Herstory Award: Julie Payne-Kirchmeier
This award honors the past women presidents of ACUHO-I and is presented to recognize an outstanding woman professional who has served the housing profession through courage, leadership, forging new paths as pioneers, honor, and commitment. This award is meant to recognize our past, celebrate our future, and encourage more women to lead our Association. See past award winners here.
Julie Payne-Kirchmeier is the 2010 Herstory Award recipient. Payne-Kirchmeier is the director of university housing and the director of the Saluki First Year Program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She earned her bachelor’s degree in genetics and her master’s degree in student affairs administration from Texas A&M University. She completed her doctorate in educational leadership, administration and foundations at Indiana State University. Her dissertation focused on women administrators’ perceptions of the job search process for senior student affairs positions. Payne-Kirchmeier’s work with ACUHO-I has been extensive, including that in women’s affairs and initiatives. She has presented regionally and nationally on women’s advancement and professional development; served on the Women’s Issues Network (now sunseted); started the Women Housing Professionals group on the ACUHO-I network; and started the Women in Housing (#wihsng) Twitter group. She has also served on the Membership Committee, the Professional Standards Committee and as a delegate to the 21st Century Project Summit, the Learning and Knowledge Summit and the Global Housing Summit. Not one to rest on her laurels (or anywhere), Payne-Kirchmeier is now serving on the Chief Housing Officer Institute Committee and the Student Affairs Assessment and Knowledge Consortium Advisory Committee.
Payne-Kirchmeier has also joined with three other women housing professionals to draft a Women’s Issues Task Force proposal, which was presented to the ACUHO-I Board this past spring, and has the support of 110 additional colleagues in ACUHO-I. If approved, this task force would conduct a needs assessment for women in ACUHO-I, providing the association with information that will assist ACUHO-I in determining how best to serve women in our association. She is also the author of the blog “The Feminist Lattice”.
Ascribing to the philosophy of advocacy and action, Payne-Kirchmeier lives by this quote from Dr. Johnetta Cole, President Emeritus from Spellman College – “If we do nothing to change the world, then we cannot call ourselves educated women.” She believes it is her responsibility to work toward achieving equality and equity for women professionals and students.
Tags: Awards