President Bill Chace met with members of the President's Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) for the second time this school year during the group's Feb.1 meeting.

The first issue presented to Chace was the faculty concerns committee's proposed female faculty tenure study, for which Chace first showed his support in September. Co-chairs Molly O'Brien and Vicki Powers reiterated they have been having problems gathering data on female faculty members. Many departments don't keep records on subject, creating impediments for the study.

Chace agreed that finding this information is a continuing problem at many universities because people leave the tenure track for various reasons that never get recorded because of a lack of exit interviews. He suggested the group contact Susan Frost, vice provost for institutional planning and research, and discuss methods for collecting such data.

Karen Fain of the staff concerns committee presented Chace its 1999 "Study on Invisible Barriers to Women's Advancement at Emory" report. As a result, two areas of concern were identified for further study: to investigate programs that enhance the work environment for women and to develop strategies to inform managers and employees about programs benefiting women's work situations.

A committee examining alternative work situations was thus created, and the communications subcommittee is studying how Human Resources advertises its programs that address concerns in the "Invisible Barriers" study to female employees.

Chace lauded the effort to promote the idea of alternative work schedules to employees and saw the study as something that could benefit all Emory employees. "There are some parts of the University where alternative work schedules would work very well, not just with women," he said.

Liz Stiles and Anna Manasco of the student concerns committee brought Chace up to speed on its efforts to improve Emory's date rape information network and the community's access to eating disorder education and support. The PCSW's current cell phone drive for victims of domestic abuse and the continuing growth of the Emory's Women's Alliance were also addressed.

Chair-elect Kathy Reed told Chace and the group about plans for the PCSW's 25th anniversary celebration this spring. The April 26 celebration will take the place of the group's annual spring event and will begin with a luncheon, where Chace agreed to present the group's annual writing awards. The day will continue with a panel discussion featuring women who have been a part of PCSW during the last 25 years. There also will be a tree planting at the new child-care center at University Apartments, where the group will plant 25 trees commemorating the PCSW's anniversary.

The celebration will conclude with a reception, where Reed said she'd like to find a way to honor the past 25 PCSW chairs.

Allison Dykes of the Association of Emory Alumni updated the group on efforts to better diversify its board. Dykes said a list of 50 possible candidates has been composed for consideration.

In other business, Oxford's Bing Wei and Beth Seelig from the School of Medicine were approved as alternate members. Chair Deb Floyd announced PCSW nominations for the 2001–02 school year are due March 9, and Amy Wheeler and Karen Fain will head up the nominations committee. Details regarding the annual PCSW writing awards are in the process of being finalized, Floyd said.

The group's new website is "two-thirds" done, Floyd added. Manasco said a letter on behalf of the PCSW welcoming John Ford, senior vice president and Dean of Campus Life, would be mailed soon.

The next meeting of the PCSW will be March 1 at 3:30 p.m. in 400 Administration.

—If you have a question or concern for PCSW, contact chair Deb Floyd at dfloyd@law.emory.edu