December 2004
GWs Burgeoning New Campus
Transforming the Mount Vernon Campus from a Quiet Womens
College to a Bustling Resource in the Universitys Academic Arsenal
By Thomas
Kohout
Its a tough job to add a new campus to a close-knit University
and seamlessly integrate it into campus life. Its tougher still
when the new campus already has a history of its own. Finding a way to
incorporate that culture into the existing community, while maintaining
a sense of legacy is the crux of the challenge. So its not surprising
that seven years after The George Washington University forged a relationship
with Mount Vernon College and Seminary, GW has only begun to capitalize
on the 25-acre campus located among the tony addresses along Foxhall Road.
Prior to the start of the 200304 academic year, the University established
a two-pronged approach to developing an identity for the Mount Vernon
Campus. New positions were created with an eye toward fostering student
affairs and student life as well as academic interest in Mount Vernon
and maximizing the wealth of physical resources offered by the campus.
Frederic A. Siegel returned to GW as the new associate vice president
and dean of freshmen under Student and Academic Support Services. Rachelle
Heller, professor of engineering and applied science and former SEAS associate
dean, was selected to serve as associate dean for academic affairs at
the Mount Vernon Campus. In the 18 months since their appointments, the
duo worked to develop a clearer picture of the scenic campus just three
miles from Foggy Bottom.
My perception had been that the Mount Vernon Campus was an ad hoc
solution for a series of problems without a defined plan, said Siegel.
Its a perception, according to Siegel, that many in the administration
had already identified and Grae Baxter, the former executive dean at the
campus, had already started to repair.
Before I got here that all started to shift, Siegel recalled.
[Baxter] brought the Honors Program and many honors students to
campus, the facilities were brought up to GW standards, the campus became
coed and things were becoming more like GW, but it was still such a new
phenomenon that the three miles separating Foggy Bottom from Foxhall Road
still suggested to the outside world that this was merely a satellite
of The George Washington University and not the real thing.
The vision Siegel and Heller saw for Mount Vernon was to establish the
campus as a fully integrated piece of The George Washington University
while maintaining the legacy of Elizabeth Somers and the Mount Vernon
College. What they developed was Scholars Village, which brings
together several academic-residential programs for all levels of undergraduates
in several specific discipline and multidiscipline programs.
The Womens Leadership Program is a flagship program of this
campus, said Heller about the year-long freshman experience focusing
on issues of leadership for women within the four cohorts Women
in International Arts and Culture, Women in Science and Medicine, Women
in US and International Politics, and Women in International Development.
The goal is to develop the Mount Vernon Campus as a home for unique
integrative learning opportunities. I think we really will maintain our
identity and certainly maintain the legacy of Elizabeth Somers through
activities such as these.
In addition to the Womens Leadership Program, the campus hosts an
artists community as well as the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
new Deans Scholars in Globalization program and the 50 members of
the Honors Community at Mount Vernon.
Along with developing and expanding the academic-residential programs,
Siegel and Heller launched an all-out offensive to educate the community
about the virtues of Mount Vernon such as wireless Internet access
in the science building, dining halls and on the quad, as well as the
new dance and exercise studio and the athletic complex with its swimming
pool, tennis courts,and softball and soccer fields. Siegel brought prospective
students for campus visits and hosted Colonial Inauguration groups and
welcome week activities at Mount Vernon to ensure each of them had an
opportunity to see the campus, understand how quick it is to travel between
Foggy Bottom and Foxhall Road, and find out whats there.
Heller had her own marketing job to do, touting the campuss academic
facilities such as the science labs and the renovated Hand Chapel to motivate
the faculty to bring their classes to the campus. Among the key selling
points, said Heller, is the more traditional liberal arts college setting.
So far that vision has succeeded beyond expectations. The residence facilities
on the Mount Vernon Campus are nearly at capacity with 400 freshmen and
an additional 60 upperclassmen. And of the 400 freshmen at Mount Vernon,
more than 360 named the campus as one of their top three choices.
Clearly the people visiting the campus were taking a look and deciding
to live there, said Siegel. Im looking to find the people
who, if they see it, really want to live on the Mount Vernon Campus.
The campuss size is a resource, explained Heller. You
cant run these intimate academic residential programs on a big campus.
There is an intellectual intimacy. If you see each other a little bit
more, there is that contact. The classrooms here dictate small class sizes;
its the nature of the place.
This spring Mount Vernon will house more than 200 classes covering everything
from A to W anthropology to womens studies. Wed
go to Z, added Heller, except we dont offer zoology.
Siegel expects enrollments in those 200 courses to exceed 4,000, with
roughly 2,500 students taking at least one class at Mount Vernon
about 25 percent of the Universitys undergraduate population.
Why has the popularity spiked? In part because just at the moment the
facilities were brought up to speed and a plan was in place to develop
their resources, Foggy Bottom underwent a classroom crunch.
We were in a lucky place at a lucky time, explained Heller.
There is a lot of building going on at the Foggy Bottom Campus and
a lot of classrooms were coming off line. Just at the time that we had
our heads straight about how we wanted to grow at The Mount Vernon Campus,
it came together purposefully with the need of the University. We were
ready to grow, we had the staff to grow and we started lobbying faculty.
The Universitys revamped shuttle service is another reason Siegel
and Heller were able to capitalize on the increased demand for Mount Vernon.
Back in 1997, when GW started teaching courses at the Mount Vernon Campus,
there were just two vans operating. Now the University operates shuttle
services around the clock. Between 7 am and 7 pm at least 10 busses continuously
travel the three-mile artery linking the campuses. During the 37
pm ridership peak, 11 busses are on the road. In the evening hours busses
run every 15 minutes from 8 pm to midnight and every 30 minutes from midnight
to 6 am.
Siegel points with pride toward the services staggering increase
in ridership. In September more than 80,000 riders boarded the Mount Vernon
shuttle, and in October that number jumped beyond 90,000. Over the course
of the 200304 academic year an excess of 400,000 riders traveled
between campuses. This year that figure is expected to top the half million
mark.
Thats really an indication of whats at play and how
much activity is going on between the two campuses, Siegel said.
He and Heller point to the campuss 460 residents and the roughly
2,500 students taking classes at Mount Vernon to show how out of balance
those numbers are with the volume of people traveling between Foggy Bottom
and Foxhall.
Who are these additional students, Heller asked. They
are students who are realizing the value and resources of this campus.
They are students coming for sports activities, theyre coming for
the Eckles Library, theyre coming to hang out with their friends,
theyre coming for our jazz brunch, and theyre now coming for
our dining hall. Weve created something that the whole GW community
has discovered.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
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