Our editorial board argued in January that GW’s new provost should be an internal hire, citing the University’s need for stable leadership that understands the convergence of challenges GW is facing. However, last month, officials announced they had hired Duke University historian Ed Balleisen to serve as the University’s next provost. While we are disappointed that GW took on an outside hire at a time when it is more crucial than ever that University leadership understands the University’s priorities and mission, we believe Balleisen’s experience in interdisciplinary education and stated dedication to University President Ellen Granberg’s strategic framework will serve him well at GW. That being said, as an outside hire, Balleisen must come in ready to prove to the community his understanding of and commitment to shared governance, transparency and the issues facing students and faculty. We believe that Interim Provost John Lach did an exceptional job at making himself available to students and serving as an advocate for faculty, while previous provosts have appeared distant and disengaged from the broader campus community. As he prepares to step into the role of GW’s chief academic officer in July, Balleisen should take a page out of Lach’s book, while also putting in the extra work to familiarize himself with GW’s institutions, governing bodies and values as he looks to take the helm of the University’s academic enterprise.

Balleisen is entering GW’s top academic post at a turbulent time for the University. Granberg is looking to execute her long-term vision for the institution through initiatives like the strategic framework and the new University budget model set to launch next fiscal year, all while navigating a budget deficit, declining international enrollment, cuts to graduate programs and federal pressures from President Donald Trump’s administration. In order to do that, she needs to be able to rely on the provost to help her execute her mission. We are encouraged by the fact that in an interview with The Hatchet last month, Balleisen expressed enthusiasm for the strategic framework and said he had been briefed on the challenges facing the University and was ready to tackle them. But Balleisen still needs to work to not only embed himself in the University’s culture, but also advertise himself to students and faculty as the one who can advocate for their needs while the University makes changes that will define its direction for the next decade.

Lach, in his short time at GW, has made a massive impact on the University’s direction moving forward, from guiding the launch of the strategic framework alongside Granberg to steering the efforts to forge GW’s new budget model to dissolving the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement and replacing it with a new Office of Community, Culture and Inclusion. Faculty and students also reported Lach made a genuine effort to embed himself into the community with initiatives like his “Pizza with the Provost” series, contrasting him with former Provost Chris Bracey, who community members described as distant. Lach has been more transparent when it comes to GW’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies, like explaining GW’s decision to rename the Diversity Summit to the OneGW Summit and sending out an email to the community reaffirming GW’s commitment to DEI, one of the most straightforward and transparent messages from officials this school year. Lach’s only major shortfall as a provost was the brevity of his tenure. This, along with the departure of several other top University officials this academic year, has not allowed for the consistent leadership and cohesive messaging GW requires at this critical juncture. Balleisen must come into the position with the understanding that he will need to remain in the post for the foreseeable future in order to oversee the ongoing implementation of these initiatives. Critically, Balleisen will be coming into GW, helming several initiatives shaped by previous provosts he had no part in creating, which doubles his responsibility to maintain the spirit of these efforts. GW has had four different provosts in the past decade — Balleisen needs to ensure that this trend doesn’t continue at a crucial time for the University. 

But GW’s issues are more than just institutional, and as the incoming provost, Balleisen must ensure he is listening to the changes community members want to see in a provost. Students, faculty and staff have been clear about what they are seeking in an incoming provost: transparency and a commitment to shared governance following a perceived “lack of engagement” from Bracey. Faculty have said the new provost should prioritize clear communication through consistent community messages and town halls, students have advocated for the new provost to boost engagement with students and staff have urged the new hire to address the decreased morale and increased workload they dealt with under Bracey’s tenure. Balleisen told The Hatchet that he wanted to work with faculty to make decisions reflective of shared governance, which bodes well for the community, as he is willing to work actively with them and hopefully let the community’s experiences and opinions influence their decisions. Our editorial board hopes that his statements will be reflected through his actions, and that he can focus on and champion shared governance, which is particularly imperative during a time of budget cuts and federal pressures. 

This feedback should be the driving force behind Balleisen’s leadership, and he should consistently work to solicit additional feedback from the community as he settles into the role. Students and faculty over the last year have repeatedly criticized top officials for a lack of transparency regarding budget and leadership decisions, and Balleisen’s top priority as provost should be dispelling this perception. To that end, students and faculty also must pour their energy into providing Balleisen with comprehensive feedback and making an effort to engage with him on campus. While many students may not even know what a provost is, the people who serve in that position have significant power to materially improve the GW experience, power the community should be encouraging them to leverage. Just as Balleisen must work to advertise his initiatives and embed himself into the community, students and faculty must also pay attention to those initiatives and participate in all possible forums to provide input into the University’s governance.

There are several aspects of Balleisen’s background that bode well for his tenure at GW. He previously served as Duke’s senior vice provost for interdisciplinary programs and initiatives, where he gained experience learning how the budget system works, developing new programs and reviewing existing ones as well as expanding opportunities for interdisciplinary research and instruction at Duke. In his interview with The Hatchet, he also spoke about how he had the “core belief” in transparent communication from the University to the rest of the community. More than 10 of his colleagues at Duke also gave him glowing reviews as an approachable, collaborative leader. These are all traits that are setting him up for success at GW, and we only hope that he will fully lean into them to form a stronger relationship with the community, one based in shared governance and accessibility. All of this is exciting, but it does not change the fact that the stakes for Balleisen’s success are high: GW simply cannot afford to go through another major leadership transition at a time when it faces an unprecedented convergence of financial and political challenges. We hope that Balleisen’s leadership in practice is as effective as it seems on paper. 

GW has experienced a year of growing mistrust between officials and the community. SGA President MJ Childs won his post on a platform of demanding officials hold themselves accountable for their budget decisions. Faculty senators have repeatedly sparred with officials over concerns that GW is losing sight of its academic mission and failing to uphold commitments to shared governance amid continued expense reductions. The provost serves as an essential conduit between these groups, and Balleisen must foster an environment where community members feel that officials not only hear them but value their input. We hope that Balleisen has the commitment, the passion and the vision to forge a positive future for GW.

The editorial board consists of Hatchet staff members and operates separately from the newsroom. This week’s staff editorial was written by Opinions Editor Andrea Mendoza-Melchor, based on discussions with Copy Chief Ethan Tsai, Research Assistant Kya Hoffman and Copy Editor Marlene Orantes.