Melissa Holzberg, a junior majoring in political communication, is The Hatchet’s opinions editor.
On Tuesday, University President Steven Knapp announced he wouldn’t seek to renew his contract at the end of July 2017. And while there have been plenty of incidents during Knapp’s tenure that could suggest he wouldn’t want to renew his contract, this is the wrong time for Knapp to announce that he is leaving GW.
Any administration, whether it be for a political office or a university, works best when it’s stable. After so many top-level administrators resigned this year, GW needs stability now.
The University still lacks a provost, a head of admissions and a director of Mental Health Services. With flux in high-level positions, it was a mistake for Knapp to announce he would leave at the end of the next academic year.
Knapp should not have announced now that he would not seek to renew his contract. Rather, officials should have finished their searches for high level officials this summer. He should have waited until closer to the start of the academic year to announce it was his last.
His impending exit demonstrates that GW’s administrative climate is unstable. The number of officials who have either announced that they would not return to their posts or who have resigned mid-contract is unprecedented. If a university cannot keep its top officials, it seems like there are larger fundamental issues.
While we can probably expect that officials will select a new president before Knapp officially leaves next summer, it’s unlikely that with so many open high-level positions that it will be easy to attract a new provost. Any official who comes to GW in the upcoming academic year will know that they’re starting a job in what seems like an unstable administrative environment.
University spokeswoman Candace Smith said the Board of Trustees will make announcements about the search for a new provost and president throughout the summer, and other searches will continue.
“Managers for various departments will continue to make hiring decisions,” Smith said in an email.
Bringing in a new president changes a school beyond who is quoted in press releases. A president sets the tone for the university. He or she can decide what the university’s fundraising focuses will be, and can set goals for what he or she wants the school to be known for. For instance, Knapp focused on making GW a more research-based university. Former University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg is largely credited with making GW less of a commuter school.
The next president will have to manage the University’s debt, finish the University’s fundraising plans and choose the next steps for the University after the strategic plan ends. If those tasks weren’t enough, the next president will have to get along with a new provost and either oversee hiring top level officials or be able to get along with officials he or she did not select. Frankly, that is too much to ask of a new president.
As officials now begin their search for yet another official – and this time the very top administrator – hopefully they look for someone who can work with a new group of administrators at GW, and who can communicate well between officials and students.
Until we have a new University president, students can hope that officials make some hiring moves this summer, so the next academic year doesn’t suffer from administrative turnover again.
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