In the latest episode of Public Health in Focus with Dean Perry, she speaks with Professor Becki Sutter, director of the Empowered Communities Project. Learn about the three ways the project is supporting local communities. Watch below or read the synopsis here.

With tick bites on the rise, College of Science and College of Public Health are collaborating to improve detection, diagnosis, and treatment with urine testing. Melissa Perry and Jenna Krall are collaborating with College of Science faculty Alessandra Luchini, Lance Liotta, and Ginny Espina.

Congratulations to Julio Diaz, an academic advisor in the College of Public Health, for being named the 2023-24 Resident Student Organization (RSO) Advisor of the Year for his service as an advisor to The Águilas Mentoring Program. 

A new study by Dongqing Wang found that combining school meals, nutrition education, school gardens, and community workshops reduced undernutrition and obesity in adolescents and their family members.

As an intern at Mason, Rudra Nagalia actively contributed to developing the initial prototype for the Remind-H app. This pivotal experience ultimately influenced his decision to return to Mason to pursue his degree and delve deeper into this research focus.

Saturday, May 11 | following College Degree Ceremony - 6 pm | Peterson Hall

Join the College of Public Health for a reception to celebrate our graduates. The reception will take place following the College Degree Ceremony, which is from 2-4 pm.

What time do faculty need to be at EagleBank Arena?

All faculty who wish to process into the event, whether you have an active role (marshal) or not, must be in the EagleBank Arena Hospitality Room at 1 pm.

If you do not have an active role (marshal), you must also RSVP here.

Note: There will be enhanced security measures for all graduation events, – so be prepared to go through airport-style security measures when entering the arena.

What if I want to attend, but not process in?

If you do not want to process in, you need to reserve a ticket by emailing gmuevent@gmu.edu and will sit in the bleachers. We encourage all faculty to process in.

Where can I find more details?

More details are available on the CPH graduation page under Faculty and Staff information.

Faculty advisors hooding Doctoral Candidates, please see emails last week from Cathy Tompkins and Alma Detten for more information. Email Alma Detten (adetten@gmu.edu) with any questions.

Student research: Last week, I was incredibly gratified to see so much wonderful student research in CPH. I attended the Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society research presentations. Twenty doctoral nursing students shared their work ranging from screening for opioid dependence in homeless shelters, reducing pain and anxiety during child vaccine administration, screening for STIs among older populations, increasing the psychiatric nurse workforce, to fall prevention protocols in skilled nursing facilities. 

The next day 55 students at all levels participated in the College-wide Celebration of Scholarship. To give a sampling, see the winning posters below.

It's such a pleasure to hear our students speak passionately about the health topics they sought to inform through research. I'm grateful to the Epsilon Zeta chapter for promoting research among nursing doctoral students; the CPH Faculty Research Committee (Raedeh Basiri, Michael Bloom, Denise Hines, Alicia Hong, and Kyeung Mi Oh) for organizing overseeing, reviewing, and selecting winners for the CPH Celebration of Scholarship; to doctoral students Salwa Alanazi, Tara Altay, Kelley Baker, Rebecca Bates, Maggie Fuzak, and Carolyn Faith Hoffman, for their assistance in the review process; to the many faculty advisors who are committed to supervising student research; and to the Office of Research team for celebration logistics and prizes. It was another successful year in CPH for student research and recognition. 

Celebration of Scholarship Winners

Undergraduate:

Master:

PhD:

Planning for the AY 24-25 Deans Speakers Series. I'm delighted that Denise Burnette, PhD, will be joining us on September 17 as our first Dean Speaker of the academic year. Dr. Burnette is the Samuel S. Wurtzel Professor of Social Work at VCU. Her research focuses on global topics, including health and psychosocial problems and related service needs of older populations in resource-constrained settings. 

Do you have a suggestion for a terrific "Deans Speaker"? We sponsor the travel of these esteemed colleagues who share their exciting research and experiences with CPH faculty and students. I'm eager to hear your suggestions. Please send them to me at aevanscu@gmu.edu. 

