Continued governance oversight and examinations of enrollment strategy and volunteer engagement will largely direct the George Washington University Board of Trustees’ work this academic year, Chair Nelson A. Carbonell Jr. told the Faculty Senate on Friday.
“The driving force behind the board’s work in my time as chair has been working on governance and improving governance at the university,” said Mr. Carbonell, B.S. ’85, who completes his second term as chair after this academic year.
In the near term, that includes shared governance such as partnering with the Faculty Senate to identify improvements to the Faculty Code—for example, with the grievance review process.
The board also is undertaking the triennial review of its bylaws, which dictate how the board operates and is part of its normal course of business.
An important part of the bylaw review, Mr. Carbonell said, is looking at the university’s mission statement—a recommendation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education review team—and possibly simplifying it.
This year, the board also formed a new Committee on Strategic Enrollment, which will take a closer look at GW’s overarching undergraduate and graduate enrollment strategies and how they might evolve and shape the university over the long term, Mr. Carbonell said.
The Volunteer Engagement Task Force also will continue its work and focus on reimagining a world-class alumni association that is “the envy of our peers,” Mr. Carbonell said.
This spring, the board also will conduct a comprehensive review of President Thomas LeBlanc, Mr. Carbonell said, adding the review is part of the president’s contract and intended to give him feedback from the university community in a timely fashion.
Reflecting on his time as chair, Mr. Carbonell said he is “very proud of GW and what we’ve been able to do.”
“I look forward to a productive year ahead,” he said.
Faculty salary equity
Also Friday, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Christopher Bracey provided a progress report on the work of the Salary Equity Committee, which developed a methodology to review GW faculty salary data within each school or college and identify outliers.
Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Christopher Bracey presents to Faculty Senate. (William Atkins/GW Today)
Deans can then review the data and outliers with the Office of the Provost and together determine whether “legitimate factors” caused a faculty member’s salary to be significantly lower than a comparable faculty member in the same department at the same rank, and then make adjustments as warranted.
A legitimate factor justifying a lower salary may be a performance issue or the presence of a couple of high-earning colleagues who were hired at an advanced stage from a competing institution.
“Ultimately the goal here is to ensure the university has allocated its salaries to faculty in a legitimate way,” Mr. Bracey said.
Now that the faculty and staff committee has determined the methodology for the review, Mr. Bracey said, future reviews could be completed on a regular basis, supporting ongoing equity in faculty salary.
“This is important work,” Provost Forrest Maltzman said. “It is a complex process, but worth the effort and time to make sure we are treating people appropriately and fairly.”
Mark Diaz introduction
The Faculty Senate also met Mark Diaz, GW’s new executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Mr. Diaz—who has experience in health care and university finances as well as institutional culture—“brings a lot of depth of experience in all the things that we care about,” Dr. LeBlanc said.
A respect for shared governance and dedication to supporting the university’s academic mission drives Mr. Diaz’s work, he said.
“I do believe that I’m here to support the mission and those that are really driving the mission, which are the faculty,” Mr. Diaz said.
Other updates
- Dr. LeBlanc updated the senate on his travels to meet GW alumni, families, donors and other community members, which took him most recently to Los Angeles for a gift signing and Chicago for community events. He added that alumni and others are enthusiastic about helping GW and can support the university by doing three things: being a brand ambassador, hiring GW students and alumni and supporting GW philanthropically. Dr. LeBlanc also reminded faculty of the importance of participating in the culture survey. All regular full-time and part-time faculty and staff received an email with the survey link Monday.
- Dr. Maltzman announced that the university has formed dean search committees for both the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. He also noted faculty and staff are working diligently on the research ecosystem review and on improving the student experience.
