Moderator: Welcome to Viewpoint with our guest, Mattie Hunter. Mattie, we're glad to have you with us. When was GWSolutions created, and what was the rationale?

Mattie Hunter: GWSolutions was created as a company effective August 1, 2001. The concept behind its creation was to enable the University to be more flexible and responsive to the learning needs of the marketplace. While The George Washington University has a long history of offering non-credit continuing and professional education to working adults -- more than 30 years -- it has been primarily focused on individual students. GWSolutions provides a portal for organizational clients to easily access not only the traditional non-credit programs but also the vast intellectual resources of the University.

In a nutshell, the rationale was essentially to enable more business-to-business type relationships between the University and other organizations.

Moderator: Mattie, what impact on business have you observed from the recent economic downturn that leads you to believe it must rethink its priorities and strategies?

Mattie Hunter: Until recently, of course, we enjoyed significant economic prosperity for a number of years. In a time of economic slowdown, organizations tend to begin contracting through downsizing, etc. Another area where companies tend to contract is training or developing its people. We have observed, however, that the best companies continue to invest in developing their people because they realize that those remaining need to be sufficiently skilled. They also find that continued investment in their people positively impacts morale.

Arlington, Va.: Ms. Hunter -- what types of training and education courses does GWSolutions offer?

Mattie Hunter: GWSolutions offers a range or training programs as well as customized courses/programs and consulting services. We have a cadre of more than 200 off-the-shelf courses and more than 40 certificate programs in both Arts & Sciences and Techology programs, including Information Technology and Interactive Multimedia & Web Design. Because time does not permit, I am unable to list all of them. For a full listing of our off-the-shelf offerings, please visit the GWSolutions link on this page.

Akron, Ohio: What makes GWSolutions unique from the other "solution" companies?

Mattie Hunter: While we can provide a myriad of "pre-packaged" programs and courses that may address client needs, we believe the best customer solutions result from a collaboration between us and the client. Of course, like many other companies that refer to themselves as "solutions" companies, we expect to work closely with clients to address their needs, but we believe our relationship and access to the resources of a major university is what differentiates us.

Silver Spring, Md.: Do you tailor programs for corporations? Can you do on-site teaching? What is the average length of a corporate program?

Mattie Hunter: Yes, we do tailor our programs for corporations. Again, this is one of the primary reasons GWSolutions was created. We will also deliver the programs on-site at the customer location.

The length of the programs vary, depending on the requirements of the customer and the nature of the program. They may range from a three-day course to a program that lasts several months or a couple of years.

Alexandria, Va.: I was interested in finding out more about your customized solutions. Are you able to customize management development courses such as leadership curriculum, infrastructure security? In these uncertain times organizational leadership and data security issues are critical.

Mattie Hunter: Absolutely. We are able to customize solutions that meet a variety of organizational needs. You have mentioned two of the areas we encounter most often, leadership and security.

Arlington, Va.: My employees are looking for courses in writing, editing, HTML, javascript. Do you offer such support? And is it online/distance learning or would they go to local GW classrooms?

Mattie Hunter: We do offer courses in all of the areas you mentioned. At the present time, they are not available online but can be offered to your employees in a couple of different ways. If you only have a few employees interested in a certain subject, it would be more cost-effective for them to register and attend at our facility. However, if you have a critical mass (10 or more), it might be more cost-effective for you to work through our Business Development office and bring the program to your location.

McLean, Va.: When offering "customized solutions," particularly to large organizations, is the approach scaled down to departmental productiveness and organization or is the starting point the entire organization?

Mattie Hunter: Ideally, it is best to implement any intervention, whether training or some other solution, from the perspective of the larger organization. However, fast-paced organizations often do not have the time nor the inclination to include an entire organization. At a minimum, it is recommended that the solution include the departmental or unit level of the organization. For example, if front-line supervisors are to be trained in coaching methodologies when working with their direct reports, it is critical that the managers to whom they report either be trained or briefed on the skills they are learning. This is, obviously, done to reinforce and ensure the skills transfer actually takes place.

Washington, D.C.: What are your most popular corporate programs and why?

Mattie Hunter: The programs most often requested by organizations that we work with are in the area of leadership. This may range from entry-level supervisors to executives.

Northern Virginia: Do you offer certificate programs, one-offs, associate degrees?

Mattie Hunter: We offer more than 40 certificates in various program areas. For information on our non-credit certificate offerings, you may visit our Web site from the link on this page.

At the time that GWSolutions was created, The George Washington University also created a ninth school in the University called the College of Professional Studies (CPS). Through CPS, we will be able to offer Associates Degrees, however, we have not yet developed content for such a degree. The development of degrees such as this will be driven by market demand.

Washington, D.C.: Would you share an example of an organization you've worked with and the customized program you've put together for them?

Mattie Hunter: We have worked with a variety of organizations both domestic and international, including corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations. The nature of the programs and services we have provided have included both customized and off-the-shelf offerings. Our clients include SAIC, Cisco Systems, Boeing, Verizon, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Raytheon, the World Bank and many others.

Reston, Va.: Will your organization travel to other cities to deliver educational services? Could a national corporate training need be met?

Mattie Hunter: Yes, we will work with an organization in order to help them meet a corporate need and will travel to other cities (even internationally) to deliver educational services.

Rosslyn, Va.: What are the top three skills professionals need today to keep developing their careers in these times?

Mattie Hunter: Many of our current and prospective organizational clients are requestng training and education in some of the "soft" skills such as leadership, business and technical writing, etc., as well as programs that are technology-related such as Information Security Certificates. It appears that professionals might continue their learning and development in these and related areas.

Moderator: Mattie, is GWSolutions able to offer credit as well as non-credit programs to organizations?

Mattie Hunter: Of course, GWSolutions offers a wide variety of non-credit courses at the current time. Unlike most training companies, GWSolutions' unique relationship with The George Washington University enables us to work with organizations to either customize new programs or deliver some of our current credit-bearing programs at their site. One example of this is our current partnership with SAIC through which we currently deliver an MBA program to their employees at one of their locations.

Mattie Hunter: Thank you for your questions. I have enjoyed spending this time answering them for you. If you need further information, please feel free to call us at (202) 973-7698 or visit our Web site through the link on this page or at www.gw-solutions.com

Moderator: Our thanks to Mattie Hunter, GWSolutions and all who participated.