NIH is offering more tech and business-related funding and is offering free entrepreneurship training. Register here for the new NIH Entrepreneurship Bootcamp by Monday, May 13. Learn more in NOT-OD-24-103 

New CPH branded materials can be found in this ! NEW College of Public Health Toolkit. Note: Please download all items before editing; do not edit the documents in the linked folder. New additions include:

Bookmark this link! Additional new materials will be rolled out incrementally throughout the summer, and we will update you in this newsletter when they are available. (Hopefully, new departmental logos from OUB will be included at some point during this summer.) Marketing will take care of ordering new CPH swag in July. 

Email Mary Cunningham (mcunni7@gmu.edu) if you have questions about the material in the folder. 

Learn all about the new George Mason brand at brand.gmu.edu. 

Due today (5/6): All faculty received a survey to select courses to migrate to Canvas. Migrated sandbox courses are a preview of what your course will look like in Canvas. These are not live courses. Use your migrated sandbox course in Canvas to decide if you’d like to clean up or rebuild once your live course is available. Learn more about course cleanup on the migration guide. 

Coming Soon: You will receive a survey to identify the Fall 2024 sections you would like to teach in Canvas. Check with your program lead on whether your program is planning a cohort-based migration to Canvas. 

Changes to Expect: Some Blackboard tools are not available in Canvas.  

Other features will debut or will be more widely available in Canvas: 

* These were previously in Blackboard by request only. They are available by default in all Canvas courses. 

CPH Instructional Designers can assist with course migrations. CPH Faculty Mentors Dr. Allison Miner and Dr. Lila Fleming are available to share best practices, success stories, and advice on transitioning to Canvas. 

Last week, an electrical short affected all classrooms, VR labs, conference rooms, and office suites that use a push button to turn on/off lights.The facilities have repaired the lights so they are functioning properly. Last Tuesday, it was also noted that some Canon printers required a reboot, and the elevator in PHC was out of order. Contact Matthew Hicks if you have questions or have continued with lighting issues.

Mason has renewed the Qualtrics license and expanded the features. Contact Matthew Hicks or Rene Ayala if you want access to these functions.

Below is a list of new features and functions of the Core XM Advanced license. 

The following document has helpful information related to issues encountered when accessing SharePoint Document Library files through Windows Explorer (including lengthy file path names).

Unable to access SharePoint Document Libraries through Windows Explorer.docx

If you are currently teleworking any number of days, you need to have a current telework document on file. We also ask that your current work schedule is posted on your office door/window or workstation allowing it to be visible to colleagues, students, and visitors.

Complete the telework document here.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, reach out to your supervisor or Lisa Joyner.

May 9 |  10 am | EagleBank Arena

President Gregory Washington will preside at the University Commencement ceremony in EagleBank Arena, which features student, faculty, and guest speakers. Guests also will enjoy live music during the event. Doctoral candidates will be individually recognized and hooded; bachelor and master graduates will be recognized as a group at their seats.

Doors will open one hour prior to the start of the ceremony and seating is open and available on a general admission basis to anyone with a ticket. It is advisable to arrive at that time.

Learn more.

May 9 | 3 pm | Dewberry Hall, Johnson Center

Join the 109 BSN graduates of 2024 and welcome them to the nursing profession!

May 11 | 2 pm | EagleBank Arena
Reception to follow in Peterson Hall

We hope everyone will join us to celebrate our 2024 graduates. Learn more about faculty and staff's role in graduation at publichealth.gmu.edu/students/graduation under the Faculty/Staff drop down.

May 14 | 4-6 pm | Ornery Beer Company (3950 University Drive, Farifax)

Join college colleagues for an end-of-semester celebration at Ornery Beer Company. Please RSVP here.

Monday, May 13 will be the last weekly newsletter of the academic year. Starting Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day), the College newsletter will come out every other week. Weekly newsletters should resume mid-to-late August in preparation for the new school year. 

View the newsletter archives here.