Knowledge and Power: Message from Dean Jacquelyn Litt, Ph.D.
The Voorhees Mentor Program The heart of the Douglass mission is the Voorhees Mentor Program. Named for alumna Barbara Voorhees, the program connects academically successful upper-class students with first year Douglass students in individual sections of the “Knowledge and Power: Issues in Women’s Leadership" course.
2014 was an exciting year. The successful integration of the professional health schools and entrance into the Big10 and Council for Institutional Cooperation mark a new future for Rutgers-New Brunswick. Douglass, too, had many firsts: our largest incoming class, 50% of new students intending to major in a STEM field, a new partnership with PSE&G and AT&T, and plans unveiled for a new building in the Jameson complex for our Global Village. I also established the first college advisory board to provide counsel on strategic direction and development for DRC. 2014 was also a year of public focus on higher education. From new White House standards on accountability and access to concerns about student loan debt, declines in state and federal funding, to the role of residential colleges, we debated the value and future of higher education. Where does Douglass fit into these wider questions? In his New York Times article “Why Colleges with a Distinct Focus Have a Hidden Advantage” (September 4, 2014), Neil Irwin raised fascinating questions about how students perceive their goals, needs, and choices. Continued on Page 2.
Each section contains a low student-to-instructor ratio as well as a student peer who serves as an individual mentor to the incoming students. These Voorhees mentors have successfully navigated the class and are trained to offer academic as well as social assistance. Students are selected to become mentors through a competitive application process during the spring semester for the following academic year. In addition to working in the classroom alongside the instructors, Voorhees Mentors also take a course entitled “Mentoring: Leadership in Practice” where they learn different theories and models of mentorship and how to apply them. For the mentors, the program offers significant benefits. Previous Voorhees Mentors cite acting as a role model in an intellectual community, sharing knowledge and experiences with others following the same path, and engaging with students and “knowing you are making a difference” as among the reasons why they applied to the program. For new students who may be nervous and unsure, having a mentor to guide them is encouraging and makes the transition to the university environment and their new responsibilities less daunting. We interviewed a mentor/mentee pair of Douglass students who worked together during the fall 2014 semester to learn first-hand what the experience meant to them. Aven La Rosa, ’17, majoring in Anthropology and French, was born and raised in New Hampshire.
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The “top performers” (e.g., Stanford, Princeton, and Harvard) are unsurprising. Yet the data also shows that students look for schools targeted to a specific type of student or education. I was especially interested in Irwin’s mention of women’s colleges and their mission focus. At Douglass, we affirm our mission with prospective students every day. We attract students interested in advancement, community, and unique educational opportunities. Data suggest that our students make a wise choice. Our partnership with Rutgers’ School of Engineering, for example, has increased both the recruitment and retention of women engineering students to record levels. Rutgers’ research has documented that Douglass students exhibit higher levels of global awareness and engagement than Rutgers women and men generally. Women at single-sex colleges are more actively engaged in learning, more likely to engage in higher-level thinking, and better prepared for graduate work and the job market than women at coeducational colleges. The Women’s College Coalition cites other distinct benefits, including greater opportunities for participation, higher self-esteem, better retention and completion rates, and ultimately, better paying jobs. Today, fewer than 50 US women’s colleges remain— and all but two are private. Rutgers-New Brunswick is the only public research university offering a women's residential college. Our students –some 2,300 strong-- gain from the wide array of academic offerings at Rutgers while enrolling in DRC -- an institution focused on their success and advancement. Only at Douglass can women take advantage of a world-class university and enjoy a female only environment that emphasizes peer learning through community, interaction, and educational innovation. No wonder that our enrollment grows by leaps and bounds each year—a success predicted by the findings described in Irwin’s column. The programs featured in this issue demonstrate the value of such a residential, mission-directed education—events and relationships that are the hallmark of DRC. We played host to the First Annual Global Summit on Women's Health and Dignity for the 21st Century, showcasing students’ proposals and knowledge on advancing women’s rights and health around the globe. At the Global Summit, we learned about ‘The Douglass Effect,’ a term coined by Dr. Francis Barchi’s student research team from the course "The Undergraduate as a Global Citizen: Student Attitudes and Engagement on Global Issues.” Continued on Page 3.
