On February 1, 1994, President Greiner announced the formation of a university-wide Task Force on Women at UB. "Workplace issues of hiring, advancement, and equitable compensation [were to] be among the Task Force's primary concerns, as [well as] more general questions about the climate for women at UB." Members of the Task Force, with two cochairs, were formally appointed in late autumn 1994. Selections were made by the president from nominations submitted by the senior vice president, vice presidents, deans, Faculty Senate Executive Committee, Professional Staff Senate Executive Committee, the labor unions representing UB employees, and the Undergraduate and Graduate Student Associations. At the request of the cochairs, two ex-officio members were added to the Task Force: Vice Provost for Faculty Development William Fischer and Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Ellen McNamara. On the advice of the original members, the Task Force was also eventually expanded to include several more men and people of color.

The Task Force held its first formal meeting on December 9, 1994. At that time, President Greiner presented six charges to the committee and shared his views on the function of the Task Force. The six charges were divided among three subcommittees. Subcommittee A was given responsibility for Charges 1, 2, and 6, Subcommittee B for Charges 3 and 5, and Subcommittee C for Charge 4.

Regular monthly meetings of the entire Task Force were held throughout the second semester of 1995, from January until May, and resumed in September. Guests were invited to many sessions to provide insight and information about the experi ences of women at UB. With those experts, the Task Force reviewed university policies and practices on a variety of matters, including hiring, compensation, promotion, harassment, safety, and gender equity in athletics.

Considerable effort was placed, from the beginning, on collecting a comprehensive archive of reports on the status of women at other universities and other relevant extramural documents. Those reports and articles, now on reserve in Lockwood Memorial Library, are freely available to the university community. The Task Force also acquired specific local information about women and women's concerns at UB from the Offices of Personnel, Institutional Studies, Affirmative Action, Public Safety, Student Life, President's Review Board, President's Panel for the Review of Search Procedures, United University Professions (UUP), and Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA).

After lengthy discussion, the Task Force decided not to conduct a formal rigorous opinion survey at that time. Financial resources were limited; appropriate professional expertise was not available among Task Force members. An informal questionnaire was written, however, from models provided by other in stitutions. That questionnaire appeared in UUP and Graduate Student Association newsletters; responses were voluntary and confidential. The Task Force felt strongly that all women should have the opportunity to communicate with the Task Force, adding personal comments and advice to the more formal input from invited experts. Furthermore, opinion surveys had been used widely at other universities to assess the prevailing climate for women. Those surveys were valuable in shaping policies and served as a solid basis for measuring improvements in the climate.

During 1995, the Task Force kept a record of the most important and/or representative activities on campus concerned with women's accomplishments, interests, and concerns. Those events were attended, whenever possible, by at least one Task Force member.

Members of Subcommittee B chose to organize a career-development workshop that honored outstanding women at UB and provided a forum for those women to share information about the skills that led them to their success. That workshop was held March 7, 1996, during National Women's History Month.

In addition, members of the Task Force organized local activities for National Take-Our-Daughters-to-Work Day, April 25, 1996. These two activities were viewed as "demonstration projects," examples of steps that can be taken to promote the interests of women and improve the campus climate for women.