In an email to students, Provost Robert Groves announced that the new Georgetown Downtown location for the School of Continuing Studies will be open in time for fall 2013 classes—a few months ahead of the deadline required in the campus plan agreement.

The move by the School of Continuing Studies will take away 1,100 degree and 2,000 non-degree students, 300 full-time and adjunct faculty, and 100 administrators from the Main and Arlington, Va. campuses, which will free up space for other uses.

Groves notes that the center’s opening is one of the ways in which the University is strengthening its ties to the city of Washington: “Georgetown University has long been a committed partner to the city in investing in the downtown community through learning and service.”

The new campus will be located at 640 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., eight blocks north of the National Mall and about five blocks away from the Law Center.

Luckily for graduate students, the downtown campus will be one of Georgetown’s most accessible campuses. The campus is located within six blocks of all five Metro rail lines and is located near a number of Metro bus stops, Union Station, Interstate 395, Route 50, and public parking.

The facility will boast “30 classrooms, 14 group study rooms, a 130-person auditorium, digital media lab, broadcast studio, library resource center, contemplative space, bookstore, café and multiple lounge and meetings spaces.”

Read Groves’s full email after the jump.
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This evening, President John DeGioia sent an email to students, faculty, and staff announcing that the University signed an agreement earlier today to lease a building in downtown Washington, D.C. at 7th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, eight blocks away from the Law Center Campus. Approximately 1,100 students in the School of Continuing Studies will study and takes classes at the location beginning in late 2013.

A satellite campus for SCS has been years in the making. The campus plan agreement approved by the Zoning Commission this Monday requires that Georgetown move at least 1000 students in the SCS to “one or more satellite locations not within zip code 20007″ by Dec. 31, 2013. According to the press release, the facility will contain “classrooms with integrated technology, administrative offices, group study rooms, workstations, lounge and meeting spaces, a contemplative space, a media lab, a library resource center, a café and more.”

The release emphasizes how the new facility will foster stronger connections with the city. “Just as the construction of our Law Center did 30 years ago, this new home provides us with an opportunity to extend the impact of the university into new parts of the city and to broaden the reach of our work,” DeGioia said. “We are excited to be aligning our interests with this vibrant and growing city.”

Administrators have been clear that undergraduates will not be housed or take classes at any satellite campus. “We believe that our undergraduate experience best can take place on this historic campus,” DeGioia previously said. “Our vision prioritizes development of an enhanced living-and-learning campus focused on undergraduates on the main campus, on this plot of ground.” University spokeswoman Stacy Kerr has told Vox that the University sees the satellite campus as an opportunity “to strengthen the residential undergraduate experience at 37th and O street.”

Vox will keep you updated as we learn more information.

Read the full email after the jump.

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Rumblings and grumblings over the results of the campus plan agreement are still alive and well. Students demand a say in the process and express disapproval over the concessions made by the University, and two days ago, students were given the opportunity to discuss these concerns in a conference call with Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson. Tomorrow, the ANC is meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Georgetown Visitation to open the floor to critics and start a discussion about the outcome of the agreement.

A relatively under-explored topic throughout Vox‘s coverage is on the question of expansion. In the agreement, there is a brief reference to establishing a satellite campus for School of Continuing Studies. This change is projected for next December (2013), with the intent to move 1,000 SCS students “at one or more satellite locations not within zip code 20007. The exact phrasing is to “identify and develop next 100 acres” as one of the long term goals for the university.

Inspired by a recent GM post, our minds began to tinker. Where will Georgetown find these 100 acres? Not only that, but who’s moving? Presumably students in SCS, but the vague language indicates the possibility of pushing other graduate students out as well.

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In an email to the University today, President John DeGioia announced that Walter Rankin, a Senior Associate Dean of the School of Continuing studies, will take over as Interim Dean of the School of Continuing Studies beginning July 1. He is filling the vacancy left by exiting SCS Dean Robert Manuel, who accepted an offer the head the University of Indianapolis as president earlier this year.

According to the email, Rankin was responsible for organizing Georgetown’s re-accreditation efforts to the Middle States Commission on Education, which Georgetown passed with flying colors. According to his linked-in page, Rankin earned a PhD in German languages, literatures, linguistics from Georgetown in 1998.

Rankin worked at George Mason University till 2009, where he taught German language and literature. His Rate My Professors page there gives him a 4.8/5 for quality, and no less than 3/5 reviews on the first page mention his hotness, earning him a chili pepper.

The email additionally mentioned that James Parenti, formerly an official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will serve as Chief Administrative Officer during Rankin’s tenure.

Read the full email after the jump.

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In an email to the University community tonight, President John J. DeGioia announced that Robert Manuel, Associate Provost and Dean of the School of Continuing Studies, has been named president of the University of Indianapolis. Manuel will officially assume the role in July.

In DeGioia’s email, he proudly notes that SCS enrollment doubled during Manuel’s time as dean of the school:

Under his leadership, enrollments in SCS programs have more than doubled and the range of studies offered has broadened dramatically. Throughout his tenure Rob has thoughtfully led the growth of SCS in response to the needs of students who live and work in the Washington, D.C. area and their employers.  He leaves a school that is now considered one of the best of its kind in the country and one that will continue to sustain Georgetown’s mission and identity while creating new opportunities for students to engage with today’s critical issues.

