Oklahoma State University students and their professor teamed up with The Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women and the Women’s Archives at the OSU Library to produce a comprehensive statistical profile of the status of women in each of Oklahoma’s 77 counties. “Oklahoma Women’s County Status: Baseline Statistical Report, 2010” was given to Lt. Governor Jari Askins when she visited the OSU campus in Stillwater Thursday to meet with the students and is being officially released to the commission during its Incarceration of Oklahoma Women Solutions Initiative Summit Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Oklahoma National Guard Training Institute located at 63rd & Kelly in Oklahoma City.

“I am proud to see these students putting forth such time and effort; the findings of this report could very well affect future legislation and policy. It is important to continually evaluate the status of women in this state so we can do everything possible to make improvements,” said Lt. Governor Askins.

This report is one of a number of collaborative endeavors between OSU and the Commission on the Status of Women in recent years.

“This 244-page report looks at sixty-one indicators in seven areas,” said OSU Regents Professor Bob Darcy. “The indicators include demographics, politics, economic participation, social autonomy, pregnancy, health and criminal justice.”

The report also includes 61 tables and 61 maps documenting each county’s status with color codes for high and low values. Accompanying the tables and maps are narratives relating national and Oklahoma trends, rankings showing how Oklahoma compares to other states, and links to state and national government websites plus links to other organizations for further information. In addition, an appendix explains exactly how the data was obtained and crafted into the tables and maps.

The report was prepared by 40 women & politics students over the course of two semesters and a geography freshman, Andrew Potter, created the maps over several months.

“Working on this project increased my knowledge of Oklahoma women, and women throughout the United States,” Brooke Feachen, an OSU Journalism and Broadcasting senior, said. “It was nice to work with real world issues instead of hypothetical scenarios. Walking away with tangible results was well worth the hard work each of us put in.”

Katie Kautz, junior Political Science major from Mustang said “Working on this project has given me a greater insight into the status of women in Oklahoma relative to the nation as a whole. While in some areas we are doing okay, it was eye opening to see the obvious need for improvement across the board. Clearly, we still have a long way to go, but I don't think that the obstacles are insurmountable.”

Jennifer Paustenbaugh, Director of the Women’s Archives at the OSU Library, past Commission chair and consultant on the project, said, “The opportunity to partner with the Commission to provide baseline data on how women are faring around Oklahoma is an important first step in addressing issues critical to the future of our great state. We look forward to working with the legislature, government agencies, nonprofit groups and others to improve the quality of life for Oklahoma women and girls.”

A very limited number of copies are available from the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women. The entire report can be accessed at http://women.library.okstate.edu or by linking to the Commission website at http://www.ok.gov/ocsw/.

Dr. Jason F. Kirksey, interim associate vice president for Institutional Diversity at Oklahoma State University since April 2009, has been named OSU Associate Vice President for Institutional Diversity, pending approval at the next regular meeting of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents.

Kirksey, associate professor and Hannah D. Atkins Endowed Chair for Political Science and Government Information at OSU, has continued in his teaching role during the past academic year and also is serving as director of the OSU Center for Africana Studies and Development.

“After an extensive national search, we recognized that the most qualified person for Oklahoma State University was already on board and providing leadership in this vital area,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “Jason is already focusing on our priorities and supporting our all-important student recruitment efforts. He also is familiar with our faculty, staff, students and programs.”

Kirksey earned B.A. degrees in economics and political science, and his master’s degree in political science, all from OSU, and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of New Orleans. He joined the OSU faculty in 1995. He has served on the editorial board of the “Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education” since 2006, and was president of the Oklahoma Political Science Association in 2002.

While serving as interim associate vice president, he has implemented a number of innovative programs and made important strides in the university’s diversity efforts.

“For more than a century, Oklahoma State University has placed great value on the differences and varied talents of its people,” Hargis said. “Jason is the right person to help empower all of us at OSU to think and act in ways that will embrace and promote a more inclusive world.”

Twelve Oklahoma State University students have been awarded Bailey Family Memorial Trust Scholarships that will enable them to study abroad during the upcoming academic year.

