Faculty/Staff Announcements
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Campus Updates
AMPLIFY Your Campus Experience
AMPLIFY is back! This exciting outdoor event from shopMason includes food trucks, games, giveaways, music, and more. Vendors include Dining, Parking and Transportation, Student Centers, Wells Fargo, as well as off-campus Mason Merchants and Patriot Perks members.
Stop by the Merten Lawn on the Fairfax Campus on Tuesday, April 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. RSVP today for a chance to win a bonus prize.
April Staff Senate Meeting with President Washington
The April Staff Senate meeting will feature Mason President Gregory Washington and Deb Dickenson, executive vice president for finance and administration.
Wednesday, April 5
10 a.m. to 11 a.m. – General Meeting
11 a.m. to noon – Guest Speakers
Constituents are invited to attend in person in Merten Hall, Room 1201, or attend via Zoom.
Contact staffsenate@gmu.edu with questions.
$5 Fridays at Ike’s and Southside
Every first Friday of the month, Mason Dining offers a discounted $5 lunch to faculty and staff at Ike's and Southside. The remaining spring semester dates are:
- April 7
- May 5
Mason Celebrates Earth Month
Happy Earth Month, Patriots! Mason Facilities and University Sustainability invite the Mason community to celebrate Mason’s commitment to a just and sustainable future for all.
Many sustainable programs, events, and initiatives are happening at Mason during Earth Month. Check out the calendar and learn how to get involved.
National Public Health Week
Mason’s College of Public Health is proud to celebrate National Public Health Week, led by the American Public Health Association (APHA). 2023 is Mason’s first National Public Health Week as a College of Public Health. View a complete list of events, including:
Conversations and Connections: Violence Prevention
Wednesday, April 5, from 6–8 p.m.
Merten Hall, Room 1201, and broadcast on GMU-TV
RSVP
Preventing violence in all its forms remains a national public health priority. Though overall rates of violent crimes fell below pandemic levels in 2021, some forms of violence have increased dramatically. The interdisciplinary expert panel will explore current data on violent crimes, address common misconceptions, and examine efforts to prevent violence. Learn more.
Bike to Mason Days
Celebrate cycling at Mason! Whether you bike to campus regularly for school or work or are contemplating starting to bike, this event is open to all Mason cyclists. Check out the Bike to Mason Day at your campus:
- SciTech: Tuesday, April 18, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Colgan Front Patio
- Mason Korea: Wednesday, April 19, 8:30–10:30 a.m.
- Mason Square: Wednesday, April 19, 3–7 p.m., Plaza
- Fairfax: Thursday, April 20, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Merten Lawn
There will be food, resource information, and fun giveaways. For planning purposes, RSVP. Questions? Contact transpo@gmu.edu.
Money Smart Day
The Student Support and Advocacy Center is hosting Mason’s third annual Money Smart Day on Wednesday, April 12. This event is free and open to students, staff, faculty, alumni, and all other members of the Mason community.
Virtual and in-person educational sessions are scheduled throughout the day. Topics include first-time home buying, health insurance, student loan repayment, salary negotiation, and more. Check out the list of events and register to attend as many sessions as you like.
Take Your Junior Patriot to Work Day
Mason is gearing up to welcome junior Patriots to campus on Thursday, April 27, for a fun-filled day. Take Your Junior Patriot to Work Day is a great opportunity for kids to learn more about Mason and explore our campuses. Take a campus tour with Admissions, gather at Fenwick Library for story time, learn to grill with Mason Recreation, play games with University Life, complete a waste audit with University Sustainability, visit the Freedom Center, and much more.
Employees who plan to invite the children in their life to campus should complete the online consent form by April 14. Contact engagehr@gmu.edu with questions.
Lactation Space Survey
The Mason Lactation Working Group is conducting a survey to collect feedback about the lactation spaces on Mason's campuses. Those who have expressed milk on campus (whether in a lactation space or elsewhere) are invited to share feedback about their experiences. Complete the survey.
View a complete list of lactation spaces at Mason.
