Officials form committees, hire outside firms to guide Virginia campus transition after sale

Officials formed two committees and retained outside firms to garner input from the community as they transition operations from the Virginia Science and Technology Campus following its sale in February, Vice President for Safety and Operations Baxter Goodly confirmed. Goodly said during a town hall last week and a community update Tuesday GW formed two committees and retained the outside firms Brailsford & Dunlavey and Perkins & 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. The announcement comes as officials have faced ongoing questions from VSTC faculty and staff who said they were not consulted before GW announced in February it had sold the campus to Amazon Data Services for $427 million, and that officials did not outline concrete plans for relocation of programs following the sale. “We very recently started the process of engaging stakeholders to better understand their needs for future relocation and to confirm that all of their academic or administrative needs are met in a future space,” Goodly said in a community update Tuesday. Amazon, which plans to develop a data center at the site according to documents the University filed with Loudoun County, Virginia — where the VSTC is located — is allowing GW’s operations to remain for up to five years as it works to relocate programs, like the School of Nursing. Goodly, along with University President Ellen Granberg, Assistant Vice President for Campus Development Adam Aaronson and other officials at the town hall on June 9 informed VSTC stakeholders that officials would seek input from members of the community over the course of summer before producing the “preliminary five-year roadmap” in the fall. Officials said the roadmap will synthesize community input and provide information on what community members should expect for the transition of operations away from the campus, which currently houses more than 850 employees, 20 degree and certificate programs and 17 research labs. Goodly said the University created both committees and hired Brailsford & Dunlavey, a program management firm, and Perkins & Will, an architecture firm, to ensure the University includes the voices of VSTC stakeholders in the logistics of the transition away from the campus. He said the committees and the two firms started to conduct interviews with stakeholders involved with the programs and operations at VSTC. During the town hall, several VSTC community members asked about where aspects of the campus would be relocated to once the transition occurs or whether faculty and staff members could work remotely, but Goodly said officials were not yet able to provide specifics on where individual programs or offices would be relocated to or whether remote work would be an option for VSTC staff. Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes told The Hatchet in February that officials were unable to speak to community members before the deal was finalized due to confidentiality issues. Fernandes also told The Hatchet in February officials don’t plan to shrink programs or the campus’ over 850 faculty and staff members. Ellery Ammons, a senior associate at Brailsford & Dunlavey — the program management advisory firm the University hired to help guide the transition — said at the town hall normal operations will continue over the course of the transition away from the VSTC and no academic programs will be impacted as the transition takes place. Officials said at the town hall the two firms will lead the process of engaging stakeholders, confirming academic and administrative needs for future program spaces, identifying opportunities to integrate VSTC’s functions into GW’s broader strategic goals and developing a management strategy for the transition. Goodly said the University formed an eight member relocation core committee which consists of campus real estate, development and operations officials, as well as an official from human resources, communications and the Office of the Provost. Goodly said GW also formed a 21 member coordinating committee, consisting of a mixture of faculty and staff from VSTC programs, like the nursing school, as well as campus operations personnel. “We wanted to make sure that we had some experts that would be part of the team, that’s why we brought B&D and Perkins & Will,” Goodly said at the town hall. “They’re going to help us with the engagement of our stakeholders that started last week, and that’ll continue throughout the summer.” University Spokesperson Julia Garbitt told The Hatchet in March officials were in the process of finalizing details of the transition and were developing a structure for a “coordinating group” to help transition VSTC operations. A University spokesperson confirmed earlier this month officials will not move any large school or department from VSTC, like the nursing school, earlier than the summer of 2028. Goodly said the relocation core committee is meeting on a monthly basis and the coordinating committee is meeting every two months. He said the coordinating committee will meet more frequently beginning this fall. He added that officials will conduct focus group discussions over this summer and outline what VSTC stakeholders should expect based on information received during the focus group discussions. Goodly also clarified that Research Place — an administrative building located on the VSTC campus — was not part of the sale to Amazon and that it will remain available for University use. The Office of the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer is currently transitioning from Enterprise Hall — which was part of the sale to Amazon — to Research Place, according to a University website. At the town hall meeting, Granberg also said the transition away from the VSTC is a “big change” that necessitates officials understanding the individual needs and concerns of VSTC community members “program by program.” “Each one’s unique, each one has different kinds of needs, and so that’s a really intentional part of what we’re trying to do here,” Granberg said. Granberg also addressed community member concerns over whether there would be enough money available to fund transition away from the VSTC, stating that officials had set aside money from the sale to help pay for the expenses of relocating various VSTC programs.