Kaity Liao, ’17, has not yet committed to a specific program of study, but narrowed her choices to environmental policy or psychology. Having earned an A.S. in Fashion Merchandising from Johnson & Wales University (Providence, RI), Kaity enrolled in Rutgers (and DRC) because she wants a career with more of a social activism component. Aven and Kaity were students in Dean Gretchen Heaton’s section of Knowledge and Power: Issues in Women’s Leadership. Dean Heaton is the Assistant Dean of First Year Experiences and Director of the Knowledge and Power and Voorhees Mentor programs. For Aven and Kaity: Q: When did you meet one another? What were your first impressions? Aven: I met Kaity the first day of the Knowledge and Power course that I was mentoring with Gretchen Heaton. Kaity sat in the back and was very quiet and soft spoken. She captivated the class with her insightfulness whenever she contributed to class discussions. Kaity: I met Aven through the Knowledge and Power course this past Fall semester. Aven was passionate, enthusiastic, articulate, warm, and friendly. She co-facilitated intellectual discussions by weaving various viewpoints together and summarizing key concepts for deeper analysis. Aven was very generous with her time and remained extremely approachable. As per the syllabus, the mentors are required to meet one-on-one with all the mentees in the section. Our meeting lasted three hours! I really enjoyed how these mentoring discussions allowed me to get guidance on my research projects for class, shape my academic interests, and exchange ideas for further exploration. Q: What kinds of tools has the Knowledge and Power course given you in terms of leadership and success? Aven: The first time I took Knowledge and Power, my outlook on life was transformed. I’m not saying that in a “this is for a Douglass article” kind of way. I TRULY mean it changed my whole life… from the products I buy, to the shows I watch, to the things I stand up for and speak out about. In terms of leadership, K&P, as we call it, allowed me to further explore my own passion for compassionate leadership. I have always considered myself a leader but through K&P I was able to reevaluate the WAYS in which I lead and exercise those techniques in my second year through mentoring. The class has helped me to understand that leading is not just being in charge, doing all the work, and having all the answers. It is delegating tasks, providing resources, and LISTENING. Kaity: This class equipped me with better skills to critically analyze many social issues such as class, race, power, and sexuality, and how they all intersect with one another. For instance, writing the self-reflection essay assignment heightened my awareness on the complexities of a woman's identity due to perpetual stereotypes and assumptions. Being equipped with the knowledge learned from the class, I feel I am able to understand the challenges of the ongoing feminist movement so I can contribute as a social activist. The topics (e.g., ongoing oppression and social injustice) induced curiosity in me, and provoked me to explore social theories that explain social phenomena. To me, this class confirmed that further pursuit of knowledge and education is the foundation to alleviate ignorance, as it will help me develop more wisdom and compassion to benefit society as a leader or social activist.
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The Douglass Effect teaches us about the impact of DRC’s mission, specifically in regards to the global engagement of our students. Read more about The Douglass Effect in this issue Also included is a profile of the Voorhees Mentor Program featuring an interview with student mentor/ mentee pair Aven LaRosa, ‘16, and Kaity Liao, ’18 as well as a review of the STEM Summer Research Poster Session that shined a light on the brightest accomplishments this summer in technical fields. We at DRC are proud of all our 2014 accomplishments, and are looking forward to an incredible 2015.
Dean Litt’s Star-Ledger Op-Ed
Q: Did the program meet or exceed your expectations? In what way? Aven: The mentorship program far exceeded my expectations. I originally pictured mentoring 20(ish) first-year students with their transitions to college workloads, living in dorms, navigating campus, etc. But being faced with a diverse class of transfer students, upperclasswomen, Bunting, and other nontraditional students I was able to form new techniques for sharing information and mentoring all of the students Kaity: This class exceeded my expectations of a typical university class since I was expecting it to take place in a larger setting. The K&P classes are in smaller, more intimate classroom settings to instigate engaging classroom discussions. Because this course is heavily dependent on discussions, I think we were able to have the space to exchange dialogue with the instructor and classmates in an open way. It balanced the development of individualism and the laid the framework to critically analyze like a scholar. I didn't expect a core curriculum class to provide such an environment to foster our own academic identities to this extent. For mentor (Aven LaRosa):
On January 9, 2015, an op-ed featured Douglass Residential College in the Newark Star-Ledger. “Douglass today stands alone as the only all-female residential college at a major public research university, in the nation. “ In 1960, there were more than 200 all-women colleges and universities in the United States; today there are fewer than 50. Douglass Residential College at Rutgers University-New Brunswick is a model for women’s education at a co-educational research university. Douglass students today number 2,300 and represent a community of women invested in their own and each other's success. It caters to the wide variety of students' interests, with an historic specialization for advancing women in science, math, engineering and technology majors. According to Dean Litt, “Women in the 21st century are poised to have unprecedented influence on the course of world affairs. Their education is essential to securing a future of peace, prosperity and human well-being. The unique combination of a Douglass education — a mission-focused education — within a pre-eminent national research university sets the stage for women’s contributions to the world.”
