e-Newsletter v2010.02

President’s Message

AAUW NC CONVENTION

Sixteen members of the Tar Heel Branch were in attendance for a great weekend of educational workshops, to conduct business, tour the UNC Charlotte campus and much, much more.  Our thanks to THB members Diane Schneider, president of the Charlotte Branch which hosted the convention, Elizabeth Laney, also of Charlotte who was a key member of Diane’s convention team as well as the AAUW NC Bylaws Chair, and Karla Atkinson and Lill van Order, AAUW NC Co-Program VP’s, for putting it all together with style. See www.aauwnc.org for updates and the AAUW NC Facebook page for pictures of many of the branch members.

TAR HEEL BRANCH ANNUAL MEETING: WE DID IT! WE MET MEMBERSHIP GOAL!!!!

Last year at our annual meeting in Wilmington I challenged our branch to double our membership by the time we left Charlotte in 2010.  We did just that!!  Our membership at the annual meeting in Wilmington/2009 was 28 members.  Just hours before our annual meeting in Charlotte….Lois McCarthy/Sandhills-Southern Pines and Bonnie Will of the Charlotte Branch took us to the goal of 56 members.  Thanks to all of you who helped us reach this membership goal.  To double this number again next year is a steep climb, but we can do this!!   Let’s keep the momentum going.

Other THB business consisted of reports from the president, treasurer, Nancy Shoemaker, and AAUW NC membership chair, Sheila Bassoppo-Mayo.  Kathleen Hilton, one of our convention delegates also spoke to us about her work for the THB on the UNC Pembroke campus and her success in recruiting new members for the branch (see below). Watch for an update about the THB social event to be held on May 15 in Burlington. Directions and other information will be coming to you very soon.

NC WOMEN UNITED MEMBER SHOWCASE

Tar Heel Branch members joined other AAUW NC members at the Radisson Hotel RTP on March 11, 2010 to participate in the first NC Women United Membership Showcase.  The THB board voted to support this event as part of our marketing outreach, and AAUW NC was one of two primary sponsors. Branch members Michelle Evans and Nancy Shoemaker are on the NCWU board and helped to organize the event. This membership event was a great opportunity to network with other NCWU member organizations. We learned much more about each others’ organizations.  This event also brought the THB one more new member — welcome to Jenine Atoji!

AAUW LATEST RESEARCH—-WHY SO FEW

AAUW was selected by the National Science Foundation to conduct a study of women’s underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The study titled Why So Few has been released and many of those who attended the AAUW NC Convention have extra copies, and you can request a copy at www.aauw.org. I am placing another copy in the Elon University Library this week — if you want more copies for your  county or campus library, please let me know. To address the issue,  the Chapel Hill Branch has been doing a STEM project with local elementary girls for a number of years with great success and it has just been announced that the Greensboro branch has won an AAUW Community Action Grant for a STEM related project.

Thanks.
Doris Bernlohr

Welcome New Members

We have nine new members since February 1.

Charlotte: Diane Schneider, president of the Charlotte branch, joined as a dual member in March. Her friend and fellow branch member Bonnie Will joined at the AAUW NC meeting. They join other members in/near Charlotte – Elizabeth Laney, Queen Thompson, Lyndee Champion Ivey, Monique Stamps, and Rose Stremlau.

UNC Pembroke: Sharon Bell, Leah Holland Fiorentino, and Sherry Edwards are members of the faculty at UNC Pembroke and were recruited by Kathleen Hilton. Rose Stremlau is also on the faculty at UNCP.

College/University Partners: Ada Gregory, the College/University representative for Duke University, joined the branch in March, joining Joanne Woodard (NCSU) as the second C/U rep connected to the branch. When an institution joins AAUW as a College/University partner, their primary representative can join the branch at no additional charge, and any of their students who take advantage of the free e-student affiliate program can also connect to the branch for free. See the list of partner institutions in NC.

Jenine Atoji of Cary joined the branch at the NCWU Member Showcase. [We also recruited a member for the Asheville branch at that event.]

Magdalena Maiz-Pena, a former EF Fellow who spoke at the 2003 AAUW NC convention and a faculty member at Davidson College, joined in March.

Lois McCarthy of the Sandhills/Southern Pines branch joined as a dual member (meaning her primary affiliation with AAUW is through another branch) at the AAUW NC convention.

Please see the branch roster (on the aauw.org “Member Services Database”) to find contact information for each other. If you’re on Facebook, connect to http://facebook.com/nancy.e.shoemaker and look for each other on her list of friends. It’s likely we’ll be starting a Facebook group for the branch to make it easier for us to share information about our backgrounds and interests. If anyone has ideas on other ways you’d like to do a branch “directory”, please contact Doris or Nancy (info@tarheel.aauwnc.org).

Events and Opportunities

• April 22-24, Alamance County WRC Herb Festival, Burlington. Alamance County branch members will be helping out Friday 4-7:30, and branch member Becky Mock is one of the organizers.
• April 26, 11:30 – 1:00, release of the NCWU Legislative Report Card. www.ncwu.org
• April 27, 2 – 3 pm. Webinar on new AAUW report, Why So Few?
• June 3-5, College Park MD – National Conference for College Women Student Leaders. Spread the word to the college women you know about this AAUW sponsored event.
• June 16-19, 2011. The biennial AAUW convention in Washington, DC. Let’s have a good turnout of branch members. Please put it on your calendar!

BRANCH REPORTS and NEWS

• Branch finances: the gory details; one-page handout for annual meeting
• Results of the voting
• Results of the branch survey
• Handouts to help recruit new members

AAUW NC NEWS

• Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act
• All the news from the 2010 AAUW NC Convention
• Table at the NCWU Member Showcase
• Tryon Area “Literary Lairs” Event
• Jacksonville Regional Branch February 2010 Newsletter
• Two quick $tart $mart videos– branch  members Sonya Stafford and Nancy Shoemaker will be attending a national workshop at the end of June about this program. For more information, see aauwnc .org > WAGE

AAUW News

• List of 2010-2011 Fellowship and Grants awardees (including AAUW Greensboro and two students at Duke)
• Check out the new www.aauw.org and watch for announcements about the new features, including the virtual tour
• Take action on Equal Pay Day (It is April 20 this year – but it’s not too late!)
• Read about the new report:Why So Few?