April 10, 2009

Purdue Women Lead looks to expand its reach, partnerships

At the one-year anniversary of the professional development group Purdue Women Lead, founder Beverly Davenport Sypher hopes to expand the group's reach and develop partnerships to further its mission.

Purdue Women Lead, an initiative of the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence, provides women faculty and staff leaders with the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills through a series of monthly programs.

Purdue Women Lead was started with the American Association of College and Universities Campus Women Lead project that brought two experts to campus last spring for a two-day workshop on inclusive leadership. Other programs have included lectures, workshops, webinars and faculty presentations on topics such as work-life balance, gender and careers, inter-generational relationships and workplace civility.

"These monthly sessions provide an opportunity to build camaraderie and network as well as offer intellectual stimulation and leadership development," says Davenport Sypher, associate provost. "I think that the programs have been well received. If anything, there are requests to offer more programs and to provide the opportunity for more people to attend."

Almost 60 women who were identified as campus leaders were invited to participate in Purdue Women Lead at its start in spring 2008. Davenport Sypher would like to expand the group as well as pursue partnerships to develop future programming.

"My work gets easier and our impact is greater when we approach one another and share our resources, ideas and opportunities," she says. "The Women's Resource Office has been a great partner in our efforts. We have also supported the new Women and Leadership course offered through Discovery Park's entrepreneurship certificate.

"I look forward to partnering with Human Resources and other units on campus who are interested. There are many kinds of programs that share our mission, so I know we certainly have not exhausted our opportunities to work with other people on campus."

Davenport Sypher says Purdue Women Lead advances the University's opportunity to have more inclusive leadership.

"To be an academic leader, Purdue needs to be an inclusive institution," she says. "We have to demonstrate inclusiveness through our activities and support the kind of projects and programs that give a broader range of people an opportunity to develop their talents and build alliances across campus. Our goal is to help prepare and support a diverse group of leaders at all levels of the University and hopefully to help those who are already in leadership positions do their jobs better."