CSC’s ‘Rosie the Riveters’
Five CSC women share their stories and give advice for those following in their footsteps
Tawny Tibbits, Mathematical & Natural Science, Assistant Professor:
“I began my undergraduate work as a history major at the University of Iowa. I quickly figured out I needed to be an anthropology major to follow my interests in archaeology so I switched during my first year. During my sophomore year, I realized I couldn’t pick between ancient people and ancient rocks so I added on a geoscience major. During my senior year, I started applying for graduate schools in anthropology. This was the point in time where I decided I wanted to be a geoarchaeologist. My first step was to learn more about the archaeology side of things, so I went to the University of Texas at San Antonio. My advisor there worked in Belize on the Maya, I had initially wanted to work in the Basin of Mexico on the Aztec, but with my advisor and her opportunities being the Maya region, I started to learn about the Maya. I spent one field season in Belize and was hooked. I knew I needed a PhD to achieve my goals, so I started looking into programs. I ended up back at the University of Iowa because one of the professors there specialized in geoarchaeology and was looking for students. He didn’t work in Belize, but he was very supportive of my work and my desire to keep going there for my research. I successfully funded three field seasons in Belize through grant writing and crowd funding to do my research for my dissertation. Once I graduated with my PhD, I worked as an adjunct and part time at a consignment shop while I filled out dozens and dozens of job applications. Most of them I never heard back from. But I eventually got an interview in South Florida, in Coconut Creek near Fort Lauderdale. I got the job as tenure track faculty and my husband and I packed up our stuff and our pets and we moved across the country. We enjoyed South Florida but really wanted to be closer to home and to have kids in an area that is a bit slower paced. So, after two years down there, I went back on the job hunt. I was fortunate enough to get the job I have now here at CSC.
Growing up, my family ran a rock quarry so I was always playing in rocks and hunting fossils. I’ve always had a huge interest in ancient history too. I couldn’t pick between archaeology and geoscience, so I decided to meld them together to fit my interests. It made finding a job a bit harder because I am a bit between fields but it is worth it to get to keep learning about my two favorite subjects.
I was lucky to be in a small department, there was about an equal number of women and men in our group and we all worked together really well. There wasn’t a moment where I felt like I was underestimated or treated differently because I was a woman. I had faculty who were women to look up to who helped me and mentored me. In my personal experience, I was judged more on my knowledge and capabilities than anything else. I know I’m very fortunate to have had that experience and I try every day to make it a reality for my students as well.
Only once and it was from a female faculty member when I was a graduate student. She was upset I was getting married because she thought I would lose sight of my goals and never finish my graduate work. In the end, I put her comments behind me and continued working to achieve my goals. While I wouldn’t say her comments were a motivating factor, it is nice to have proved them wrong.
My family and support network were always incredibly supportive of my decision to be out of graduate school before having a family. My husband and I decided that was our plan before we got married so it was no surprise to anyone when we stuck to it.
Advice:Everyone has an opinion, you don’t have to care about it though. People are always going to give you unsolicited advice about what they think you should do with your life, it’s yours, you are ultimately in charge and you have to live it. Be sure you are doing what fulfills your needs and not only makes you happy be allows you to thrive.”
Laure Sinn, Sandoz Center Program Coordinator
“I actually grew up in Southern California and I was fortunate enough to have horses in Southern California. I actually, the first school I went to, after I graduated from high school I went to Pasadena City College.Then I wanted to move away from home so I actually moved up central california, it was just better to get, we called them junior colleges back then, so I got an AA degree from Cuesta College. Then it was a feeder school and once you graduated from there you automatically went to a bigger university called California Polytechnic State University, John Madden went there, just saying. I actually graduated there in Journalism because I wanted to work for a horse magazine. I did my internship for a horse magazine when I graduated. But I had also been involved in student activities, more the outdoor type things, so when I graduated I got a job in student activities. It was called the escape route and we took kids to fabulous places all over California. But then over the years, I had just been doing those kinds of activities, I wanted something different and California was getting more crowded back then. Met a guy who grew up in Wyoming and he said he was going back home and I said I’ll go with you and that’s how I ended up in this area. When I found out about this school, I bought a horse from a gal who graduated from here and she said if you ever wanted to get back into student activities CSC would be really conducive for you. And so back in the day I applied and nothing was open then I applied again and a student activities job in the Student Center and I worked there for a year and then I was moved to range management, just for something different and eventually moved back over here.
I see people as people and that is the crazy thing. Dogs don’t care who you are, horses don’t care about who you are, cows and cats don;t care as long as you take care of themI like to be able to interact with people and it just happens to be I’m Laurie, I could be anyone or anything.
Advice:“Be open about things, find out your strengths and weaknesses but don’t ever say I can’t do it. Catch your breath, get someone to help and do not be afraid I don’t know.”
Shaunda French-Collins, Communication Professor & Department Chair
“I came to Chadron State in the fall of 2011, my bachelors is from Missouri State University, my masters is from the University of central Missouri and my P.H.d is from the University of Southern Mississippi. I am from the panhandle originally so when this job opportunity opened up I applied. I feel very fortunate that I come to a job everyday that I love.
Being a woman in higher education is very important to me. I am fortunate enough to have had a role model, my mother Karen, who was an educator for 40+ years. From a very young age, I realized that women could be fantastic educators and make a difference.
Unfortunately I think it (sexism) occurs too often. Advice I would give to anyone is to be true to yourself. Each one of us has a set of unique talents and we can all strive to make the world better and brighter. I think any type of workplace bias is unfortunate and it’s disheartening that so many occur.
My mother is a very independent woman and she really supported me as I continued to go through my educational journey. I think society has expectations for women, but I knew my own path, looking back.”
