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The Carolina campus is filled with women -- strong, intelligent women seeking
to have their voices heard and make their names known. And female students are
not the only ones furthering their educations, seeking to find their places in
the world.
Since 1993, 110 female faculty and staff members have enrolled in Bridges, an
intensive professional development program for women in higher education who
seek to gain or strengthen their academic leadership capabilities. They've
learned to overcome their weaknesses, maximize their strengths and identify
their goals in the world of academia.
"(Bridges) came about from discussions among women leaders on campus about how
to increase the number of women leaders, how to help women evaluate whether an
academic leadership role was something they really wanted or not," said Laurie
Charest, associate vice chancellor for Human Resources, who has worked with the
program since it began eight years ago.
The program is based on the Chapel Hill campus, but women from all the UNC
institutions attend the program every fall to gain leadership abilities and
improve skills such as budgeting and cross-cultural communication.
"In terms of faculty, we tend to get women who generally or probably have
tenure and are thinking of whether they want to remain in a faculty position or
whether they might want to think about being a chair of a department, being a
dean, being a provost," Charest said. "One of the things I really love about
the program is that it gives people a really good feel of what it's like to be
in administration."
The Bridges program is divided into four segments: leadership, academic
institutions, skills building and preparation for the future, but the program
is more than reading and homework.
"You can always read a book, but hearing their personal experiences, meeting
the other ladies was valuable to me," said Trevaughn Eubanks, administrative
manager of the Sonja Hanes Stone Black Cultural Center and graduate of the
sixth Bridges class.
"It's a time to get together and talk about different things," Eubanks said.
"We talked about the course, but we also talked about our family lives, and it
was just a time to get away."
Eubanks' favorite aspect of Bridges was listening to a panel of women talk
about how they achieved their positions in academia and how it feels to move up
in the generally male-dominated ranks of academia. Listening to the panel
participants helped Eubanks understand the types of issues she would face were
she to make the transition to a higher position.
For Linda Dykstra, Bridges provided a big-picture view of the University.
"Through Bridges, I became acquainted with an exceptional group of female
faculty -- now friends as well -- both on our campus as well as at neighboring
institutions," said Dykstra, who went through the first Bridges program. "I
also became familiar with the diversity of resources that support the overall
mission of an academic institution. In short, Bridges expanded my understanding
of the entire University, beyond that of my own department."
Dykstra, William Rand Kenan Jr. professor of psychology and pharmacology,
learned about human, financial and legal resources on campus.
Also dean of the Graduate School and interim vice provost for Graduate Studies
and Research, Dykstra said one of the most helpful topics for her was General
Counsel Susan Ehringhaus' discussion of legal and ethical constraints.
Liz Lucas, a special assistant to the chancellor and a graduate of the sixth
Bridges program, said the women in the program helped her evaluate her
strengths and how she should work to apply those strengths in the academic
community.
"(Bridges has) given me a lot more confidence because I've learned the various
skills in the program, and the knowledge base that I developed in the program
about the University and about the leadership skills have certainly helped me
in this job," Lucas said.
Bridges helped Eubanks make the decision that she is interested in pursuing her
master's in executive education. Lucas realized her potential to serve in
leadership roles; she is now a Bridges board member. Other Bridges graduates
have moved into administrative director and chancellor positions.
"You get from (the program) what you put into it, and it was such interesting
material and such good folks ... you were inspired to put a lot into it," Lucas
said. "I would highly recommend it to anyone who's considering moving up into
administration or wants to explore where they're going in the academic
leadership area."
Applying for the Bridges program
The Bridges program accepts 36 women for its fall program. Brochures with a
program description and application will be available in April from Annette
Madden, program coordinator, who works at the Friday Center. An informal
information session will also be held on campus in April, with the date and
time to be determined.
The application deadline is May 4. The program cost is $1,450, but some
scholarship money may be available for Bridges participants from the Chapel
Hill campus.
Contact Madden at 2-1123 or madden@email.unc.edu about getting an
application.
Carolina's Fall 2000 Bridges graduates were:
* Dina Castro, investigator, Frank Porter Graham
Child Development Center
* Nuala Crotty, clinical assistant professor, physical medicine and
rehabilitation
* Jane Gabin, assistant director, admissions
* Debra Henzey, director of civic education consortium, Institute of
Government
* Karen James, academic adviser, business
* Jan Johnson Yopp, associate professor, journalism
* Judy Jones Tisdale, adjunct associate professor, business
* Constance Mallette, assist vice-president of finance, Office of the
President
* Joann Pitz, director of benefits, Human Resources
* Antoinette Taylor, Tier 2 manager, IT response, ATN
* Janet Tysinger, training center manager, ATN
* Kathleen Veness-Meehan, associate professor of neonatal medicine,
pediatrics
* Lynn Williford, interim director, institutional research
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