Focus Group
Charlottesville, VA – November 2001

Attendees
Bette L. BonFleur
Maxine Craddock Burton (Nursing 1952)
Edith S. Champ
Linda R. Davies (Nursing 1970)
Jane DeSimone Dittmar (Arts & Sciences 1978)
Patricia Edgerton (Parent)
Catharine M. Gilliam (Architecture 1978)
Gwyn C. Gilliam (Architecture 1987)
Elizabeth T. Greer (Parent)
Meredith Strohm Gunter
Alice W. Handy (Parent)
Diane Edgerton Miller (Parent)
Janet H. Miller
Jill T. Rinehart (Arts & Sciences 1980)
Elizabeth Henning Sutton (Arts & Sciences 1972)
Ann H. Taylor (Arts & Sciences 1980)
Karen Pauli Wells (Arts & Sciences 1979)

Focus Group Notes

Thursday, November 8, 2001

Betsy Flanagan, facilitator
Jill Rinehart and Ann Taylor, hosts

This is a representative group of women who care about the University and are invested in it. They can influence the direction that the University takes in the future. Through this process, we will build a stronger University.

One word or phrase that you associate with the University of Virginia

Prestige	Good old boy	Leadership
Jefferson	Honor	Wealthy
Excellence	Architecture	Beauty
Quality	Great resources	Loyalty
Kennedy	Scholars	History
Selective	Public	Opportunity
Network	Drinking	Contradiction (faculty differs from public perception of place)
Political	Elite	Southern
Snobbery	Tradition	Highly ranked
Conservative	Door-opener to the world

What does this tell us about the University? (synthesize)
Male
Upper middle-class
White
Elitist

One parent's perception: faculty members don't behave that way in classes (may err on the side of political correctness).

Where do you see women at the University?

Administration	Volunteers
Leadership	Parental involvement
Student leadership roles	Sororities
Faculty	Raise quality of academics
Athletics	Change priorities and goals of institution
Support staff (many in this role)	Add stability-tempering things
Learning Needs Center	College Foundation is led by a woman (Chris Gustafson)
Guest speakers	Contribute to excellence in graduate programs
Artists	Writers
Philanthropists

Women have impact throughout the Grounds, but perception of the University is still white, male, elitist. Forty percent of alumni are women. Of those involved in the University, especially as leaders, the percentage is far lower than 40 percent. Women also do not make gifts at the same level as men, although they give at approximately the same rate.

What makes you feel connected to the University?
- Publications: A&S magazine is good in representations of women
- Philanthropy
- Healthcare, mid-life health: Medical Center contacted one woman through a mailing when she moved to area
- Reach out to local women about health issues - we have top women researchers and physicians. Local women feel the impact of our women's health programs, but we should promote this better at a national level.
- Virginia 2020 program

In what way do you feel a lack of connection to U.Va.?
- Alumni Magazine is still geared toward the Old Wahoo, but it is improving.
- Only e-mails several women felt they received from the Alumni Association are about Athletics
- Need better quality publications representing a broader range of interests and better coverage of women faculty and alumnae. (Princeton and Yale magazines cited as examples)
- No evidence of academic collaboration
- Lack of volunteer opportunities
- Lack of recognition of women who are philanthropic
- Friends of the University should be categorized as their own person, not just as a spouse
- Too many people, including those from the University, assume that the husband is the one with control over the checkbook. One woman who heads a foundation said that her husband is often approached about the foundation, although he has nothing to do with it.
- There are also problems with crediting husbands for gifts from their wives.
- Some participants felt that the lack of women's networking groups (other than social cocktail party groups) was a southern problem. Several said that they felt that there were more opportunities for intellectually rich women's groups in NY than in VA.

How could U.Va. build relationships with women friends and alumnae?
- Need to recognize that women will often end up being the family wealth-holders.
- There is an army of women parents and alumnae who are not 7-figure prospects, but who are good prospects, good leaders, and good volunteers. We need to come up with ways to harness their energy and involve them.
- Parents are a tremendous resource that has not yet been tapped into enough.
- We should recognize women philanthropists and give them a lot of press so they can set an example for other women. Don't give credit to the husband when the gift came from the wife.
- Suggestion: occasional joint publications for areas with overlapping interests, such as the College and the School of Architecture re: the Arts Grounds. Improved collaboration would be beneficial and would provide information to alumni/ae about academics across schools.
- Suggestion: women's giving circle - group of women all contribute at a particular level and then collectively decide how the fund will be used. Together, their smaller gifts can have a significant impact.
- Groups with common bonds are a natural fit for this idea (e.g., School of Nursing RN/BSN Scholarship, School of Law group that funded a portion of building and are now working on another project)
- Women don't necessarily want their gifts to benefit only women students and faculty. One attendee remarked that she has worked hard to be a good architect, not a good woman architect.
- Suggestion: University could set up strong networking groups, with cooperative giving being one aspect of these groups.
- Women want to change the world, not just the University.
- There are points in life when women are more receptive to involvement. Women can get separated from the University when raising children. It can be hard to find girlfriends with similar interests, other than children. There is often a lack of intellectual richness in relationships with girlfriends. At certain times in life, women often become less competitive and more cooperative. They want to make a difference. It can be tough to find friends with common values.