Q: Is this your first time acting as a mentor in any capacity? What were you hoping to get out of it? Aven: YES! I was hoping to help on-campus, first-year women ease into college life at Douglass and RU (as I was told that most classes consist of at least 70% first year students), but found that there was not much demand for that kind of “help.” I transitioned into a mentoring role that involved a lot of guidance, such as providing resources and suggesting on-campus activities and clubs that I thought might be interesting based on the relationships I had formed with them, along with providing referrals for extra help services like Douglass advising, meeting with professors, visiting the writing center, etc. Q: How has it changed you? What will you take with you as you go forward (in grad school, at work, in your relationships with others)? Aven: The Barbara Voorhees Mentor Program has given me the tools to lead in a more compassionate and successful way. I learned how to recommend resources and services rather than trying to solve everyone’s problems by myself. I think this benefits all of us because I do not overextend myself and bite off more than I can chew and students are able to get the full attention and support available from RU professionals (example: connecting a student in need of help with a paper with someone from the writing center rather than agreeing to edit the paper myself). Q: What kind of support did you receive from the faculty at Douglass to help facilitate the mentor/mentee relationship? Aven: Gretchen Heaton and Ife Meadows, Director of New Student Programs, are endlessly supportive of everything that I and my fellow mentors need for our classes, along with any and all outside activities with our students. I knew that the ladies in College Hall were always just an email or phone call away if I ever needed resources or help handling a situation with a student that I might not have been fully confident to resolve.
Read Dean Litt’s entire op-ed piece at: http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/01/ rutgers_douglass_college_is_national_model_for_all -female_schools_opinion.html#incart_river
Q: You were also mentored by your class instructor... did you learn any leadership styles/methods that help you in your own role as mentor? Aven: Gretchen helped me to see, understand, and BELIEVE that teaching is not standing opposite a sea of students lecturing and spewing info.
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Douglass Student Wins Scholarship Douglass student Antoinette Gingerelli,’17, (Howell NJ) was named Ms. EduCare by the EduCare Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering young women by helping them reach their education goals. Inspired by Malala Yousafzai, the young girl from Pakistan who was shot by terrorists for continuing to pursue an education, she has become the worldwide face of the fight for the right to an education for girls and women. Educare seeks to “discover young women at local, regional and national levels through this platform who have also undergone daunting struggle in their lives but continued marching ahead for education.” Gingerelli, majoring in political science with a concentration on women’s and gender studies, and minoring in Middle Eastern studies/international and global studies, is a member of the Honors College at Douglass Residential College/Rutgers University. EduCare Foundation has provided educational assistance to tens of thousands of impoverished children across India since 1994. It is a non-profit tax exempt charity organization registered in State of New Jersey.
Links: To read more about Toni’s award, visit: http://patch.com/new-jersey/howell/howell-student -wins-ms-educare-contest-scholarship-0
To learn more about Educare, visit: http://www.educarecharity.org/
She taught me (through the mentor class which I attended and K&P in which I was a mentor) that teaching is interacting, questioning, debating, and most importantly, listening. She helped and continues to help me (whether she know it or not) hone my own leadership skills using a feminist perspective mostly categorized by compassion for students and self. For mentee (Kaity Liao): Q: What concerns did you have about starting college at Rutgers? Did you select Douglass Residential College for a particular reason? Kaity: Transferring from a local community college, I was concerned about adjusting to the academic rigor at Rutgers and the large student body was certainly intimidating. I was also quite nervous since I am working towards my first Bachelor's degree, and I would like my time at Rutgers to not only define my primary college experience, but also the academic path leading to the professional career of my dreams. Therefore, I really wanted to make sure every decision I made was well-informed. Enrolling in Douglass eased my transition as a transfer student. It gave me a "home base" within the larger Rutgers campus, which made navigating the school system less overwhelming and intimidating. Also, being enrolled in the Mary I. Bunting program for mature women undergraduate students and receiving close academic advising with Dean Rebecca Reynolds made me feel like Douglass advisors and programs strived to meet specific needs, such as the Douglass Project for women to excel in STEM fields. I really felt like I was getting nurtured, and all along my path of learning and exploring, I was kept assured that help would be available when needed. Q: What are your impressions of the Knowledge and Power course? Has it changed the way you think about yourself and/or your place in the world? Kaity: Overall, this class truly helped me gain insight on the historical, socio-cultural perspectives surrounding issues on female identity. The deepest impression I had of this class was how it opened my mind to see how social dynamics, such as male to female and interracial relations, have some level of assumptions that define social relations. Since this class helped us analyze and tease out the differences between the stereotypes projected, and the reality behind it, I feel that this can help me become a more responsible global citizen. Knowing more of the inequality in power, gender, and race, I feel that I can take more social responsibility by advocating for the rights of those who deserve it, such as advocating for oppressed women in more developing countries. This class has made me feel more connected to other women and the ongoing feminist movement, because even though I am amongst one of the many women who may be affected to a certain degree by various issues, I can still bring change. Q: How did your relationship with your mentor shape your firstyear experience? Kaity: I was quite concerned with my minimal amount of student involvement this past semester since I was adjusting to the academic workload with a few 4-credit course classes that involved a lot of selfteaching outside of the classroom.
