The introduction to the 2002 program within this series provides some background about the organization. An excerpt is quoted here:

"...the Consortium, the only State System organization devoted to identifying and serving the need of women students, staff, faculty, and administrators.....Imagine our campuses before the Consortium began to monitor the hiring, tenuring, and promoting of women faculty and administrators, before Presidential Commissions on Women were formed, before sexual harassment and dating violence policies were in place, before Women's Studies Programs, Women's Centers, Student Leadership Institutes, and childcare facilities became part of the landscape. Then you will understand why we gather to collaborate, make new and renewed acquaintances, and affirm our identity. We believe we have made a difference."