Mission, Objectives, and Strategies
Mission Statement:
- Promote, advance, and develop WiSTEE as leaders, achieving their full potential and making a profound difference in the academic units and communities they serve.
- Develop leadership and strategic thinking skills for the WiSTEE.
- Provide a socializing networking environment for the WiSTEE to understand the academic culture, the campus environment and grow into their professional lives.
- Provide an anchoring point for University of Rochester to strengthen its strategic diversity positioning.
Objectives:
- Provide an integral platform to connect women in Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship across the University of Rochester so that they can learn from and collaborate with each other.
- Help WiSTEE to be aware of the specific challenges and potential subtle barriers at different stages of their academic career, create resources and demonstrate methods to deal with problems or issues; teach the necessary strategies and steps to achieve successful academic careers.
- Identify women role models in different levels; provide a forum to connect them to junior and mid-career women faculties/researchers and students to establish mentorship.
- Promote champions who advocate and make concrete efforts for the advancement of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Entrepreneurship
- Increase the awareness of the specific challenges that women in Science,Technology and Entrepreneurship face, serve as a liaison to obtain support from higher level at the University.
- Publically recognize female role models or male faculties who take the time and efforts to mentor the junior ones.
Implementation strategies:
- Provide a half-day leadership workshop for WiSTEE @ UR every year.
- Organize monthly networking events with various discussion themes for WiSTEE to connect and to potentially build collaborations.
- Provide a platform to match mentors and protégés within WiSTEE.
- Organize lectures on Women Leadership in Science and Entrepreneurship.
- Have joint events with the student-focused groups "Women in Engineering" and "the UR Chapter of Society of Women Engineers" to connect women faculties/scientists with women students in STEE.
- Collaborate with Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Rochester to bridge the gaps between Science, Technology and Business.
- Develop strategic alliance with similar groups at other universities or enterprises in local community to learn best practice and make larger impact.