The trust was established in 1982 by J.B. Bailey, an OSU graduate and Tulsa attorney, and his brother, Richard E. Bailey, longtime OSU humanities professor and founder of the first study abroad program in OSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, in memory of their grandmother Ida L. Davis and mother Lalla D. Bailey.

The purpose of the trust is to provide scholarship support for full-time OSU students, regardless of their major field of study, to study the liberal arts at a recognized university outside of the U.S.

Since the first awards were made for the 1985-86 academic year, nearly $1.8 million has been expended from the trust, allowing 249 OSU students to study in 34 different countries. From the first year in which two students were awarded $18,000, the program has grown so that in 2010-11, the 12 Bailey Scholars will receive a total of $99,700.

Bailey Scholars and their countries for study during the next year are:
• Jacob Biros, Stillwater chemical engineering junior with a minor in Japanese, who will study at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan, in the fall
• David Buckland, Everett, Mass., psychology junior with a minor in Japanese, who will study at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan in the fall
• Courtney Bullock, Bartlesville Spanish junior, who will study at the Universidad de Las Americas in Puebla, Mexico in the fall
• Lauren Gardner, Tuttle history and art history sophomore, who will study at Richmond University in Italy in the fall
• Dylan Hames, Lawton architecture junior with a minor in Spanish, who will study at the University of Guanajuato in Mexico, summer 2010
• Rebecca Kongs, Oklahoma City Spanish sophomore, who will study at the University of Veracruz in Mexico in spring 2011
• Nicholas Mendez, a Collinsville Spanish senior, who will spend the 2010-11 academic year in Spain
• Timothy Rankin, Sand Springs history senior, who will study in Greece and Turkey this summer
• Kathryn Schroeder, Tulsa English and German freshman, who will spend the 2011 spring semester studying at the Universitat Bamberg in Germany
• Sara Stafford, a Broken Bow English sophomore, who will study at Keele University in England in spring 2011
• Laurel Wilson, Tulsa mathematics and secondary French education junior, who will study at Catholic University in France in summer 2010
• Lyndsay Yates, Tulsa theater junior with a minor in management, who will study at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic in spring 2011

By Joseph Dunn

Choctaw and Muscogee Creek Tribal Member Ashleigh Coser says sometimes it is challenging being a member of an underrepresented group on a college campus.
Oklahoma State University is working to bolster the Native American presence in the field of psychology through its American Indians Into Psychology (AIIP) program, one of only three Indian Health Service programs of its kind in the nation.

AIIP consists of two components, a six-week summer enrichment program and a scholarship program. During the six weeks, junior and senior undergraduates attend classes designed to prepare them for graduate school.

They also participate in research and are assigned to a tribal urban mental health facility. Scholarships are available to Native American students working on a doctorate in clinical psychology at OSU.

“AIIP is a great opportunity for Native American students to come together,” said Coser, a senior psychology major and former AIIP Fellow. “The program allows you to meet with Native American professionals who have been in your position and are now in the community.”

Coser hopes to follow in the footsteps of several of the program’s alumni, including B.J. Boyd, deputy director of Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health Services in Tahlequah, Okla., and Chris Fore, of the Choctaw tribe, who is the director of behavioral health for the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Service.  

Other program alumni are making an impact across the nation in places like California, New Jersey, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington and Washington D.C.  
Of the 116 former summer enrichment participants, 26 have earned a doctorate or are enrolled in doctoral programs nationwide while 24 have earned or are currently enrolled in master’s programs throughout the U.S.

The program represents many Native American tribes, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek and Navajo tribes. In its 13-year history, students representing 34 tribes have participated in the summer program.

“My staff and I work all year recruiting students from across the nation to participate in the program,” said Dr. John Chaney, a member of the Muscogee Creek tribe who is an OSU psychology professor and project director of AIIP. “We feel that it is critical to have a very diverse group of students.”

The program began in 1997 when federal funding was granted. AIIP receives funds on three-year cycles. Under the direction of Chaney and Patricia Alexander, director of the OSU Psychology Diversified Students program, AIIP also has founded a student mentor program, pairing psychology undergraduate students with graduate students to discuss job opportunities.

For more information, contact Chaney at aiip@okstate.edu or (405) 744-7591. The department of psychology is one of 24 departments in the College of Arts & Sciences.