2015 was another big year at GW. The University’s new policy on standardized tests made national headlines. Sexual violence prevention became a bigger topic on campus, leading to new students going through in-person training for the first time. And with big budget cuts and top administrators stepping down, we said goodbye to some professors and provosts.
Here are some of the most newsworthy moments of the last year.
A semester of farewells
Since August four top administrators have stepped down. Provost Steven Lerman announced he would end his tenure as provost at the end of December to take a year-long sabbatical and return to GW as an endowed professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Two other University leaders from the provost’s office stepped down soon afterward. Terri Harris Reed, the former vice provost for diversity and inclusion, left in September to work at Spelman College. In October Paul Schiff Berman, the vice provost for online education and academic innovation, said he would step down from his post in 2016 and return to serving as a faculty member in the law school, but his position is not likely to be filled.
Unlicensed amid mental health prioritization
The University announced in September that Silvio Weisner had stepped down from his position as director of Mental Health Services. According to documents from the D.C. Department of Health, Weisner and an associate director in the counseling center who had also stepped down unannounced were unlicensed to practice as a psychologist in the District.
Weisner’s resignation came as the University focused its efforts on improving mental health and counseling services and options. A portion of this year’s three percent tuition increase was set aside for expanding mental health services, and by April the counseling center had hired five new specialized clinicians in four months. Student leaders also saw their mental health priorities approved, as officials approved a peer support program in January that’s due to open next fall.
Budget pressures
Budget challenges plagued the University starting in 2014, and continued this year as graduate enrollment declined across departments. University President Steven Knapp announced 5 percent cuts to all administrative divisions across campus in March and Lerman said budget cuts would delay part of the University-wide strategic plan.
Academic departments like music, creative writing and the University Writing program also faced cost-cutting measures, and 46 staff members who worked in the University’s central administration were laid off without warning in April. Knapp announced earlier this month that central administrative units would have to cut 3 to 5 percent of their budgets over the next five fiscal years.
A change in attitude toward sexual assault on campus
of GW’s first sexual climate survey. Hatchet File Photo.
After the results from GW’s first survey on unwanted sexual behaviors on campus were released in February, the University’s Title IX Coordinator Rory Muhammad called for more prevention training, especially among “high-risk” groups like female upperclassmen and LGBT students.
The University announced it would roll out a required online sexual violence prevention training for incoming students, which student leaders said was not as effective as in-person training. Knapp agreed to in-person trainings after members of Students Against Sexual Assault and other students marched on Rice Hall in April, demanding the in-person trainings also be required.
No test, no problem
The University announced in July that undergraduate applicants would no longer be required to provide SAT or ACT scores as part of their applications, which officials pitched as a way to attract underrepresented student populations. Other partnerships with groups like the Posse Foundation were also part of Knapp’s agenda to improve access for potential applicants and fall in line with an effort to keep more students at GW.
The announcement came after GW’s highest acceptance rate in more than a decade of 45 percent for the class of 2019.
Famous faces in Foggy Bottom
Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at University-wide Commencement in May, looking out on the West Wing of the White House. He charged graduates to live by their morals and find their own “north stars.”
Political comedian Jon Stewart also paid a visit to campus to perform two shows during Colonials Weekend, but not without first breaking the Internet when tickets went on sale over the summer.
