It’s 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, and
a group of women are waiting outside the Jones Room in Woodruff
Library, most clutching notebooks in their hands and thinking of
IRAs, credit scores and money market accounts.
The women, about 40 of them, had gathered to take part in the Women’s
Center’s “Everything a Woman Should Know About Her Financial
Future,” a concise two-hour—but vastly comprehensive—introduction
and immersion into financial basics for women.
Linda Kuryloski, an investment representative from Edward Jones,
and Cynthia Lynn, a local certified public accountant, came armed
with handouts, overhead slides and answers to the myriad questions
that came from the group. And, for the few (emphasis on the few)
inquiries they couldn’t answer, someone in the group gladly
stepped up to the plate.
About five minutes into the presentation, the advice and questions
started to roll among the group, whose members were seated at a
U-shaped table or in chairs along the windowed walls of the Jones
Room. Pencils and pens scribbled quickly to get everything down
on paper.
“Check your credit scores every six months.”
“How can I get a free credit report?”
“Build a budget!”
“Do I assume my husband’s debts?”
“Invest for the long term!”
“Diversify your investments!”
“What about student loans?”
“We’ve offered this program four or five times, and
each time we’ve had a full house,” said Ali Crown, director
of the Women’s Center. “Each time there’s a new
slant.”
Like the varied subjects of the group’s questions, participants
said they attended the session for a number of reasons.
Soon-to-be graduated Cath Simonsen, a graduate student in the anesthesiology
physician’s assistant program, will begin working at Children’s
Healthcare later this summer. She wants to make the most of her
salary—as she deals with the looming presence of her student
loans.
Pat Miller, managing director of Theater Emory, is a member of the
Women’s Center advisory board who often can’t attend
the center’s programs during the school year. Summer events
give her the chance to take advantage of the offerings, she said.
But it was more than timing that drew Miller to the “Financial
Future” lecture—it was good, old-fashioned money.
“This is a critical subject that everyone is concerned about,”
she said, adding that it’s important to her to have more than
one financial professional’s opinion of her nest egg.
“It’s just like getting a second opinion in the medical
field,” she added.
The “Financial Future” lecture is just one of a few
offerings from the Women’s Center this summer, which also
includes a Healthy Women 2000 lecture series presentation: “Planning
a Baby: How to Optimize Your Outcome,” at noon on Wednesday,
June 25. Jane Mashburn, an associate professor of nursing in the
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing whose teaching interests
include nurse midwifery, will present the program.
Just added to the summer calendar is another installment of the
“Conversations” series, to be held at Miller-Ward Alumni
House at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 12. Following past formats, this
program urges participants to listen and share experiences and concerns
about mid-life and aging with emeritae professors, senior women
faculty and staff. The program was started with the Emeritus College
in April 2002 and has continued every two months since then.
Also in the works is an education program on the landmark abortion
case, Roe v. Wade for mid-July, said Jenny Williams, special program
assistant at the Women’s Center.
“Summer programs are more focused on staff, since many faculty
and most students are not around,” Williams said. “Our
program offerings lighten significantly, but this summer is shaping
up to be extremely busy. Diversity is important in terms of format,
audience and topic, and of course we try to serve the needs we see
in the Emory community.”
“We specifically invite all emeritae women, therefore bringing
women faculty who no longer work at Emory ‘back into the fold’
so to speak—helping to support, empower and connect them,”
she added.
For more information on this summer’s Women’s Center
programs, contact Williams at 404-727-2001 or jlwill4@emory.edu,
or visit www.emory.edu/WOMENS_CENTER.
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