The Board of Trustees is now conducting its second standard review of University President Thomas LeBlanc in advance of deciding whether to extend his contract.

The Board conducted its first review of LeBlanc in spring 2019, nearly two years after his arrival at GW, with the assistance of an outside consultant from the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Board Chair Grace Speights said in an email to the GW community earlier this month that Terrence MacTaggart, a senior consultant and fellow at the same organization, will assist the Board in its review as an outside facilitator.

MacTaggart will “meet with stakeholders” and “summarize their perspectives,” and will review “key” materials, like financial reports, media reports and the results of a recent faculty survey on University leadership.

“In the coming weeks, Dr. MacTaggart will conduct interviews virtually (because of the pandemic) before providing confidential feedback to the Board of Trustees,” Speights said in the email. “His interview list includes the president, senior administrators, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, Deans, department chairs, distinguished faculty, recently tenured faculty, student leaders, staff, alumni and local community leadership.

A University spokesperson declined to comment further on the review, pointing to the earlier announcement.

The review comes amid high tensions between LeBlanc and members of the University community that intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Faculty Senate plans to vote on recommendations based on the faculty survey results – which demonstrated the widest measure of faculty dissatisfaction with administrators to date – before the end of the month.