Faculty/Staff Newsletter

Anna Parisi, substance use disorder and addictive behavior expert, reveals how mindfulness interventions may enhance awareness of one’s bodily sensations, and how this enhanced awareness may decrease the risk of opioid misuse in individuals experiencing chronic pain.

George Mason University Student Nurses’ Association hosted the 2025 Virginia Nursing Student Association Annual Summit, expanding the convention from regional to statewide.

Joelle Patricio Chang, Hem Sharma, and Melissa Perry were inducted into the Mason Chooses Kindness ambassadors program. Congratulations! Learn more about MCK here.

In her latest Psychology Today Mindful Epidemiologist column, Melissa Perry discusses how technostress pushes us past our limits and disconnects us from human pace. Read it here.

We’re excited to share that earlier this month, Risepoint launched our new digital marketing campaign to the public to promote many of the college’s graduate-level degree and certificate programs. 

As part of the first phase of this partnership, Risepoint developed targeted digital ads and search campaigns supported by dedicated landing pages for each program with which we've contracted with it.

This launch lays the foundation for increased enrollment and long-term success. Thank you to the program managers, student affairs team, marketing team, and academic affairs team for the ongoing support in helping this initiative succeed.

It is time to nominate your colleagues (and self-nominate) for the CPH faculty and staff awards! We have a new community service impact award for full time faculty. Nominate now for:

Staff Awards -  due February 20, 2026  

Faculty Teaching Awards -  due March 16, 2026 

Faculty Community Service Impact Award – due March 16, 2026

Research Awards -  due March 16, 2026

Note: these are Word documents and might not automatically open in a window. Check your Downloads folder.

The CPH awards event will take place on April 9, 2026.

Congratulations to Melissa Villodas, Social Work, for being selected as a mentee in the national Faculty ACCESS program. This program seeks to equip early and mid-career biomedical faculty who have yet to receive NIH funding with the tools and resources needed to become successfully NIH-funded and promote biomedical research leaders. A mentored, two-year program Faculty ACCESS centers on wellness and focuses on skill building to increase rigorous research productivity and secure NIH funding.

Proposals can now be submitted here. Proposals are due no later than 11:59 pm EST February 2, 2026. Do not wait until the last minute to submit your proposal: you must set up a profile and the platform will lock you out at the due date. Each section of the application must be uploaded separately as a PDF or Excel file (budget template only). A training video for the platform is here.

There was a glitch in the previous budget template. Find the revised template here. Please note, the revised template includes the header: REVISED BUDGET TEMPLATE 12-05-2025.

The FAQs have been updated with the proposal submission process information. 

If you have any questions, email GCI@gmu.edu. 

PCORI is currently accepting Letters of Intent, which are due by January 6, and, due to winter break, George Mason's deadline is December 16. PCORI encourages you to register for an Applicant Town Hall and explore PCORI resources that can help strengthen your patient-centered CER proposal. Even if you can't make this LOI deadline, these sessions are very helpful for understanding PCORI's funding strategy. 

What You Need To Know To Apply

Decision Tool: Is PCORI Funding a Fit for Your Research Idea?

Conducting Successful Engagement in Health Research

PCORnet®, The National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has released its annual “$100,000 Start an SUD Startup” Challenge, looking for research ideas that can potentially be commercialized as products for use in the areas of drug use, misuse, and substance use disorder (SUD). Challenge participants must be a group of 3 - 5 individuals who will test whether their research idea can be fostered into a biotech startup. NIDA expects that newly created startups will eventually contribute to the pool of innovative small business companies successfully competing for NIDA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding.

The Challenge will offer a non-cash prize of technical expertise and mentoring from NIDA scientific research entrepreneurship experts for up to 12 teams in stage 1 and up to 10awards of $10,000 each in stage 2. Submission Due Date: February 4, 2026, 6 p.m.

6th Annual Research & Scholarship Orientation

January 14, 2026 | 9 am – 1 pm | Webinar | Registration Required

This virtual event walks you through the project lifecycle—from proposal to award—and connects you with the teams that help make funding happen.

Learn how to leverage George Mason’s robust support ecosystem to secure external funding for your research, scholarship, and creative work.

Grant Writing 101

January 14, 2026 | 3 – 4:30 pm | Merten 1204 | Registration Required

Grant writing isn’t just another academic skill—it’s a strategic tool for advancing your research, scholarship, and creative work. And in today’s shifting funding landscape, knowing how to adapt your approach is more important than ever.

