Faculty and staff members have been honored for their commitment, innovation, and service to the College’s mission and values. Instructional faculty promotions were also announced. (Tenure-track faculty promotions happen will be announced in May.)

Professor Carolyn Drews-Botsch and her team examined whether extended periods of patching for children with unilateral congenital cataracts (UCC) negatively impacted parenting stress, child’s motor development, child behavior, or child’s self-perception. 

Students from the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies recently visited the men and women of Fairfax Fire Station 33. They taught the firefighters about responsible nutrition habits and cooked nutritious meals for them in the station’s kitchen.

Sinoxolo “Susan” Favor was doing public health work in her native South Africa long before she enrolled in the College of Public Health. Favor came to the United States in 2014 and worked for almost 10 years, mainly in health care, before going to Northern Virginia Community College for two years and transferring into Mason through the ADVANCE Program.

Help the College reach 90% participation!

All Mason employees received the Faculty and Staff Experience (FSE) Survey in their email inbox on April 3 and are encouraged to participate. The survey allows faculty and staff to communicate engagement needs and co-create an environment that better understands, creates space for, and invests in well-being, inclusion, and belonging practices. We are aiming for a 90% response rate in the College. All responses remain anonymous.

NEW! If we reach our goal of having a 90% completion rate among all CPH faculty and staff, the College will enter all staff and faculty (including adjunct faculty) into a drawing, where we will choose 4 people to each win a $25 gift card. As of April 18, the College had about a 20% response rate so we hope you all rally and complete the survey ASAP.

This survey is separate from the COACHE survey that many faculty completed in 2019 and 2022. New for 2024, the Faculty Evaluation of Administrators (FEA) will be added to the FSE Survey and an evaluation of academic chairs and directors has also been included. After completing the FSE, you will advance to the FEA survey. Learn more about the Faculty and Staff Experience Survey.

Faculty may opt-in to teach some or all of their courses in Canvas in fall 2024. This week, a survey will be emailed to identify the sections you would like to teach in Canvas. The first wave of Canvas courses will be created by June 10. 

Both live and asynchronous Canvas training will be available throughout the summer. College of Public Health Instructional Designers are available to provide one on one consultations, open office hours, training videos, and other opportunities to learn about Canvas. Contact the CPH Instructional Designers at HLTHLRN@gmu.edu to learn more.

Have a look: CDC's top Leadership, Dr. Cohen, Dr. Wong and Dr. Houry, published their vision of public health's integration with health care in the NEJM last week, in an article entitled "Integrating Public Health and Health Care — Protecting Health as a Team Sport."

"To effectively protect health in the United States, we believe that public health and health care partnerships must become the norm," they say. They further argue that three investments could lead to more successes, including:

1. real-time bidirectional sharing and use of public health and health care data,
2. aligning priorities and making shared investments, and
3. defining clear roles and responsibilities and shared accountability.

Their vision of the roles and responsibilities for the public health and health care sectors in addressing major public health threats is summarized in a table with examples, along with a comment on the importance of agreeing on success metrics. The authors also weigh in on training needs for future public health and clinician practitioners, noting "[w]orking as a team would also be easier with a cross-trained workforce."

I had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Cohen in Atlanta as part of my work as chair of the Community Preventive Services Task Force. She reiterated her priorities as CDC director which are addressing the public health surveillance infrastructure (see article above), mental health and suicide, the opioid crisis, and supporting young families. One can see how these priorities might, in part, fit into the integration framework. Have a look at their editorial, and see what you think.

I hope you see everyone at the Celebration of Scholarship this Friday! Over 55 student posters will be presented and prizes will be awarded. 

April 26 | 12-3:30 pm | Peterson Hall Lobby and 2nd Floor Atrium

Join the College of Public Health for our annual Celebration of Scholarship. The event will include student poster presentations, food, prizes, and an opportunity to engage in important research that is going on within the College.

April 29 | 4 pm | Population Health Center, Multipurpose Room
Reception to follow

Please join the Department of Global and Community Health to celebrating mentoring. The event will honor Dr. Michael S. Bloom and Dr. Jhumka Gupta for their exceptional service as mentors for the department. All are welcome!

Bloom will be receiving the Graduate Student Mentoring Award, and Gupta will be receiving the Peer Mentoring Award. Dr. Keivan Stassun from Vanderbilt University will provide the keynote address entitled: “Mentorship as a Strategy for Success for both Mentees and Mentors." We hope to see you there.

April 23 | 1:30-3:30 pm | Zoom

In our final general faculty meeting of the academic year, among other things, you will hear the latest information from Dean Perry, receive an update on the CEPH accreditation process, and participate in a Q&A about the transition from Blackboard to Canvas.

Spring is here, and with it, many opportunities to focus on your well-being:

Public Health in Practice Walks
Every Thursday | 12:00 - 12:30 pm | Meet in the Peterson Lobby
Contact Terri Ann Guingab at tguingab@gmu.edu to join the announcement list.

Tuesday Treks
Every Tuesday | April 9 to May 28, 12:00 - 12:30 pm
Meet in front of Merten Hall. Hosted by Human Resources

Spring into Well-Being
April 22-26. Times and locations vary.
Events include Daily Walking Breaks, Stress Less Fest, Junior Patriot Palooza, and Kindness Day.

April 24 | 6 - 8 pm | Peterson Lobby

Graduate health administration and informatics students will showcase their hands-on experience solving current healthcare challenges, demonstrate skills, and prepare for future careers. Refreshments will be provided.

June 4 | 1– 3 pm 

Calling all classified staff, wage employees, research staff, and A/P faculty: The College of Public Health Staff Council will host its first All-Staff Meeting on June 4. Options for in person and online attendance will be available. An RSVP and agenda will be announced through this newsletter in the coming weeks. 

The Steps Challenge is over for Spring 2024. In its penultimate week, Nutrition took the lead and Michelle Williams had the most individual steps. Report your steps from the last week of walking today! Return to this location next week to learn the semester winners! Report your steps by 5 pm today, Monday 4/22.

View the newsletter archives here.