2004 Conference Highlights
Making a Difference
The 2004 Minnesota ACE Network Conference was held on Thursday, November 4 and Friday November 5, at The Depot in Downtown Minneapolis. The conference focused on helping women make a difference in higher education leadership.
Women representing public, private, and for-profit institutions banded together to concentrate on serving our increasingly diverse students, locating and applying for grants, developing our professional portfolios and finding balance in work and life.
The conference started on Thursday evening at a Celebration Gala at the beautifully restored The Depot Hotel – Mill District Minneapolis. Our guest speaker, Dr. Phyllis Moen, discussed her research on dual career couples.
Friday’s conference captured the essence of women in higher education leadership at The Depot Hotel. The day started with a panel discussion by women in presidential and leadership roles, followed by a contemporary range of sessions, networking, and speakers.
Workshop Summaries
Name of Presenter: Julie Plaut (for Mark Langseth who was sick), Minnesota Campus Compact
Relevant Biographical Info: Daughter of a professor and a social worker - so service learning bridged the gap between the academic world and the community learning world.
Profession: Associate Director of Minnesota Campus Compact (MCC)
Institutional Affiliation: None - institutions join the MCC Network
Title of Workshop: The ABC's of Campus Compact Grants and Projects
Highlights of Workshop:
MCC does grant programs, Training programs, Networking opportunities, Info sharing through monthly e-newsletter, and serve as a public advocate for higher ed as a whole. They are not about individuals, they are about the community.
- 50 colleges and university's of all kinds are a part of the MCC network
- 50% are metro 50% are outstate
- MCC uses "civil engagement" as the umbrella term that covers Service Learning, Community Based Learning
- MCC is part of a National Network of 950 colleges and university's involved countrywide.
- The national network is 19 years old.
- Celebrating the natural paths of individual colleges/universities - not about fitting into a mold
- MCC has 5 and .75 staff with 110 staff as a whole for the entire National Network. Example of projects they have helped fund; joint library with Metro State and the community, Concordia "loans" development staff to non-profits, Grant programs, training programs
Brief Summary of Workshop:
- Started with focus on volunteerism
- Started in the 80's with private colleges, concerned with changing the "me" generation - introduced Service Learning.
- 7% of all Federal Work Study money goes to Community Service Jobs
- Broader purpose of community involvement
- Promoting greater institutional civic involvement
- Social investing and community reinvestment
- Intentional purchasing initiative to support local businesses (assist with survival of are businesses)
- Process of grants; all applicants are partnerships between a campus and a non-profit, either one can apply and be the lead on the grant proposal, Must have a genuine partnership/collaborative nature
- Two types of grants available; 1) Start-up 2) Quality Improvement
- Start-up = new initiatives, often times campuses apply for this to fund a person to do community involvement/service learning staff MAX $20,000 for an 18 month period
- Quality Improvement = partnerships that already exist, higher impact on quality not just quantity of students effected. MAX $20,000 for an 18 month period
- Sustainability is the big issue - strategies for continuing the project beyond the grant period, they want to see that it will pay off beyond the grant period, they also like to see evaluation written into the grant proposal.
Contact info:
Julieplaut@mncampuscompact.org
www.mncampuscompact.org
www.compact.org
Name of Presenter: Mary Clem
Profession: Executive Director, Healthcare Foundation
Title of Workshop: Mining for Grants in the Age of Limited Funding
Highlights of Workshop:
Mary presented a useful model to pursue to create a successful process, throughout the development steps needed to write, present and committee a funder to fund your request.
Brief Summary of Workshop:
The good news is that there are many resources available online. Many examples were provided. The most critical aspects of the grant seeking process are to:
- Create an idea they can’t refuse
- Consider the grant proposal as a detailed business plan
- Select the appropriate funder
Name of Presenters: Fu Hang, Teshite Wako, Patricia Brown, Neighborhood Development Center
Profession: Business Advisors
Title of the Workshop: Preparing Tomorrow’s Entrepreneur: Tapping the Vibrant Immigrant Community
Highlights of Workshop:
- Presenters made audience aware of some very creative new resources for new immigrants.
Rotated at three tables to go into detail on three communities:
- Hispanic/Latino
- Hmong and SE Asia
- East Africa
Brief Summary of Workshop:
The fact of Minnesota is changing and all organizations need to face that reality and learn to capture the opportunities that come with community diversity. Workshop told the story of one agency that is organized to support new immigrant communities with training, economic development assistance, etc.
