Dear Colleagues:
In her message this week, President Granberg welcomed our community to an exciting spring semester and reaffirmed our university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and free expression. Our faculty members remain a critical factor in modeling and advancing these values, and I remain grateful for all your efforts on behalf of our students and our university.
As a community, we are entering the spring semester energized and ready to advance existing and new initiatives. While the work of the strategic framework continues, we are in the beginning stages of our Middle States Commission on Higher Education reaccreditation process, which will take two years and involve the participation of many of our faculty members on the steering committee, subcommittees, and more. We are also excited to host the inaugural InnovationFest, which will celebrate research, scholarship, creativity, and entrepreneurship across GW. There is much in store for our community in the coming months, and I look forward to working alongside you to advance these efforts.
A few items of business:
I would like to remind faculty that the Blackboard Ally tool is available to assist you in making your online course materials more accessible. The Center for Teaching Excellence offers a range of resources for using Blackboard Ally, including workshops and how-to guides. If you have any questions or need further assistance, personalized support is available by emailing [email protected].
Also, I encourage full-time faculty to volunteer to serve as members of Conflict Education and Student Accountability’s (CESA) academic integrity panels. I have heard from faculty leaders the importance of facilitating faculty participation in these panels in order to ensure a broad pool of expertise and a consistent experience for students. To serve the university community as a panelist, faculty complete a brief, asynchronous online training. Panels convene via Zoom for two or three-hour time blocks as needed and as available. Please complete this form to indicate interest or nominate someone else, and email [email protected] with any questions.
As always, thank you for your dedicated teaching, research, and service. I wish you a productive and engaging spring semester.
Christopher Alan Bracey
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of Law