Reaching Out in New Ways: Highlights from the History of Alverno's Research Center on Women

What RCW and RCWG have brought to the Alverno Community

Over the years, many programs and projects with origins in the Research Center on Women or the Research Center for Women and Girls have become integral to the Alverno Community. Some of these are highlighted below.

RCW had a hand in the creation of the Alverno Babysitting Service (renamed Alverno Childcare Services and now known as Alverno Early Learning Center.) The first director was Sister Solano Granger, pictured below.

The MAP (Making Alternative Plans) Program, begun by RCW was created to help women assess their ability to re-enter the job market. This program eventually became part of the Career Education Center (now known as the Career Studio.) The article describing the program below is from the November/December 1974 issue of Alverno Today.

Below is a link to a printable PDF copy of the Alverno Today article about the MAP (Making Alternative Plans) program.

The PACE (Personal Advancement Through Continuing Education) Program was begun by RCW in 1979 with Title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 grant money in order to assist displaced homemakers.

Below is a brochure describing early programming that was part of the PACE program.

This is part of the Title I grant application for the PACE program.

As described in this issue of Innervisions newsletter from March 3, 1977, the Research Center on Women received a grant from the U.S. Office of Education, Women's Educational Equity Act Program in September 1976 to study and evaluate Alverno's OCEL (Off-Campus Experiential Learning, now called Internship) Program.

Here is a link to a printable PDF copy of the 1977 Innervisions article about the grant-funded study of Alverno's OCEL program.

Here are the title page and the introduction from the Final Report for the Women's Educational Equity Act Grant [Women's Educational Equity Act Grant to Study Alverno's internship program].

Below is a link to a printable PDF copy of the introductory materials and part 1 of the Final Report for the Women's Educational Equity Act Grant. It contains good overview and background information.

On November 1, 2001, RCW and the Multicultural Issues Office co-sponsored the first "Student-Faculty-Staff" Roundtable discussion in response to September 11, 2001. Within about a year, the Roundtable became a student-run activity open to the entire college community with Zohreh Emami as its first faculty mentor. Additional information about the Roundtable can be found in the "RCW Since 1995" section of this exhibit.

This is a brief announcement about the first roundtable discussion that appeared in the October 30, 2001 issue of Etc., a faculty-staff newsletter.

In the Fall of 2007 the first Status of Girls in Wisconsin Report was released by Alverno College, Girls Scouts of Milwaukee Area, Inc., Girls Scouts of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Women's Council, and the Women's Fund of Greater Milwaukee. The Alverno research team included Sandra Graham, Chair; Megan Kemmet, primary research coordinator; Russell Brooker; Austin Doherty; Kimberly Miller; Kathleen O'Brien; Julie Rice and Julie Ullman. Updates to this first report were released in April 2010, 2014 and 2019. Links to all editions of the Status of Girls in Wisconsin report are available on the Research Center for Women and Girls website.

In Fall 2009 Alverno's Research Center for Women and Girls opened in remodeled space in Clare Hall. Kate Masely was hired as its first director. April 7-14, 2010 there was a weeklong series of events to celebrate its grand opening. Click here to learn more about Alverno's Research Center for Women and Girls.

This is the cover for the flyer that was created to promote the event.

Alverno's major and support in Women's and Gender Studies was first offered in Fall 2010. More information about the Women's and Gender Studies program can be found in the "RCWG: From 2009 and Beyond" section of this exhibit.

The first annual State of Wisconsin Girls Summit was held on March 23, 2019. It brought together thought leaders, inspiring voices and workshops for young people and adults in order to help them to respond to the issues facing girls. The 2020 summit was held virtually on March 28, 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Below is the banner used on materials promoting the first summit. Additional information about the Girls Summit can be found in the "RCWG: From 2009 and Beyond" section of this exhibit.