Strategic Planning

Timeline Updates/Activity (most recent listed first)

February 25, 2020/Special Faculty Assembly

The Special Meeting of the Faculty Assembly convened by Senate Chair Sylvia Marotta-Walters met this afternoon with an attendance of 213 Faculty Assembly members. The Provost gave a report on the Future Enrollment Task Force, and the chairs of seven Senate committees gave reports on their findings and conclusions regarding major ongoing University initiatives. A motion was offered to approve the Urgent Resolution adopted by the Executive Committee in October as well as six Senate Resolutions adopted from November through February (20/3, 20/5, 20/6, 20/7, 20/8 and 20/9). This motion was approved by unanimous teller vote. Draft Assembly minutes will be posted on the Senate’s website as soon as possible.

February 18, 2020

Senate Executive Committee Chair Sylvia Marotta-Walters met with three faculty members (Jamie Cohen-Cole, Harald Griesshammer, and Guillermo Orti) along with Senate Parliamentarian Steve Charnovitz to discuss the recently-published agenda for the February 25 Special Meeting of the Faculty Assembly. The Parliamentarian's view was that a petition recently submitted by 62 faculty was inadmissible to add an agenda item for a Special Assembly.

The three faculty were concerned that without the new petition being on the agenda, the Assembly would not be able "to voice a clear and differentiated opinion."

Chair Marotta-Walters pointed out that the Special Assembly agenda provides for oral presentations and follow-up discussion of the reports of Senate committees. In response to a request for rapid dissemination of the proceedings of the Assembly, the Chair suggested that a transcript would be put on the Senate website as early as possible.

Concerns were expressed that while the Special Assembly agenda specifically notes that, under the Faculty Organization Plan, the Assembly would be able to vote to disapprove/"adversely review" any of the listed Senate actions, the agenda does not mention any Assembly votes to express approval of the recent Senate resolutions. In response, Parliamentarian Charnovitz agreed that voting down a motion to disapprove was an awkward way to express approval. Therefore, he suggested that a motion to approve the Senate’s Resolutions would be in order (as a majority vote).

Those attending agreed that several options were available at the Special Assembly. For example, discussion from the floor could raise issues included in the petition, and votes to approve or disapprove Senate resolutions could be taken under agenda item 4.

Furthermore, an updated version of a petition requesting swift Senate action following the Assembly can be submitted to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee at least two days before its meeting on February 28, 2020.

The Parliamentarian also explained that the Faculty Organization Plan provides a mechanism for the Senate to decide to seek an Assembly referendum on certain propositions regarding University academic policy. Such a mechanism could be utilized by the Senate for a future Faculty Assembly to be held later in calendar year 2020.

February 14, 2020/Faculty Senate Meeting

• The Faculty Senate heard from each of the chairs/vice chairs of the four Strategic Planning pillar committees (High Impact Research; World Class Faculty; Distinguished and Distinctive Graduate Education; and High Quality Undergraduate Education). Senators had the opportunity to discuss the committees' interim reports, to ask questions of the chairs and vice chairs, and to provide recommendations to them. The minutes of the meeting will be posted shortly so that faculty can review the discussion. Members of the faculty  are encouraged to provide comments to each of the four pillar committees before the March 6 deadline.
• The Special Committee created by the Senate as a follow-up to the October 22 Assembly presented its report (PDF) on the Senate studies and inquiries regarding each point on the October 22 petition. The report was discussed, and the Senate agreed to place the report on the agenda for the Special Assembly to be held on February 25.
• The Senate passed Resolution 20/9, which affirms the faculty's role in strategic planning both in relation to the current planning process and future planning processes. The university's commitment to the value of diversity was reinforced, and the administration is asked to submit models with sufficient detail on how the 20% reduction in undergraduate enrollment will be achieved in the remaining four years, with faculty participation in such modeling.
• The Chair of the Senate Executive Committee noted the forthcoming Special Assembly on February 25, 2020, the agenda for which is now posted. All members of the Assembly are urged to attend.

February 5, 2020

• The Special Committee on matters included in the Faculty Assembly petition (elected at the December Senate meeting) submitted its report (PDF) to the Senate. The report was formally presented at the Senate's February 14 meeting.

January 10, 2020/Faculty Senate Meeting

• The Senate debated Resolution 20/9 on Shared Governance. After adopting several amendments to the operative clauses, the Senate referred the Resolution as amended to a drafting committee to prepare it for further consideration at the February 14 Senate meeting. The role of the drafting committee will be to review and edit the preambular clauses. The members of the Drafting Committee are Senators Guillermo Orti, Joe Cordes, Ed Swaine, Tony Yezer, and Sylvia Marotta-Walters.
• The timeline previously published for joint administration and Senate strategic planning activity is on target as defined following the December Senate meeting. A special meeting has been added to the timeline for the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) to meet with the Strategic Planning Task Force in order to discuss the preliminary reports of the four strategic planning committees. This meeting will be held on February 4, 2020.
• The FSEC Chair announced that she will call a Special Assembly of the Faculty to be held on February 25, 2020, at 4:00 pm in the Jack Morton Auditorium. The agenda for this Special Meeting will be published on or about February 14, 2020. The Virginia Science & Technology campus will have video access to the Assembly meeting.