Advice: “Be true to yourself, I think we have fantastic educations with all genders, all geneders can be fantastic educators. Just be true to yourself and have your voice heard and be represented in your wonderful authentic way.”
Tami Selby, Vice President of Enrollment Management
“My career started out as a at-home mom who started a rubber stamp crafting company that was structured for home sales parties, like Pampered Chef parties, in the evenings. From there, I began working for a craft store chain. That eventually expanded into me working my way up to become an international buyer for a couple of larger craft store chains.
After about eight years as a buyer, I wanted to be at home more with my kids and finish my college degree. I decided I needed to go back to school, so I started working at the local university, East Stroudsburg University, as a records coordinator. All employees received free tuition, which meant I could go back to college. I worked at ESU while finishing my bachelor’s degree in Business Management in 2007, my master’s degree in Management and Leadership in Public Administration in 2010, and my PhD in Leadership in Higher Education in 2014. After working at ESU for almost 16 years, I left to become the Executive Dean of Enrollment Management for the Community College of Denver (CCD). I was at CCD for five years, but then saw the opportunity at CSC to become the Vice President of Enrollment Management and jumped at the chance to move to Nebraska.
At first, I chose to work in higher education because of the great benefits: good hours, free tuition, and great insurance for my family. But, I quickly realized the importance of my job and how I was helping to shape student’s lives, giving their families a chance to change the trajectory of their socioeconomic status and future success and wealth potential. I saw that my customer friendly personality and willingness to help traverse college barriers with students and families was actually making a difference at the university. I fell in love with the work, the students, and the results. Now I make it my mission to make sure that our college’s practices and processes are keeping up with our students’ needs and wants at the center of our decision making. My greatest joy is to see students succeed; I love watching them walk across the stage at graduation.
Honestly, higher education was originally built to serve privileged, white men, and women have had to work really hard to get to where they are. I owe a lot to those women and men who have plotted the road behind us to make it possible. I am one woman who is continuing their work.
I am always looking for ways to further the work of gender equity. I have had great support from my bosses, both female and male, with pushing forward this work.
I grew up in a very religious household and, yes, I would say there was pressure for me to fulfill the stigmatized “woman’s role,” but I am pleased that I was able to overcome that, respectfully, to become the professional woman I am today.”
Advice: “I would encourage young women to find mentorships and friendships with women you admire. Learn to create respectful discourse in spaces that feel situations are leaning towards a lack of gender equity. Use your voice to help and support other humans who are experiencing discrimination of any sort; don’t stay quiet, and always remain kind.”
Jennifer Stadler, Head Women’s Volleyball Coach:
“I attended high school in Colorado and after graduation I attended a junior college in Cheyenne, WY and played volleyball. After my two years there I graduated with an associate’s degree in fine arts and transferred to Black Hills State University. I attended BHSU and played on the volleyball team. I graduated with a double major in Sociology and Human Services. After graduation I stayed on the team as an assistant coach and worked as a counselor at a psychiatric residential facility for youth. I was the assistant coach at BHSU for 2 years and the interim head coach for 1 year. During the last two years as a coach I worked on my master’s degree and graduated from BHSU with a masters in Strategic Leadership. I accepted the position at Sheridan College as the head volleyball coach and worked there as the head volleyball coach and assistant athletic director for 8 years before accepting the position here at CSC.
Volleyball has been my passion and a huge part of my life for a long time. When my playing career was over I knew that I had to have volleyball still in my life in some aspect. I had a tremendous mentor who helped me realize that coaching was where I needed to be. My dad always told me to find something that is your passion and make it your job because if you do that then it won’t ever seem like work.
I have the opportunity to inspire all generations from those that I currently coach to the young girls who come to our camps. I hopefully get to be a mentor to all the women that I have the opportunity to coach to help them grow, find their passion and help guide them to continue to be the strong women that they are. I am thankful that I get to coach, develop and encourage young women to work hard and dream big.
I was fortunate enough to have some amazing coaches during my career. My coach at my junior college was a strong role model who taught me to advocate for myself and to always fight and to have a voice. My coach at BHSU was also a huge impact in my life who taught me to have patience, to understand our mindset can change any situation and to be joyful. I have also been extremely grateful for my parents who have been my biggest supporters and still are. They always pushed me to be my best but were also always there for me when I was at my worst. That support system from my parents to my coaches and teammates helped me get to where I am today.
In general growing up I felt that any sport I was a part of was never ‘good enough’ because it was a girls sport and they will never be as entertaining as a boys sport. I think hearing those things always motivated me to prove those people wrong. To show them that we mattered and what we were doing was important.
I didn’t chose to start a family until I was further into my career. I however see the pressure now into choosing my career over my family or family over career. I think that women who are in the coaching field constantly feel that pressure or mom guilt. We work long hours and a lot of weekends so we don’t get to spend as much time with our kids as I know that we all would like to. It also becomes harder the more kids you have and finding that balance.
I find it interesting that in most areas when referring to a girls or women’s sports a lot of people use the term “lady” Infront of the mascot when describing the team. Or say girls volleyball when referring to a women’s sport like in collegiate sports. It can be seen as a demeaning term or send a message that they aren’t’ the “real” team. We need to show that both are equal by dropping the “lady” term and then say women’s and not girls as we don’t usually refer to things like boys basketball as the term is usually men’s basketball when referring to collegiate sports.”
Advice: “The advice I have for young women is to not apologize or diminish how you feel or what you want to make others happy. Your voice and your wants and your needs matter. Don’t let anyone tell you that what you have to say or do isn’t important because everyone deserves a chance to shine and be heard. Everyone matters!”