The College of Natural Sciences, under the guidance of Dean Mary Ann Rankin, has had a long history of innovative efforts to improve the climate and conditions for women faculty and students.

In the late 1990s, the Women in Natural Sciences (WINS) program was founded to address the climate and improve retention of women in science, as a result of recommendations by a task force assembled by Dean Rankin.

In 2007, WINS Director Lynne McAnelly was the college representative to all university-wide and local meetings involving gender equity. She assembled the 2008-2009 gender equity data that was sent to the Provost and largely wrote the Gender Equity Plan.

Download the full Gender Equity History [PDF].

Gender Equity Plan

The Gender Equity Plan refers to other efforts in the college to improve the conditions and climate for women faculty and students, and highlights some of the college's gender equity priorities, including:

• Merit Raises – The college has developed written guidelines for merit raises. Recommended merit raises will be reviewed by the dean's office.
• Hiring and Evaluation – The college is committed to hiring at least five senior women faculty over the next five years, contingent on funding.
• Family Friendly Policies – The university's family friendly policies will be easily available online to all faculty. The default assumption is that these requests will be granted upon documentation of need.
• Mentoring – Effective mentoring is critical to the professional development of our faculty. We encourage each department or section to make sure that all junior faculty receive mentoring appropriate to their needs.
• Transparency – The college's Gender Equity Plan, Merit Raise Policy and the University Family Friendly policies will be posted on our Web site.