This group, run in conjunction with the Women's Resource Center, provides students with the education and tools necessary to become an advocate for women's issues. This group runs every spring semester, developing in students the skills needed to sustain a semester-long advocacy project.

2002 FEG: Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners

In 2002 students organized educational programs about the lack of availability of SAFE nurses in local hospitals and on campus. Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (SAFE) are trained nurses who specialize in dealing with victims of sexual assault when they arrive at a medical facility for treatment. Students raised enough money to pay for two nurses to be trained in the SAFE program: Jo Ann Nicoteri, a nurse practitioner and faculty member from The University of Scranton and one nurse from the Marian Community Hospital, a smaller area hospital unable to afford to pay for training a nurse in the SAFE program.

For more information about SAFE programs, please visit the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

2003 FEG: Hairdressers' Project

2003's FEG was the creation of a workshop intended to teach stylists  25 University of Scranton students completed a 6-week training courseunder the direction of Elizabeth Randol, Ph.D., Director of the Jane Kopas Women's Center and Edie Thek, Education Program Coordinator at the Women's Resource Center of Lackawanna and Susquehanna Counties. Students developed a day-long curriculum to train area hairstylists and their support staff to identify signs of domestic violence and to serve as a resource for women who want help leaving an abusive relationship. As many of us know, women will frequently trust their hairdressers with the most personal information. Often, hairdressers are the first to hear from their clients about escalating relationship violence, even before the victim will tell friends or family members. In addition, hairstylists may be able to detect physical signs of abuse such as bumps on the head or facial bruises or cuts. This program served to intervene at the source- training hairstylists to recognize patterns of domestic violence and to provide their clients with crisis resources in the community if and when they decide to seek help.

2004 FEG: Young Voters' Issues Fair

In the run-up to the 2004 Presidential election, University faculty partnered with the League of Women Voters of Lackawanna County to form a Young Voters Issues Committee. Faculty members included an assignment in their class syllabi that required their students to study an issue and prepare either a poster or video presentation. Students (individually or in groups)  chose issues/problems that they believed should be addressed by the national government.  They researched the issue/problem and alternative actions the government could take to address it.  Students also identified where presidential candidates stand on the issue/problem.

Faculty members from all University Colleges participated:

Dr. Cynthia Cann, Associate Professor, Management/Marketing

Class: Introduction to Marketing

Dr. Marian Farrell, Professor, Nursing and

  Dr. Robert Waldeck, Assistant Professor, Biology

Class: Men’s Health

Dr. Mary Anne Foley, Associate Professor, Theology

Class: 20th Century Peacemakers

Dr. Joseph Fusaro, Professor, Education

Class: Applied Statistics

Patricia Gross, Associate Professor, Education

Class: Reading in Secondary Schools

Dr. Jean Harris, Associate Professor, Political Science

Class: Women’s Rights & Status

Virginia Kennedy, Adjunct Professor, English

Dr. Sharon Meagher, Associate Professor, Philosophy

Class: Philosophy of Education

Dr. Elizabeth Randol, Director, Jane Kopas Women's Center

Class: Feminism & Social Change

Donna Simpson, Adjunct Professor, Communications

Class: Public Speaking

Dr. Gretchen Van Dyke, Associate Professor, Political Science

Class: U. S. Foreign Policy

These topics were selected and studied by the students:

Addictive Behaviors

Adoption

America and the World – Unilateralism

      vs. Multilateralism

Analysis of Public Opinion Polls

Bilingualism

Campaign Plans for Bush, Kerry and Nader

Capital Punishment

Child Care

Domestic Violence

Economic Reform / Deficit

Equal Educational Opportunity

Equal Employment Opportunity

Female Genital Mutilation

Female Trafficking and Sex Trade

Genetics and Cloning

Globalization & the Economy

Gun Laws

Health Care

Health Coverage for Contraceptives

Income Security (Welfare)

Jobs Going Overseas

No Child Left Behind

Patriot Act

Pay Equity

Physical Health

Quotas for Women in Government

Reproductive Rights

School Vouchers

Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Social Security

Sports Medicine

Terrorism

Unborn Victims of Violence Act

War in Iraq

Women in the Military

2005 FEG: PACT Program (Promoting Awareness of the College Transition)

The PACT Program was developed to assist students transitioning from high school to college. This transition can be excited and overwhelming as students meet new people and find themselves in new surroundings.

The first three months of college for incoming first year students are known as the “Red Zone.” This term is used to bring attention to the increased risk of sexual assault and dating violence that women (and sometimes men) face when they first arrive on college campuses. The PACT program served as an opportunity for University of Scranton students to talk with high school seniors about the potential risks and dangers of sexual assault and relationship violence, what students can do to reduce those risks, and how to get help if they, or someone they know, has been victimized.

The PACT Program, under the supervision of Elizabeth Randol, Ph.D. and Ginna Gilroy from the Women's Resource Center, trained 35 University of Scranton women and men to conduct classroom presentations to area high school students. The UofS students completed a 10 week training program and presented their workshops to almost 2,000 high school seniors.