A search committee for Manuel’s successor will be formed in the coming weeks. Whoever replaces Manuel will be tasked with guiding the SCS through a period of continued expansion and change, as the University looks to move its continuing education programs downtown.

On another note, one of Manuel’s two competitors for the post was Thomas Wolfe, the Senior Vice President and Dean of the Division of Student Affairs at Syracuse University. Beat ‘Cuse!

President DeGioia’s full email after the jump…
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On Monday, the School of Continuing Studies’ Technology Management Program sponsored a lecture by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Andrea Weckerle – founder of the cyber-etiquette organization CiviliNation – on the need for civil discourse on the Internet.

The talk, entitled “Upholding the Core Ideals of Democracy & Freedom of Speech: the Need for Civil Digital Discourse,” focused on the need for a healthy online environment that fosters a thoughtful exchange of ideas. However, neither contributor saw this as the present reality.

“Because we haven’t yet developed online social norms,” Weckerle mused, “we have allowed this to become a truly global problem,” citing intentional provocation, release of private information, Facebook attacks, Google bombs, cyber stalking, and generic spreading of lies online.

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This semester, Tony Fratto, former deputy White House press secretary, will be teaching a course in the School of Continuing Studies’ Journalism Department called The White House and the Press. The course will be co-taught by CBS News White House correspondent Chip Reid.

According to its course decription, the course will cover “the organizational structure of the White House communications operation,” the roles of people like the press secretary, as well as how media coverage of the White House has changed over the years. According to Fratto, the course will also focus on communications strategy and the relationship between the White House and media organizations.

h/t: Politico

Fresh off of having one of America’s most renowned political journalists provide the commencement address for its 2010 graduating class, Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies is making some more ties with the press.

Last week, the SCS signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Press Club.  Under the agreement, Press Club members will be able to enroll in SCS classes.

“There is a perfect fit here between our missions,” SCS Dean Robert Manuel said at the ceremony.  “We seek to be the connecting tissue that helps attach life-long learners like Press Club members to the business, non-profit or academic communities they may seek to join through training, study and networking.”

Press Club President Alan Bjerga told those present, “We are delighted to have this agreement with a prestigious university like Georgetown.  Our members are looking to upgrade their professional skills and in some cases move to new careers and fields.”

Those who take advantage of this offer will receive a $500 scholarship for the enrollment fees.

The move makes sense for both the SCS and the Press Club; Georgetown has been using the club’s downtown facility to teach night classes, and many club members either teach classes at Georgetown or have already enrolled as students.

The National Press Club was founded in 1908 and currently has 3500 members from nearly every journalistic organization.

Photo by Sam Hurd for the National Press Club.

On Monday morning, Georgetown welcomed another member of Barack Obama’s cabinet to Gaston Hall—Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Secretary Duncan’s visit, sponsored by the School of Continuing Studies and Parenting Magazine, focused on engaging parents in their children’s education.

After opening with a pithy compliment directed toward the University (“I feel smarter every time I come to Georgetown,”) Duncan dove into a keynote address and town hall discussion that  focused on the parents’ roles in education.

For a political figure, Secretary Duncan was surprisingly candid. He claimed to be envious of some other countries’ educational problems, for example. Compared to a country such as South Korea, which considers its most difficult educational problem to be parents who are too demanding, the United States simply lags behind. Stateside, Duncan noted, complacency runs rampant among many American parents.

Duncan often referenced the idea that parents too often “[look] out the window rather than in the mirror.”

Instead, he encouraged parents to see the flaws within both other schools and their childrens’ schools.

Duncan then told the audience that we can no longer “[create] schools that are good enough for someone else’s children, but not good enough for our own.”

While wrapping up his address, Duncan also took a few swipes at the prevalence of technology in our society. He cited studies that have found that children spend six hours a day watching television, while spending a mere 25 minutes reading per day.

Citing a predecessor in the Department of Education, Duncan offered eight magical words to education reform: “Please shut off the TV, I’m trying to read.” (Editor’s note: That’s right, the Secretary of Education counted incorrectly.)

Duncan concluded with a short question-and-answer period consisting of parent activists asking questions ranging from accountability issues to the healthiness of school food.

The recorded webcast of the town hall can be found here.

The School of Continuing Studies has started a program that will offer a master of professional studies and advanced professional certificate in disability studies, the University announced yesterday. The program, “for students who want to explore the many roles of disability in social, cultural, historical and political contexts,” will launch this fall.

“One aspect of our school’s mission is to provide programs that answer today’s biggest societal needs,” School of Continuing Studies Dean Robert Manuel said, according to Blue and Gray. “The disability studies program will bring the industry’s top experts into the classroom exposing students to the most current political, societal, financial and emotional issues surrounding this growing and important career field.”

The new program grew out of Georgetown’s Center for Child and Human Development. Students pursuing either degree in the new program will have the option of concentrating on one of three subjects, developmental disabilities, early intervention, or mental health care systems for children.