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Igniting the Spark in the Hearts of Women Worldwide!
Aven provided me with some helpful suggestions for me to develop my leadership skills, such as the Douglass Governing Council, as well as utilizing campus resources to achieve academic success. In the near future, I would like to get involved in the Global Village programming and other community service organizations like Habitat for Humanity. She was a gateway of resources for me, because I didn't know that such an array of options existed for student involvement. Moreover, Aven understood that I was in a place where I needed to explore and develop my interests, and pointed me to various activities that would extended my skill set, while challenged me a little beyond my comfort zone. With Aven's help, not only did I feel more welcome and inclusive to the Douglass community, I also felt I was expanding my horizons in my academic career, and becoming closer to the scholar and future leader I envision myself to be. Q: Would you apply to be a mentor in the future? Kaity: I would like to be, but I think being a mentor bears much responsibility because they will shape the future lives of others! Being a mature student that has undergone various challenges and adversities, I believe that sharing my experiences will help others overcome difficulties. There were points in my life where others shared their life wisdom with me, such as Aven, and it empowered me with much more knowledge and confidence to make various decisions in my academic career, as well as life. I will strive to work hard and hope to reach the point where I can be a mentor to others and be a "guiding light" when they need it.
Yule Log 2014
Douglass Residential College welcomed the future with a beloved tradition. In December 1918, the first Douglass class stood with candles on the beautiful winding staircase in College Hall to sing Christmas carols. On December 7, 2014, For more information, please contact Gretchen Heaton, Assistant Dean of students, faculty, staff, and family and friends of First Year Experiences and Director of the Knowledge and Power and VoorDouglass gathered in Voorhees Chapel to emhees Mentor programs, at Gretchen.Heaton@echo.rutgers.edu brace a diversity of seasonal celebrations, cultures, religions, and traditions. Candles in hand, the DRC community sang, and read passages to highlight a longstanding Douglass tradition and the advent of the winter season. The Traditional Events Committee continued the Douglass tradition of community service by partnering with local food pantry Hands of Hope to donate canned goods.
The first Yule Log ceremony, pictured here in College Hall.
Interview: Pam Fessler—From Douglass to NPR Pamela Fessler (Douglass College ’75) cultivated a love of writing and telling stories from a childhood idolizing Lois Lane through working as the editor-in-chief of The Caellian during her Douglass days. Currently, she is an award-winning correspondent covering poverty and philanthropy on NPR’s National Desk. We talked to Pam about her life-long career as a journalist—her influences, challenges, and motivations— and how her time at Douglass provided the tools for success in her professional and personal life.
