Saturday, January 18, 2014

AASWomen January 17, 2014

AAS Committee on the Status of Women AAS Committee on the Status of Women
Issue of January 17, 2014
eds. Michele M. Montgomery, Daryl Haggard, Nick Murphy, & Nicolle Zellner

SPECIAL EDITION: CSWA Climate Site Visit Program for Astronomy Departments

1. Policy

2. Procedure

3. Benefits

4. Chair's Perspective

5. APS CSWP Climate for Women in Physics Site Visit Program

6. Affecting the Climate for Women in Physics: The CSWP Site Visit Program

7. How to Submit to the AASWomen Newsletter

8. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWomen Newsletter

9. Access to Past Issues of the AASWomen Newsletter


1. Policy
From: Joan Schmelz via womeninastronomy

At the AAS meeting in Indianapolis, IN in June 2013, the AAS Council approved a proposal by CSWA to implement Climate Site Visits for astronomy departments. These site visits are modeled on the highly successful visits done by the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP) for physics departments. The CSWP index, procedures, and summary web pages formed the basis for the CSWA proposal.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/01/cswa-climate-site-visit-program-for.html

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2. Procedure
From: Joan Schmelz via womeninastronomy

CSWA Climate Site Visits for Astronomy Departments will be initiated by an invitation from the department chair and will ordinarily last one day. The CSWA chair and the department chair will decide upon a convenient date for the visit. The CSWA chair will select a visiting team of three senior astronomers, usually from among current and former CSWA members.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/01/cswa-climate-site-visit-program-for_14.html

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3. Benefits
From: Jessica Kirkpatrick via womeninastronomy

As a graduate student, I participated in a Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP) joint site visit of the physics departments at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and University of California, Berkeley. The site visit was very valuable for both departments in highlighting not only the areas where we could improve in creating supportive environments for women, but also areas where we were doing quite well.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/01/cswa-climate-site-visit-program-for_15.html

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4. A Department Chair's Perspective
From: Ed Bertschinger via womeninastronomy

In 2009, the MIT Physics Department hosted a Climate Site Visit for Women and Minorities from the APS Committee on the Status of Women in Physics and Committee on Minorities. As a relatively new department head with interest in improving the status of women and minorities, I thought it would be a good practice. I was unsure how it might be regarded by the faculty, but I paved the way by getting from buy-in from my department's Visiting Committee. The procedures followed were very similar to those described in the earlier blog post CSWA Climate Site Visit Program for Astronomy Departments - Procedure. The main difference was the presence of a member of the Committee on Minorities, so that the site visit also assessed the climate for minorities. I had specifically requested this addition and was very pleased it could be accommodated.

To read more, please see

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/01/cswa-climate-site-visit-program-for_16.html

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5. APS CSWP Climate for Women in Physics Site Visit Program
From: Susan Blessing [blessing_at_hep.fsu.edu] and Deanna Ratnikova [ratnikova_at_aps.org]

From the 2013 April 23, Women in Astronomy Blogspot

Since 1990, the American Physical Society (APS) Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP) has conducted site visits to physics departments at research institutions and national laboratories to assess and improve the climate for women. Through the Climate Site Visit Program, a team of physicists visits physics departments or labs to catalogue the problems that women face and to suggest potential improvements. The site visit program has been heralded for leading the physics community to a deeper understanding of the climate for women physicists in academia.

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/04/aps-cswp-climate-for-women-in-physics.html

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6. Affecting the Climate for Women in Physics: The CSWP Site Visit Program
From: Meg Urry [meg.urry_at_yale.edu]

STATUS magazine, 2007 June

Each scientific institution has its own culture. Some are welcoming and relaxed. In others the atmosphere is more formal, almost corporate. But occasionally the climate feels hostile or alien to women. Often it is hard for insiders to see just what is wrong and/or to effect change. Then it is time to seek some outside advice.

To read more, please see

http://www.aas.org/cswa/status/2007/JUNE2007/CSWPSiteVisitProgram.html

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7. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter

To submit an item to the AASWOMEN newsletter, including replies to topics, send email to aaswomen_at_aas.org

All material will be posted unless you tell us otherwise, including your email address.

When submitting a job posting for inclusion in the newsletter, please include a one-line description and a link to the full job posting.

Please remember to replace "_at_" in the e-mail address above.

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8.  How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter

Join AAS Women List by email:

Send email to aaswlist+subscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have subscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like.

Be sure to follow the instructions in the confirmation email. (Just reply back to the email list)

To unsubscribe by email:

Send email to aawlist+unsubscribe_at_aas.org from the address you want to have UNsubscribed. You can leave the subject and message blank if you like.

To join or leave AASWomen via web, or change your membership settings:

https://groups.google.com/a/aas.org/group/aaswlist

You will have to create a Google Account if you do not already have one, using https://accounts.google.com/newaccount?hl=en

Google Groups Subscribe Help:

http://support.google.com/groups/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46606

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9. Access to Past Issues

http://www.aas.org/cswa/AASWOMEN.html

Each annual summary includes an index of topics covered.

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