Greetings, Friends, 

What’s the happiest place for Stearns Center-supporting people to be on campus this month? Dewberry Hall, Monday, April 13, 3:00-5:00 pm for our Celebration of Teaching Excellence. Everyone in that room is there because they are -- and/or support -- an excellent Mason teacher, and everyone in the room is happy to be there. You’re invited to join us, and you’ll probably see someone you know who is happy, and they will be even happier to find out something about your teaching too. (And there’s mini-cheesecakes!) 

Stearns Center and our partners also continue to support you as you finish this spring’s teaching and start to look ahead to summer (it’s coming!). We have resources for adapting to the ubiquity of AI tools, for improving writing assignments and course designs, and for planning a productive summer for your research and leadership growth. 

We hope you’ll scroll down or check our Event Calendar for the full list of upcoming workshops, podcasts, opportunities, and events. 

E Shelley Reid, Ph.D. 

Executive Director

Join us for our
Celebration of Teaching Excellence
Monday, April 13
3-5PM in Dewberry Hall

David J. King
Lisa M. Gring-Pemble

Linda Apple Monson

Teaching Excellence
Kimberly Avila

Andrew Gilbert 

Steven Maex 

Christine Rosenfeld 

Jennifer Sklarew 

Teachers of Distinction

Ali Beheshti  

June Huang  

Maction Komwa  

Steph Liberatore  

Paolo Saguato 

Adjunct Teaching Excellence

Ashley Frese  

David Lord 

ATEA Teachers of Distinction

Hilah Kaufman  

Stephen Shannon  

Online Teaching Excellence

Mandy Bean 

Susan Howard 

OTEA Teachers of Distinction

Sanja Avramovic  

K. Pierre Eklou  

Frank Krueger  

Brian Ngac  

Andrew Novak  

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) is offering faculty an opportunity for early-summer funding! Work on the project would run from May 25 to August 9, 2026. Submit a proposal for a WAC early-summer funding project before Monday, April 20! These funds will take the form of stipends (up to $4000 per team; $1000 per team member) to teams who design, develop, and lead a project that seeks to enhance the intentionality and sustainability of writing instruction across disciplines. We solicit proposals from all departments, programs, colleges, and schools at George Mason University, including full-time and/or part-time faculty.

The Teaching with AI: Level 1 credential offers instructors a practical, research-informed foundation as they navigate the choices around the use of AI in their courses. Click below to learn about the five-workshop credential. New offerings have been added for Summer 2026: check them out on our Events Calendar!

This full-day symposium, offered in person at JMU and online, explores how educators can respond to AI through intentional teaching and curriculum design. Participants will learn the Critical AI Literacy Cultivation Framework and work hands-on with the SKEPTICS framework to design activities that help students assess AI’s impact on learning. Travel stipends are available; register by priority deadline May 1. Contact Breana Bayraktar for more information.

Tuesday, May 19, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
James Madison University

Course ReDesign Academy (CRA) will be hybrid in June -- with Zoom meetings and/or on-campus meetings June 3-4, 2026 -- to support your plans for new or redesigned courses next year. Accepted participants receive a stipend to support significant course development. Find more information on our CRA webpage and find our link to submit your application before April 10 on the Upcoming Course Redesign Academies webpage.

Curious about alternative grading but not sure where to start? This session introduces the core principles and common approaches, including specifications, standards-/mastery-based grading, ungrading, and labor-based models. Designed as a foundation for deeper design work, this workshop prepares participants to begin rethinking grading in their own courses. We are offering this workshop twice: April 17 and May 5

Faculty are invited to the 2nd Annual STEM Education Retreat, a hybrid program on using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in STEM courses with the online course opening May 6 and in-person workshop on May 19, 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Open to all Mason STEM faculty; limited to the first 15 registrants. 

This two-part experience supports faculty in moving from ideas to implementation in alternative grading. In the Design Studio (in-person and online options available), you will build a practical, testable grading approach through structured reflection and design activities. In the Design Charrette in-person on June 5, you will share materials and receive feedback in a collaborative setting. For the in-person option on May 22, please register before May 9. 

In Episode 33: Faculty Support is Student Support, settle in for an insightful conversation with Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Development, Dr. Kim Eby, as she makes the compelling case that supporting faculty success is inseparable from supporting student success in a sustainable, effective higher education institution.

And listen to Episode 34: Career Readiness as a Teaching Practice to learn about low‑effort, high‑impact teaching practices and resources from our guest, Career Services Executive Director, Saskia Campbell.

This month, look forward to April 9 when we will publish our third Hear From Your Host episode! Then on April 23 our episode will feature key insights from Christi Wilcox. 

✅ Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to stay tuned! 

This summer, consider enrolling in the AI Mini Course: Introduction to AI-Enhanced Teaching Practices (formerly called Intermediate AI Inspired Pedagogies). This six-session course beginning on June 8, 2026 will introduce you to working with AI tools and have you thinking about how AI impacts best teaching practices. No prerequisites required! Registration will be limited to the first 40 participants.

Summer can be both a faculty member’s best friend and biggest challenge. Join us for the last of our interactive workshops to help you identify your summer goals, both personal and professional, and develop a concrete plan for achieving those goals. The workshop will be held via Zoom on Monday, April 6 from 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.

The retreat offers an active approach to uninterrupted writing time, a chance to learn from our panelists, and a supportive and collegial community of peers to boost your writing productivity. Participants work on a variety of research and creative projects at all stages of completion. The retreat will be held on Wednesday, May 20 and Thursday, May 21.

Join us in celebrating the research and creative projects Mason undergraduate students have accomplished this year. There will be food, music, art, student posters, and you can vote for best poster. Encourage your students to register to present their work. See you May 5, 2026!

The Graduate Division supports strong faculty mentoring across George Mason. Each semester, we offer a short, intensive professional development workshop series based on the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) Entering Mentoring curriculum. Participants earn a MasonLEAPS certificate upon completion. Interested in mentorship professional development? Reach out to Alyssa Bivins, PhD, the Senior Professional Development Coordinator in the Graduate Division (abivins2@gmu.edu) to schedule a training session that works for your faculty in Summer or Fall 2026.