Name of Presenter: Catherine McGlinch
Profession: Executive Director, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Foundation
Title of Workshop: Women and Philanthropy: How changing enrollment trends may impact our alumni and development programs
Brief Summary of Workshop:
After providing an overview of the types of fundraising, Catherine talked about the power of cultivating individuals — in most cases alumni — to transform institutions. Individuals provide over 75% of the philanthropic dollars in the US, far more than corporations or foundations. Women are becoming an increasing force in the philanthropic world as more and more women control wealth, and as women make up an increasingly larger proportion of college graduates.
Traditional alumni events focus around sporting events, recognition awards, social events in bars or exclusive clubs. Historically, these were events and places where women generally weren’t involved. When a college’s or university’s alumni events focus on traditional male-centered activities, you run the significant risk of alienating the majority of your newer alumni and many of your older alumni — women.
Colleges and universities will want to be sure alumni programs are reaching out to women in a way that’s meaningful to them and that development officers are developing fundraising strategies that build on the research to attract financial support from alumnae. Catherine provided some ideas for broadening alumni programs to reach out to women.
- Have events that are family centered. Holding a picnic on a Saturday afternoon where spouses and children are welcome will most likely be more appealing than meeting in a bar after work or on a weekend where they will need to find day care.
- Conduct a few focus groups to hear what programming your alumnae are interested in.
- Host a night for women only in their old dorm at homecoming.
- Identify and promote meaningful volunteer experiences. Bring your alumnae in to speak to classes — not necessarily about their experience as a woman in business, but to gain their professional experience.
Catherine then provided an overview of research on how women view philanthropy and examples of how to appeal to those interests.
- Promote a group of alumnae to start Giving Circles as many women in the Boston area are doing. Giving Circles are built around the same premise as an investment club, but rather than investing the dollars in the market the women come together to collectively support charities that are important to them. They are interested in making a larger impact to create change, and they don’t necessarily need individual personal recognition.
- Develop specific strategies to attract and involve targeted groups of alumnae — business leaders, lawyers, doctors. The goal here would be, for example, to engage women lawyers with pre-law students to help them prepare for the LSAT.
- Engage the donor in the ongoing evaluation of your program and efforts.
- Women want you to talk to them when you are making the appeal. They are not an appendage of their spouse.
- Inform the donor about the program’s progress and outcomes – before and after the gift is made.
- Acknowledge the donor as an individual who is important to your institution for her own successes.
She concluded by noting that this is an exciting time for women in philanthropy — women have the opportunity to shape alumni programming at their alma maters, and also to make the financial gifts that will buttress our institutions for the next generations. We must listen to their desires and develop strategies and relationships to maintain an emotional connection between the institution and the alumna.
Icebreaker Activity: Lunch Nov 5th
As lunch was being served, conference attendees were asked to respond to two questions. The questions and responses are listed below:
1. What woman has made the biggest difference in your life?
Mother (18)
Mother-in-law
Grandmother (8)
Sister (3)
Sister-in-law (1)
Aunt
Great Aunt
Daughter
Friend (2)
Landlord
Co-workers
Girl Scouts
Camp Fire Girls Director
Nancy Drew
Clara Barton
Headstart Director
Elementary School Teacher
High School Teacher
School Principal
College President
College Provost
College Dean
College Professor (2)
College Instructor
Watched women I did not want to be like
2. What legacy do you hope to leave for other women?
Lead by example
I was a successful first-generation college graduate
Encourage service to others
Encourage anonymous service
Help someone along the way to get where they want to be
Take people up with you instead of climbing over them
Make a contribution to the profession
Inspire lifelong learning
Leave things better than I found them
Do no harm
Broaden perspectives
Look at the big picture
Keep an open mind
Help people grow and develop
Model integrity, respect, and self-confidence
Infuse compassion & a realistic perspective in students & profession
Influence my children(3) & other young people(3) through education
Be a good mom (2)
Family always comes first
Influence others: self-esteem, interpersonal communication skills
Encourage others (secretary) to see possibilities in themselves (2)
Raise a son who can be comfortable with a strong woman (2)
Enable faculty to become better teachers
Lead with compassion
Remind faculty there is life outside of work
Mentor informally and formally
Model trust
World Peace
Help the Girl Scout Program flourish
Model inner (personal) strength, joy of life, and values
How very insightful your responses are! You are truly remarkable women who are Making a Difference!