Faculty/Staff Newsletter

Underrepresented students, particularly women of color, were less likely to receive mental health services during the pandemic, say PhD Candidate Elaine Russell and her mentor, Professor Kenneth Griffin, both from GCH. They analyzed data from the American College Health Association National College Health Assessment to understand how university students’ mental health needs changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The key to any successful longitudinal research study lies in the invaluable contributions of its participants—those members of your community who volunteer their time, energy, and life experiences. Fortunately, the College of Public Health is a trusted member of the local community. For the ECHO leadership team, consisting of Kathi Huddleston, PhD (PI), Grace Lawrence, PhD (Director), and Alma Fuller (Manager), building lasting relationships with study participants is paramount. 

CPH celebrated spooky season with a frightening display of creative pumpkinry. We hope that everyone who celebrated enjoyed a safe and happy holiday!

Thank you all for completing the pulse surveys over the past semesters.

Your input has been invaluable in shaping the College’s second Climate Survey, which will be open from November 18 to December 18.

We’re offering exciting prizes for survey completion, so keep an eye on posters, Peterson Lobby monitors, and the weekly newsletter for more information!

As with the last survey, there will be a tailored version for faculty, staff, and students to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard. Let’s work together to achieve a high response rate from all groups—we’re aiming for 100%!

Please help spread the word and encourage fellow CPH students and colleagues to participate. If you have any questions, please contact Cathy Tompkins at ctompkin@gmu.edu.

November 6, 2024 | 11:30 am - 1:00 pm | Zoom

The Provost and Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Development will hold a forum for tenure-line faculty to discuss tenure and promotion.

Here is the Zoom link.

A spring forum will be held for reappointment & promotion for term faculty.

First-Gen Week (November 4 - 8) starts today! 

All first-gen faculty and staff are invited to the First-Gen Faculty/Staff Mixer:

November 6, 2024 | 11:30 am - 1:30 pm | JC, 239A (Marion Deshmukh Seminar Room)

First-gen t-shirts and other merch will be available during that time.
Complete the form below to attend the mixer. 

November 8 | 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm | Zoom 

Workshop: How to Handle Difficult Classroom Discussions and Situations in the Moment
Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

An AEIM-Teach Level 1 Credentials Course

Are you prepared to handle difficult discussions and charged situations in the classroom in the moment? Do you usually think of things later that you wish you would have said or done?  In this workshop, we will prepare and practice how to handle important and potentially tense classroom conversations in the moment.  Our focus will be on how to support everyone in the classroom – including yourself – during tense times.

For more events and opportunities offered by Mason’s Stearns Center please click here:  https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/

Connect with NCFDD members: Write together as a community during virtual writing sessions on November 12 or December 10, and work your strategic plan with weekly planning meetings on November 8 or December 6. Check the events calendar for more information!  

Upcoming webinars: Join the NCFDD upcoming webinars on combating stress and negativity, avoiding burnout, and mentoring! 

Remember that George Mason is a NCFDD institutional member, so just create an account at ncfdd.org and register for the activities and seminars that interest you!

Congratulations to our CPH faculty for their new projects this month! Rebecca Sutter received additional funding to extend two separate projects, “Empowered Community Partnership Center,” which focuses on individuals affected by the opioid epidemic, and “Action in Community through Service (ACTS),” which focuses on provision of behavioral health services to ACTS clients through the placement and supervision of social work interns.

We are delighted that more than half of our tenure-line faculty attended our mentoring workshops on October 7. If you missed the sessions you can view the Powerpoint slides: 

Senior faculty

Junior faculty

Find a short brief by Professor Joya Misra on mentoring here.

We are committed to elevating research mentoring in CPH. Please check your inbox and complete the survey we emailed you. We look forward to your feedback on next steps.

There are plans to establish a formal mentoring program for CPH term instructional faculty in spring 2025. Please contact Cathy Tompkins (ctompkin@gmu.edu) if you would like to be involved in the planning.

Letters of Intent are due to the Virginia's Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award Fund (ARDRAF) by December 1.

ARDRAF seeks to encourage scientific research into:

ARDRAF will fund 4 awards of up to $75,000.  

Implementation Research for Multi-morbidity Management in the Context of Non-communicable Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries and US Tribal Populations (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Required): PAR-25-223

Implementation Research for Multi-morbidity Management in the Context of Non-communicable Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries and US Tribal Populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional): PAR-25-213

Global Public Health Capacity Building: George Mason-Led, Summer

Highlights:

A highlight of the course is attending a two-day International Scientific Symposium, allowing participants to network, gain real life experience, and professional development.

November 18, 2024 | 9:00 am - 10:00 am | Multipurpose Room
November 19, 2024 | 10:00 am - 11:00 am | Zoom

Learn about the practice of Verbal Aikido® in this introductory session hosted by Sarah Atif, University Ombuds Office. Verbal Aikido® is an effective and peaceful means to deal with verbal attacks and negativity. VA practice aims at creating a safe space to gradually engage in conflict, to understand conflict dynamics and look at the constructive side of conflict.

This professional development event will be offered twice:

Register for the November 18 in-person session
Register for the November 19 online session

December 10, 2024 | 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm | The HUB, Corner Pocket

Come celebrate the end of the semester and the holiday season in your tackiest holiday sweater with fellow CPH faculty and staff at The HUB Corner Pocket Game Room. We'll have private access to billiards, table tennis, arcade games, VR games, video games, board games and more! Food, beer, and wine will be provided! 

Please RSVP by December 3. 

HAP has retaken the semester lead this past week, with Gilbert Gimm walking the most individually.

Participants may walk anywhere, anytime, within the weekly time frames, counting their steps, and then report their CPH unit affiliation along with the steps they’ve walked.

At the end of the semester, the unit with the most steps (proportionally) will be awarded a prize and take the trophy! Report your steps by noon on the Monday after each Monday-through-Sunday challenge week.

Report October 28 - November 3 steps by 12:00 pm TODAY, November 4.
Bookmark this link to report your steps and get stepping!

Every Tuesday | 12:00 pm | Peterson 2800  

Join us for CPH yoga on Tuesdays! You are welcome to stay for as much or as little of the class as you are able and we hope to see many of you there! If you have any questions, please contact Cathy Tompkins.

Every Thursday | 12:00 pm - 12:30 pm | Peterson Lobby  

Walk with your CPH colleagues! Get updates or schedule an impromptu walk through our walking group on MS Teams.

PUBLICHEALTH.GMU.EDU

Access the CPH brand toolkit, including new CPH and department logos here.

View the newsletter archives here.