Spring into Well-Being
Spring into Well-Being is Mason’s annual well-being celebration from Monday, April 24, to Friday, April 28. Each day will feature events that focus on a different well-being theme:
- April 24: Physical Health
- April 25: Resilience and Strengths
- April 26: Mental Health
- April 27: Kindness (#MasonChoosesKindness)
- April 28: Thriving Together
More details to come. In the meantime, check out Patriots Thriving Together and the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being to learn more about the resources available at Mason.
Reminder: Charter Buses on Campus
If your department is hosting an event with any number of charter buses on campus, please coordinate their visit with Parking Services. Even one charter bus needs to be accommodated for drop-off, pickup, and parking.
Charter buses should not be advised to pick up or drop off at Rappahannock River Lane or the Sandy Creek Transit Center. Both locations are transit hubs, and there is not sufficient space to allow charter bus access.
Parking Services is happy to work with you to find a location and make arrangements. Include them in your event planning process. Contact separk12@gmu.edu or 703-993-2065.
University Libraries and Mason Publishing Release Commemorative Volume to Celebrate Mason's 50th Anniversary
As Mason concludes its 50th anniversary year, the University Libraries and Mason Publishing are pleased to announce the publication of 1 2 3 University: Reflections on the First Fifty Years—George Mason University.
The title alludes to the “123 Club” at the center of Mason’s partnerships with the region in its early years of independence. The content is drawn largely from the “George Mason University: A History” online exhibit of university archival material, re-arranged, edited and updated for the print book. See the Mason Publishing site at publishing.gmu.edu for details.
Patriot Green Fund Committee
The Patriot Green Fund Committee is seeking three students to serve for the fall 2023 to summer 2024 term. The committee is responsible for processing and approving Patriot Green Fund (PGF) applications, marketing the PGF, and giving individual attention to each project to support its success. Faculty and staff are encouraged to share this opportunity with their students. Applications are due April 16.
Living Labs Launch Event
The Mason Living Labs Initiative is kicking off this spring. The Living Labs concept encourages and supports students, faculty, and staff to pose questions, experiment, gather data, monitor changes, and propose novel solutions to a range of sustainability challenges associated with the campus environment and its socio-environmental systems. Find out more by joining this informational session, meet the team, and ask questions:
Living Labs Launch Event
Wednesday, April 12, from 2–3 p.m.
Hosted on Zoom
Read about how Mason graduate student Jamie Roth is conducting cherry blossom monitoring research as a living lab, assessing how climate change affects the bloom date of cherry blossom trees on the Fairfax Campus.
Training and Professional Development
University Life Student Success Symposium
Mason faculty, staff, and graduate students are invited to submit program proposals and/or register for the 2023 University Life Student Success Symposium. The pre-conference will be held Monday, June 5, and the symposium will be held Tuesday, June 6.
The 2023 UL Symposium invites attendees to engage with the “why” in our work as practitioners of student success. The symposium will provide attendees with interactive and engaging experiences to focus on the new and continued work of student affairs professionals in the ever-changing and evolutionary nature of higher education.
Learn more about the symposium. Program proposals are due Monday, April 10, at 5 p.m.
Learn about Mason’s Early Identification Program
The University Life Faculty Engagement Series provides information about Mason students and services, shares faculty perspectives and insights from the classroom, and identifies the ways our collective work in student success intersects and overlaps.
The next session in the series will be held on Thursday, April 13, from 2–3 p.m. in the Johnson Center, Room B, and via Zoom. Lewis Forrest, associate dean of University Life, and Khaseem Davis, executive director of the Early Identification Program, will discuss “Mason’s College Preparatory Program: The Early Identification Program.”
For details, visit the website or email Alissa Karton.
Mental Health First Aid
Mason students and employees are invited to complete Mental Health First Aid training to learn how to help someone suffering from a mental health crisis, increase mental health literacy, and dismantle the stigma associated with mental health and substance use challenges.
Register to attend a training class on Tuesday, April 25, and Wednesday, April 26, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Contact Katie Clare, University Life, with questions.
