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

 

About WSS