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Aims & Actions

What does Women*s Student Services Aim to Accomplish?

The long-term strategic vision of Women*s Student Services is to build a vital and vibrant central WSS office and satellite centers strategically placed around campus that provide multiple avenues of education, advocacy, and support for women-identified students at MSU.

Education:­­
  • Education about the ways that gender is socially constructed and how this shapes society and individual experiences
  • Increase understanding of systems of social privilege
  • Empower students to create strategies for success within existing social structures
  • Partner with other campus offices to identify and promote equitable practices and policies
  • Empower students to engage in gender-related activist causes
Advocacy:
  • Provide opportunities within the institution for students to collectively transform culture related to improving the lives of women and all people facing gender-based oppression
  • Advocate for campus culture that eliminates barriers, prejudice, and bigotry
  • Advocate for institutional accountability for assessing and monitoring campus climate

Support:

  • Provide advocacy for/with individuals as a form of direct support
  • Empower individuals and support them in making their own decisions
  • Provide networks and support systems for women and all constituents facing gender-based oppression
  • Provide culturally appropriate and relevant support services within the guidelines of the division (Respectful, Responsive, Resourceful)

What Actions does WSS take?

With an inclusive and intersectional feminist lens, Women*s Student Services develops programs for, advocacy on behalf of, research about, and resources for students who identify as women at MSU.

Plan, Implement, & Assess Programs

  • Developing and implementing a variety of weekly/monthly programs, annual events, and special events
  • Promote, develop, and implement an annual leadership initiative known as WILD: The MSU Women’s Initiative for Leadership Development centering on a campus-wide leadership conference held each fall
  • Continuing initiatives for women*s intersectional and antiracist feminist leadership development and empowerment in conjunction with student groups
  • Fostering mentoring and networking of women-identified students across campus in conjunction with the Career Services Network's MSU Connect

Advocate Alongside Others for Gender Equity

  • Build supports and resources that allow other people and groups to advocate on behalf of women-identified students
  • Develop a clearinghouse of student groups focused on gender equity and empowerment in order to strengthen communication and collectively advocate for women-identified students

Promote Research and Scholarship

  • Establish and foster ongoing partnerships with the GenCen and MSU faculty whose scholarly interests intersect with the aims of Women*s Student Services

Provide Resources

  • Meeting with and listening to students. Providing referrals to relevant campus offices or responding by developing the student resources women-identified students require to be successful at MSU

All programs and activities are open to all without restriction or preference based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin or other protected personal identity. 

About WSS