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Douglass Residential College is a Safe(R) Space at Rutgers
Advancing the commitment to inclusion and diversity, all Douglass Residential College staff completed formal training to serve as effective allies and advocates for LGBTQIA students. Safe (R) Space training, conducted by the Rutgers Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities prepares staff to mentor and advocate for LGBTQIA students and those questioning their sexuality. Safe(R) Space explores the complex issues of power, privilege, and prejudice. The program creates a space where open communication and methods of developing advocacy and activism are discussed. Under Dean Litt’s leadership, Douglass encourages dialogue about gender-related issues and Safe(R) Space training is one of many initiatives that the college promotes. The “Knowledge and Power: Issues in Women’s Leadership” course – required for Douglass students to take and open to the Rutgers community – integrates readings and exercises to encourage students to think critically about how social identities (e.g., gender, race, class, and sexual identity) shape the way people experience the world. DRC’s Douglass Q/ummunity, which organizes meetings, events, and discussion forums for queer identified or questioning women and allies, wrapped up the University’s Ally Week initiative with “Coming Out Muslim: Radical Acts of Love,” which highlights the experience of being t the intersections of Islam and queerness. Held at Douglass, the event featured a performance showing the experiences of Muslims in the LGBT community.
Where did you grow up and what were your experiences growing up where you did? I grew up in Hillsdale, NJ (in Bergen County), the youngest of four children. I can’t say anything very exciting happened to me as a child. I had a pretty normal—and what I thought, at the time, boring—upbringing. I went to Catholic elementary and high schools, where I was in all-female classes—one of the reasons I think I found Douglass such an attractive option for college. I’ve always loved to write and tell stories. From a very early age, I wanted to be a newspaper reporter like “Lois Lane." I even put together a neighborhood newspaper as a kid. I always wrote for my school newspapers, and one of the first things I did when I got to Douglass was to sign up to work on The Caellian. I eventually became the editor-in-chief. Who or what has motivated you throughout your career? I was influenced greatly in my career by the events of my formative years. I was born in 1953, so I grew up glued to the television news, watching history unfold—the Kennedy assassinations, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the urban riots, and other unrest of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. I saw how crucial journalists were to our understanding of the world, and I wanted to be one of them. It seemed an exciting and important job. That’s the WHAT. The influential WHO are the many incredible journalists I’ve worked with over the years. I remember as a summer intern at a small local paper in New Jersey covering my very first story—a planning board meeting in Hillsdale. I was a little overwhelmed, especially by a reporter from a bigger local paper, a man, who was very aggressively questioning a local official. I was very shy and turned to an older woman reporter next to me and said, “I can never do that.” And she said, “Don’t worry, I always find I get a lot more information with honey than vinegar.” And that very simple piece of advice has been extraordinarily helpful. I’m naturally a good listener, and I find that, for the most part, people are very willing to share information with me. And I can be tough when I need to be. I’ve worked with many talented colleagues—editors and reporters—over the years, and have learned the importance of getting to the truth, as best as humanly possible. And that is the most important thing a journalist does. What were some of your favorite experiences as a Douglass woman? Probably working on The Caellian, where I spent much of my time and made some of my closest friends. We had a great group from both Douglass and Rutgers College who worked on the paper together, spending long hours, often overnight, putting the paper together each week. I’m now married to one of the best Rutgers headline writers there was. I enjoyed being in an environment where women could be in charge and allowed to excel, and that women’s achievements were celebrated.
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A Showcase of Innovation: The Douglass Project Summer Research Poster Session
Do you think that being a Douglass woman has affected the trajectory of your life/career? Definitely. I think the experiences I mentioned in the previous answer gave me great confidence in a world where women were still not given the same opportunities as men. However, I must admit, I graduated at a time (1975) when many companies, and media organizations in particular, were beginning to take women more seriously and felt pressure to hire more of them. I think I definitely benefitted from that. If nothing else, it gave me a foot in the door. But my experiences in Douglass helped me excel once I got in. You report on homelessness, hunger and the impact of the recession on the nation – how did you come to these topics/areas? Are there other topics that you’ve reported on that have had a major impact on you?
Jennifer Coulter ‘17
Supported by the Douglass Project for Women in Math, Science and Engineering Summer Stipend, 44 Douglass undergraduates completed research projects across a broad range of scientific fields and presented their research this past semester. Summer funding from the Douglass Project enables students to engage in scientific research and attend professional development workshops, world-wide. Stipends of up to $3,000 are awarded to each student researcher. To qualify, students must complete more than 300 hours with a faculty advisor. In addition to presenting their research at a poster session, students contribute to academic knowledge by writing a paper on their research findings.
