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Carol Hollenshead, CEW Director, to Retire

Carol Hollenshead, CEW Director since 1988, will retire on June 30, 2008. “I have now served as CEW Director for 20 years,” says Hollenshead. “Also this spring my younger child is graduating from
college,” she adds, “so the time feels right to make a change. I’m proud of CEW’s work over the past two decades and look forward to watching the Center grow and change into the future.”
At the time Carol was named Director, CEW was still known as the Center for the Continuing Education of Women. During her tenure, the Center has significantly broadened its role and impact. The name of the Center was changed in 1989 to reflect its expanding role in addressing women’s issues and
supporting women students, staff and faculty.

Over the past two decades, the CEW Scholarship Program, funded by private gifts and aimed at UM students whose education has been interrupted, has grown exponentially. Over forty-five scholarships are now awarded each year and the total number of CEW scholars is over 1,200. Carol has been especially interested in maintaining and expanding CEW’s research program. In her time as Director, CEW has conducted research concerning women in the STEM disciplines, business and corporate sectors; faculty concerns; women’s leadership; educational access at undergraduate and graduate/professional school levels; and family-friendly policies in higher education as well as state and federal policy issues such as affirmative action and access to education for welfare recipients. Her involvement in the research area has included serving as Principal Investigator, conducting research surveys and interviews, writing articles and reports based on research findings, and presenting findings at national meetings and training sessions.

“After retiring as Director of CEW, I plan to remain involved on a part time basis in a current project on the work-lives of contingent faculty,” Carol points out, “and I look forward to being able to focus on that project in a different way.”Over the past twenty years, CEW has increasingly served as a locus for advocacy, support and career development of UM faculty and staff. The Women of Color in the Academy Project and the Junior Women Faculty Network, founded in 1994 and 1998, connect and serve faculty and work toward institutional change. In 2002 the Women of Color Task Force, which serves UM staff, moved its administrative home to CEW. In addition, the Center initiated leadership development programs for faculty, staff and graduate students. Under Carol’s leadership, CEW has led campus efforts to address the needs of various groups, including nontraditional students and student parents. The advocacy and policy work of CEW also began to address state-wide and national issues.
As Director, Carol kept the work with individuals at the heart of CEW’s commitment to women. CEW
continues to offer one-on-one counseling and programs for women and men from the campus and from the greater community. As she explains “We have always affirmedthe original purpose of CEW, which was to assist individual women.

At its founding, CEW was a pioneering women’s center. Carol sustained that pioneering approach as CEW developed new programs and initiatives. It continues to be recognized nationally. In 2004, CEW received the American Council on Education Women’s Network Program Award for Outstanding, Innovative and Visionary Programs Benefiting Women Leaders. In 2005 CEW was awarded the Member Center Award from The National Council for Research on Women, recognizing an organization whose recent work linking research and policy has had a significant impact.

In conjunction with her role as Director of CEW, Carol has chaired the President’s Advisory Commission on Women’s Issues (PACWI) since its inception in 1989. The Commission is staffed by CEW and works closely with the Executive Officers in addressing issues of concern to women on the UM campus. As Chair of PACWI, Carol has been instrumental in initiating and advocating for many of the UM policies that are especially important to women on campus including:

Modified duties policy for faculty that grants relief from classroom teaching to adjust to parenting newly born or adopted children

Tenure-clock-extension policy for female faculty who expe- rience pregnancy and childbirth and for male and female faculty who experience extraordinary dependent care demands

Ability of staff to use all days of paid sick leave to care for ill dependents

Special salary increases for lowest paid staff

Salary equity studies

Carol also has served the University in many contexts, including as a member of the University Diversity Blueprints Task Force. Carol currently serves on the National Executive Board of the American Council on Education Network and previously served as the state coordinator for the Michigan ACE Network. She also served on the board of the National Council for Research on Women and as the board chair of that organization.

Prior to becoming director of CEW, Carol held positions in the Office of the Vice President for Research, the School of Nursing and the Institute of Gerontology. Early in her career, Carol managed the first national conference on Women and Aging as well as Michigan’s first state-wide conference on older women and work. Her commitment to women’s issues has persisted throughout her career and across the University. This year she was awarded the Sarah Goddard Power Award by the Academic Women’s Caucus at UM for her “constant, tireless, and unflagging support and promotion of women.”

 

Read a moving tribute to Carol and CEW from long-time CEW friend and supporter,
Irma Wyman

 

Jean Campbell, CEW Founder
“It’s been rewarding to watch CEW grow and prosper under Carol's leadership, and I feel confident that the Center is well situated to continue
moving forward and changing with the times.”

Mary Sue Coleman, President, University of Michigan
“As director of the Center for the Education of Women, Carol Hollenshead has been a dedicated and dynamic leader who has advanced the cause of women. She will be sorely missed, yet her presence will be felt every day because of her contributions to positioning CEW as a powerful source of education, research and leadership.”

Twink Frey, Community Volunteer, Founder of the Nokomis Foundation, Philanthropist
“So much of the continued success of CEW can be attributed to the efforts of Carol. I have worked with Carol, first as an advisory committee member and then as a collaborator, on many cutting edge initiatives including, most recently, the Visiting Social Activist Program. Carol has been a state and national leader positioning the Center to continue its meaningful and innovative work.”
Over time, our counseling has responded to social and economic changes, and our program offerings have broadened and increased.”

Lester Monts, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University of Michigan
"Over the years I've appreciated Carol's contributions not only to CEW but to the University as a whole, with respect to women's issues as well as the broader spectrum of diversity issues.”

Rebecca McGowan, University of Michigan Regent
“CEW was my front door into the University of Michigan when I moved to Ann Arbor years ago.  I was invited to join its advisory council  and, in doing so, I became increasingly familiar with the great issues confronting this University's women–and the University more generally. Carol helped me navigate through these issues in the first instance–and was an invaluable leader and friend subsequently during my sixteen years on the Board of Regents.  I am one of many deeply grateful to her for her leadership and humor throughout.  We each depart as a woman sits atop this great University–and brilliant and effective women are everywhere on our campuses.
Nice going, Carol!–and thank you.”