The Division of Student Life fosters student success by creating and promoting inclusive educationally purposeful services and activities within and beyond the classroom. The departmental program review process empowers departments within the Division of Student Life to critically evaluate their work and their effect on the UI student experience through a lens of continuous improvement. As a department within the Division of Student Life, the Women’s Resource & Action Center (WRAC) engaged in a program review process in 2021.

WRAC completed a comprehensive self-study and hosted two external reviewers and one internal reviewer for a multi-day virtual campus visit. The review suggested focused attention in the following areas: Articulating WRAC’s Work, Reprioritizing Internal Decision-Making, Focusing on Training and Development, and Allocation of Internal Resources. The external reviewers were Kathleen Holgerson (University of Connecticut), and Dr. Natasha Croom (Clemson University).

The internal reviewer was Dr. Rachel Williams, Professor and Chair of the University of Iowa Department of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies. This action plan was written within the existing staffing structure and financial resourcing of WRAC. This action plan is a living document; action items and outcomes are subject to change.

Table of contents

• Articulating WRAC’s Work
• Reprioritizing internal decision-making
• Focusing on training and development
• Allocating internal resources

Recommendation: articulating WRAC's work

Answering the question, What is WRAC’s work?

• Develop a clear and concise way of conveying WRAC’s distinctive work and approach.
  • Using language that is accessible and understandable, develop ways of explaining and develop strategies for communicating this to our constituents and campus partners.
• With DSL leadership, articulate the ways in which WRAC aligns with the work of the units within MISSE and overall B&I group.

Critical Tasks

• Co-create and test potential language/ messaging with current and potential stakeholders that communicates WRAC’s mission, values, and practices.
• Establish current baseline understanding as a starting point using stated values and DSL and UI strategic plans, including differences and intersections.

Success measures and updates

• Significant collaboration with a variety of campus and community partners boosted the reach and visibility of our Weaving Our Community Network (note new name) this fall semester, and similar plans are in place for Spring 2025.
• WRAC continues to be in high demand as a practicum and internship training site for graduate students in Social Work, Counseling Psychology, and Mental Health Counseling. Both current and past students, and supervising faculty from their departments, report high satisfaction with the training environment and support we provide, and the significant learning that occurs here.
• Annual staff retreat focused on assessing the language used in WRAC’s
  communications, using information obtained from surveys and interviews with students and other campus constituencies. Language found to have been more effective through these means will be used throughout communications, and new ideas will continue to be developed.
• With the addition of a new FT position in DSL Communications focused on working
  with WRAC, Director worked to establish a strong working relationship, share information, and answer questions with the new sta+ member, and ongoing monthly meetings were agreed upon and implemented to maintain ongoing connection and communication.

Recommendation: reprioritizing internal decision-making

Ensuring that WRAC’s mission is fulfilled in line with values of the well-being of staff and importance of coalition-building.

• Develop an internal decision-making model
  • Model should provide tools for WRAC to determine capacity and alignment with mission for determining feasibility of taking on requests for new programs and services
• Continue coalition building practices across programming efforts for racially/ethnically minoritized programming.

Critical Tasks

• Develop and pilot decision making process-including core commitments and partnerships, mission and values, and UI and DSL strategic plan.
• Identify, evaluate, and maintain current connections.

Success measures and updates

• Integrated into onboarding processes and regular staff meetings.
• Discussion about decision-making included in performance evaluations.
• Existing partnerships reviewed for value and effectiveness, and maintained appropriately.
• The decision-making model developed in Year 1 of the plan was implemented in Year 2.
• No new partnerships were considered at this time, due to staffing concerns.

Recommendation: focusing on training and development

One of WRAC’s primary foci is as a center for training and development both for the larger campus community and for students who volunteer, work and learn at WRAC. This approach to social change underpins all of WRAC’s work.

