Founding Director Named for New Women’s Academic Unit at USU

 Women are leaders in virtually all aspects of Utah State University’s campus, and a new academic unit at the university will create a single structure to give emphasis and attention to their important contributions to the university, society and the world.
 
Ann M. Berghout Austin was recently named founding director of the new USU Center for Women and Gender. The center will bring together the Women’s Center for Lifelong Learning, the Women and Gender Research Institute, and the Women and Gender Studies program into one funded program that will create synergism between the research, teaching and outreach components of the land grant mission at Utah State University.
 
“Utah State University is fortunate to have a legacy of commitment and dedication to fostering, and understanding, the role of women and gender in our society,” said Raymond T. Coward, executive vice president and provost at USU. “The creation of this new academic unit — pulling together the various strands of activity on campus under one umbrella — will build on that foundation and will provide our campus with a strong, cohesive and vibrant voice to speak to these important issues.”
 
The center will offer an undergraduate major and minor and graduate-level certification in women and gender studies. Through interdisciplinary coursework and outreach, it will offer students an opportunity to explore gender in global and cultural contexts. It will serve as a focal point for basic and applied research by faculty and students and provide opportunities for scientific discourse, personal and professional development and networking. The center also promotes engagement not only in professional or academic contexts, but also at the community, civic, state, national and international levels. Aggie CARE, the campus child care network, will be housed administratively in the center.
 
Berghout Austin said she has been at USU for 30 years and has had the opportunity to see women’s programs begin, develop and change from the very early days of what was called the “Ad hoc committee on women” to the comprehensive new center. The first “Women’s Center” was organized, as well as the Women and Gender Research Institute and the Women and Gender Studies program.
 
“Each of these programs has been run on a shoestring and each has been kept alive largely through the conviction, selflessness and good-will of the women who ran them,” Berghout Austin said. “I feel pretty humble to be asked to direct this center, realizing that it has come on the backs of many, many visionary men and women who kept its various components running out of faith and love.”
 
Coward said Berghout Austin is a superb choice to lead this new academic unit.
 
“Dr. Berghout Austin is an accomplished scholar, a recognized academic leader and has been speaking on behalf of female students, faculty and staff on our campus for decades,” he said. “She will bring to this administrative challenge a wealth of experience, perspective and dedication. We are extremely pleased that she has agreed to take on this important leadership role.”
 
Frances Titchener, history professor and head of the search committee for the center’s first director, said Berghout Austin had superb qualifications for the position at every level. She has had a distinguished career in both research and teaching, and she has proven leadership skills.
 
“Throughout her career, Ann has proven to be a highly skilled consensus builder who brought a deft touch to decisions that reflected the needs of different groups,” Titchener said. “She also has a long institutional memory — and a corresponding long-term commitment to institutional service.”
 
James Morales, USU vice president for Student Services, said Student Services served as proud home to the Women’s Resource Center since 1974 and the Re-entry Student Center since 2000, but the Center for Women and Gender will create incredible new opportunities for women in academic research, civic engagement and leadership.
 
“With the creation of the new Access and Diversity Center in the Division of Student Services, women students re-entering USU will continue to have access to the full array of student services to support their success,” Morales said. “In addition, the Access and Diversity Center will partner with the new Center for Women and Gender to help women students explore additional opportunities now made available. This is a great day for USU and its women students.”
 
Camille Odell, a member of the committee that created the goals and mission for the new center, said the mission statement and goals reflect the committee’s commitment to recognize and address both challenges and opportunities for women. Other important goals reflect the committee’s desire for the center to offer an undergraduate major and minor and graduate-level certification in women and gender studies. We want to engage in cutting-edge research and scholarship that will establish the center as a leader at national and international levels and make the center eligible for private and government funding in the form of grants and other financial assistance.
 
“We already had three successful programs, but avenues for cooperation and communication were underutilized,” Odell said. “Our over-arching goal as a committee was to combine the extraordinary strengths of each program into a single entity with the capacity to enhance opportunities for women on campus and across the state.
“Utah has benefitted from an incredibly rich history of contributions by phenomenal women who have been a driving force for excellence in the state,” Odell said. “The new Center for Women and Gender at USU will provide opportunities for women from many cultures across the state to cross paths and become affiliated with USU through on-campus as well as outreach programs.”
 
Berghout Austin said she wants to thank all the many donors for their faith and support of the three organizations that combined to make the new center.  She is also grateful to the visionary women and men who made the USU ADVANCE grant possible. The ADVANCE grant made a tremendous difference in the recruitment, retention and productivity of women across USU and especially in STEM (women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines.
 
Berghout Austin most recently worked as USU’s vice provost for faculty development and diversity and is a professor of child development in the Department of Family, Consumer and Human Development.  In 2009, she was selected by students in the USU Honors Program to deliver the “Last Lecture,” a formal recognition since 1976 for faculty with superior expertise and talents in teaching.