UndocuAlly Trainings
Faculty and staff are encouraged to take UndocuAlly Training to understand the history of undocumented communities, past and present legislation, and the lived realities and barriers our undocumented communities are fighting.
The UndocuAlly training team aims to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for undocumented immigrants through education and advocacy. This training is facilitated by student trainers who are skilled and informed on the experiences of undocumented students, current policy and legislation, as well as allyship and opportunities for advocacy at Mason and beyond.
Upcoming training:
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Tuesday, April 18, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Fairfax Campus, Johnson Center, Bistro (in-person, lunch provided)
Learn more and register. Contact undocua@gmu.edu with questions.
Resources for You
Instruments in the Attic
Instruments in the Attic makes music education accessible through community connection. The program, offered by the Mason Community Arts Academy, recycles used instruments donated by generous community members to music programs and students in need—locally, nationally, and internationally.
Instruments in the Attic accepts instruments of all types and conditions. Upon donation, instruments are assessed based on repair need and are categorized accordingly. If an instrument ends up being beyond economical repair or no longer musically capable, our program recycles the instruments in creative ways so that no donation goes to waste. For more information about the donation process, visit the website.
Accelerate Smart Cities Innovation Challenge
What solutions would help cities grow, operate, and be resilient while meeting population and climate demands over the coming decades? Students are invited to join Accelerate for a six-week innovation competition from April 10 to May 25 to make our region smarter, more livable, resilient, and sustainable for everyone.
Mason students who participate in the challenge are invited to attend two special introductory workshops to serve as an introduction to lean startup methodology. After joining these workshops, Mason student teams with a STEM solution that meets I-Corps requirements will be eligible for a $3,000 I-Corps site grant to conduct customer discovery interviews. Learn more.
Sophrology Basic Training Sessions for Well-Being
Sophrology is a dynamic relaxation method that can strengthen the well-being of both your body and mind. Learn sophrology practices to help you manage stress, release anxiety, and calm your mind in Sophrology Basic Training sessions, offered by Mason’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being.
The spring 2023 sessions are full, but a waiting list is available. Join the waiting list or request information on future sessions by emailing Ayce Bukulmeyen Ozerdem from the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being.
Global Rice and Beans Sustainable Cooking Event
University Sustainability is hosting a hands-on Global Rice and Beans cooking event. Join the Greenhouse and Gardens program on Wednesday, April 19, from 5–8 p.m. in the Art and Design Building to learn about and experience sustainable cooking. Register to attend or volunteer.
The Cheuse Center Presents the Busboys and Poets Lecture: Azar Nafisi and the Republic of Imagination
The Alan Cheuse International Writers Center is hosting its inaugural public lecture with Azar Nafisi, New York Times best-selling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran. Reflecting on current events to support women's rights in Iran, Nafisi’s speech will touch on the two countries she calls home, and how totalitarianism in one country and totalitarian tendencies in another should be confronted through imagination and ideas.
Azar Nafisi: The Republic of Imagination
Tuesday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m.
Off campus: Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center (3740 Blenheim Boulevard, Fairfax, Virginia)
RSVP
The evening will include a book signing and reception framed by the work of Mojdeh Rezaeipour, an Iranian-born Northern Virginia artist.
Volunteer Opportunity: Residence Hall Waste Audits
Help University Sustainability with Mason’s annual housing waste audits and learn more about zero waste processes on the Fairfax Campus. Waste audit volunteers will sort recycling/trash bags for waste contamination, record audited bag weights, and dispose of all waste audit bags in recycling/trash containers.
Bring a water bottle if you can, as well as comfortable clothes/footwear for working outdoors. Upcoming dates:
- Tuesday, April 18, from 9–11 a.m. at Presidents Park
- Wednesday, April 19, from 9–11 a.m. at Potomac Heights
Register on the University Sustainability Volunteer Portal.
