President’s Commission
on the Status of Women

Rationale

The Commission has been established to ensure regular, strategic conversations about gender-related issues occur with the president and other senior leaders. This commission will serve as a more formal, centralized mechanism for advocacy on women’s and gender-related issues. Further, such a commission is able to leverage expertise from across campus to address these critical issues at the institutional level. 

Mission

The purpose of the Commission is to illuminate and ultimately enhance the status of women at the University of Dayton by advising the president and other senior leaders on issues pertaining to gender equity, and on specific concerns of women-identified faculty, staff, and students at the university.

The Commission serves as a conduit for information between the administration and the full university community by making recommendations on issues that have particular relevance for women, including, but not limited to, equity, access, retention, promotion and advancement, and safety and security.

Charge

Through its work, the Commission should:

• Identify and define both longstanding and emerging issues and make fully informed recommendations on how the issues should be addressed.
• Review progress on recommendations related to existing efforts to improve the status of women within the UD community.
• Provide advice and guidance to the president and other senior administrators as the University implements new policies, programs, and initiatives to improve the status of women at the University. Also, as appropriate, serve key implementation functions or nominate highly qualified individuals to serve.
• The Commission will meet with the president, the executive vice presidents, and the vice presidents for diversity and inclusion and human resources (and any others administrators as agreed upon by the president and the Commission chairs) at least three times per year (nominally September, December/January, and May), with additional meetings as needed and appropriate. Other University administrators will be included as useful and appropriate based upon the particular agenda for each meeting.
• Report annually, at a high level, to the university community regarding the Commission’s work. 
• Issue a summary report to the campus community at least once per year to identify key issues on which the Commission is focused, the progress being made, and the Commission’s priorities for the coming year.