Mission
The mission of the commission is to identify and advocate for needed changes in the university environment in order to enhance opportunities for women and other underrepresented groups.
History
1991
In 1991, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) issued the report "Reaching the Vision: Women in Arizona's Universities in the Year 2000." The goal of this report was not only to acknowledge and highlight major problems affecting women in the Arizona University system, but it also sought to provide recommendations towards improving the status of women in three major areas: equity, career development and climate. Accordingly, following the release of this report, ABOR recommended the establishment of a Commission on the Status of Women at the three state universities. In 1991, the then ASU President Lattie F. Coor, Jr., established the ASU Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
1998
Members of the commission dedicated countless hours towards investigating issues of inequality and towards finding solutions to these problems. Due to their hard work and dedication, by 1998 the ASU-CSW was able to report to the Regents that 80% of ASU's goals and objectives were at or near completion.
2001
ASU marked the 10-year anniversary of the commission
2002
CSW developed a new Strategic Planning Initiative designed to highlight the issues and needs affecting the status of women at ASU. Focusing on six priority areas including Climate and Culture, Accountability, Compensation and Resources, Voice and Visibility, Training and Development, and Safety. CSW has developed both an immediate action and a long-term remedy plan to improve these priority areas. To address these issues, the CSW is driven by the concept of "impact." Nearly of our projects and initiatives are designed to provide impactful resources and support towards the success of women and other underrepresented groups.
2004
The original structure of the CSW involved having a large group composed of representatives from each employment category across all ASU campuses. In 2004 however, the CSW reorganized its structure to meet growing needs of ASU. Accordingly, as ASU has become “one university in many places.” The CSW is now one commission in many places.
Currently, the CSW is divided into four campus committees located at the Downtown Phoenix, Polytechnic, Tempe and West campuses. All four campus committees are governed by an Executive Committee and supported by the CSW Program Director. The Executive Committee organizes the work of the CSW, sets over-arching goals under which the campus commissions develop projects, and runs the CSW Awards Program. Members of the Executive Committee include all four campus committee chairs, the President and Provost’s Ex-Officio to the Commission, the Vice President of Human Resources and the CSW Program Director.
2008
Inaugurated the ASU CSW Professional Development Conference held each October. Since its inception, the conference has grown in size and attendance. In fall 2022, the conference was hosted in a hybrid format, with nearly 30 workshops, a keynote luncheon, and nearly 1,600 members of the ASU community attending. The ASU CSW Professional Development Conference continues to be the largest university-provided development conference in the nation!