Do women approach philanthropy differently than men?
- Many women are less likely to part with money than men. They worry that the money won't be there when they need it.
- Women need to see impact of their philanthropy.
- Story about School of Nursing alumna who gives in her own name to set an example for her daughter.
- Women want to feel it, to be involved. In general, they don't often want to just write a check to get their name on something.
- Peer pressure often motivates men to give - they want to be part of the club, to be a player. This also motivates some women to give. They want to be known as a supporter of the institution.

What motivates you to give, both financially and through involvement?
- Women need more of an ongoing relationship with the organization they support, a sense of contribution. They give to areas/projects where they can see an impact.
- Some have felt, why give to the University when my small gift doesn't mean anything. We must do a better job showing people that smaller gifts make a difference too.
- Need to educate about specific needs/goals. Suggestion: smaller departments could show specific needs with smaller price tags that women are financially able to meet. Break down needs into smaller pieces so that women can identify a specific project that they can afford to support. More likely to give if they can see specific impact.
- What rewards can units (excluding Athletics) offer to encourage giving? Can offer networking opportunities for professional women. Start with a core group of philanthropists in the community - can meet social needs of women too. Women like to see concrete results of giving.
- One participant had to "come out of the giving closet" to give in her own name.
- Could hold a two-day philanthropy symposium on Grounds with women's giving being a portion of it. Need to educate women about the joy in giving.
- Bring in the larger community to intellectual discussions. Do a better job integrating the University with the rest of the community. Community should hear about issues beyond the financial ones.
- Have brainstorming sessions and special speakers.
- Promote statistic about participation level of women - percentage of alumnae who give to the University and percentage of donors who are women.
- Let alumni/ae know that their participation every year counts - impacts rankings and impacts programs. Consider marketing this idea especially to women, as is being done for young alumni.
- Get more women on committees and boards across the University. Some participants felt that they always had to "dig" to get involved. Get women to nominate other women - team effort.
- U.Va. makes a big difference in the lives of community members. We should foster that .
- Positive comments about invitation from the Women's Center to bring daughters to meet women athletes and go to a women's sporting event.
- Alumni Association needs a new mission. They are doing the same thing that they've always done - cocktail parties. Tenor of alumni/AE relations needs to change.
- One participant attended a training session on philanthropy for women's colleges and boarding schools. Sondra Shaw and Martha Taylor led the session. Both have written and spoken a great deal about women's philanthropy.

What is one way that we can involve women/empower women to take a more active role in the life of the University?
- Publicize/recognize gifts from women better - set example - educate. "Academy of Women" network.
- Should highlight women faculty who are doing a great job; celebrate women stars who are here.
- Invite local alumni/AE for lunch with students and faculty at the Colonnade Club. Invite them to lectures.
- One participant said that she doesn't like ti when every communication from the University is a direct-mail solicitation. Another commented that she had the opposite experience. She has given to the Cancer Center and she feels as if they never ask her for money.
- Do a better job targeting communications to areas of interest - gender is one approach.
- Offer planned giving information specifically for women.
- Jefferson Institute for Lifelong Learning (JILL) is a good program.
- We have a responsibility to educate our female students about involvement and giving before they graduate.
- Do a U.Va. alumna newsletter.
- Emphasize participation level over dollar amount.
- Offer challenge to new graduates - something like this group or an alumnae group will match the gifts of all new women graduates. We could challenge alumnae to give at the highest rate of any school and promote this in fun ways such as getting on "Oprah."
- Get local realtors to deliver information about the University - "intellectual welcome wagon" - to new members of the community. Must do a better job reaching out to the local community.
- Create a U.Va. women's community on the Internet (now more women on Internet than men). Set up bulletin boards, listservs, and make them accessible for non-alumnae too.
- Consider selling ad space on web sites - for each visitor, a fee goes to scholarships or something similar at the University.
- Reconvene this group in a year to:

- review conclusions and recommendations.
- evaluate progress and goals.
- keep dialogue going through e-mail communication.
- re-sell the American dream of having enough resources to give back.
- include this information in packet given to BOV.
- give alumni/AE ways to connect with students - "adopt" a student - male or female. Some felt that women students at U.Va. need help in connecting rather than just "finding their own way." Promote involvement with sororities.
- revise assumptions to relate to the woman (not to the male spouse); revise gift crediting.
- create parent cluster groups around the Commonwealth with intellectual topics.
- would love to have more opportunities to bring family members (male and female children) to various intellectual events at the University (e.g., chance to meet a real live astronaut)