Faculty/Staff Announcements
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Campus Updates
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 on Zoom.
The Staff Senate will collect questions in advance for consideration. Please use the form to submit your comment or question by Wednesday, March 29. The senate will also accept live questions, time permitting.
Mason Vision Series – America’s Mental Health Crisis: How Can We Prevent Youth Suicide?
The next installment of the Mason Vision Series will be held on on Monday, April 24, from 7–8 p.m. featuring Christianne Esposito-Smythers, who will discuss America's Mental Health Crisis: How Can We Prevent Youth Suicide?
Parents and families are struggling to locate the right kind of help for adolescents and young adults who are experiencing mental and behavioral health issues such as stress and suicidality. Esposito-Smythers will educate listeners on how to seek the right kind of treatment for youth suicidality and what to look for in a provider, outline preventative measures that people can take, offer resources, and discuss the work that she is conducting to the increase availability of culturally responsive, evidence-based treatment services for youth and families.
The Mason Vision Series will be live streamed through GMU-TV. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in the discussion by submitting questions via email (GMUProv@gmu.edu) or Twitter using #VisionSeriesMason. RSVP.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Resources for You
Learn to Ride a Bike with the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling
Want to learn to ride a bike? The Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB), Mason Parking and Transportation, and the City of Fairfax are offering an Adult Learn to Ride class on Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to noon in Parking Lot C on the Fairfax Campus.
The class costs $10. Bikes and helmets provided. This session is for residents of Fairfax County, City of Fairfax, or Mason students, faculty, and staff. Spaces are limited. Get details and register. Contact transpo@gmu.edu with questions.
Vegan and Vegetarian Options Growing with Mason Dining
Did you know that nearly 50 percent of all food options available at Mason's resident dining locations are vegetarian? Vegan and vegetarian options from Mason Dining help meet the needs of our students and also benefit the environment.
Visit the Mason Dining homepage for a guide to eating vegan on campus, presented by Mason student Wen Nguyen.
Bicycle Commuting 101: Online via Zoom
Bicycling to campus can be fun and great for your well-being. Join Delia Johnson, a League of American Bicyclists certified instructor, for Bicycle Commuting 101. During this virtual session on Tuesday, April 25, at at 1:30 p.m., Delia will share information to help you feel more confident about getting to campus on two wheels.
This session will be hosted on Zoom and is open to faculty, staff, and students.
Sustainable Cooking Event
University Sustainability is hosting a hands-on cooking event. Join the Greenhouse and Gardens program on March 31 from noon to 3 p.m. in Taylor Hall to learn about and experience sustainable cooking.
Cook with ingredients that are seasonal, local, foraged, inexpensive, easily accessible, and campus-grown. Register to attend or volunteer. Contact Doni Nolan with questions.
Pride Week 2023: Queer Book Club
The LGBTQ+ Resources Center, Graduate Student Life, and the Queer Studies Reading Group are coming together to celebrate Pride Week 2023 by reading and discussing Maia Kobabe's graphic novel, Gender Queer: A Memoir. The Center has books (while supplies last) for students and employees to borrow. Reach out to lgbtq@gmu.edu.
Participants may join a discussion in-person or virtually:
- Tuesday, March 28, 2–3 p.m. (virtual)
- Wednesday, March 29, 2:30–4 p.m., Fenwick Library, Room 1014A/B (in-person)
National Walking Day: April 5
The first Wednesday in April is National Walking Day. This year, it’s Wednesday, April 5. Walking can contribute to multiple facets of your well-being. See if walking can be part of your active transportation commute. Try it out on April 5! Contact Mason Transportation for more resources.
Kritikos Anti-Racist Reading Group
The College of Visual and Performing Arts welcomes the Mason community to the Kritikos Anti-Racist Reading Group, which meets on Fridays from 1–2:30 p.m.
The group holds a commitment to relationship-building, awareness, reimagining, transformation, and action around anti-racist practices, racial justice, the creation of conversations, as well as systems of compassion and healing. The group continues to focus on anti-Black racism and its effects on society.
Join the final meeting of the semester on Friday, Mar. 31, for the following topic: “Black Joy: Pleasure and Peace." This event is free and open to the public.
Upcoming Performances at Mason
Daniel Hope and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra: America
Sunday, April 2, at 2 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Violin luminary Daniel Hope returns with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra to reveal the charisma of American music. This concert celebrates the country’s most recognizable tunes from across the 20th century. With new classical and jazz arrangements by Paul Bateman, Hope illuminates the American spirit. The acclaimed musicians of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra create the perfect partnership with Hope's violin mastery. This performance is appropriate for all ages.
Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra
Saturday, April 8, at 8 p.m.
Center for the Arts
Calling all cool cats to head to the Center for the Arts for a swinging evening of jazz with Northern Virginia’s own Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, featuring keyboardist/organist Bobby Floyd on the Hammond organ and led by Founder, Artistic Director, and virtuoso saxophonist Jim Carroll. Don’t miss this signature event including some of the most remarkable jazz musicians in the region.
Matinee Idylls: Leo Sushansky and Michelle Lundy
Wednesday, April 12, at 1:30 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Gregory Family Theater
Strings will sing in this stunning concert pairing with harpist Michelle Lundy and violinist Leo Sushansky. Lundy is the founding member of Beau Soir Ensemble, a venerable flute, viola, and harp trio known to our region for its unique instrumentation, breathtaking music, and infectious energy. Together they will present a diverse program of duets spanning a wide array of musical genres. Selections will include music from the esteemed French composers Jules Massenet and Camille Saint-Saëns.
Visual Voices Lecture Series with BLACK KIRBY
Mason School of Art
Thursday, April 13, at 4:45 p.m
Virtual via Zoom
BLACK KIRBY is a shared pseudonym that is 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.