Student Government officials met with university administration members Friday to discuss the creation of a Women's Resource Center on campus.
SG President Joe Vidulich and Women's Initiative Director Vanessa Mueller submitted a proposal to the university two weeks ago that outlined a seven-phase plan for establishing the center.
The center would offer support, empowerment, education and advocacy programs for women, according to the proposal. The proposal also listed ideas for possible programs, such as creating a sexual violence prevention program, maintaining a library of books and films on women's and gender issues, publishing a newsletter and assessing the situation of women at AU.
There is a lot of student interest in creating the center, according to Mueller.
"Women's Initiative has worked to fill the role the resource center would play," she said. "The popularity of our organization is a testament to the interest in and importance of these issues on campus."
Phase one of the plan includes hiring a Sexual and Relationship Violence Services coordinator who will eventually become a full-time staff member, according to the proposal. Under the current plan, the coordinator could be a member of the Counseling Center staff or on contract from a sexual and domestic violence center.
The SG is also looking to identify faculty "point people" familiar with sexual assault and relationship violence, according to Mueller.
"We consider ourselves to be in phase one," she said. "The question now is how quickly can we move to phase two?"
The primary phases of the plan were specifically designed not to require a large allotment of funds, Mueller added.
Phase two, which would officially begin after a coordinator is hired, calls for a temporary workspace for the center, which could potentially be located in empty office space in one of the residence halls, according to the proposal.
After Friday's meeting, the administration seemed open to the idea of granting a temporary workspace ahead of that schedule, Mueller said. This will help demonstrate the usefulness of the center, create hard data about student interest and allow students to become familiar with the facility, according to Mueller.
Women's Initiative can run programming out of the temporary office until the beginning of phase three, when a graduate student with a background in women's advocacy will be hired to oversee the center, according to the proposal. This is similar to how the university's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally office was created, according to Mueller.
The remaining phases call for the hiring of several work-study students and a WRC director, the allocation of a permanent space convenient to the entire campus community and the increasing allotment of funds. By phase seven, the center should "fully staffed, funded and operational," according to the proposal.
The timeline detailed in the proposal stretches through 2012. Vidulich and Mueller both said they are willing to move slowly in order to develop a well-thought-out center.
"The center is not going to come to fruition over night," Vidulich said in an e-mail after the meeting. "However, we are excited that the administration gave us a lot of support when we met. The needs on this campus are real and tangible. From sexual assault prevention to sexual harassment training, from educating the campus to empowering women, the Women's Resource Center will do something that has been needed on AU's campus for some time."
The creation of the Women's Resource Center was one of the platforms on which Vidulich ran during his presidential campaign last semester.
Elizabeth Maloney, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, said she thought creating the center was a good idea.
"It's kind of surprising that we don't already have one," she said.
Mark Winter, a senior in the Kogod School of Business said he supports the center.
"It's good for the university to have because it creates more of a well-rounded atmosphere, but it doesn't personally affect me," he said.
Jill Hollbrook, a junior in the School of Communication, said she thought the center would be a great addition to the campus.
"It seems like the only help available to sexual assault victims are those stickers in the bathroom stalls," she said. "That's just not enough."
The proposal is available for student review on the SG's Web site, www.ausg.org.
