April 16, 2010

UWPA plans special activities for Equal Pay Day

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- University Women’s Professional Advancement at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will sponsor special activities in recognition of Equal Pay Day on Tuesday, April 20.

Opening ceremonies are set for 7:30-8:30 a.m. in the Kaskaskia Room at the Student Center. Julie Payne Kirchmeier, director of University Housing and Saluki First Year Student Affairs director, will offer opening remarks to kick off the symbolic commemoration. The theme is “Pay Equity and the Law” and Jill Adams, associate professor from the SIU School of Law will be the speaker. There will be a continental breakfast available.

“Reaching the Fine Balance Without the Stress: Negotiating Non-financial Needs in the Workplace” is a workshop slated for 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the fourth floor conference room at Morris Library. Facilitating the workshop for University staff and administrative/professional personnel will be Nicole Cundiff, recent doctoral graduate in applied psychology who has taught psychology and management courses. Those attending will discuss strategies for identifying and negotiating work resources.

If planning to attend, RSVP to uwpa@siu.edu. The workshop is limited to the first 20 to register. Participants may bring their lunches.

Also at 11:30 a.m., UWPA is hosting a brown bag workshop for faculty in the Student Center’s Mackinaw Room. Michelle Hughes Miller, UWPA director, will facilitate “More than $: Naming Your Needs in the Workplace.” The focus is on strategies for workplace negotiations. Participants may bring lunches.

In addition, UWPA is encouraging members of the campus community to wear red on Tuesday to mark their support for pay equity. You can also e-mail uwpa@siu.edu to receive via campus mail an “I Support Equal Pay” sticker.

Equal Pay Day dates to 1996. The American Association of University Women is the national organizer of the Equal Pay Day event to raise public awareness of the disparity between men’s wages and women’s wages. According to Hughes Miller, April is symbolic in that it represents how far into the next year women have to work to make the same as men did the previous year. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, nationally women earn on average 77 cents for every dollar men are paid.

For more information about Equal Pay Day at SIUC, call 618/453-1366 or e-mail uwpa@siu.edu.