Dear Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe during this challenging time. As a result of the global pandemic, many of us have spent the past few weeks assessing the viability of events, programs and activities both on our campuses and in our professional organizations. As you can imagine, our board met to discuss pending events, especially the annual conference. To protect the health and safety of our members, and in accordance with state and federal guidelines, our board has decided to cancel the 2020 PA ACE Women’s Network Annual Conference and Retreat.

This is very disappointing as our board and planning committee were excited to provide a variety of sessions on topics that you, our members, requested. This year’s theme was to be: Expanding Women’s Civic and Academic Roles: Participation to Leadership 1920-2020 —– As we acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment, we celebrate, commemorate, and collaborate to advance women in higher education leadership.

Despite our disappointment, we are hopeful and resilient. We will use the coming months to regroup and begin planning for next year’s conference. The pandemic has certainly provided us challenges but also opportunities to think differently and explore options for achieving our goals and objectives.

We know that our members have been brainstorming ways to deliver virtual support and services to students on their campuses. We too have been discussing a variety of ways to reach our members virtually, which provides a unique opportunity to gather women throughout our state without having to consider travel, time and financial constraints. So, I am excited to share that we have decided to host a variety of virtual networking and professional development sessions throughout the summer, FREE of charge. Once we are past the day-to-day constraints of the current pandemic, we hope you and your institution will consider joining PA ACE as we provide a very low cost membership with a variety of valuable benefits.

The benefits of institutional membership include:

· Employee discounts on Network sponsored professional development events.

· The potential for institutional recognition and representation on PA ACE Women’s Network planning boards, committees, and other leadership opportunities within the state. In addition, institutional members can nominate a woman leader from their institution to serve as an Institutional Representative for the PA ACE Women’s Network. Institutional Representatives (IRs) are vital to the development and implementation of the strategic plans of the ACE State Network.

· An annual Conference facilitating professional networking and development opportunities for women.

We cannot wait to see you at one of our upcoming events! Please stay in touch with us through email and social media and join as many virtual sessions as possible. Also, do not forget to share this information with colleagues and friends who might be interested in becoming part of our network.

Best wishes for a successful end of the spring semester and a safe and restorative summer!

Sincerely,
Catherine Feminella
PA ACE State Chairperson