I’ve spent most of my career reporting on government and politics. I worked at the Bergen Record for three years, and then went to graduate school to get a master’s in public administration. That led me to Washington, where I worked for the government for one year, then became a reporter for Congressional Quarterly’s weekly magazine. At CQ, I acquired a true appreciation of government and Congress and the important role the media plays in keeping public officials honest and accountable. At CQ, I covered tax and budget issues, and some foreign policy. When I went to NPR in 1993, I edited, then covered the White House and homeland security. That was very exciting—especially the White House—but eventually I wanted to do something completely different and suggested to NPR that I cover poverty (since we didn’t have a poverty reporter at the time). It’s been a great beat, and I’ve met many people who struggle just to get through their daily lives. But they’ve also been among the most fascinating people I’ve met in my career. Some of them do incredible things, but their stories are seldom heard. I see it as my job to tell those stories—both the good and the bad. What are the most challenging parts about working in your field? Being a journalist is exhilarating, but difficult work. There’s a lot of pressure to collect information, and then turn it into an accurate and interesting story, often in a very short period of time. If you don’t like deadlines, forget it. To me, being accurate is the number one priority in my work, and that takes a lot of effort and care. And by accurate, I don’t mean just that the facts are correct, but that the whole shape and focus of a story gives the listener or reader the best picture of what’s actually going on and why it’s important.
Another challenge for journalists—you sometimes encounter people who do not want to talk to you or tell the truth, and you have Areas of study this year covered many disciplines to figure out ways to convince them that they should. As I said, I’m including engineering, psychology, environmen- usually pretty good at that. But it can take time to get the real stotal, medical, and technical. Continued on Page 8. ry out of people. Also, in today’s busy media world, it’s a challenge doing stories that capture people’s attention. We are competing with a lot of other information out there, on air and online. Douglass Now, January/February 2015 Issue
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Jennifer Coulter’17 from Manasquan NJ, secondyear physics student with an interest in solar materials and renewable energy, conducted research in the Materials Science Engineering Department. Jenny’s poster was entitled “Effect of Gold Nanoisland Coated Substrates on Cuprous Oxide Electrodeposition,” and was based on using cuprous oxide (CuO2) as a material in solar cell fabrication. “We're working on improving cuprous oxide, a promising, inexpensive solar cell material.” Her project advisor for this research was Dr. Dunbar Birnie. “I felt the feedback from peers and faculty at the poster session was constructive—as I continued to explain my research, I was really able to improve my ability to reach an audience despite the jargon and advanced concepts of my project.” She is a member of the inaugural Douglass Project Research Advisory Board and was awarded a grant from NASA for her research. After college, Jenny intends to attend graduate school. Douglass Residential College is committed to increasing women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The Douglass Project supports this goal through programming and learning opportunities for students studying in these disciplines. Programs include Project SUPER (Science for Undergraduates a Program for Excellence in Research), The Bunting-Cobb Residence Hall (a living-learning community for women in STEM), graduate mentor opportunities, Douglass Engineering Living-Learning Community, DouglassDIMACS Computing Corps, STEM Ambassadors, guided research opportunities, international exchanges in STEM, and more.
What advice would you give to current Douglass women? Don’t let problems sit around unresolved. Fix them and move on. Don’t get bogged down by unimportant things. Think about what you want to do in life, then do it to the best of your ability. If you make a mistake, learn from it and don’t let it get you down. Everyone makes mistakes, especially the most successful people. As I say, I was very shy as a child, so it took some effort for me to plunge into the world of journalism, but I did it and am very, very glad I did. Listen to Pam Fessler on NPR Radio or on the web.
Upcoming News and Events February 10, 2015 Spotlight— Dean Jacquelyn Litt is excited to announce the upcoming “Douglass Now: Spotlight” feature, where the stories of Douglass’ students, staff and community members will be shared. February 22, 2015 The Victoria Dabrowski Schmidt ’42 Career Conference for Douglass Women—This one-day conference will provide tools, resources, and networking opportunities for Douglass students to succeed in their transition from college to career. Panels will cover a variety of topics from networking, to careers in the medical field, to graduate school, to money management. Free for all Douglass and Rutgers students. Breakfast will be provided beginning at 9:00 am. For the latest updates on the program and where to register, see: http://douglass.rutgers.edu/victoria-dabrowski-schmidt-42career-conference-douglass-women. February 6-8, 2015 HACKHERS: A Hackathon for Women— Hackhers is organized for women. At this hackathon, women and men will get involved in learning, planning and developing apps that will foster growth and productivity among women who want to code.
For more information about The Douglass Project for Women in STEM, please contact Laura Stiltz, Director of Research Programs and Advising, at lstiltz@echo.rutgers.edu. Douglass Now, January/February 2015 Issue
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