The IAWS is the only national women's student government association in the United States; it offers membership to associations of women students in accredited colleges and universities. The first conference of the Middle Western Intercollegiate Association of Women Students was held in May 1913. The Association adopted a constitution in 1914 and the first national meeting took place in 1923. The purpose of the IAWS is to identify educational needs of women at college and after college, and to implement relevant policies by providing resources and offering programs at meeting, seminars and national conventions. Structurally, the IAWS is divided into four regions coordinated by a national office in Ohio which is managed by an executive secretary. The National Executive Board (NEB) consists of the president (a student in her senior year), executive secretary, four regional coordinators, and other advisers from the Clearinghouse Committee and the four standing committees: Constitution, Nominations and Elections, Resolutions, and Publications. The National Executive Committee is composed of the national president, the national adviser, and the national executive secretary. The IAWS publishes an annual newsletter, Feminine Focus .
From the guide to the Records, 1922-1980, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)
