After months of rigorous discussion and analysis, the Innovation Task Force Exploration Committee will present its phase five leading innovation ideas to the George Washington community next week at two “showcases of ideas.”
The meetings, scheduled for Nov. 13 on the Foggy Bottom Campus and Nov. 15 on the Virginia Science and Technology Campus, are designed to solicit community-wide feedback with the goal of winnowing down the list to six initiatives on which to move forward. Each showcase will feature brief overviews of the top-ranked proposals, followed by breakout sessions focusing on individual initiatives.
After the community meetings, the top proposals will be presented to President Steven Knapp and his council of senior administrators for final selection, followed by implementation planning, which will begin soon thereafter.
“The Exploration Committee, led by Wendy Martino and Christine Pintz, has done an excellent job of identifying and analyzing the next set of ideas for implementation,” said Dave Lawlor, senior associate vice president for finance and co-chairman of the Innovation Task Force Steering Committee. “We hope to see as many GW community members as possible at the upcoming showcases because community participation is key to both the ITF vision and the success of its proposed projects.”
Five of the leading innovation ideas focus on veterans programs, said Ms. Martino, GW’s director of business process management in the Division of Operations. “We designed a package of ideas to complement GW’s ‘military friendly’ and ‘Best for Vets’ ratings,” she explained, yielding the following field of finalists:
Online General Education Courses for Military Personnel – Offer general education courses to a targeted military/Department of Defense audience.
Second Service Certificate Program – Create a certificate program to prepare active duty, reserve military personnel and veterans for elected office and other public service careers.
Transitions to Nursing Program - Create a program to assist in transitioning military personnel and veterans trained as medics and independent duty corpsmen into careers as military or private sector nursing professionals.
Semester in Washington for Veterans – Create a one-semester experience for veterans, in conjunction with existing programs, to prepare the next generation of veteran political leaders.
GW Extension on Location at a Military Facility in the Area – Provide program offerings onsite at a military facility in the Washington region.
Rounding out the group of top innovation ideas that will be discussed at next week’s showcases are:
Training for International Judges – Create a series of one-week seminars to share best practices with judges from developing nations on the processes and policies of American courts.
Organizational Ethics Certificate – Establish an organizational ethics graduate certificate program with a focus on corporate responsibility, compliance and federal regulations.
Sustainability Leadership Certificate – Create a sustainability leadership graduate certificate focusing on federal employees and organizations with sustainability initiatives and personnel.
Expanded Unpaid Leave – Allow employees to take voluntary unpaid leave during low activity periods when business operations allow.