December 13, 2019/Faculty Senate Meeting

• As requested by the Senate, the President presented a detailed report providing details about the information used by the Board of Trustees to arrive at the decision to reduce the undergraduate population by 20% and to increase the percent of STEM undergraduate majors to 30% over the next five years, key initiatives underpinning the strategic planning process now underway. The President then responded to questions from several faculty members. The Senate arranged to have the President’s presentation captured on video.
• The Senate requested and received a status report from each of the four chairs of the Strategic Planning Committees: Professor Alan Greenberg (High-Impact Research), Professor Scott Kieff (World-Class Faculty), Professor Carol Sigelman (Distinguished and Distinctive Graduate Education), and Professor Gayle Wald (High-Quality Undergraduate Education). The chairs provided information on the current status of each committee's work and invited questions from the Senate.
• The Senate also heard reports from five of its committees on their ongoing work on strategic planning and on the follow-up to the requests from the Faculty Assembly. The reporting Senate committee chairs were Professor Joe Cordes (Fiscal Planning and Budgeting), Professor Murli Gupta (Appointment, Salaries and Promotion Policies), Professor Kausik Sarkar (Research), Professor Ed Swaine (Professional Ethics and Academic Freedom), and Professor Jason Zara (Education Policy and Technology). These reports as well as those from the Strategic Planning committee chairs will be made available as part of the December Senate meeting minutes.
• The Senate enacted resolutions related to the strategic planning process:
  • The Senate requested the Chair of the Senate Executive Committee to call a Special Assembly during the month of February to discuss reports by Senate standing committees and by the Senate on the issues in the Assembly Petition. During the Senate's debate, the Senate voted to change the target dates for the Assembly from January to February;
  • the Senate established a Special Committee on matters included in the Faculty Assembly petition with the task of reporting to the Senate by February 3, 2020. In addition, the Senate elected the six members of the Special Committee: Professors Sarah Wagner (Chair), Joe Cordes, Guillermo Orti, Kausik Sarkar, Dan Schwartz, and Jason Zara; and
  • the Senate passed, as amended, Resolutions 20/7 (presented by the Educational Policy and Technology Committee) and Resolution 20/8 (presented by the Research Committee).

December 3, 2019

• The administration, in consultation with the Faculty Senate, released an updated timeline for the strategic planning process.

November 22, 2019/Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) Meeting

• The FSEC approved the agenda for the December 13 meeting, which will include the following elements:
  • President LeBlanc will report on STEM and enrollment data as requested by the Senate in November.
  • Vice President for Research Bob Miller will report on the research ecosystem assessment as requested by the Senate in September.
  • Dean Lynn Goldman will report on the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health.
  • Responses to the October 22 Faculty Assembly Petition:
    • The four chairs of the strategic planning pillar committees will make brief reports, as will five Senate Committees.
    • Two resolutions (from the Senate Committees on Research and Education Policy and Technology) will be discussed.
    • Two resolutions from the FSEC will be discussed:
      • on requesting the Senate to call a special meeting of the Faculty Assembly in the time frame specified by the petition
      • to establish a Special Committee to prepare a report on the five petition items related to strategic planning
    • A resolution on shared governance will be introduced.

November 20, 2019

• The administration released its timeline for strategic planning (PDF) in preparation for the first meeting of the Strategic Planning Task Force (on November 21).
• After consultation with the Senate, the administration will have interim reports, rather than drafts of a strategic plan, distributed jointly to both Administrative and Senate committees, by January 24th. These reports will be considered by the FSEC on January 31.
• Discussions on optimizing faculty governance will be taken up by the Senate at its December 13 meeting. The five Senate committees will continue to work closely with their Strategic Planning Committee counterparts from now through the end of January.

November 15, 2019

FSEC Chair Sylvia Marotta-Walters invited all the Faculty Assembly petition signatories to a debriefing session on strategic planning. The Senate parliamentarian, Steve Charnovitz, also attended the teleconference call, and several of the petition's signatories were briefed on actions taken by the FSEC and the Senate itself. Participants were asked to check the Senate's strategic planning website for the newly published timeline and for Senate Resolution 20/3 (PDF) which was passed unanimously by the Senate on November 8, 2019.

November 11, 2019

Senate-Proposed Revised Planning Timeline (PDF) draft is submitted to the President and Provost on November 11, 2019.

November 8, 2019/Faculty Senate Meeting

• Senate Resolution 20/3 (PDF) ("On Strengthening the Faculty Role in Strategic Planning") passed unanimously, as amended by the Faculty Senate following extensive discussion around GW's recently announced strategic planning process. In this resolution, the Senate underlined the importance of a strong faculty consultative role in the university's strategic planning process. The resolution provides for a multi-pronged Senate response to the action at the October 22 Faculty Assembly to approve the Petition of concerned faculty. Resolution 20/3 also asks the administration to provide a report at the next Senate meeting on the initiatives to increase STEM majors and decrease the size of the on-campus, residential undergraduate student body.
• Senate Committee resolutions in response to the Faculty Assembly Petition (PDF) (both resolutions will be considered by the Senate Executive Committee at its November 22 meeting for formal inclusion on a future Senate agenda):
  • Senate Educational Policy & Technology Committee (PDF) (offered by Chair Jason Zara)
  • Senate Research Committee (PDF) (offered by Co-Chair Kausik Sarkar)
• Written reports in response to the Faculty Assembly Petition (PDF):
  • Senate Appointment, Salary, & Promotion Policies Committee (PDF) (offered by Chair Murli Gupta)
  • Senate Fiscal Planning & Budgeting Committee (PDF) (offered by Christine Pintz, Senate Executive Committee Liaison, in Chair Joe Cordes's absence)
• Oral report in response to the Faculty Assembly Petition (PDF) offered by Ed Swaine, Chair of the Senate Professional Ethics & Academic Freedom Committee

October 25, 2019/Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) Meeting

• An FSEC resolution (PDF) asks five relevant Senate Standing Committee chairs to convene their committees to discuss the application of items in the Faculty Assembly Petition (PDF) to each particular committee.