Updated: December 5, 2025, at 1:45 p.m.
University President Ellen Granberg unveiled a campus-wide artificial intelligence project on Wednesday as part of GW’s broader strategic vision.
Granberg appointed Zoe Szajnfarber, a professor of engineering management and systems engineering, as senior advisor to the president on AI strategy to lead working groups in a strategic mapping exercise on AI’s uses, opportunities and risks, the results of which will inform a broad, University-wide strategy tailored to GW. The announcement follows GW’s late-October rollout of its first strategic framework since 2020, a blueprint outlining three key priorities and 12 goals the University aims to achieve over the next five to seven years.
Granberg said AI touches all three of the strategic priorities outlined in the framework and is “reshaping every corner” of higher education, noting it was a central theme in early town halls and listening sessions. She said the Innovation Committee — a group primarily comprised of faculty that she charged in October 2024 to provide recommendations on the framework based on community feedback — underscored AI’s significance.
“As large language models and other enabling AI technologies become more sophisticated, feedback from GW’s community made it clear that implementing the Strategic Framework’s priorities and goals needed to be supported by a comprehensive, aligned strategy for AI at GW,” Granberg said in an email.
Granberg said AI raises questions around privacy, creativity, efficiency and ethics, but community members are also exploring ways it can enhance operations, personalize services, streamline processes and enrich community experiences.
“For our Strategic Framework to provide the greatest positive impact, we need a broad AI strategy tailored to fit us as an institution,” Granberg said.
A University release Friday said the mapping exercise will have three areas of focus, including research, education and operations. The exercises’ research goals include the ways AI enables and complicates research and administrative work and providing tools to researchers to use AI responsibly and productively.
The education goals are centered on understanding what students need to know about AI and what skills they need to succeed in the workforce, how AI in the classroom should influence teaching and learning and what tools, training and resources are necessary to accomplish those goals, according to the release.
The release states the operations goals include understanding the opportunities and risks of integrating AI into workflows, including costs and energy usage and determining what resources are needed to support staff.
Szajnfarber’s team has received feedback from elected faculty representatives, per the release, including from the co-chairs of the Faculty Senate Education Policy and Technology and Research committees, with each area of focus receiving a dedicated working group.
David Broniatowski, a professor of engineering management and systems and Ted McKoy, an official in the Office of Sponsored Projects, will lead the research working group.
Professor of Educational Technology Leadership Ryan Watkins and Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning Excellence Karen Singer-Freeman will spearhead the education working group.
Sue Bogan, a GW IT staff member and Patrick Hall, a teaching assistant professor of decision science and the School of Business’ chief AI officer, will lead the operations working group.
Officials released formal guidelines for student and faculty use of generative artificial intelligence tools in April 2023, marking one of the first publicly advertised institutional efforts to regulate AI usage on campus. The guidelines characterize AI tools like large‑language models as potential enhancements to learning and research, but also warned that misused AI could undermine educational objectives.
The guidelines make clear that whether AI is allowed in a course depends on each professor’s discretion, noting that faculty may permit, forbid or restrict use of generative AI for assignments. They recommend faculty design assignments that teach students to craft effective prompts, critically evaluate AI‑generated content for accuracy, bias and reliability and properly cite any AI‑derived material.
In August 2023, the Office of the Provost issued updated faculty guidelines urging professors to reinforce the definition of plagiarism, include an academic honesty declaration on assignments and require draft submissions to better gauge each student’s individual voice.
Faculty in September reported drafting their own AI policies because the technology has evolved significantly since officials released the guidelines in 2023.
In February, the Staff Council passed a resolution calling on officials to guarantee that use of AI does not lead to involuntary staff layoffs, urging that any AI‑driven reorganization prioritize retraining and alternative roles before eliminating jobs. The resolution cites nationwide concerns over AI-driven automation shrinking job markets, calls for a committee of staff, faculty and administrators to oversee ethical AI use and ensure transparency and reflects staff anxiety that any transition must safeguard job security.
Szajnfarber also serves as director of GW’s Trustworthy AI Initiative, launched in April 2024 to engage researchers across multiple fields and improve AI models and research strategies for societal applications.
She is also chief scientist of the Systems Engineering Research Center, a network of 24 universities — including GW — sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and other Department of Defense entities to develop actionable solutions to complex national security challenges.
This post was updated to include the following:
This story was updated to include additional information about the initiative’s working groups and goals from a University release Friday.
