WMU Women's Network

Are you a Western Michigan University employee? Do you want to improve your leadership skills no matter what your current position or unit? Then, the WMU Women's Network is the place for you!

The WMU Women's Network is Western Michigan University's chapter of Michigan's American Council on Education (MI-ACE) Women's Network. The Michigan ACE Women's Network's mission is to identify, develop, encourage, advance, link and support (IDEALS) women in higher education. The network provides these resources specifically for women currently in administration and for those who aspire to advance or explore new opportunities.

WMU Women's Network embraces this mission through professional development, networking and knowledge sharing. It provides programming that helps administrators and leaders at WMU advance their skills.

MI ACE Senior-Level Leadership Job Shadow Program
Application deadline: July 15

If you are a mid-level woman leader in higher education eager to enhance your leadership skills and/or aspire to senior-level career opportunities, please consider applying for the 2024-2025 Senior-Level Leadership Job Shadow Program! As a result of participating in the program, women will engage with various leadership and management styles.

The MI ACE Senior–Level Leadership Job Shadow Program provides mid-level women leaders who aspire to a senior-level position the opportunity to gain impactful mentorship, learn from diverse institutional viewpoints and enhance professional knowledge and skills. This program utilizes best practices from established job shadow and fellowship resources which creates an exceptional experience for select women in higher education in Michigan. The program connects with presidents in the state to serve as “host site” leaders and select a senior staff leader as a primary mentor. This is a personalized program which encourages learning both through observation and application.

Details about the Senior-Level Leadership Job Shadow Program through the MI ACE website. The application form and a sample letter for prospective mentees to give their supervisors is available there.

All are welcome to attend a virtual information session to learn more about the program on May 22, at 3 p.m. Click here to join at the appropriate time. 

Women of Color Collaborative (WOCC)

The WOCC is a nationally recognized program. Over the years, WOCC has evolved and expanded its reach within the Network and plays a significant role during the MI ACE Annual Conference. The first day of the conference is focused on professional development and career sessions related to issues faced by women of color.

Each November, the annual WOCC Luncheon brings together women of color across Michigan to network, share experiences, and celebrate professional accomplishments.

Learn more about the WOCC by clicking here. 

All Women's Equal Pay Day Is March 12, 2024

Women are paid $0.84 of every dollar paid to white men. 

The pay gap varies a great deal among different communities, especially women of color. AAUW has added other Equal Pay Days to the calendar that highlight many women work much longer into the year to catch up to men: 

  • All Women’s Equal Pay Day – March 12
  • Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Women’s Equal Pay Day – April 3
  • LGBTQIA+ Equal Pay Awareness Day – June 13
  • Black Women’s Equal Pay Day – July 9
  • Moms’ Equal Pay Day – August 7
  • Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Women’s Equal Pay Day – August 28
  • Latina Equal Pay Day – October 3
  • Native Women’s Equal Pay Day – November 21 

Started by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996, the goal of Equal Pay Days is to raise awareness about the ongoing gender pay gap and how the pay gap varies significantly among different communities, particularly for women of color.

  • Summer 2024 Events

    June 10-11, 2024 | MI ACE Women's Network Annual Conference

    Location: Suburban Collection Showplace,  46100 Grand River Avenue, Novi, MI 48374 

    Please register for the conference here and hotel information and conference updates can be found here.

    Attending the conference? Please inform Malia Roberts (malia.roberts@wmich.edu) or Nikia Hall (nikia.hall@wmich.edu) of your registration.

    Continue to check the conference webpage for updates at gvsu.edu/miace/conference-network-events-54.htm.

    The Network recognizes that accessing funds for professional development is a potential limitation for some women in the state who wish to attend this conference. To help remedy this, the MI-ACE Women’s Network has created scholarship opportunities to provide supplemental funding to cover the cost of registration and one night hotel fee for this annual conference. Any woman working in a higher education institution in the state of Michigan, whose institution is an institutional member of the MI ACE Women’s Network, may apply for financial assistance if they receive no financial support from their institution.  .

    The two scholarship funds are: 

    • Dr. Lynette Findley Annual Conference Scholarship - Two (2) Awards of $350.00
    • Dr. Jacqueline Taylor Lifting Women Scholarship - Two (2) Awards of $500.00

    The application period is now open through May 15, 2024. For details on how to apply, download this form: Annual Conference Scholarship Information.

