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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Previous strategic plan refocused academics

University officials say they are able to aim high in this year’s strategic plan because of the smaller, more fundamental changes the last one achieved.

The 2002 strategic plan led to the paring down of Ph.D. programs, the creation of the University Writing Program and the start of GW’s aspirations to become a major research university.

The University chose seven academic initiatives to elevate and cut the number of doctoral programs from 53 to 34 – part of a strategy of “selective excellence” that set an easier path for some of GW’s strongest programs.

In contrast to this year’s $110 million strategic plan, less stable financed reined in the ambitions of the 2002 plan, then-Vice President for Academic Affairs Don Lehman said.

Drawn by an almost entirely different administration, the plan pinpointed political science, history, human evolution, transportation safety, public policy, Asian studies and biomedical engineering as top initiatives worthy of extra dollars.

“No university in today’s economic environment can do everything,” Lehman, who retired in 2010, said.

The University’s endowment was only $634 million in 2003 – slightly more than half of where it stands today.

The plan also called out themes seen in this year’s strategic plan, like global engagement, academic excellence, interdisciplinary research and building a stronger community identity.

Tyler Anbinder, a former history department chair, said the plan also expanded his program’s doctorate degree offerings with extra cash to attract and retain top students.

“We started attracting top Ph.D. candidates that went other places before because our offers of financial assistance weren’t competitive,” Anbinder said.

Over the last decade, almost every measure for GW’s success – including endowment size, admissions selectivity, graduation rate, full-time faculty ratio and research funding – has improved.

Its U.S. News & World Report ranking, however, has not. In 2003, U.S. News named GW the No. 51 school in the country. Ten years later, GW is still No. 51.

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