Dear Members of the George Washington University Community,
We are pleased to announce that GW is embarking on the formal development of our new strategic framework.
Charting the Course
Over the last year, we have had the great privilege of meeting with you and experiencing your passion, commitment, and belief in the George Washington University. From town halls and meetings to future-focused conversations and correspondences, we’ve enjoyed learning what GW means to our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other stakeholders, and we’ve appreciated your honest feedback on how we can strengthen the university.
We were deeply impressed with the consistency of what we heard across these groups: the desire to improve the GW experience for all members of our community, to continue leveraging our extraordinary interdisciplinary strengths and grow our emerging strengths to change the world through education and research, and to build a community of adaptable and resilient global leaders who are prepared to take on the world’s biggest challenges.
I: Laying the Foundation for an Exceptional GW
One part of the new strategic framework will focus on identifying critical investments in our community experience that will ensure GW provides an exceptional environment in which to live, learn, and work. Some of this work is underway, including significant investments in improving student life and student career support and developing a new university budget model. However, we know there are other areas, such as IT, community engagement, research infrastructure, and physical facilities, where important work remains to be done. These opportunities will be identified throughout the framework development process and included in the final report.
II: Leveraging Our Unique Strengths and Future Opportunities
The second part of the strategic framework will focus on extending our aspirations well into the future, ensuring that GW continues to expand its impact as a preeminent institute for research while providing an educational experience that is both distinctive and of the highest quality. To do this, we have distilled and organized our community conversations into themes around which we will focus our work. These themes provide a guideline for identifying unique areas of opportunity and innovation that the university can capitalize on in the years to come. They are:
Advancing Impactful Knowledge Production Through Interdisciplinary Excellence: Every day, GW’s scholars are changing the world through the production and dissemination of groundbreaking research, scholarship, and creative work. Within this theme, we will explore how to advance cutting-edge interdisciplinary research that will allow us to address some of the world’s most significant grand challenges.
Reimagining Skill Development for the Future: Students come to GW because they know our world-class faculty imbue them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in today’s workforce. This theme will explore the skills our students should learn to remain relevant to the demands of an increasingly global, diverse, and changing world.
Redefining Authentic Leadership for Modern Challenges: For over two centuries, the world’s leaders have been educated here at GW. Today, we live in a dynamic and evolving world. This theme challenges us to think intentionally about how to best develop citizen leaders and caretakers of democracy who think globally, communicate effectively, and are prepared to thrive in the 21st century.
Turning Ideas Into Action as a Premier Global Convener: GW is a preeminent global research university situated alongside our nation’s legislators, policymakers, and experts. This theme will examine how we can better leverage our unique proximity to act as a premier convener of critical conversations that focus on the most urgent and important topics of our time.
Learn more about each theme here.
Next Steps
Based on this structure, two committees will drive community engagement and the development of the strategic framework:
The Innovation Committee, composed primarily of faculty, will be charged with reviewing baseline institutional research, identifying opportunities for strategic growth, and collecting input from the GW community through various means, including written ideas, town halls, and informal dialogues, about strategic opportunities aligned with our aspirations and themes.
The Steering Committee will review the Innovation Committee's recommendations to assess the potential impact and feasibility of the framework suggestions.
The committees’ work and the initial development of the plan will happen in three phases, including a research and work phase, a conversation phase, and a deliverable phase. The bulk of this work, including robust community engagement, will occur throughout the fall 2024 semester. A complete timeline and explanation of the process can be found here.
Our aim is to present a completed framework to the Board of Trustees for its review and approval in May 2025. Once approved, we will begin to prioritize and execute the opportunities identified through operational and budget decisions. We will continue communicating our progress and look forward to sharing additional updates soon.
Your Role in Shaping GW’s Future
As a member of the GW community, your voice will be crucial throughout this process. As the plan is developed, we will host a series of engagement opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and alumni to gather your ideas, questions, and feedback. We encourage each of you to participate actively in these discussions and share your thoughts with us. Your unique perspectives and experiences are vital to ensuring our strategic framework truly reflects the aspirations and values of our diverse community.
As we embark on this important journey together, we are filled with optimism and excitement for GW's future. This strategic framework will be our roadmap to amplifying our impact and solidifying our position as a preeminent global research university known for delivering a world-class education.
Thank you for your continued belief in GW, your participation in this important process, and your partnership in building a greater world.
Sincerely,
Ellen M. Granberg
President
Christopher Alan Bracey
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of Law