The hectic buildup to college life can often result in an exclusive focus on housing selection, class registration and other short-term issues concerning incoming freshmen. Students and parents should be aware, however, of several larger issues affecting GW.
Concerns over student services:
Ongoing student complaints over poor delivery of non-academic services became readily apparent several times over the past year. The Community Living and Learning Center, which is in charge of the residence hall system, contracted an outside company to conduct searches of dorm rooms and confiscate prohibited items, such as candles and halogen lamps. These safety checks were previously carried out by Community Facilitators, and in the past, students were given a grace period to remove the illicit items from their rooms.
Students also expressed frustration over lengthy lines at Student Package Services’ pickup center. Those waiting to pick up textbooks and care packages from home were subjected to half-hour long lines. Package Services and residence hall frustrations have been among numerous hot-button issues for students in the past, and will likely remain in the future.
When it comes to campus food, the University has the potential to improve service that has been regarded as slow, inefficient and, at times, unfriendly. Shortly before the end of the school year, Sodexho was named as a replacement to Aramark, the University’s former dining contractor. Sodexho promises to bring new venues to J Street and a casual, alcohol-serving restaurant in the Hippodrome, which has been relatively unused by students.
Broad academic changes:
Students beginning GW in the fall may find themselves in a very different classroom environment by the time they graduate. Over the past year, a University task force has been investigating a potential shift from a five-class, three-credit system to a four-class, four-credit system. The committee recently recommended that GW accept the system, based on the potential for a more rigorous curriculum.
Four-by-four brings with it the potential for more focused and rigorous courses, but only if it is carefully implemented. If professors do not change their individual academic expectations to reflect in-depth classes, then curriculum quality may suffer from the four-class system.
In many ways, GW has already begun transforming its educational system. Funding constraints have increased focus on GW’s high-visibility programs such as political science, international affairs and media and public affairs, while resulting in cuts to other departments such as music. New students can expect to see this strategy continue, with an emphasis on programs that will bring the University prestige and attention.
Focus on a centralized campus:
Over the past decade, GW has been rapidly expanding further into the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, but this trend will be somewhat curtailed by a new campus plan. The strategy, which plots GW’s future for the next two decades, calls for a returned focus to the central core of campus, with the establishment of a retail corridor along G Street, the renovation of buildings close to the campus center, and the construction of new residence halls and facilities. In addition, GW will build a new commercial and residential facility on the site of the old GW hospital near the Foggy Bottom Metro stop.
While this plan may increase long-term convenience for students and ease tensions with Foggy Bottom residents upset over GW’s expansion, the class of 2010 will likely deal with extensive construction and closed buildings during the year. Previous classes have dealt with these same concerns, and while students have come to enjoy state of the art buildings, construction has put constraints on class space and led to headaches from both street closures and noise.
