Events & Announcements: Announcements

AcademyWomen is working with Donna Bartee-Robertson to begin a dialogue regarding potential new approaches to maternity leave for women in the military. Donna has conducted extensive research on this topic and is considering drafting a proposal that would be mutually beneficial to both women and the military in stemming the difficulties associated with current maternity leave policies. Donna seeks to allow military women to take advantage of the residual leave they have accumulated to supplement their standard six week maternity leave (unless the command deems that the mother is in a mission critical position). Congress is very interested in this issue and would like your opinion. If you are interested in joining this dialogue, please send your comments, thoughts, and/or personal stories on this subject to Donna. Together we would like to help develop a strong policy proposal. If you are interested in supporting this initiative please email Donna at: barteerobertson@comcast.net.

LCDR Donna Bartee, JAGC, USN, is originally from Florida and attended the University of Florida for her undergraduate degree in Nursing. She entered active duty as an Air Force psychiatric nurse and attended American University Law School’s part-time, night program while Stationed at Andrews AFB. She graduated with her Juris Doctorate in 1994, and joined the Naval Judge Advocate Corp in 1995. LCDR Bartee has practiced criminal litigation, administrative law and national security law during her 12 years in the Navy. She has bar memberships in Georgia and Florida.

DACOWITS is looking for potential members with recent (since 2001)
experience deployed to Iraq/Afghanistan. The Dept of VA Women's Advisory
group has the same need. For DACOWITS the potential member cannot be in the
Reserves or a DoD civilian employee. Please feel free to forward this email
to others you know with these qualifications and who might be interested.
Anyone who is interested should contact Carol Mutter (carol.mutter@sbcglobal.net)

Are you either a former or current Naval Officer who has served on active duty, the reserves or are you currently retired?

Have you served on ships and in combat-related occupations?

If so, please consider participating in this research effort!

Researchers at Portland State University are gathering information on female Naval officers' careers, to learn as much as they can about trends and patterns reflected by female officers. This data will be used to support women in the Navy and help make recommendations on the availability of particular career fields for women in the Navy.

If you are interested, you may be asked to participate in focus groups and/or individual interviews following your completion of the online or print form questionnaire (link below).

This research is of particular importance, not only to female Naval officers, but to female officers in the military as a whole. The information you provide will not be attributed to you or your region.

If you are interested, please complete the online questionnaire at the URL below. If you prefer to complete the print version of the questionnaire, accommodations will be made for you to do so. The researcher for this project can be contacted at the information below either via telephone or e-mail should you have questions.

http://survey.oit.pdx.edu/ss/wsb.dll/101/shipboard.htm

Again, Portland State University thanks you for supporting this effort!

Sincerely,

G.L.A. Harris, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Mark O.Hatfield School of Government
College of Urban and Public Affairs
Portland State University
Portland, Oregon 97207-0751
Glah@pdx.edu
503.725.9594/3920
503.725.8250 (Fax)

Karen Hernandez (USMA, 1997) sits on the board of directors for a non profit dedicated to helping women become successful lawyers. Their website is just beginning, but promises to be a great vehicle for sharing success stories and networking. It can be found at www.ms-jd.org. Useful content is already published on the site and they encourage anyone to submit articles of interest. They are having a national launch conference at Yale Law School on March 31st. It is open to the public. More information on the conference can be found at http://legallyfemale.typepad.com.