Faculty/Staff Newsletter

Williams will use her expertise and experience as a public health educator to achieve SOPHE’s mission of a healthy world through health education.  

From February 23-25, representatives of the Accreditation Council in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) visited the Nutrition and Dietetics graduate program as part of the accreditation process. While here, the reviewers met with the program director, alumni, current students, program faculty, administrators, preceptors, and the advisory board. During their exit interview, the reviewers identified many program strengths, including the faculty and learning resources. The areas of improvement were mostly administrative details. During the October ACEND board meeting, a decision will be made regarding the status of the program’s accreditation.

Welcome Patrick Douglas as the College's new Assistant Director of Finance. He has more than 16  years of experience in higher education, primarily serving as an accounting manager at Centenary University. Douglas is committed to the overall mission and passionate about collaborting to deliver objective results. He has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Hunter College; a Master of Business Administration from Centenary University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Douglas will play a critical role in managing the College's financial operations, including budgeting and financial reporting. He will work closely with academic and administrative leadership to ensure the effective use of financial resources, analyze student enrollment trends for revenue forecasting, and provide data-driven insights to support decision-making. Faculty and staff can expect to interact with him on budget planning, financial analysis, and compliance matters, as well as when seeking guidance on financial policies and procedures.

Douglas's office is in the Dean's Suite. Stop by and introduce yourself.

If you are planning to go up for tenure, promotion, or apply for a new multi-year contract in the coming 2025-26 cycle, note the following declarations dates and discuss with your department chair/school director by that deadline.

Tenure-line renewal, promotion and/or tenure: March 31

Term promotion with new multi-year appointment: July 1

Term renewal with new multi-year appointment: July 1

March 8 | 10-11 am | Zoom | Registration required

Term and tenure-line faculty should have calendar invites to this faculty development workshop, hosted by the CPH Faculty Development Committee. The CPH Faculty Affairs Office will familiarize you with what to expect as a candidate including timelines, basic Interfolio mechanics, strategies, resources, and writing tips.

For more information, contact your faculty development committee representative or Li-Mei Chin (lchen38@gmu.edu).

Do you want to learn about core teaching principles at a time most convenient to you AND be eligible for a raffle prize? Listen to the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning Keystone Concepts of Teaching podcast online or on Amazon Music, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. Then complete the Raffle form to enter. One raffle entry for each episode (past and present) listened to.

Episode 13 features Glynita Bell and Amy Preston Page discussing "Strategies for Supporting Military-Affiliated Students."

Adjunct faculty are invited to be a part of our "Adjunct Speakers List", a rolling list of CPH adjunct faculty members who are interested in virtual synchronous or in-person lectures or short recorded presentations for asynchronous classes, to share their current or previous public health professional experience with CPH students. Contact Shannyn Snyder at ssnyder7@gmu.edu for more information.  

Congratulations to the following CPH pilot research funding winners:

Jeah Jung, HAP, Expanded Supplemental Benefits in Medicare Advantage 

Maryam Farvid, NFS, Metabolomic Profiles of Diabetes-Risk Reduction Diet and Breast Cancer Risk

Stefanos Tyrovolas, NFS, Pathway Development of an e-Screening Sarcopenia Algorithm and an Integrated Medical Device for Older Adults (SARCMED) 

Li-Mei Chen, SW, Relationship-Centered Care for Formal and Informal Caregivers of Persons Living with Dementia: VR and Multi-modal Approaches 

Melissa Villodas, SW, Brotherhood Empowered Teen Mental Health and Leadership Program: A Feasibility & Acceptability Study

PCORI is interested in patient-centered CER of clinical interventions and health system strategies that focus on community-based and hospital-based interventions to address violence and trauma. Intentional Trauma; Unintentional Trauma; and Substance Use and Trauma. Letter of intent is extensive and required by May 13.

Stay ahead of unexpected IT disruptions in Canvas, Blackboard, or other campus IT Services by signing up for ITS Alerts. Subscribe to the ITS Alerts Listserv to get announcements about service outages and maintenance schedules.

