<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0IxOw2_1GzPWju500" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0IxOw2_1GzPWju500" width="1200" height="800" ><figcaption>Arwen Clemans | Staff Photographer The Innovation Center balcony overlooks the Virginia Science &amp; Technology Campus.</figcaption></figure>Officials on Wednesday released a five-year roadmap outlining the transition schedule of different programs, offices, schools and departments from the Virginia Science and Technology Campus after the University sold the property in February. The 83-page plan, which gives a detailed breakdown of the 15 units impacted by the transition including the School of Nursing, the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum’s Avenir Foundation, research labs in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and administrative services like information technology and human resources, does not list specific locations where each unit will transition to, but instead gives a rough timeline of when each unit will move and how much space officials are looking to find for each program. The roadmap states GW only needs half of the space currently available at VSTC as part of the relocation, and officials said they are looking at building or purchasing new real estate as a part of the relocation efforts for larger units, but do not have specific locations for each unit outlined in the roadmap.The roadmap, which was created with the feedback from VSTC stakeholders, comes nearly nine months after GW sold VSTC to Amazon Data Services in February for $427 million in a deal that permits officials to wind down campus operations until late February 2031. Vice President for Safety and Operations Baxter Goodly said in an interview officials will be very “intentional” about each unit’s move. “We simply are not going to do anything that’s going to interrupt academic mission or the operations,” Goodly said. “We’re going to be very intentional about when we move.”Units on the 122-acre VSTC campus will relocate in phases, with the earliest moves coming in summer 2028 and including the Office of Student Financial Assistance, the University Registrar, the College of Professional Studies, SEAS, the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences’ physics department and CCAS theatre storage. GW Information Technology, Finance, the Avenir Foundation and contracted services like facilities and campus safety are proposed to move in the fall of 2030. SON, the largest unit on the campus, is tentatively scheduled to move between the summer and fall of 2030. The road map states the move will have four phases, including preparing, getting ready, transitioning and adjusting and supporting community members. The current preparation phase details officials’ plans to engage in site acquisition, renovation, campus memorialization and staff decisions.Goodly said plans for acquiring real estate for the transition are “in flux,” and he is unsure of the exact budget allocation officials have set aside for real estate, but that money will come from leftover profits from the sale. University President Ellen Granberg said at a Faculty Senate meeting in May officials will have about $350 million of the original $427 million sale price leftover after the relocation costs.Goodly said the size differences between each affected unit — with one unit as small as six people but SON as large as over “hundreds” of impacted individuals — require officials to have individual conversations with each unit about further “detailed” planning. While overall space allocations will decline, the roadmap states SON’s space allocation will increase as enrollment is expected to double with the introduction of new programs. “I can assure you that we are looking at being as efficient and economical as we possibly can,” Goodly said.Goodly said as officials want new real estate purchases associated with the relocation plan to be in “closer proximity” to the Foggy Bottom Campus, but added that might not be possible in all cases. He added as officials continue to develop the 2027 campus plan, they are taking potential population increases into account that could occur because of the relocation of each unit.Officials will consider a more concentrated Northern Virginia presence as part of the relocation plan, and Research Place — an inactive building on the VSTC campus — will be retained following the sale as part of GW’s Northern Virginia portfolio, according to the roadmap.The roadmap cites “underutilization” of spaces on VSTC as reasons why less space is required for the transition. The roadmap also details that enrollment on the campus has declined 32 percent since its peak in 2018. VSTC educates less than 1 percent of all GW students, with three out of four of those students belonging to SON, according to the roadmap.Goodly said the relocation plan is not envisioning layoffs “at this point” and decisions about layoffs is not a part of the roadmap exercise.The roadmap details space needs for each unit, including opportunities for consolidation. For example, officials will decommission SEAS’ research in earthquake and engineering structures, nanomaterials and magnetics research — all of which are either not currently in use or have limited current use — and CPS’ cybersecurity program — which includes approximately 60 students across two part-time cohorts — will conduct teach-outs through June 2028.In order to implement a more flexible workplace model for certain administrative functions that have hybrid employees — like finance, HR, and GWIT — the roadmap says officials will launch a workplace pilot in Enterprise Hall to test shared work settings, which could include hybrid workers sharing spaces on their alternating non-office days. Goodly said part of the pilot will be understanding which positions could potentially move to fully remote as a way to reduce space needed following the move.The roadmap says units will be supported throughout the move by launching surveys to assess space use, culture and productivity and holding check-in town halls.The development of the roadmap comes after Goodly announced in June GW formed two committees and retained the outside firms Brailsford &amp; Dunlavey and Perkins &amp; Will to ensure officials include VSTC community perspectives into decision making as they seek to produce a “preliminary five-year roadmap” in the fall as they relocate operations away from the campus. In March, VSTC community members said officials had not consulted them about the sale, and they were left with questions about where their programs would relocate to.Officials said in a University release there will be a VSTC faculty and staff town hall on Thursday in Exploration Hall, where project teams will discuss what has been determined regarding the relocation plan and what needs to be decided.GW will implement the roadmap following the town hall and will “shift” to the implementation of the roadmap by determining the budget available across the entire project and developing individualized plans for relocation with each unit lead.</div></body>

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Officials on Wednesday released a five-year roadmap outlining the transition schedule of different programs, offices, schools and departments from the Virginia Science and Technology Campus after the University sold the property in February. The 83-page plan, which gives a detailed breakdown of the 15 units impacted by the transition including...

Officials release five-year roadmap detailing Virginia campus relocation plan

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Officials on Wednesday released a five-year roadmap outlining the transition schedule of different programs, offices, schools and departments from the Virg

Officials release five-year roadmap detailing Virginia campus relocation plan

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