The Women’s Mentoring Network at Ithaca College hosted an oatmeal bar on Feb. 9 for members of the network and female faculty to meet and talk to each other at the start of this semester. Cozied up against a side wall was a table decked out with a breakfast buffet with oatmeal, a variety of toppings, fruit salad and beverages. 

A few dozen people attended the event and the small party created a casual environment which was quite welcoming for conversation. Faculty at the event had a variety of backgrounds; everyone from professors to librarians attended and discussed what their work experience was like over breakfast. 

Chelsea Paquin, administrative assistant for the Speech and Hearing Clinic, who has only been working at the school for three weeks, said she thought this event was a beneficial, simple way to meet more of the faculty at the school.

“[I am] just learning how this whole community works and getting to know everybody,” Paquin said. “Since I’m new to the college, I don’t know too many people, so I’m trying to get myself out there and meet new people.” 

Another faculty member that came to this event to meet new people was Esther Moore ’23, audio visual technician at the Information Technology Office, who has been working at the school for around eight months. Moore said she started working during the summer between when she graduated and the start of the school year, calling it a good “transition time” from being a student to full-time employee. 

“[It helped with the transition from] calling people who were once my supervisors, now my co-workers,” Moore said. “And also kind of separate myself from the student life before interacting with the students who I was now helping in a supervisory role. It was a place where I could get to know other women around campus and potentially network with them.”

On the opposite side of the spectrum of Paquin and Moore’s newness to the campus, Sam Elebiary, associate director at the Center for Career Exploration and Development, has been employed at the college for seven years and is on the executive board for the Women’s Mentoring Network. Elebiary also had been a member since the Women’s Mentoring Network began in 2018 and found this event to be a nice way to reconnect.

“I see it as a value add,” Elebiary said about balancing her day job with her work on the executive board. “Yes, there’s meetings and time commitments, but I think that my participation in the network supports my work in the Career Center in terms of the importance of mentorship and networking, that’s something I talk to students about.” 

Abby Juda, the natural science librarian at the college and executive board member of the network, also attended. She said she joined the board and attended activities like the oatmeal bar to meet people outside her department when she was first starting to work at the school. 

The founder of the Women’s Mentoring Network, Julie Dorsey, the associate dean at the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance, was also in attendance at this event. Dorsey founded the Women’s Mentoring Network five years ago in 2018. The network was initially created to connect with fellow female employees at the college and help with their ambitions and work. 

The organization has expanded and now, as Dorsey said during the breakfast, can provide women with some funding. She specifically noted the few-hundred-dollar sums that can be received to help pay for traveling expenses or anything that is not, as Dorsey joked lightheartedly, “directly deposited in your bank account.” 

Many of the faculty members at the breakfast expressed appreciation over the opportunity the Women’s Mentoring Network has provided them to interact with other staff on campus. Moreover, they noted why it was important to them to be able to bridge these connections to other women.

“As a woman in tech, I am the only one in my department right now, and I want to get to know other women outside of the college and hear from their experiences and bond with them,” Moore said. “Men, like they’re great. I love hanging out with them. They’re wonderful friends, but there’s a different connection with women and the different experiences that we have.” 

Networking for Paquin is especially important to her as she said she is attempting to own and run a business. She said these connections formed at this event and others can help her learn about marketing. 

“I just became a personal trainer, so I’m trying to do an online health and fitness business,” Paquin said. “It’s always been a passion of mine to help women especially feel comfortable in their bodies.” 

Kari Brossard Stoos, an associate professor and acting associate department chair in the Department of Health Sciences and Public Health, noted the importance of women networking with each other.

“I think it’s good to have mentors,” Brossard Stoos said. “And I think it’s good to have mentors who share similar experiences as you.” 

As more events arise from the network in the future and plans are laid down, attendees were discussing how they hope to ultimately expand the network’s outreach in the future. 

“We’ve been talking for years about being more involved in orientation of new faculty so that we could get the word out,” Juda said. “We also try to do it [promotion] very informally.” 

Some events which were introduced by Dorsey that will potentially occur in the future, as not all noted events were officially booked as of Feb. 9, including a conversation regarding feminism in film during April and a clothing exchange. As for a set event, on March 29, the Women of Distinction Awards will be presented, which is cosponsored by the Women’s Mentoring Network.