George Mason Libraries offers direct access to a variety of current news sources and academic publications, including Chronicle of Higher Education, New York Times, Washington Post, and more. It also provides expansive indirect access to current and historical newspapers via numerous databases. 

The inaugural edition of the Stearns Center STEM Education Newsletter is a communication created to showcase STEM faculty innovation around campus and to foster inspiration. Check out the events and opportunities around campus this spring, including the call for proposals for the Innovations in Teaching and Learning Conference (due 3/17; also mentioned in last week's CPH newsletter) and the summer STEM Education grants (up to $5000; due April 7). 

Note: due to space limitations, not all events and reminders are listed every week. If you see an event you want to attend, please put it on your calendar.

March 19 | 12–12:30 pm | Peterson 5116

CPH Staff Council is holding 30-minute brown bag events for all CPH staff (which includes AP faculty, research faculty, and wage employees) twice per month throughout the rest of the semester. This time, we will gather for some shop talk. We learn so much from each other and it is nearing the time for writing contracts, entering Epafs, and the like. If you would like to share tips, learn tips or just listen, please join us! More info will be shared on the CPH Staff and AP/Research Faculty Community-GRP Team on Teams. Bring your lunch. 

Interested in building or brushing up your media relations skills or want to explore how you can us social media to share your expertise or build community? All faculty are invited to participate in media coaching with Science Communicators Network who specialize in working with scientists.  We’ll chose between March 18 and March 27 based on faculty availability. Take a quick poll to identify the dates/times that work best. Questions? Contact Michelle Thompson at mthomp7@gmu.edu.

April 9 | 6 – 8:30 pm | Merten Hall Room 1202 | RSVP to come

Join Dean Melissa Perry as she convenes national thought leaders for a panel discussion on social isolation and loneliness across the life span. This engaging dialogue will explore the true scope and severity of the issue—is it really a public health crisis? The panel will challenge assumptions, explore solutions, and highlight the role of individuals and communities in fostering connection.  

Panelists 

Jawad H. 
Student, BA, Government and International Politics, Class of 2025 
Former Student Senator 
George Mason University 

Mary Louise Pomeroy, PhD MPH 
Postdoctoral Research Fellow 
Center on Aging and Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University 

LaToya Thomas, MRP, BS 
Principal & Founder, Brick & Story 

Rachel Wernicke, PhD 
Associate Dean and Chief Mental Health Officer
George Mason University 

HAP is in the lead, with Nutrition and Food Studies close behind. Iulia Fratila had the most steps for an individual this past week. Report March 3 - 9 steps by midnight today, March 10.

The Employee Health & Well-Being team within Risk, Safety, & Resilience is hosting:

Complementary Blood Pressure Checks
March 12 | 10:30 am - 12:30 pm | Population Health Center | Sign Up

2nd and 4th Mondays of each month | 4-5 pm | Zoom: https://gmu.zoom.us/j/92966601360

Bring your questions, ideas, or concerns—whether it’s about student issues, curriculum, research, or collaborating with other faculty—and receive valuable feedback from your peers.

Join Provost Antony for an informal opportunity to connect over coffee. RSVP here.

Fairfax Campus Staff Session: March 17 | 8:30 – 9:30 am | Merten 1201

Fairfax Campus Faculty Session:  April 8 | 10:30  - 1:30 am | Merten 1201

If you need help with letter writing or anything else that may be standing in the way of nominating your colleagues, reach out to Cathy Tompkins (ctompkin@gmu.edu). 

Note these are the correct nomination packet links. Some previous newsletters have been incorrect.

College Faculty Teaching Awards

College Faculty Research Awards

March 19 | 9 -10:30 am | HUB Ballroom and Zoom

All are invited to a town hall with President Gregory Washington. In-person attendance is encouraged. While questions will be taken at the conclusion of the town hall, but the Zoom chat function will not be enabled. Q&A will not be available on the livestream and the session will not be recorded. Zoom link will be shared in next week's  newsletter.

March 25 | 11:30 am | Mutitpurpose Room | RSVP here
Followed by lunch

Tuesdays | 12 pm | Peterson 2407

Yoga is now occurring in Peterson Hall room 2407. All are welcome.

PUBLICHEALTH.GMU.EDU

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