ByGeorge!

April 6, 2004

Elliott School Reorganizes in Response to Rapid Growth

Continued Enrollment Increase Drives Internal Reorganization; Two Graduate Programs Change Names


The Elliott School of International Affairs has undertaken a reorganization plan to improve planning and coordination as the number of students, faculty, academic programs, research activities and public events continues to grow. The reorganization adds an associate deanship and renames two academic programs.

According to Dean Harry Harding, the main purposes of the reorganization are to improve long-term planning — including enrollment management and budgeting — to enhance coordination of academic programs and student services, and to maintain the school’s ability to design and implement innovative new programs.

“Our enrollments, our research activity and our visibility are all growing rapidly,” Harding said. “At the same time, we intend to develop important new educational initiatives such as the new ‘Writing in the Disciplines’ and other programs designed to increase student-faculty engagement. All this will require more careful budgeting of financial and human resources, and then better coordination across what has become a far more complex organization.”

The “Writing in the Disciplines” initiative is part of a larger University Writing Program that aims to instill writing and analytical skills in all students at a general level and then in a course-specific fashion.

Harding has a panel of deans reporting to him now: Ed McCord has been named associate dean for faculty and student affairs; Hugh Agnew will continue as associate dean for academic programs; and Kristin Lord has been tapped, on an interim basis, for the new position of associate dean for management and planning, which focuses on coordination among Elliott School units, budgets, student enrollments, public affairs and advancement.

In addition to these administrative changes, two graduate programs have been renamed to more accurately reflect their missions.

The Master of Arts in International Science and Technology Policy, formerly called the Science and Technology Policy Program, is administered by GW’s Center for International Science and Technology Policy (CISTP). The program trains students to understand and manage issues at the intersection of science, technology, industrial strategy and structure, and government policy. The name change more accurately describes CISTP’s comparative approach to science and technology policy and government policy as they apply to international relations.

The Master of Arts in Latin American and Hemispheric Studies, formerly called the MA in Latin American Studies, now reflects the increasing integration of Latin America and Caribbean affairs with those of North America. Administered by GW’s Latin American Studies Program, its mission is to provide students with an interdisciplinary foundation of knowledge about Latin America and the Caribbean.


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