The GW
HATCHET
March 31, 2025 Vol. 121 Iss. 23
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
Officials must boost staff-student ratio to reduce burnout, experts say ARJUN SRINIVAS REPORTER
DAVIS LENHARDT REPORTER
SAGE RUSSELL | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Heather Bamford, a faculty senator and a tenured professor of Spanish literature, asks University President Ellen Granberg a question during a Faculty Senate meeting this year.
Number of tenured, tenure-track faculty falls to decade low NIDHI NAIR REPORTER
SACHINI ADIKARI
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
After tenured and tenure-track status for regular faculty dropped to a decade low this academic year, faculty said the steady decline in the number of tenured and tenure-line faculty could harm the University’s research mission. Provost Chris Bracey presented data at this month’s Faculty Senate meeting that showed a steady reduction in tenure status for all regular faculty, falling from 77.8 percent of faculty in fall 2014 to 70.7 percent in fall 2024. Professors said tenured positions are “critical” to GW’s research mission because they provide job security to faculty, warning that officials’ replacement of tenured and tenure-line facul-
ty with specialized faculty masks the waning tenure lines across the University that could stifle relationships between students and professors. Regular faculty are fulltime faculty with the titles of University professor, professor, associate professor, assistant professor and instructor, that are tenured or tenure-track, according to the Faculty Code. Academic tenure provides faculty with an academic freedom safeguard, according to the American Association of University Professors. Specialized faculty are faculty on a renewable contract that do not hold a regular or tenured appointment at another university, according to the Faculty Code. Specialized faculty have a nine-or-12month appointment at GW and have “contractual responsibilities” for research,
teaching or service. University spokesperson Julia Garbitt said “personnel head counts” in a given school are linked to a “variety of financial factors” and that schools with “strong” enrollment can financially support additional tenure or tenure-track faculty. “As the University is a tuition-driven institution, strong enrollments within our schools can support additional investment, but it is important that the University does not over-invest in order to avoid future financial roadblocks,” Garbitt said in an email. The University made $1.781 billion in operating revenue in fiscal year 2024, with tuition revenue making up 46 percent of the total operating revenue, according to a 2024 financial report. See FACULTY Page 5
The University’s fulltime staff-to-student ratio was the second-lowest out of its 12 peer schools in 2023, a dip that experts warn may heighten staff burnout and impede student and faculty support. GW’s ratio of fulltime staff to students sat at roughly 21.5 to 100 in 2023, which Provost Chris Bracey said at a Faculty Senate meeting earlier this month demonstrates officials’ need to prioritize hiring additional staff, given that student success hinges on the support that staff bring to different departments. Bracey said the University is in the process of hiring additional staff, which education experts say will help mitigate staff burnout and
improve the student experience. Last year, GW ranked third-to-last on its fulltime staff-to-student ratio in comparison to peer schools in 2022, landing above Northeastern University, with a staff-student ratio of almost 20 to 100, and New York University, with an average of just over 21 staffers per 100 students. In the 2023 data, NYU’s ratio rose to almost 22.5 staff for every 100 students and Northeastern’s ratio increased to roughly 21 to 100. GW’s ratio remained relatively unchanged, moving from 21.49 staffers per every 100 students in 2022 to 21.73 in 2023. The University of Rochester had the highest staff-student ratios in both the 2022 and 2023 data sets at 44 to 100. Tufts University took second place both years, with 38 staffers per every 100 students
An employee sits at the front desk of the Disability Support Services office.
in 2023. Bracey said at the meeting that the University will focus on increasing staffing at student and faculty facing offices like IT, “building services” and Disability Support Services. DSS staffing this year grew from seven personnel in June to 14 by November after a period of high turnover, which students said limited support last year. “The good news is that we’re staffing up to restore some of those key functions that are needed to advance our academic enterprise,” Bracey said at the meeting. “We’re going to continue to do that to ensure that the experience of our faculty and students meets the expectations established by our reputation and, perhaps more importantly, by our price tag.” See NUMBERS Page 5
HATCHET FILE PHOTO
Tally of undergraduates studying across schools peaks after 2023 drop
GW researchers lose five NIH grants amid funding cuts
NATALIE NOTE
JENNA LEE
VICTORIA SMAJLAJ
The National Institutes of Health has canceled at least five GW research grants this month, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. In March, the NIH canceled the five grants — totaling more than $3 million in lost funding — for studies by GW researchers that examined the effects of HIV on racial minority populations in the United States, according to a list of terminated grants published by HHS on March 21. The Trump administration last month ordered federal agencies to flag grants for studies on issues considered to relate to diversity, equity and inclusion — initiatives that President Donald Trump has called “discrimination programs.” A total of 338 grants totaling more than $127 million have lost NIH funding at universities across the country since the start of the Trump administration, according to the HHS data. Because many of the canceled grants were in progress when they
STAFF WRITER
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
REPORTER
The number of undergraduate students studying across multiple schools rebounded this year after a dip in 2023, reaching the highest number recorded since 2013, according to the University’s annual core indicators report. The report — which Provost Chris Bracey presented at the Faculty Senate meeting earlier this month — states that 17.6 percent of undergraduate students at GW’s five residential colleges declared a major or minor in more than one school in 2024, compared to 15.8 percent of undergraduates in 2023. The number tops the previous highest record of cross-school students at 17.5 percent in 2020, as well as the amount
COLIN WAGNER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER The Class of 2028 gathers during Convocation in August.
of cross-school students on a given academic year at GW dating back to at least 2013, the first year of available data, when just 9.5 percent of students studied across schools. University spokesperson Julia Garbitt said the
University evaluates and adjusts program offerings to meet student demand and the University’s strategic goals. She said the University plans to continue to “focus on and prioritize” ensuring students may participate in multiple academic programs.
were terminated, the HHS website lists the total award amount of the grant and the total “unliquidated obligations” of the grant or the money the grant had not yet used as of termination and will lose. The Trump administration has flagged grants with purported links to DEI by flagging those that contain words like “diverse,” “gender” and “oppression.” The NIH capped coverage for universities’ overhead and administrative costs at 15 percent, which a federal judge blocked last month. HHS halted grant review panel announcements on the Federal Register last month, leading federal agencies to cancel dozens of panels and delay funding for projects. The NIH on March 20 terminated a grant led by Lisa Bowleg, a professor of applied social psychology. The grant was an award of $3.7 million for a study aimed at reducing the drug use and associated mental and physical outcomes for gay and bisexual Black men. The NIH’s website tags the study as relating to HIV and AIDs, as well as sexuality and race, and states that the grant will lose $30,233.
BUDS TO BLOSSOMS, DC SLIPS INTO SPRING
JERRY LAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER The Washington Monument towers over a sea of kites during the 2025 Blossom Kite Festival on the National Mall. WHAT’S
INSIDE
NEWS Undergraduate tuition will rise by 3.5 percent next academic year, bringing the cost of tuition to just under $70,000. Page 2
TOM RATH | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A family takes a picture in front of a cherry blossom as visitors walk along the Tidal Basin on Sunday. OPINIONS The editorial board encourages students to reflect on the losses and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, five years later. Page 6
KYRA WOOD | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Onlookers flock to the Jefferson Memorial during peak bloom for cherry blossoms on Saturday.
CULTURE Hill Country Barbecue Market takes its final bow as the beloved karaoke watering hole closes its doors. Page 7
SPORTS Club sport team student leaders adapt to new uniform requirements and a digital administrative platform. Page 8