My Fellow Revs,
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping every corner of higher education, and at GW it touches all three priorities of our new Strategic Framework. From the earliest town halls and listening sessions, AI emerged as a central theme, and the Innovation Committee’s work underscored its significance. As large language models and other enabling AI technologies become more sophisticated, feedback from GW’s community made it clear that implementing the Strategic Framework’s priorities and goals needed to be supported by a comprehensive, aligned strategy for AI at GW.
AI is already a very robust area of interdisciplinary research involving every school and college. GW faculty are exploring how AI can elevate teaching, learning, and research, including developing new algorithms to advance scientific discovery. Teams across the university are also identifying ways these tools can strengthen operations, helping us personalize services, streamline processes, and improve the experiences of students, faculty, and staff. At the same time, widespread use of AI raises important questions about privacy, creativity, efficiency, and ethics, among other topics. For our Strategic Framework to provide the greatest positive impact, we need a broad AI strategy tailored to fit us as an institution.
To launch this work, I am delighted to announce a university-wide strategic mapping exercise on AI uses, opportunities, and risks. This exercise will encompass the uses of AI in all facets of the university, from research to teaching to operations. The results will be shared with the community and will provide the foundation for developing GW’s institutional AI strategy, which will guide future investments in AI and form the basis of a principled framework for the use of AI at GW. I have asked Dr. Zoe Szajnfarber, Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, International Affairs, and Computer Science, Faculty Director of the GW Trustworthy AI Initiative, and Chief Scientist of the Systems Engineering Research Center, to serve as Senior Advisor to the President on AI Strategy and lead this large team effort. Zoe has already begun assembling working groups to advance the initiative.
I am excited about the opportunity for the GW community to consider all the possibilities AI presents and am grateful to Dr. Szajnfarber for her willingness to lead this important strategic effort. We both look forward to sharing more as this project progresses.
Sincerely,
Ellen M. Granberg
President