High-Impact Research Strategic Planning Committee Announces Public Forum

The first public forum on Oct. 10 will seek feedback from the GW research community as the committee works toward recommendations on high-impact research for the university’s strategic plan.

October 7, 2019

The High-Impact Research Planning Committee will hold a public forum Thursday where the committee will invite feedback from the George Washington University community on questions that will help to form recommendations aimed at developing a strategy for improving research productivity across the university.

The first forum from noon to 2 p.m. on Oct. 10 will be held in the Executive Case Room on the seventh floor of the Milken Institute School of Public Health, 950 New Hampshire Ave. NW.

The High-Impact Research Committee of the strategic plan will articulate where the university’s research portfolio should be in five years and how to get there. The committee’s work differs from that of the Research Ecosystem Review, which is part of the Research Initiative, one of the original five initiatives launched upon President Thomas LeBlanc’s arrival at GW. The Research Ecosystem Review’s  primary function is to assess and evaluate the current state of the operational side of the research enterprise.

In its first public forum, the High-Impact Research Committee of the strategic plan will be looking for feedback on the following questions:

  • What does high-impact research mean in your discipline?
  • What metrics are used to assess research success in your discipline?
  • What impediments do you encounter when conducting your research at GW?
  • What university resources or commitments would facilitate the conduct of your research?

Alan E. Greenberg, M.D. ’82, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Milken Institute School of Public Health and director of the DC Center for AIDS Research, serves as chair of the High-Impact Research Planning Committee. Diana Burley, a professor in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development and executive director and chair of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection, serves as vice chair of the committee.

Dr. Greenberg said that the committee "is grateful for the opportunity to engage broadly in a dialogue with the GW community.”

“Faculty, students, staff and administrators will help to chart a course toward preeminence in research across the university,” Dr. Greenberg said. “We actively encourage you to share your thoughts with the committee—through a series of town hall meetings, by submitting comments through the strategic planning portal, by connecting with the faculty representatives at your individual schools and through the online student survey that will soon be available.

“We intend this to be an iterative process that will begin with some broad questions and that subsequently will focus on more specific issues and recommendations."

For those who cannot attend the public forum in person, you can follow on WebEx (meeting number access code 731 486 187) or join by phone at 1-855-282-6330. You can also submit feedback to the four questions above through strategic plan website.