    If you have any questions regarding your registration or need assistance, please email: MIACE-UM-Faqs@umich.edu.

  • Spring 2024 Events

    Nourishing Greatness: Personal branding and building your professional portfolio

    Wednesday, March 13, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
    Room #1750 Sangren Hall, WMU Main Campus
    RSVP by March 8 at forms.office.com/r/yskB3visii

    Attend a special presentation, Nourishing Greatness: Personal branding and building your professional portfolio, hosted by the WMU Women's Network with guest speaker, Martha Grier, former Assistant to the Chancellor for Board and PR at Wayne County Community College District. A complimentary lunch will be provided. RSVP by March 8.

    About Martha J. Grier
    Lead Co-chair, Professional Development Committee, MI-ACE Executive Board (Emerita)
    Wayne County Community College District, Associate Vice Chancellor for Board and Public Relations (Retired)

    Martha J. Grier, has served for more than 36 years in the Office of the Chancellor at the Wayne County Community College District managing the daily operations in the Chancellor’s Office, Board of Trustees Office, and all external marketing and public information dissemination for the District.  She officially retired as Associate Vice Chancellor for Board and Public Relations in 2014.  However, she continues to serve in that role as a contracted employee (Grier Consulting LLC).  She has represented the District at the local, state and national level, speaking at conferences and she served as the national conference co-chair for the League for Innovation in 2009.  She co-chaired and facilitated sessions at the 2016 American Council on Education (ACE) Regional Women’s Leadership Forum held in Detroit. 

    Her commitment to women’s issues and literacy is evidenced through her involvement with Executive Women International (EWI) Detroit-Windsor Chapter, where she served as Chapter President in 2001.  She is an Emeritus member on the Executive Board of the American Council on Education’s Michigan Women’s Network, and coordinates the Speakers and Consultants Bureau and co-chairs The Young Women Strong Leaders Committee. She currently serves as Moderator (Chairman of the Board) of the Covenant Baptist Church, West Bloomfield, Michigan.  She is an avid reader and loves to write.  She has published in the “Great Leadership Newsletter” which is circulated to more than eleven hundred community colleges across the nation.  At one time, she also served as the Editorial Director for the Newsletter. 

    Martha has received personal recognition from the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit as a “Minority Leader of the Year” in 2007; Corp! Magazine as one of the “Diversity Leaders of the Year” in 2008; in 2014, she received the “Success with Significance Award” from the Tree of Life Foundation for her contributions in higher education; and in 2016 she received the “Shaping Lives” award from the Distinguished Women in International Service. Martha is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Sciences and Business Administration; and is an alumna of the EWI Leadership Academy. 

    Tenure with MI-ACE Women’s Network
    Martha began her tenure with MI-ACE in 2004 as an Institutional Representative from the Wayne County Community College District.  She was immediately appointed to the Executive Board as chair of the newly established Professional Development Committee and served two terms.  She later was appointed to the Executive Board as an Emerita Member.  She again served on the Professional Development Committee and later became Committee lead co-chair.  In 2016, Martha served as Co-Chair of the ACE Regional Forum, co-hosted by Wayne County Community College District and Wayne State University.  In 2016, she spearheaded the establishment of the MI-ACE Speakers and Consultants Bureau and serves as its coordinator.   In 2020, during a time when all activities of the Network went virtual due to the pandemic, she began to write a weekly web-post of leadership development tips and strategies called “Mentoring Mondays.”

  • Fall 2023 Events

    WMU Women's Network Meet and Greet

    Tuesday, Dec. 5, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
    Fireplace Lounge on the second floor of the Student Center, WMU Main Campus
    RSVP by Dec. 1 at forms.office.com/r/hGEh72N2ys

    Led by WMU co-Institutional Representatives, Malia Roberts, Ph.D., Interim Senior Director of Graduate College Enrollment, and Nikia Hall, Administrative Assistant II, Division of Student Affairs, this event is designed to share information about the MI ACE Women's Network and bring women from around the WMU campus together for fellowship with complimentary appetizers and beverages.