September 1, 2016

TO: President Tony Frank

FROM: Sue James on behalf of the President’s Commission on Women and Gender Equity

SUBJECT: Recommendation to Promptly Provide More Resources to the Women and Gender Advocacy Center (WGAC)

Background

The WGAC provides programs and resources focusing on all genders, social justice, and interpersonal violence prevention.  Additionally, WGAC provides advocacy and support for victims of sexual violence, stalking, sexual harassment and relationship violence.  In the past 6 years WGAC has seen a dramatic rise in the number of survivors served (see figure).  Whether this is due to an increase in overall student population on campus, an increase in incidences, increased reporting and awareness (WGAC continue to widely promote their services), other circumstances or some combination thereof, WGAC clearly needs more resources to better serve the large number of survivors coming through their doors.

Recommendation

The Commission recommends that more resources be directed towards WGAC this fiscal year.  We recommend meeting with WGAC Director, Monica Rivera, and her staff to understand how CSU can better support WGAC right away.  Our understanding is that they are so busy counseling survivors that their staff are being taken away from other work and they do not have time to conduct searches to hire staff.

Promotes the Mission and Goal of the Commission

WGAC’s services align extremely well with the Commission’s mission to promote an environment at Colorado State University that fosters productive and supportive relationships and interactions among people.  It also shares the University’s goal of making Colorado State University the best environment for women to work and learn.  Finally, WGAC is well aligned with CSU’s REFRAME initiative.