OCW NEWSLETTER
SPECIAL
POINTS OF
INTEREST:

Three from
UW-La
Crosse win
awards from
the YWCA
Tribute to
Outstanding
Women (see
page 4).

V O L U M E
1 9 ,
I S S U E
WWHEL (see
page 3).
Cook-IE off
raises $480 for
scholarship
(see page 4).
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE:
Toy Drive
2
Website/
Google
2
WWHEL
3
Cook-IE Off
4
YWCA
Tribute
4
Meeting
Dates
5
Holiday
Social
5
Food Drive
5
1
OCW NEWSLETTER
The Wishbone
Greetings
OCW
members!
OCW partners with

ORGANIZATION for CAMPUS WOMEN
I hope this newsletter finds you
happy and well. I know that the
end of the Fall semester always
seems so packed with holiday
festivities of eating, decorating,
and shopping not to mention our
work and family!
Speaking of eating, my family and
I always have a tradition at
Thanksgiving to let the two
youngest people in attendance
split the wishbone. The two
youngest always hold the
wishbone at each end, make a
wish, then break it in half. Whoever‟s half is largest means their
wish comes true.
Well, this year, my younger sister
and I happened to be the youngest as many of our even younger
cousins were working on Black
Friday/Thursday.
Since my younger sister always
seems to win the competition, I
decided my wish could be a bit
selfish: I wished for a little extra
cash this holiday season so I
could get pampered at a spa. A
massage, facial, pedicure… it
really doesn‟t matter, except that
I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed and just to relax.
Well, needless to say, my
younger sister won the wishbone
breaking. I don‟t know what her
wish was, but I got a surprise in
the mail on Friday: a $10 rebate
check. Okay, so it isn‟t enough
for a relaxation day at the Spa,
but wishes do seem to come
true if we open our hearts to
them.
Why do I write about my
Thanksgiving wish? I write because I think all of us women
have that innate wish to just find
time for relaxation. Whether
relaxation is reading a book for
fun, having 30 minutes of quiet
time, or getting your nails
painted, we all deserve a little
“me” time.
One such “OCW” time event
coming up shortly is our annual
Holiday Social. This is a time
to gather together as women to
share in good fellowship amidst
the busyness of the holiday season. Please mark your calendars
for Wednesday, December 7th from 11:15 am12:45 pm in Port O’Call.
The children from the Child
Care Center will be singing at
11:30am. Chancellor Gow has
graciously granted one hour of
release time for classified staff to
join us.
With the theme of rejuvenation,
we hope to focus our Spring
efforts on finding more time for
fellowship. We were pleased to
have so many people join us for a
Coffee Clutch/Membership Drive
in October. We plan to have a
similar informal get together in
Spring, time to just chat and
meet people outside of our departments.
Furthermore, as we plan for the
upcoming Spring symposium, we
are looking for a dynamic
speaker who can help us come to
a better understanding of positive self-esteem and work-life
balance.
We invite all OCW members to
join us at our monthly meetings.
Think of the time as a way to
connect to other women and
time to discuss ways we can
become leaders on campus and
in the community.
Please feel free to contact me
regarding any OCW related
events or ideas for OCW to
undertake.
Wish big this Holiday season!
Smiles,
Maggie McHugh
OCW President 2011-2012
mmchugh@uwlax.edu
VOLUME
19,
ISSUE
1
PAGE
Toy Drive for Salvation Army
The Organization for Campus Women
and Rotary Club of La Crosse – East are
sponsoring a Toy Drive. The La Crosse
Salvation Army is in need of new toys that
provide light exercise and learning activities for the children living in the shelter.
See the flyer and wish list for more information including drop off sites and building contacts.
At a recent meeting, Karmin Van
Domelen shared this story with the committee: “I called the Salvation Army to
see if they needed the coats, hats, and
mittens that we normally collect. The
Salvation Army worker informed me that
there were five other coat drives occurring that were donating to the Salvation
Army. With this information, I proceeded
to ask what the Organization for Campus
Women could collect that they would be
in need of. There was a pause on the line.
Then the volunteer responded, „No one
has ever asked us what we want.‟”
I want to thank Karmin for having the
kindness in her heart to reach out and
ask as well as to partner with the Rotary
Club of La Crosse-East. In advance, I
want to thank all those who were able to
donate. The toys collected will stay at
the Salvation Army as part of their
Learning Center.
As you look at the list of toys, I encourage you to find other OCW members or
kind-hearted souls to pool your financial
resources together to make a difference
in the lives of those less fortunate than
us.
For more information, contact
Karmin at kvandomelen@uwlax.edu
The Salvation Army put together a list of
toys that specifically fit the needs of their
population. One such toy is called
“Stinky Kids.” All children should see
themselves reflected in their toys and
books, so let us honor their wish list.
OCW Website and Calendar
A big thank you to Jen Holman and Kate Russell
who worked hard to update the OCW website to
the University template. This was a big undertaking, and we are very grateful for their and energy.
The OCW webpage is live; however, changes and
improvement to the website will continue to be
made.
Also, Kate Russell created an OCW google
calendar. This calendar will have meetings and
events of OCW continually updated. Please
consider keeping the OCW calendar up and
running on your google calendar. Search for
“Organization for Campus Women Events.”
Check out: http://www.uwlax.edu/ocw/
2
PAGE
3
WWHEL
Wisconsin Women in Higher Education and Leadership
by Jaralee Richter
"To be elegant is
to first of all know
oneself, and to
know oneself well
