The GW
HATCHET
November 18, 2024 Vol. 121 Iss. 14
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
MFA lost more than $107 million in FY2024, financial documents show
Graduate student workers vote to unionize
HANNAH MARR
SACHINI ADIKARI
NEWS EDITOR
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
The Medical Faculty Associates lost more than $107 million in fiscal year 2024, more than doubling officials’ projected deficit and marking its greatest annual loss since GW assumed control of the medical enterprise. Officials said last October that they expected the MFA — a group of physicians and faculty from the School of Medicine & Health Sciences and physicians at the GW Hospital — to lose between $30 and $50 million in FY2024 after they lost nearly $80 million in FY2023 and another $80 million in FY2022, accordJERRY LAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ing to the financial state- The entrance to the Medical Faculty Associates building on Pennsylvania Avenue ments, which are audited each fall by accounting more this fiscal year than expected influenced their held liable for decisions firm Grant Thornton, LLP. the last two fiscal years decision to hire Elliott. the MFA makes, meaning “Since Bill Elliott GW would have to pay the Chief Financial Officer or when officials became Bruno Fernandes declined aware that the MFA was joined the MFA as CEO in MFA’s borrowed debts if it to comment on why the expected to lose more than May, he has been address- were to file for bankruptcy. MFA lost more than $107 they initially projected. He ing an array of issues com- Faculty senators have long million this fiscal year declined to say when offi- prehensively with the goal pressured the University and what officials think cials will reevaluate their of building a sustainable to reevaluate the MFA’s caused the MFA’s losses to financial support for the clinical practice to support financial losses and their surpass initial projections. enterprise and if they’ve the region’s health and potential effects on GW’s declaring well-being while provid- “underfunded areas,” like MFA Chief Executive considered Officer Bill Elliott said bankruptcy on the MFA or ing the essential training student financial aid and setting for our SMHS stu- undergraduate education. in an email obtained by selling it. He also declined to say dents and residents,” FerThe Hatchet sent to MFA Officials walked staff before his and Fer- how much he projects the nandes said in an email. back predictions that the The MFA spent more MFA would break even nandes’ update during MFA to lose in FY2025. last week’s Faculty Senate Faculty senators went into than $485 million and in FY2022 and FY2023. meeting that the GW and executive session during racked in slightly more Fernandes said last year MFA boards of trustees last week’s senate meet- than $377 million in rev- that he doubted the MFA and the MFA’s leadership ing to hear Fernandes’ enue in FY2024, following would break even in agree that the enterprise’s annual MFA’s fiscal year a similar spending trend FY2024. “continued and significant update, where he typically in FY2023 where officials University President losses” are “unacceptable publicly shares how much spent nearly $450 million Ellen Granberg said in officials project the MFA and made about $370 mil- September that officials and unsustainable.” He said it is evident to lose during the current lion in revenue. The report over the past year have that “additional operation- fiscal year. All nonsenate also states that the MFA increasingly recognized al and structural changes” and nonadministrative at- has accumulated a total of the MFA as a “modern are needed to ensure the tendees are not allowed to $272,107,000 of debt to GW clinical management pracand a $120 million debt to tice,” which encouraged MFA is financially viable. attend executive session. Fernandes said despite other entities, which likely officials to hire Elliott. She Elliott said it is currently premature to discuss ongoing efforts to “cur- includes EagleBank, the also said the MFA is consome of the “possible fu- tail” the MFA’s losses, the MFA’s primary external tinuing to make all debt ture changes” to the MFA’s boards of trustees oversee- lender. payments to GW on time. The University’s verstructure, but he can as- ing both GW and the MFA Former MFA CFO Robsure staff that they will decided that bringing on biage surrounding the in Nichols left the entercontinue looking for ways a full-time CEO was “nec- MFA in recent months prise earlier this year less to improve the MFA’s per- essary.” Officials hired has departed from previ- than nine months after Elliott in May to serve as ous statements, diverging she began her role as CFO formance. “No idea is off the table interim CEO after former from maintaining that the on Oct. 16, 2023, with offiand we are committed to CEO and SMHS Dean Bar- MFA has faced “strong cials listing a job posting finding sustainable, long- bara Bass stepped down to headwinds” due to infla- on July 2, 2024. University term solutions that will allow for “full-time leader- tion after officials pub- spokesperson Julia Metjibenefit the MFA’s patients, ship” to lead, and appoint- lished the FY2023 consoli- an declined to say if Nichand the clinicians and ed him permanent CEO in dated financial documents ols resigned or was fired. last year, to last week staff who care for them ev- October. She also declined to Fernandes declined pointing out the MFA’s comment on the status of ery day,” Elliott said in the to say if officials’ realiza- “deep and systemic chal- hiring a new CFO because email. Fernandes declined to tion that the MFA would lenges.” the University “will not” The financial state- comment on personnel comment on why the MFA lose more than $50 millost almost $30 million lion more than initially ments say that GW is matters.
