Foundational Pre-Conferences
Program Administration and Development (PAD) Pre-Conference
Thursday, November 14th, 2024 | 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. EST
Registration window for the 2024 PAD Pre-Conference is May 1st - August 30th
The Program Administrators Caucus first met at the 1983 NWSA Annual Conference and became the Program Administration and Development Committee in 2006. The PAD Committee consists of women's studies program administrators (chairs, directors, coordinators) whose programs, departments or other academic units are member institutions of NWSA. This body is convened once a year for a Business Meeting at the annual NWSA Conference and is sustained by the PAD Listserv. The PAD Committee is a standing committee in NWSA specifically designed to represent the interests and needs of administrators of women's studies programs and departments to the Governing Council of NWSA and to assist NWSA in meeting the needs of women's administrators and their departments and programs
The first PAD Pre-Conference was held at the 2000 NWSA Annual Conference. The PAD Pre-Conference provides administrators with ideas, strategies, and approaches to both strengthen and grow WGSS programs in hard times. These include: supporting diverse leadership, building coalitions across campus and across town, fundraising, battling backlash, making external reviews successful, incorporating service learning requirements, and more.
In 2000, the PAD Committee initiated the Women of Color Leadership Project (WoCLP). The WoCLP is now jointly sponsored by the NWSA Women of Color Caucus (WoCC), Program Administration and Development Committee (PAD), and the Women’s Centers Committee (WCC) in conjunction with the PAD and WCC Pre-Conferences.
If you are interested in submitting to the 2024 PAD Pre-Conference you can submit your panel proposal here.
Women’s Centers Committee (WCC) Pre-Conference
Thursday, November 14th, 2024 | 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. EST
Registration window for the 2024 WCC Pre-Conference is May 1st - August 30th
Beginning as the Women's Centers and Services Caucus, the Constituency's first meeting was at the 1984 NWSA Annual Conference, eventually becoming the Women's Centers Committee in 2006. The WCC held its first Pre-Conference at the 2002 NWSA Annual Conference. NW5A recognizes that "women's studies" is broader than what happens in the classroom. NWSA acknowledges women's centers as chief out-of-class feminist educators and encourages participation in the national organization.
Campus-based women's centers have a long history of working together with women's studies to transform the curriculum, the campus environment, and society at large.
The Women's Centers Committee of NWSA provides an opportunity for women's center directors, staff and others to gather and share information, ideas, challenges, successes and support. The Women's Centers Committee sponsors an annual pre-conference event as well as sessions during the NWSA Annual Conference.
Along with the the Program Administration and Development Committee (PAD) and the NWSA Women of Color Caucus (WoCC), the Women’s Centers Committee (WCC) jointly sponsors the Women of Color Leadership Project (WoCLP) in conjunction with the PAD and WCC Pre-Conferences.
Each year, NWSA in coordination with the NWSA Women's Center Committee gives multiple awards to deserving programs and people working in women's and gender equity centers (WGEC). The awards include the Coalition Builder, Feminist Change Agent, Mentorship, and Outstanding WGEC Program Awards. You can find more information about the awards here.
If you are interested in submitting to the 2024 WCC Pre-Conference you can submit your panel proposal here.
Women of Color Leadership Project (WoCLP)
The NWSA Women of Color Caucus (WoCC), Program Administration and Development Committee (PAD), and the Women’s Centers Committee (WCC) jointly sponsor the Women of Color Leadership Project (WoCLP) in conjunction with the PAD and WCC Pre-Conferences. The WoCLP is designed to increase the number of women of color students, staff, and faculty members within the field of women’s studies and women’s centers and, consequently, to have an impact on the levels of participation and power by women of color in the field of women’s studies and women’s centers, in NWSA, and in PAD and WCC.
Women of color in women’s studies, ethnic studies, or related fields may apply if they aspire to leadership within women’s studies or NWSA. Applicants may include advanced graduate students, faculty, and current program administrators who wish to be more involved in program or Association leadership.
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2024 Pedagogical Institute on Teaching Gender and Sexual Justice in Arab, Muslim and Palestinian Communities
In our commitment in providing resources regarding the occupation of Palestine and the increasing colonial violence that we are witnessing from the seat of empire (here on Turtle Island), the Association is working to repair and heal our relationship with the organizers of the Constituency Group, Feminists for Justice in/for Palestine, to design and implement programs and interventions that align with our Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) policy. For the 2024 Annual Conference, we are excited and passionate about collaborating on a Pre-Conference Institute. More details to come!