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Graduate School of Education and Human Development

Thursday, May 3, 2012 7:32 p.m.

Education policy center taps new leader

by Cory Weinberg

Maria Voles Ferguson will take over as the executive director for the Center for Education Policy, the University announced Thursday. Photo courtesy of the Office of Media Relations

An education reform advocate will lead a policy research center housed at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, the University announced Thursday.

The Center for Education Policy, a national research institute that specializes in issues related to public schools, named Maria Voles Ferguson its executive director five months after it formed a partnership with GSEHD.

“The Center on Education Policy and GSEHD are coming together at a watershed moment in public education,” Ferguson said in a release. “I look forward to working together so we can all engage more deeply in the important conversations that are driving education research and policy.

Ferguson worked as the vice president for policy at the nonprofit advocacy and research organization Alliance for Excellent Education and will join GW June 4.

She was also a political appointee in the Clinton administration, serving as the director of communication and outreach services for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The Center for Education Policy was founded in 1995 as an independent D.C.-based nonprofit, conducting reports on national and state-level education statistics. The center joined the school and moved into its Foggy Bottom office on Pennsylvania Avenue in January, GSEHD Dean Michael Feuer said.

Feuer said last month that the center would focus on drafting grant proposal for research on civics education and science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, education.

“We’re going to be continuing, in the tradition of the center, looking at state-level implementation of education reforms,” Feuer said. “And we’re going to be using the center as a new launch pad for public conversations in and around Washington, with our students, with faculty to generate some new energy around these issues.”

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Tuesday, March 13, 2012 8:33 p.m.

Graduate programs see mixed results in U.S. News rankings

by Cory Weinberg

The GW Law School held its No. 20 spot in the U.S. News & World Report rankings in the first year of Paul Schiff Berman's deanship. | Hatchet File Photo

The GW Law School held its No. 20 position while business and education graduate programs fell in the U.S. News & World Report’s coveted rankings released Tuesday.

The law school secured the No. 20 spot for the third year in a row, a sign of steadiness after it dropped to No. 28 in 2009.

The law school edged just behind Georgetown University as second-best for part-time students, a one-spot improvement from a year ago. Its specialty programs in international law and intellectual property law were among the nation’s top six for the third and seventh consecutive year, respectively.

New rules for law schools reporting graduates’ employment data, which were finalized in December by the American Bar Association, were not collected in time for this year’s ranking, according to U.S. News’s website.

After assuming the law school deanship, Paul Schiff Berman said last June that aiming for a high ranking became a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“I, like everyone in academia, think that the rankings do not measure well the relative qualities of law schools,” Berman said. “And yet I know that I need to pay attention to them if only because students pay attention to them.”

The graduate programs in the GW School of Business slipped to No. 57 in Doug Guthrie’s second year as dean. The part-time master of business administration program also fell 11 spots to No. 47 in the past year.

The drop comes in spite of the school reporting slightly better employment numbers for its graduates – one of the most heavily weighted factors in business school rankings – than the year before.

The Graduate School of Education and Human Development also fell seven spots to No. 42, the first time the school has fallen out of the top 35 since 1995. The school climbed to No. 19 in 2003.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science, which has tried to rapidly build its faculty and research credentials in preparation for the 2015 opening of the Science and Engineering Hall, jumped nine spots to No. 93.

The rankings for medical research saw the School of Medicine and Health Sciences move up five spots to No. 55.

The public affairs programs in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration garnered a No. 12 ranking. The School of Public Health and Health Services also earned a No. 16 nod.

This post was updated on March 14, 2012 to reflect the following:
Because of reporting errors, The Hatchet incorrectly reported that the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration was ranked No. 14 this year. In fact, it was ranked No. 12. The Hatchet also misreported the ranking of the business school as No. 37. The Hatchet also incorrectly reported the name of the The Graduate School of Education and Human Development as the The Graduate School of Human Development. We regret these errors.

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Monday, March 5, 2012 8:10 a.m.

Youth center’s opening on campus builds up ties with GW

by The GW Hatchet

Jessie MacKinnon is chief operating officer for the National Youth Transitions Center, which partners with the Graduate School of Education and Human Development to help young people with disabilities, chronic illnesses and social or health problems. Elise Apelian | Hatchet Staff Photographer

This post was written by Hatchet reporter Sara Amrozowicz.

When Bridget Green was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 13, her family wished they knew where to turn for guidance.

That experience steered the third-year doctoral student toward a career connecting disabled individuals with support resources.

Green, a student and research assistant in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, helps others find advice through the online HEATH Resource Center – an information and support base for young people with disabilities, chronic illnesses and social or health problems. It is the official website for information from the National Youth Transitions Center, which moved to 2013 G St. in November and hosted disabled students for a campus visit last week.

“I remember when I was first diagnosed, my family felt like the whole world stopped and we didn’t have a place to go,” she said. “[The resource center] really provides families as a whole where to go,” Green said. “And I showed my mom this and she said repeatedly, ‘I wish I had something like this’ for when I was diagnosed.”

The National Youth Transitions Center works with GSEHD’s Career Investigations for Transitioning Youth program, designed to smooth the entrance of intellectually disabled high school students from Anacostia into the workforce. The initiative to bring disabled students to campus every Thursday began five years ago with funding support from the HSC Foundation, bringing the partnership full-circle with the center’s new on-campus home.