TYLER IGLESIAS
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Graduate student employees overwhelmingly voted to unionize Tuesday and Wednesday after publicly launching unionization efforts last month and unsuccessful attempts to do so among graduate students more than six years ago. 99.4 percent of the 349 graduate assistant workers who participated in the election in the University Student Center voted to unionize through the GWU Graduate Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union Local 500, according to their Instagram. Graduate workers involved in the union said the election is “monumental” for graduate assistants as they look to improve the pay and benefits for their roles at the University. Provost Chris Bracey and Suresh Subramaniam, the vice provost for graduate and postdoctoral affairs, sent an email to graduate assistants Thursday informing the workers that a majority of voters favored unionization. The officials said that they have made their commitment to supporting graduate assistants “clear” as the employees contribute to the University’s academic mission. “We will continue to work diligently with you to ensure that you have a meaningful and successful graduate experience at GW, and we look forward to your continued contributions to our scholarly community,” Bracey and Subramaniam
said in the email. University spokesperson Julia Metjian said the University will work “diligently” with graduate students to make sure they have a meaningful and successful graduate experience at the University. “We look forward to their continued contributions to our scholarly community,” Metjian said. Employees can unionize through an election run through the National Labor Relations Board, the method used by GW graduate students or via voluntary recognition by their employer. Once employees have collected authorization cards — or documents that express support for union representation — from at least 30 percent of employees, the group can file a petition to hold an election. Employees can ask for voluntary recognition once they have cards from a majority of employees, according to the National Labor Relations Act. If a group goes through the voluntary process, the employer has the right to deny recognition, forcing the employees to either strike for recognition or petition for an election. If a group of employees files for an election, they must receive more than 50 percent of the vote to require the employer to begin bargaining negotiations, according to the National Labor Relations Act. Leaders in GWU2 said they had “hundreds” of graduate student workers sign authorization cards during their October launch event. SEIU Local 500 filed a petition for an election on behalf of the group on Oct. 7, according to NLRB filings.
RACHEL KURLANDSKY | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Members of GWU Graduate Student Workers United celebrate the launch of union efforts in October.
Religion faculty say lack of full-time professors stifles course variety SACHINI ADIKARI
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
Faculty in the Department of Religion said a lack of University funding has led to a shortage of full-time professors and gaps in the depth of religion course offerings. Professors within the department said GW is not providing them with the necessary funding to fill vacancies for full-time faculty, which has created heavier workloads for existing faculty and stripped the department of the capacity to offer advanced courses on all major world religions. Faculty said there are currently no full-time faculty that teach courses on Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, which they said has hindered the depth of student learning on the trio of religions amid reported student demand for more religious course offerings. The department currently has nine core faculty, according to its website. Between 2014 and 2023, two full-time religion professors left, shrinking the department from eight to six full-time faculty, causing a 25 percent drop in full-time faculty within the department and a 42.9 percent decrease in all tenured and tenure track full-time faculty within the department after three tenured and tenure track faculty left, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning internal faculty dashboard data obtained by The Hatchet. Columbian College of Arts & Sciences Vice Dean for Programs and Operations Kim Gross said hiring additional full-time faculty is determined by factors, like student enrollment, “short-term fiscal considerations,” scholarship needs and the “local market” for part-time faculty in the “vacated discipline.” “The department’s size does
The Department of Religion building, located at the corner of 22nd and F streets.
not diminish the importance of its work, particularly when looking at what’s happening in the world today,” Gross said in an email. “Through this and other disciplines within the college, students gain a critical understanding of those from different faiths and cultural backgrounds and gain the ability to talk across differences and bridge divides.” Five students are declared religion majors in 2024, according to the enrollment dashboard. In 2017, there were 10 declared religion majors on campus. There are currently no live job postings for religion faculty positions.
Gross said the University annually reviews support and resources for the department and that after staffing turnover, the University has a “full-time administrator in place supporting the department” but did not specify when the turnover occurred or when the administrator was placed. She said officials have hired temporary parttime faculty to ensure courses were covered where there was demand for them. “The department chair acts as the primary liaison between the department faculty and the dean’s office on these issues,” Gross said in an email. “We work with the chairs
TALAN MASKIVISH | PHOTOGRAPHER
to determine departmental needs and how best to meet them.” Students majoring in religion must complete an Introduction to World Religions prerequisite, a required course titled Thinking About Religion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches, a required Senior Capstone Seminar and nine religion electives ranging from The New Testament to Islam and Hinduism in South Asia. Gross said the department has offered a “similar” number of undergraduate courses over the past three years, including this academic year. The department initially offered 26 courses for the fall 2024
semester, but six were canceled post-registration, according to the schedule of classes. In fall 2017, the department also offered 26 classes. Irene Oh, the chair of the department, said the lack of funding for full-time faculty in Christianity and Hinduism relates to the University’s limited budget and “differing priorities” between the department and the dean’s office, not because of poor communication between the two offices. “I am hopeful, however, that this situation will be rectified, as a well-rounded Religion Department would demonstrate GW’s commitment to the liberal arts,” Oh said in an email. Oh said within the last decade, three of the seven tenured and tenure-line faculty have left but have not been replaced. She said the department has attempted to meet student demand for more course offerings by hiring part-time faculty, adding that GW as a research institution should have tenured professors in religious studies because religion is needed to understand topics, like artificial intelligence and war. Robert Eisen, a professor of religion and the former chair of the department, said requests from department faculty to hire full-time professors have been “consistently” denied by the University in recent years, and he said that “resources” from GW have diminished over his 34 years in the department, which has made it difficult to provide a full curriculum in religion. Eisen said the department lacks full-time professors for three of the six global religions that are practiced most widely — Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism. He said the department has never had a full-time professor specializing in Buddhism.