requires reflection
and intelligence." Genevieve Antoine
Dariaux
Wisconsin Women in Higher
Education Leadership, founded
in 1997, is a virtual "wheel"
that connects women to networks and opportunities to
grow as leaders in higher education. The goal is to actively
contribute to improving the
status of women faculty, staff,
administrators and students in
Wisconsin. WWHEL is affiliated nationally with
the American Council on Education (ACE) through the ACE
Office of Women in Higher
Education.
I had the good fortune to attend the annual conference in
October of 2011. I found the
two-day experience to be
engaging and exciting. Being
surrounded by over a hundred
women from across the state
was an exhilarating
opportunity as I was able to
meet and network with
women at all levels and institutions. I have come to greatly
appreciate the strength of
gathering women together,
because the focus is on empowerment, encouragement
and mentoring. I found the
keynote speaker, Idalynn
Karre, Ph.D., International
Educational Consultant from
The Academy for Leadership
and Development from Mesa,
AZ to be motivating, as she
shared her own stories, and
her research on women as
leaders. She titled her ad-
OCW NEWSLETTER
dress: Your Elegant Leadership, and she recognized every
attendee as the cultivators of
an appreciative, positive and
authentic leadership style all
our own. She shared this message to empower all of us and
to encourage us to pass it
forward to those we can mentor. I loved a quote she shared
with us "To be elegant is to first
of all know oneself, and to know
oneself well requires reflection
and intelligence." - Genevieve
Antoine Dariaux
In addition to the keynote
address, there were breakout
sessions that dealt with current issues, such as using social
media and technology in our
work, exploring Clifton
StrengthsQuest talent management, diversity
issues, negotiating career
moves, and using our creative
power to enhance our performance within our positions.
There are many opportunities
to be involved in WWHEL:
Coming this spring: Regional Workshop "Can We
Talk" by Pamela D.
Bergeron This one day-long
workshop will occur in April of
2012 in four locations/dates
across the state. Information
will be available in January
2012 on the www.wwhel.org
website. The cost of this work-
shop is $35 which includes
materials and meals. Research
shows that people screen out
or misinterpret 70% of the
messages to which they are
exposed. During the session,
Pam Bergeron will guide participants through exercises and
discussions to help them discover their communication
strengths. Reflection time to
create an individualized action
plan will be provided. Participants will gain new communication confidence that can
immediately be applied as they
talk with and work
with colleagues, family and
friends.
Coming next fall: WWHEL
Annual Conference - October 25-26, 2012 at Carroll
University. Let your own,
UW-L Organization for Campus Women know if you
would be interested in attending this or any WWHEL sponsored event.
VOLUME
19,
ISSUE
1
PAGE
4
Cook-IE Off raises $480 for OCW Scholarship
OCW held its first annual Cook-IE Off. The “IE” stands for Inclusive Excellence as
this event was a fundraiser for the OCW scholarship, a scholarship which supports
non-traditional women. Cook-IE off participants baked 100 cookies and assisted in
selling tickets to UW-La Crosse colleagues. We were pleased to raise $480 for our
scholarship. The big winner of the Golden Spatula was Karla Stanek and team
(Sharie Brunk, Maureen Wilson, Karmin Van Domelen). First runner up was Paula
Knudson and team, and second runner up was Betsy Morgan. Other wonderful participants included Bob Hoar, Bill Colclough, Florence Aliesch, and Maggie McHugh.
Above: Florence Aliesch in a full
Gingerbread outfit with Maggie
McHugh, OCW President.
Right: Betsy Morgan tasting one her
delicious cookies.
Far Right: Sharie Brunk with Karla’s
Kranberry Kookies.
YWCA Award Winners
Pictured to the Left are the YWCA winners and their
respective category: Krista Shulka– Arts Administration, Lynette Prieur Lo– Activist, and Keely ReesHealth. These women represented UW-La Crosse
and OCW well at the annual YWCA Tribute to Outstanding Women. Their touching speeches inspired
all in attendance. Other nominees included Deb
Hoskins, Jaralee Richter, and Mia Stickelmaier.
Congratulations!!!
OCW Meeting Dates
All meetings occur in 2200 Centennial Hall
from noon– one pm. Feel free to bring a
lunch as we discuss upcoming OCW events
and activities.





Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Holiday Social will be held on
Wednesday, December 7th from
11:15 am-12:45 pm in Port
O’Call. Children from the Child
Care Center will be singing at
11:30 am for our enjoyment.
Please come and join us for some
fun and fellowship.
Food Drive set for Spring Semester
Last year OCW sponsored a food
drive that benefited UW-La Crosse‟s
Helping Our Own Food Pantry. We
again plan on sponsoring a food drive
as there have been inquiries into this
activity.
This year, we will be partnering with
Miss La Crosse/Oktoberfest and
UW-La Crosse student Kate
Gorman. Her platform centers on
getting healthy, nutritious food into
food pantries.
Chancellor Joe Gow has already graciously provided us a venue to kickoff this food drive at his annual Spring
Address. At the address, we will
have boxes available with all the perti-
nent information including healthy
food options, contact information,
and collection date and time.
For this food drive, we will be seeking
assistance from all OCW members.
We would like OCW members to
help us be department and building
representatives.
We will be seeking confirmation of
assistance in January. Anyone interested in planning the details of the
food drive are welcome to contact
Maggie McHugh at
mmchugh@uwlax.edu.
Thanks in advance for your participation in this worthwhile event.