Upcoming Performances at Mason
Visual Voices Lecture Series with BLACK KIRBY
School of Art
Thursday, April 13, at 4:45 p.m
Virtual via Zoom
BLACK KIRBY is a shared pseudonym for Stacey Robinson and John Jennings. BLACK KIRBY functions as a rhetorical tool by sampling and remixing comic legend Jack Kirby’s bold forms and energetic ideas combined with themes centered around Afrofuturism, social justice, representation, magical realism, and using the culture of Hip Hop as a methodology for creating visual communication. It also utilizes the notion of an alter-ego as a symbolic allegory for DuBoisian “double-consciousness” theory.
Dewberry School of Music: Broadway Chorale Showcase
Saturday, April 15, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center
The University Chorale presents a series of Broadway classics for their 2023 spring showcase. The Broadway Showcase is a popular feature of the choral program at Mason each spring semester. Students assist with the design, coaching, and creating choreography for the production.
State Ballet of Georgia: Mostly B
Saturday, April 15, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Experience the sleek grace and physicality of neoclassical ballet with the State Ballet of Georgia. Led by the renowned Nina Ananiashvili, a native of Georgia and a former Bolshoi prima ballerina, Ananiashvili has revitalized the State Ballet of Georgia, attracting major choreographers from all over the world.
Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel: Mozart and Friends
Sunday, April 16, at 7 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Join Jeffrey Siegel for Mozart and Friends and hear masterpieces of Mozart, magnificent music by composers who influenced him, such as Joseph Haydn, and by those he influenced, including Beethoven. An interactive question and answer session will conclude this program.
Jazz Workshop
Dewberry School of Music
Monday, April 17, at 8 p.m.
Harris Theatre
Jazz faculty member John Kocur directs the Mason Jazz Workshop big band in their concert. The Jazz Workshop performs music by Thad Jones, Mike Tomaro, Alan Baylock, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Neal Hefti, and many others.
Symphonic Band Concert
Dewberry School of Music
Tuesday, April 18, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The Mason Symphonic Band, under the vibrant musical leadership of William L. Lake Jr. provides music majors and increasingly growing numbers of non-music majors an opportunity to study and perform a wide variety of traditional and contemporary wind band literature.
Mason School of Theater: The Road to the End
April 20, 21*, and 22, at 8 p.m.
April 22 and 23** at 2 p.m.
de Laski Performing Arts Building, Theatrespace
*ASL-Interpreted Performance and Talkback
**Audio-Described Performance
With huge life changes on the horizon, Henry and his father embark on one last adventure to the Grand Canyon. Along the way, the two rediscover old memories while making new ones. This play, at once retrospective and forward looking, reveals roads to healing and bridges generations. The Road to the End is a brand-new, student-written play making its world premiere by The Mason Players and George Mason University’s School of Theater.
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, April 22, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The Center for the Arts is proud to co-present a soaring classical music program by the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, featuring George Li performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Music Director Christopher Zimmerman and the orchestra bookend the evening with a pair of Sir Edward Elgar’s rousing masterpieces, graduation staple Pomp and Circumstance, March No. 1 and Symphony No. 1. Don’t miss this inspirational program from one of the premier regional orchestras in the country.
Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel: Chopin and Grieg—A Musical Friendship
Sunday, April 23, at 2 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center
Romance is in the air in this Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel concert. From Chopin’s stirring polonaises and dreamy nocturnes to Grieg’s enchanting and humorous Lyric Pieces, be swept away by the music and the histories of these two beloved Romantic composers. An interactive question-and-answer session will conclude this program. This performance is appropriate for all ages.
The Passing Zone: The Passing Zone Saves the World!
Family Series
Sunday, April 23, at 4 p.m.
Center for the Arts
The Passing Zone has been wowing audiences for decades with hilarious, award-winning performances. In their latest show, The Passing Zone Saves the World!, they deliver a pulse-pounding and funny performance combining juggling, comedy, and daredevil stunts. Their interactive performance will have the whole family in fits of laughter and gasping for breath as they showcase their zany blend of juggling, dangerous stunts, and comedy. Recommended for ages eight and up.