I saw The Hatchet’s story in Thursday’s issue based in part on two telephone interviews with a reporter (“Internet confuses GW applicant process,” April 12, p. 1).

While I cannot quibble with the overall message – that we have not done as well as we should – a couple of things got lost in the story. Because we have too few personnel and have been down one person in this crucial period, the process has been made worse this year.

What I would really like to stress, however, is that the staff members we do have (there are presently six) are all working very hard – very long days and some have come in on weekends – to try and get the admissions job done. At the same time, these folks must also work with a constant flow of questions and problems with our current grad students, help faculty with various problems, fill out vital surveys, hire next year’s graduate teaching assistants and graduate fellows and help resolve the many complications of the upcoming graduation and doctoral hooding ceremonies. And that is just a start. We are spread way too thin, and the students you report having been badly served are one result.

Should GW and the Columbian College do better? You bet we should. At the moment, however, all of us are pushing as hard as we can. Our apologies to those whose applications have been mishandled and to the departments they have applied to, and we will do our best to get them straightened out. If someone believes their application may not be complete or has not been correctly dealt with, let us know and we will respond as quickly as we can.

-C.H. Sterling
CCAS associate dean for graduate affairs