing community connections, recruiting students, and connecting with teacher-affiliates on one’s own campus.

Stay on the lookout for Women’s History Month announcements. The writing contest is well underway and entries were due SWS by February 12^th on the theme "Women--Putting Their Stamp on America: Past, Present, and Future."

A meeting will be held in February for those who have expressed interest in attending the NWSA conference in June. We’ll be asking for commitments to the trip so that we can make group registration, travel, and accommodation arrangements.

The WS bulletin board is filled with announcements of programs on and helpful information about women’s issues. Please take advantage of these. Anyone graduating this June or next December should make an appointment with Diane Krantz to go over the graduation evaluation and get signed off on the Women’s Studies minor.

FACULTY PROFILE

This month we are featuring Freddie Cooper, not yet "officially" a member of the crew, but whose newly designed and team-taught (with Gloria Perez-Jensen) course was approved for future WS cross-listing. "Introduction to Technological Careers" was listed in this semester’s schedule but was canceled after classes began. It is designed especially to introduce women and students of color to careers in technology, where the pay-scale is often more conducive to a comfortable lifestyle than in more "traditional" female occupations. Students taking the course for Women’s Studies in the future will need to coordinate course projects with a WS faculty member and the course instructor(s). WS is hopeful that this course might open doors for students with latent technological talent, providing them with information and skills necessary to achieve career success. But, I digress ... back to our subject!

Born in Mullins, South Carolina, Freddie received a B.S. in Natural Science from Barber-Scotia College in Concord, North Carolina, and an M.S. in biology from New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas (that’s New Mexico, not Nevada.) She has also studied a variety of other disciplines at institutions in South Carolina, Kansas, California, Texas, and here at WSU. Freddie came to Utah 18 years ago as a military spouse (after a tour in Germany) and the family settled in Clearfield when her husband retired. Having accumulated experience in the public school systems of five other states and Department of Defense Schools (Frankfurt, Germany), Freddie taught biology at Davis High School and mathematics at Wahlquist Junior High before coming to Weber State almost six years ago. She serves the College of Applied Science and Technology as academic advisor and director of the STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering, Programming) program, designed to recruit, encourage, support and retain women and ethnic minorities in engineering and engineering technology. In conjunction with this, she has founded a Weber State chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, providing students with encouragement and support (including financial), and she has developed a Quest Summer Bridge Program to recruit, support and retain ethnic minority students in engineering and technology. She has also co-organized Multicultural Youth Conferences at WSU and is a member of the Standing Committee on Diversity, including the sub-committee for Recruitment and Retention and the Public Relations Committee. In the Ogden community, her involvement spans varied activities and she has served several groups as an officer. She might be found busying herself as NAACP assistant treasurer, board member for St. Joseph’s High School, President of the Women’s Historical Society of Ogden, member of Blacks in Government, President of the Utah Coalition for Advancement of Minorities in Education, board member for Utah’s MESA/STEP program, or Lector and Lay Eucharistic Minister for Christ Prince of Peace Parish, Hill AFB, among others. For her contributions, Freddie has been honored as recipient of Blacks in Government Meritorious Service and President’s Awards, NAACP Frist Annual Peace Award, and YCC’s Spirit of the American Women’s Sojourner Truth Award.

Freddie "thoroughly enjoy[s] work here at Weber" and takes "advantage of myriad opportunities to work with diverse entities across campus." She hopes to return to graduate school and earn a doctorate in Educational Administration and Leadership.

In her "free time" (whenever that might be!), she likes to enjoy her family (especially her five grandchildren, who are "downright delightful") and to read, do crossword puzzles and scrabble, keep house (!), pursue physical fitness and participate in church activities and community work.

We are hopeful that our, to-date, limited interactions with Freddie will continue. We are extremely grateful to have her as a colleague.  

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Owing to the late publication of this month’s newsletter, in lieu of a CALENDAR I call your attention to upcoming Women’s History Month activities, especially those of 3 March. Take advantage of the Open House (Diversity Center, 10 AM-noon), the Successful Women of Weber Panel (the Lair, noon-1:15 PM), A Sanctuary from Stress (SC280, noon -1 PM), and night skiing at Nordic Valley. More information will be readily available during the month. I also want to call attention to the "Women’s Realities" series being held at the YCC. The next panel will discuss "Women in the Media" on 24 Feb.; please support this student-organized program.