{"id":137663,"date":"2022-02-24T10:02:41","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T17:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=137663"},"modified":"2022-02-24T10:02:42","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T17:02:42","slug":"uccs-shared-governance-brings-free-menstrual-products-to-campus-bathrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=137663","title":{"rendered":"UCCS shared governance brings free menstrual products to campus bathrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Beginning in mid-spring, UCCS will now make free Aunt Flo menstrual products available in many women\u2019s and gender-neutral bathrooms. Photo credit: Aunt Flo via Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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In line with recent efforts to add breastfeeding and pumping spaces<\/a> across campus, UCCS will now make free menstrual products available in many women\u2019s and gender-neutral bathrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The free menstrual product campaign is a joint project between all three shared governance groups at the university: Staff Association, the Student Government Association and Faculty Assembly. Beginning in spring 2022, bathrooms in the University Center, the Gallogly Recreation and Wellness Center and University Hall will be stocked with pads and tampons at no charge to students, employees and visitors. The initiative will run through at least spring 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the shared governance leaders behind the initiative, providing free menstrual products isn\u2019t just about health \u2014 it\u2019s about equity, and creating inclusive spaces that support all campus community members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMenstruation isn\u2019t something that we can opt in or out of,\u201d said Taylor Silbernagel, Senator at Large for the UCCS Student Government Association. \u201cAs a heavily involved student on campus, I often spend time in university buildings during classes and meetings, and periods can arrive at inconvenient times. Knowing that I could go to the nearest restroom on campus and have convenient and free access to high-quality products means that my period won\u2019t become a barrier to my success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silbernagel went on to explain that period poverty \u2014 a lack of access to menstrual products, education, hygiene facilities or places to dispose of products \u2014 is an oft-overlooked issue. One in four American teenagers have missed class because they didn\u2019t have access to menstrual health products, and one in 10 college students struggle to afford pads and tampons each month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am passionate about creating equality for all so that no student has to miss out on their education because of inability to access menstrual products,\u201d Silbernagel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Sarah Long, President of Staff Association, the joint venture illustrates the power of shared governance to collaboratively address campus-wide concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe menstrual product project is a shared campaign between UCCS staff, faculty and students. We all came together for this critical initiative,\u201d Long said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough the initiative began with Staff Association, we received positive feedback from all campus stakeholders. It is part of UCCS\u2019 culture for campus stakeholders to unite for a common cause, and it lays the foundation for the future opportunities for shared governance to come together and create meaningful change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative will begin with a pilot phase in spring 2022, funded by the Office of Administration and Finance. As part of the pilot phase, all women\u2019s and gender-neutral bathrooms in the University Center, the Gallogly Recreation and Wellness Center and University Hall will be stocked with free menstrual products from spring 2022\u2013spring 2023. Shared governance leaders will evaluate the project’s impact after one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If needed, the project will then be submitted to the Green Action Fund for continued funding, which would support efforts to stock all women\u2019s and gender-neutral bathrooms on campus and sustain the project through at least spring 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The free menstrual product project is a partnership between UCCS and Aunt Flo, which offers competitively priced, organic and sustainable menstrual products to higher education institutions and businesses. It is made possible in large part thanks to the efforts of Facilities Services employees, who will stock products and maintain dispensers across campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To learn more, contact the UCCS Staff Association<\/a>, Student Government Association<\/a> or Faculty Assembly<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In line with recent efforts to add breastfeeding and pumping spaces across campus, UCCS will now make free menstrual products available in many women\u2019s and gender-neutral bathrooms. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":137686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,49,50,417],"tags":[363,332,356,375,355,134,319],"class_list":["post-137663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-campus-announcements","category-health-and-wellness","category-strategic-plan","tag-faculty-assembly","tag-more-news","tag-learning-engagement-belonging","tag-staff-association","tag-strategic-plan","tag-student-government-association","tag-uccs-staff-association"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Communique-Featured-Image-1400-x-1052-px-double-size-26.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-zOn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137663"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137685,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137663\/revisions\/137685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/137686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}