Iowa State is impacted by many people daily, whether it be through education students, students helping friends or campus involvement. The Women Impacting ISU Calendar is just one way individuals at Iowa State can recognize women for their hard work.

Started in 2007 by the Catt Associates student leadership organization and funded by the Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, the Women Impacting ISU calendar was developed as “a tribute to current students, faculty and staff who distinguished themselves through their accomplishments at Iowa State University,” according to the Catt Center website.

Each year, 12 women from a wide variety of disciplines and diverse backgrounds are selected to appear on the calendar.

Any woman who is currently employed by Iowa State University or is a current student at Iowa State University is eligible to be nominated. Faculty and staff nominees must be employed for the calendar year in which they would be honored. Seniors graduating in May of the calendar year in which they would be honored are also eligible.

The calendar is open to individuals who identify as a woman, which includes women who are cisgender and transgender.

The poster-sized calendar features pictures of the honorees along with a short description of their achievements; they are not assigned a particular month.

According to Kristine Perkins, public relations and student programs coordinator for the Catt Center, 70 women were nominated for the 2019 Women Impacting ISU calendar.

“It felt like we had a lot more than 70 last year because multiple people were nominated multiple times,” said Grace Tuzik, public relations and event management intern for the Catt Center. “It was nice to see how many people were nominated, it was really heartwarming.”

A committee of representatives from Catt Center student programs, previous calendar honorees and members of the ISU community review the applicants and select the honorees.

Some of the things that the committee takes into consideration include contributions made in the classroom, outstanding service to their unit, campus involvement, community relationships and contributions made among students and professionals at the institution.

Submissions are now open for submitting a nomination for the 2020 Women Impacting ISU calendar. To successfully submit a nomination, nominators will need to upload two letters of recommendation and an optional submission of a resume.

The deadline to submit a nomination is 11:59 p.m. Sept. 27. The nomination form can be found online here.

One does not have to work at or be associated with Iowa State to nominate a woman currently employed at or attending Iowa State. According to the Catt Center website, self nominations will not be considered or reviewed.

“It is really important to recognize all the good things women do here on campus,” Tuzik said. “I think it is important for the women themselves to be recognized because many of them need to feel the spotlight.”

An unveiling celebration is hosted each January to publicly honor the women selected to appear on the calendar. Free calendars are available at the celebration. Calendars are also available at various campus locations, including the Catt Center (309 Catt Hall).

The women chosen for the 2019 calendar were Ihssan Ait Boucherbil, Tia Carter, Zoey Shipley, Connie Hargrave, Brenda Jones, Mayly Sanchez, Amy Slagell, Laura Bestler, Carmen Flagge, Linda Marticke, Michelle Roling and Denise Williams-Klotz.