This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Allison Kowalski
GW plans to offer new certificate programs for veterans at the same time military budget cuts will likely send former service members into higher education.
The military-focused programs are expected to bring in $1.8 million in revenue. Preparations got off the ground last month for certificates in organizational ethics, training for international judges and sustainability leadership
The University launched the search for the high-level military leader late last month to head up the efforts as senior associate dean of veteran and military affairs under the College of Professional Studies.
There is not yet a timeline for the initiatives, which are the latest to come out of the University’s Innovation Task Force – a group that pinpoints ways to save money and create alternate revenue streams.
Associate Dean of Administrative Affairs in the Law School Hank Molinengo, who spent 28 years in the Navy, lauded the programs as ways to attract the projected thousands of servicemen and women who will likely be put on leave after sequestration budget cuts take away about $13.5 billion from military operations.
“When the military is drawn down due to budgetary reasons, we’re going to have a whole bunch of retiring people and leaving the service in this area who could really use a GW education to transition,” Molinengo, who sits on the ITF committee, said.
Four out of nine ITF projects approved Feb. 20 are geared toward veterans, which administrators say would help GW keep its title as one of the nation’s most military-friendly institutions.
Ideas include a Semester in Washington program for undergraduate veterans and a program on a local fort.
Monlinengo said the military and veterans initiative is a “win-win” because it will help bring added revenue to the University while also helping and growing the population of campus veterans. Last fall, more than 1,000 veterans enrolled.
“Diversity isn’t just ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, or gender. It’s also life experiences, and with veterans you’re getting people with a different type of life experience, and that’s good for the school,” he said.
University spokeswoman Michelle Sherrard said plans are “very preliminary,” adding that business plans for the projects will be finalized once the dean comes on board.
University President Steven Knapp created the Innovation Task Force in 2009, charged members to ultimately generate $60 million in annual savings or new revenue.
Another proposal will create online general education courses targeted for active-duty military members on leave, in the hopes that putting the program online will not inhibit enlisted soldiers on leave from enrolling. The program would offer fall, spring and summer courses and is expected to create a net income of $945,500.
GW plans to offer some graduate programs on a local military base, such as Fort Belvoir, which is in Fairfax County, Va. The programs would allow servicemen and women to earn graduate degrees with minimal interruptions of their family or work life and are estimated to bring in a net $543,848.
The Graduate School of Political Management will also start a Semester in Washington program for undergraduate veterans, where students could come stay in D.C. and learn about their role in politics.
The school might also create a “second service certificate” program to train veterans to become politicians or public servants.
GW is one of the top veteran schools in the nation, offering substantial financial aid to veterans. With a high number of support staff, GW has ranked in G.I. Jobs Magazine’s top 15 percent of “military-friendly” schools for the past four years.
