Staff Council President Mindy Galván told the Staff Council last Friday she credits staff members and the governing body’s advocacy efforts for contributing to officials’ decision to resume merit increases in fiscal year 2027.
Officials announced in an email last week they will establish a 3 percent merit pool in FY2027 to fund salary increases for eligible employees after they paused merit increases in FY2026 due to budget constraints, which staff members said strained their finances and lowered morale. Galván said she was “very happy” to receive the announcement and she would gather more information from officials on how the merit process will work and share it with Staff Council representatives so they can answer constituents’ questions.
Galván said in an email to staff Thursday the Staff Council submitted questions to officials to clarify the process, but can confirm it will take effect on July 1.
“We have made our voices heard very loud and clear regarding merit,” Galván said at the meeting.
The announcement of the merit pool came as officials also announced that the Board of Trustees approved a $46.5 million budget reduction for FY2027. Since officials implemented the merit increase pause in FY2026, University President Ellen Granberg and Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes said on multiple occasions officials were committed to resuming merit increases in FY2027.
Merit increases and salary bumps have been a consistent point of advocacy for the council since its inception in August 2023. The Staff Council passed a resolution in April 2024 calling for the separation of merit increases from performance, proposing a yearly flat salary increase from 3 to 5 percent.
Zoe Szajnfarber, a professor of engineering management and systems engineering and Granberg’s senior artificial intelligence advisor, said during her presentation to staff on the University’s AI mapping exercise that preliminary qualitative data detailed a “productive diversity” of viewpoints about how to advance the University’s use of AI in accordance with its academic mission. She said making information about AI helpful and accessible is a priority for officials going forward.
“Most people weren’t even aware there was someone you could talk to, and so a big thing that we have to think about is how to make sure that the information is accessible, not just people can find it, but it’s at the level that is helpful for people to be able to use them,” Szajnfarber said.
Szajnfarber said the data showed that many individuals were learning to use AI by talking to their peers, but did not receive formal communication from officials about the University’s current policies and procedures for using AI across academic and operational departments. She said results indicated community members are looking for “top-down” statements from officials about their views on AI because some faculty and staff members feel the University’s positions on AI are unclear. She also added that the data reflected a “strong desire” for role-specific AI training.
“We can do a lot better to be able to distribute the information through things like ambassadors who have some amount of training,” Szajnfarber said.
Staff Council Vice President Andrea Johnson asked Szajnfarber if survey participants expressed worries about the University using AI to reduce or replace staff roles. Szajnfarber said while the data did show that trend, her conversations with University officials did not reflect a move toward replacing staff with AI.
“The message about how people are using it is very much to be able to do more with current, not to think about reduction,” Szajnfarber said.
During the council’s Inside the Administration series — where officials visit the council’s monthly meetings to discuss their roles at the University — Associate Vice President for Government and Community Relations Renee McPhatter said part of the Office of Government and Community Relations’ responsibilities is to serve as the primary liaison to the local and federal government. She said the staff of four employees coordinates the University’s advocacy efforts like submitting comments to the Department of Education during comment periods on new proposals, going to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission to discuss GW’s zoning agreements with the city and testifying before the D.C. Council to support legislation for student athletes.
She added that OGCR works with organizations like the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Washington Partnership and the Association of American Universities to “amplify” the voice of the University.
McPhatter said OGCR’s work since President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders targeting higher education in 2025 has been mostly reactive, but officials are now moving in a proactive direction. She said despite the Trump administration’s executive actions changing the climate of higher education across the country, the American public began questioning the “value proposition” of higher education before he took office for his second term, making it necessary for the University to “strive” to make GW more valuable.
“We need to show how we are good partners, that there is a value to higher education on multiple levels,” McPhatter said.
Since Trump took office for his second term, he passed executive orders revoking international student visas, cutting research awards and cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in higher education, bringing several hundred lawsuits against the administration and the U.S. government.
In response to Galván’s question regarding the OGCR’s role in advocating for regional issues like affordable housing, transportation and local employment policy that impact GW staff, McPhatter said OGCR continues to work with the Greater Washington Partnership and the D.C. Chamber of Commerce to collaborate on solutions to the region’s affordable housing deficit. She said the city needs to “streamline” the zoning and permitting process to allow for greater density and reduce new construction wait times because the housing deficit has “severe consequences” for the University’s operations.
“It is hard to stay in a place if you can’t find affordable housing,” McPhatter said. “It’s hard to recruit students, faculty and staff if the area that they’re coming to, there’s no affordable housing.”
The Staff Council unanimously passed a resolution recommending officials adopt a weather flex policy that takes staff into consideration and gives them the ability to make decision regarding their own personal safety in the event of severe weather conditions. Councilmembers said the resolution comes after officials have made last-minute decisions with minimal communication or guidance, and with little consideration for staff not living in the Foggy Bottom area, such as when forecasts indicated the potential for tornado-producing storms in March.
Gianna Jakubowski contributed reporting.