Join us for Grant Writing 101, a hands-on session designed to help faculty: Align proposals with current federal guidelines, Identify private funding sources, and Navigate new policies and sponsor priorities with confidence.

February 11, 2026 | 9 am - 4 pm | George Mason's SciTech Campus
February 12, 2026 | 9 am - 1pm | George Mason's SciTech Campus

Learn how to build a competitive NIH SBIR or STTR proposal through this intensive hands-on course featuring expert instruction and direct guidance to help you develop a clear funding strategy and strong specific aims. Register Here

Deadline for submission is January 21, 2026. Details on the application and review process are available here. 

Remember the Faculty Activities Tool? This is an optional tool that you can use along with your annual performance review (APR) materials. As we are working on establishing a college-wide faculty database, we are tweaking some of our forms so that the information is easy to extract into a new system and user-friendly for faculty. We redeveloped the FAT in RedCap. Please try it out if you have the time. 

 January 29 | 6:30 - 7:30 pm | Virtual, link in calendar invite

All CPH Faculty are invited to join this presentation by Laina Lockett from the Stearns Center. All instructional faculty (tenure-line and term faculty) should have received a calendar invite with a Zoom link. If you did not receive a calendar invite/zoom link and you are interested in attending (you don’t need to be instructional faculty), please let Cathy Tompkins know.

We continue to work to build community and be available for CPH faculty. As we look to increase participation in our virtual networking and peer support monthly drop-ins, we ask that all instructional faculty (term and tenure-line) complete this brief Qualtrics survey to let us know generally a day/time that works best for you and any general themes that you may be interested in discussing. Please complete the survey by January 15. Calendar invites with Zoom links for the CPH Virtual Faculty Networking & Peer Support Drop-Ins will be sent out soon after January 15.

The CPH faculty cohort meetings (first year, 2nd year and 3rd year faculty) will continue spring 2026. Cohort faculty will receive their calendar invites and location information soon!

Adjunct Faculty Success Workshop

January 10 | 9 am- 4:30 pm | Virtual | Register

The Adjunct Faculty Success Workshop is specifically designed to meet the unique needs and challenges faced by adjunct faculty, support your transition to George Mason, and develop practical teaching and learning strategies for success with your students. This workshop is open to both incoming and returning adjunct faculty. 

 Spring 2026 Adjunct Faculty Meeting

January 29 | 6 - 7:30 pm | Virtual

All CPH adjunct faculty should have received a calendar invite with a Zoom link. At 6:30, we will have a presentation by Laina Lockett from the Stearns Center titled AI Teaching Strategies for CPH Faculty (the presentation is open to all CPH faculty). 

CPH Adjunct Faculty Connections Program

January 20, February 17, March 16, April 20, May 11 | 6:30 - 7:30 pm |  Virtual

Calendar invites with Zoom links have been sent. Please join us with any questions that may be on your mind. The idea for a presentation on AI Teaching Strategies was generated from these meetings. We discuss adjunct faculty engagement within their departments/school, at the college and university levels. Looking forward to having more robust conversations in 2026.

December 16 | 4 - 6 pm | The HUB, Corner Pocket | RSVP

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!

December 17 | 4 pm | EagleBank Area

January 15 | 11:30 am followed by lunch | PHC Multipurpose Room | RSVP here

Kick off the spring 2026 semester with the State of the College Address from Dean Melissa Perry. Join your fellow faculty and staff for lunch in the Peterson Lobby afterward.

February 4, 2026 | 12 – 1 pm | Zoom

Join the Faculty Development Committee in a discussion about AI’s impact on teaching and learning. CPH faculty and students will share their experiences with AI-powered intelligent tutors built by CPH faculty, AI-assistance in grading, and other methods of using AI to enhance workflows.

February 9, 2026 | Dean's Speaker Series: Rebecca Winthrop, Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Center for Universal Education, The Brookings Institution and lead of the Brookings Global Task Force on AI in Education

February 16, 2026 | Faculty Annual Performance Reviews due. Learn more about the faculty annual review process and procedures here.

March 16, 2026 | Dean's Speaker Series: Claudio Battiloro, Harvard University Biostatistics

April 6-12, 2026 | National Public Health Week

April 9, 2026 | CPH Faculty and Staff Awards & Retirement Celebration

April 24, 2026 | Celebration of Student Scholarship

April 24, 2026 | CPH Student Award Ceremony

May 14, 2026 | University Commencement

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