Professor of special education and disability studies Juliana Taymans, who works with the transition program for high school students, said last Thursday’s visit for disabled students included interviews with staff members and a technology lesson.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for those of us interested in youth transition to have them practically on campus,” Taymans said. “They’re just such great colleagues and they do so much to support a youth disabilities,” she said, later adding, “It’s a place for us to be proud of that it’s almost on campus.”

She added that the center’s new site provides to a learning opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students to gain practical experience while learning about disability studies and special education.

Jessie MacKinnon, chief operating officer for the National Youth Transitions Center, said the center has conducted a number of research projects and gathered resources through GW as well as other colleges. She said the location on campus offers a location to train students who have never before visited universities.

“They spent the day, some of the kids said this is the best day of my life. It really does show them that they can have a good future,” MacKinnon said.

- Priya Anand contributed to this report.

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Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 9:15 a.m.

Robert Chernak retiring after 24 years

by Sarah Ferris

Robert Chernak | Hatchet File Photo

Updated Feb. 10, 1:42 p.m.

The long-serving senior vice president for Student and Academic Support Services and a bastion of former University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg’s tenure will leave his post June 30.

University President Steven Knapp announced at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting that Robert Chernak, who received a standing ovation from the board, will retire this summer after 24 years.

“I think I fulfilled my obligation in the transition between the Trachtenberg era and Steve Knapp’s era,” Chernak said.

Knapp lauded Chernak’s contributions to the “transformation of this University from a largely regional to an international university,” facilitating long-term changes to admissions, residential life, athletics and affordability. The vice president also had a hand in expanding GW’s freshman orientation program to create Colonial Inauguration.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees’ Student Affairs Committee Alan From said he has known Chernak and his family for decades. He praised Chernak’s passion for students, which he said would become his legacy at GW.

“He really, really loves the students of this University. There is absolutely nothing more important to him. He treats them as his own children. He absolutely loves what he does,” From said.

From joked that his relationship with Chernak outlasted both of From’s previous marriages combined and that the pair was approaching their golden anniversary, yielding a boom of laughter from the board.

After leaving his position, Chernak will continue teaching in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development for three years, Knapp said.

“You can’t take him away from the fabric of this University,” From said.

Former Vice President for Communications Mike Freedman, who worked closely with Chernak and assumed an administrative spot at the University of Maryland last month, described Chernak’s retirement as the “end of an era.”

“Bob gave GW its vibrancy, its fun, and its personality. Intangibles, to be sure, and all worth their weight in gold. Simply put, he and Steve Trachtenberg formed the greatest one-two punch in the history of this University,” Freedman, the founding director of the GW Global Media Institute, said.

Chernak and Trachtenberg, who served as president for 19 years, worked together as higher education administrators for 32 years across three universities. When he stepped down as president, Trachtenberg described Chernak as a key partner in his administration.

“I’m Batman and he’s Robin,” Trachtenberg told The Hatchet as he announced his retirement in May 2006. “We just make a good team.”

The University also received two six-figure gifts from a single anonymous donor to recognize the administrator’s service, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Mike Morsberger announced Friday.

He declined to give specific amounts, but said the first donation will establish a scholarship fund named for Chernak and his wife Linda and the second will dedicate a scoreboard for the baseball team’s new home field in Virginia.

As Chernak’s retirement nears, Morsberger said he expects more gifts to be made in the vice president’s honor.

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Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 12:19 p.m.

Graduate schools find success in inaugural ranking of online programs

by Cory Weinberg
Duques Hall, School of Business

The School of Business, housed in Duques Hall, was among the top 14 online graduate business programs. Hatchet file photo

GW’s graduate programs in business, education and nursing swept U.S. News & World Report’s inaugural list of top online-only programs, which was released Tuesday.

The magazine did not rank each individual program, but identified the top tier of programs by their ranking in each category, which included admissions selectivity, faculty credentials and training, student engagement and accreditation and student services and technology.

The School of Nursing, which offers a fully online master’s of science in nursing, earned a No. 1 spot for faculty credentials and training. The two-year-old school was listed as one of the top five online graduate nursing programs by the magazine.

The School of Business, which offers graduate degrees in project management, tourism and health care administration, was among the top 14 online graduate business programs. The school announced this fall that it will launch a new master’s of business administration program later this year.

The Graduate School of Education and Human Development was also named one of the top 14 schools that offers online graduate degrees in education.

“The George Washington University is pleased to receive this recognition of the strength of our online graduate programs in nursing, business and education and human development,” Provost Steven Lerman said. “Rankings and surveys are one indicator among many that help parents and prospective students decide which institution is best suited for them.”

The magazine’s methodology for ranking online programs came under fire when several institutions returned unusable surveys after U.S. News and World Report began collecting data last summer.

The magazine also named the top online bachelor’s program and graduate engineering and information technology programs. GW does not offer online master’s degrees in engineering and information technology, and only offers one online bachelor’s degree in health sciences.

This was the first year U.S. News and World Report attempted to rank online programs in its 28-year run of naming the best in higher education. More than six million students have taken at least one online course, according to Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board.

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