Modern-day women in need of advice can visit the University Resource Center for Women.

The center, which began ten years ago, services women trying to end the traditional female stereotype, said Sharon Howard, director of the University Resources for Women.

“The non-traditional woman is someone who has been out of the academic system for a while and finds herself playing a variety of roles, she may be a wife, parent, and student, all at the same time,” she said.

The variety of roles women are playing today can cause many to question themselves and their career choices, and this is where the women’s resource center can help, Howard said.

Services provided at the center include free counseling, workshops and referrals if needed, said Judy Shorek, research associate. “Sometimes assistance may be as simple as helping someone with parking problems or directing them to the right source.

“These are not typical students we are dealing with; they have special needs and require our support,” Shorek said.

Some of the workshops being offered this spring are Women in Transition, Assertiveness and brown-bag lunches, beginning Wednesday Jan. 31 from noon to 1 p.m., Howard said.

Topics discussed at the brown-bag lunches might range from writing papers to career choices, to even choosing the right major, she said.

There are plans to move the resource center from its present location at Wirtz House to a not yet determined site, Shorek said.

“The home setting at Wirtz is a comfortable environment to work in and clients feel at ease when they’re here, this atmosphere will be missed,” she said.

The women’s resource center also works closely with the Women’s Studies Program co-sponsoring events and putting out a newsletter twice a semester, said Lois Self, director of the Women’s Studies Program.

The next newsletter is due out in mid-February and will include events for March which is Women in History Month, Self said.