Dear Colleagues,
We are writing to announce Dr. Alexander Sens’ appointment as Interim Vice President for Graduate Studies for the coming academic year. As Georgetown’s graduate program offerings and enrollment continue to evolve, Dean Alexander Sens will lead the university’s central graduate administrative education structure–now the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS)–through a reorganization to better meet the needs of the University community. Under Dean Sens’s leadership, the Graduate School will be restructured into two new entities: the Joint Office of Graduate Studies (JOGS), which will serve as a central office dedicated to supporting graduate students across schools and campuses, and the Emerging Studies Institute*, an incubator for innovative interdisciplinary programs and forward-looking academic initiatives, as part of an Academic Innovation network that includes the Red House and CNDLS.
Starting July 1, the administrative and oversight functions of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences will begin transitioning to the Joint Office of Graduate Studies (JOGS), launching an administrative redesign that members of the graduate community have advocated for and developed over the past three years. JOGS will retain the Graduate School’s core services, oversight, and student support responsibilities while gaining additional agility to link and coordinate graduate programs across campuses. As part of this transition, several degree programs in GSAS will be migrating to other schools allowing alignment of the degree’s objectives, the schools’ missions and their faculty expertise. This rollout will continue over the next twelve months and will culminate in summer 2026 with the creation of the Academic Innovation Network. Continued communication about these new units will follow including messaging at the student and school level.
Dr. Sens will also continue to serve as Dean of the GSAS in its final year of operations. As Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Sens has been instrumental in expanding graduate education and has played a key role in developing alternatives for the future of graduate programs. His work as Dean, including the resolution of a complex series of graduate student issues and his steady hand through several recent university transitions, has served the University community well.
We are confident that under Dean Sens’s leadership, the reorganization of the GSAS and launching of JOGS will strengthen our ability to offer high-quality and innovative graduate education across the Hilltop and Capitol campuses.
Sincerely,
Soyica Diggs Colbert
Interim Provost
Norman J. Beauchamp Jr.
Executive Vice President for Health Sciences
*This message was updated to correct the name of the institute on June 23, 2025.