Shared Governance Virtual Town Halls

January 14, 2022

Dear Colleagues:

In October 2021, the university launched the Shared Governance initiative, with the purpose of building consensus among faculty, administration, and trustees around the meaning and expectations of shared governance. We have since established a task force of these stakeholders to examine these issues and make recommendations. The members of the task force are:

Trustees
Amr ElSawy (Co-Chair)
Mark Chichester
Madeleine Jacobs
Todd Klein

Faculty
Shaista E. Khilji (Co-Chair)
Joe Cordes
Christine Pintz
Arthur Wilson

Administration
Christopher Alan Bracey (Co-Chair)
Terry Murphy
Paul Wahlbeck
Richard Weitzner

The task force has met several times to outline next steps, establish important operating principles, and discuss specific outcomes and deliverables. They will continue their work through the spring semester.

Virtual Town Halls

Because faculty members are a key constituent in shared governance, we want to make sure we hear your views on what shared governance means and how it can best function at GW. Next week, the Task Force will host four virtual faculty town halls in which you will have the opportunity to share your thoughts on different aspects of shared governance. Dates, times, and registration links are below. We ask that each faculty member attend only one session in order to provide adequate space for all interested faculty members. For those that are unable to attend, please visit our website and provide your feedback there.

Tuesday, January 18: 1:00 – 2:30 PM
Wednesday, January 19: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Wednesday, January 19: 2:00 – 3:30 PM
Thursday, January 20: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Dr. David Maxwell, president emeritus of Drake University and an Association of Governing Boards senior consultant and senior fellow, and Ann Franke, a former tenured General Counsel of the American Association of University Professors and president of Wise Results, LLC, will facilitate these town halls.

The task force will use the key themes drawn from these town halls to design a survey, with the assistance of GW’s Office of Academic Planning and Assessment.

We believe a common understanding of shared governance is an important part of the university’s academic mission and must inform proposals to build mechanisms and a culture that supports core principles of shared governance. We look forward to your participation.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]. You may also visit the website for regular updates or to submit anonymous feedback about shared governance at GW.

Sincerely,

Christopher Alan Bracey
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of Law

Amr ElSawy
Trustee

Shaista E. Khilji
Professor, Human and Organizational Learning