• Engage in professional development related to intersectional feminist models and practices to develop a wider and deeper understanding of employing these models in practice.
• Explore opportunities to connect our graduate training opportunities to a growing variety of disciplines to provide students opportunity to practice their profession from an intersectional feminist framework.
• Enhance WRAC’s empowerment-focused programming and services.
• Establish a new student employment model that supports social media engagement, WRACtivists, and program planning.

Critical Tasks

• Evaluate and update onboarding for incoming student staff and full-time staff.
• Document existing and past partnerships with graduate programs and departments, and the value of these opportunities to WRAC, DSL, the academic units, and their students.
• Shift WRAC leadership coordinator title and focus to include empowerment programming.
  Document and assess current empowerment programming across all WRAC programs and initiatives in collaboration with AIR.
• Implement the new student employment model piloted in Spring 2022.

Success measures and updates

• Re-started the internal staff development program, “WRAC Reads” which involves the whole staff reading articles, listening to podcasts, etc. relevant to areas of the work, and then setting aside time in our weekly staff meetings for discussion and brainstorming based on what was learned.
• Professional development plans for staff members were reviewed as part of the annual performance review process, with updates made as appropriate.
• WRAC staff members (both new and continuing) actively accessed and participated in internal UI education offerings, including the BUILD and Building Our Global Community series.
• Volunteer and student staff materials were evaluated and updated again this year.
• A list of potential new partnerships and contacts for programs and departments was co-created by the staff. Focus was directed toward ensuring that WRAC is meeting the needs and expectations of students from existing academic department partnerships.
• The student employment model implemented in Year 1 continues to function very
  well, and student employees report high levels of satisfaction with their experience at WRAC.

Recommendation: allocating internal resources (financial and staff)

Ensuring that WRAC’s staffing and financial resources adequately support the fulfillment of the Center’s mission

• Revise job descriptions of WRAC staff to include programming responsibilities centering the needs and experiences of racially/ethnically minoritized women.
• Increase staff salaries to be competitive with market demand.
• Increase professional development funding and make sure it is equitably distributed/accessible for all staff.
• Create an agreement among WRAC, DSL, and UICA about protocol and purpose related to fundraising which includes opportunities for donor cultivation for WRAC.
• Revise, retitle, and focus duties of 1 full-time position to include empowerment programming responsibilities. Recruit and onboard new staff member for this position, as well as 2 others currently vacant.
• Update and revise job descriptions for Director, Assistant Director/ Violence Prevention Coordinator, and Program Developer.
• Implement market adjustments for staff as per findings of the Market Review conducted in Spring 2022.
• Create a multiyear plan for allocating professional development funding among staff and submit proposal to DSL senior leadership for funding support.
• Convene meeting(s) of WRAC Director, DSL officials, and UICA staff to identify WRAC funding priorities and needs, and create an agreement.
• Conduct 1-2 annual/periodic appeals for small-medium gifts.

Critical Tasks

• Revise, retitle, and focus duties of 1 full-time position to include empowerment programming responsibilities. Recruit and onboard new staff member for this position, as well as 2 others currently vacant.
• Update and revise job descriptions for Director, Assistant Director/ Violence Prevention Coordinator, and Program Developer.
• Implement market adjustments for staff as per findings of the Market Review conducted in Spring 2022.
• Create a multiyear plan for allocating professional development funding among staff and submit proposal to DSL senior leadership for funding support.
• Convene meeting(s) of WRAC Director, DSL officials, and UICA staff to identify WRAC funding priorities and needs, and create an agreement.
• Conduct 1-2 annual/periodic appeals for small-medium gifts.

Success measures and updates

• All staff job descriptions were reviewed as part of the annual performance review
  processes, and/or as part of hiring processes for open positions. Needed updates were made.
• Working title updated for staff member; now is “Leadership and Empowerment
  Programs Coordinator.”
• WRAC conducts 1-2 (or more) annual/periodic appeals for small-medium gifts per year on an ongoing basis, with support from DSL and UICA.
• Thanks to financial support from USG, WRAC was able to expand our undergraduate student Certified Peer Educators program this fall, to increase the number of students trained, mentored, participating and the opportunities for them to practice those skills.