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| The Inland Northwest Women in Higher
Education Roundtable (WHER) is this year's recipient of an annual
award from the American Council on Education's Office of Women in Higher
Education. Dr. Dene Thomas, President of LCSC and a founding member
of this organization, accepted the award for WHER in Washington, D.C., on
February 15, 2003, at ACE's annual meeting.
The award, called the Donna Shavlik Award, was established to honor a long-serving director of ACE's Office of Women in Higher Education. It is given annually to an individual or a group who has demonstrated sustained and continuing commitment to women's advancement in higher education at colleges and universities nationally. Award recipients meet the following criteria: demonstrated leadership and commitment to the advancement of women through actions or initiatives in enhancing women's leadership development, career development, campus climate, and mentoring of and for women. Nominations are solicited from leaders in higher education. A committee, with representatives from the ACE Commission on Women in Higher Education, the ACE Network Executive Board, and the Office of Women in Higher Education, reviews nominations and selects each year's recipient. WHER was given this award for its Mentoring and Leadership Exchange Program, a program wherein women faculty and professional/exempt staff with leadership potential have the opportunity to spend time with senior-level college and university officials, gaining a deeper understanding of higher education leadership and issues. In this cooperative program, patterns of mentoring exchanges might be one day per week over a month or two, or one or two full weeks. The partners in this program are the colleges and universities of the Inland Northwest including Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, Lewis-Clark State College, North Idaho College, Spokane Community College, Spokane Falls Community College, the University of Idaho, Washington State University, and Whitworth College. The mentoring/exchange program benefits both the women participating and their institutions. The faculty and staff participating will · Gain deeper understanding of important higher education issues, and exposure to ways those issues are handled at another institution. · Learn new administrative/management/leadership skills. · Gain a campus-wide perspective on key leadership and management topics. · Bring new information and perspectives back to their own institutions. Through the process of nominating and selecting participants, the colleges and universities identify a growing pool of potential women leaders. The institutions also benefit from the increased skills and knowledge of its participating faculty and staff members.
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