Greetings, Friends, 

I used to have a t-shirt that said, “Teachers Touch the Future.” I don’t think that’s quite true. But I do believe that engaging with our students is a deliberate, daily, public enactment of hope, an orientation toward a better future.  

Your colleagues at Stearns Center know that April on a university campus is packed with stressors and challenges. We also see you acting in hope, as you strive in these next weeks to help students increase not only their knowledge but their curiosity, insight, confidence, and compassion. Author Lin Yutang suggests that “Hope is like a road in the country: There was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.” We are proud to be walking alongside you, willing this George Mason University road into existence with every discussion question written, every student project reviewed, and every encouraging word you provide. 

And we hope to see you this month at our Celebration of Teaching Excellence on Monday, April 14, in our grants-application inboxes, in our upcoming workshops, or on our growing list of podcast followers!  

E Shelley Reid, Ph.D. 

Executive Director of Engaged Teaching 

David J. King

Kelly Schrum

Teaching Excellence

Kevin Andrea

Lois Groth

Greta Ann Herin

Kerri LaCharite

Audrey S. Pettibon

Kevin Rockmann

Roland B. Wilson

Teacher of Distinction

Jennifer Wood

Adjunct Teaching Excellence

Michelle Lague

Dana Siller

ATEA Teachers of Distinction

Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah

Bruce Aft

Suneel Grover

Online Teaching Excellence

Lila Fleming

Katherine Rosenbusch

OTEA Teachers of Distinction

Frank Krueger

MB (Marybeth) Mitcham

📣LAST CHANCE: Listen to the Keystone Concepts in Teaching podcast and enter the spring raffle for a chance to win books or gift cards! We have monthly podcast listener raffles for great opportunities for US-based faculty, as well as a special raffle for Mason Korea. Congratulations to our previous winners, Xiaoyu Gao and Melanie Fedri! 🎉

Classroom Inquiry Grants

The SoTL-Classroom Inquiry Grants support faculty examining classroom practice in a scholarly way (data collection, analysis, & dissemination). Applications are due April 7.

Inclusive Excellence in Teaching Grants

To aid in scaling-up support for all students and broadly inclusive excellence in teaching efforts across campus, we are offering IET grants. Applications are due April 7. 

STEM Education Grants

The Stearns Center is offering STEM Education Grants for Summer 2025. Grants support curriculum updates and capacity building. Applications are due April 7. 

Writing Across the Curriculum Grants

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) invites proposals from academic units seeking to enhance the intentionality and sustainability of writing instruction across disciplines. Applications are due April 7.

Course ReDesign Academy will be online/hybrid in June--with prepwork in May and Zoom/hybrid meetings June 4-5, 2025--to support your advance planning for summer or fall. Accepted participants receive a stipend to support course development. See more online, and use our link there to submit your application by April 21.

April 24: Through hands-on activities, discussions, and case studies, you will create tailored course policies aligned with your learning objectives that promote an ethical AI culture. You will also explore practical strategies to guide students in responsible AI use. Workshop sponsored by SCHEV and open to university educators state-wide.

Last month, we published Ep. 15: Teaching Strategies Creating Access to STEM Courses. Prof. Kelly Knight and Dr. Christine Rosenfeld chat with host, Dr. Rachel Yoho, about how we might increase access to courses, even those in STEM like labs and field experiences.  

This week, we published Ep. 16: How Do We Support Our Contemporary Students? Dr. Joisanne Rodgers and Shyama Kuyver from the Contemporary Student Services office join Dr. Yoho to talk about who are our contemporary students and how we can support them in their educational journey.  

Look forward to Episode 17 on April 17 where Dr. Yoho will speak to Drs. Breana Bayraktar and Lila Fleming about our learning management system - Canvas!

‼️Final Canvas Details‼️: Spring 2025 is the last semester in which courses can be taught in Blackboard. Starting summer 2025, courses that use the LMS must use Canvas (all sessions). Access to save any content from Blackboard will end on July 15, 2025.

Gradescope Demonstration: April 15 11AM-12PM EST - Gradescope is a tool designed to streamline and standardize the grading of paper-based, digital, and coding assignments. It allows for handwritten assignments to be graded digitally, and for multiple graders to collaboratively develop and implement their grading rubrics. It supports problem sets and projects, worksheets, quizzes, exams, and papers. Please reach out to Digital Learning Instructional Designer, John Schell, dschell@gmu.edu with any questions.

Advanced Perusall Demo II: April 17 1PM-2PM EST - During this Onboarding Session, advanced topics such as Multipart Assignments, Video usage, Advanced grouping configuration (including Canvas Group Sync), Peer Assessment Assignments, and assessment scoring and rubrics will be discussed.

OSCAR holds celebrations three times a year, inviting undergraduate students to share their projects with the George Mason University community and celebrate what other George Mason University undergraduate students have accomplished this year. Save the date for our Spring Celebration May 6! It is an in-person event with poster presentation sessions, musical performances, videos, food trucks, and more.

OSCAR: The Undergraduate Student Travel Fund (USTF) supports research and scholarly related travel for undergraduates who are presenting their projects via poster, talk, screening, round table, performance, etc. USTF can support costs for presentations at virtual conferences. Students must apply 30 days before travel. See the USTF webpage for more information.

OSCAR provides opportunities for undergraduate students to learn research, creative, or scholarly methods in their field and gives faculty free support on their projects at the same time, through the Federal Work-study Program. Learn how to hire a research assistant by visiting the Federal Work-study Research Assistant webpage.

On Friday, May 16, 2025, ITS will implement a new security measure requiring all Zoom meetings to use a waiting room, passcode, or authentication for entry. If you currently have a Zoom meeting scheduled on or after the implementation date with no security measure in place, a waiting room will automatically be added to your meeting.

The Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning, as part of George Mason's QEP is seeking faculty to participate in our Summer 2025 and Fall 2025 Curriculum Development Cohort. The goal of these cohorts it to provide faculty with time, training, and resources to incorporate civic learning into the curriculum. Email CECiL Director, Kristen Wright at kwrigh22@gmu.edu for more information!

Sign up for one of our virtual workshops to learn about the application process, benefits and resources involved in gaining a course designation. Questions? Contact Cara Snider at csnider3@gmu.edu. For more information, visit our webpage.

The retreat will be held on Wednesday, May 28 & Thursday, May 29, 8:30-4:00pm both days. This retreat will be hosted both in-person and online. The retreat offers uninterrupted writing time and a supportive and collegial community of peers to boost your writing productivity.

Have you ever wondered about how the OSCAR can connect you with undergraduate students to advance your research, scholarship and creative activities projects at no cost? You’re in luck!! On Friday, April 4th, from 11:30-12:30, OSCAR will be conducting a virtual seminar describing the services and opportunities they can provide faculty. The seminar will include:
· Introduction to OSCAR
· Faculty Panel
· Time for Q&A
Everyone is welcome.

The AI Taskforce has collaborated and published initial guidelines for George Mason Faculty's use of AI. While not only targeted at teaching, it does discuss some safeguards that apply in a teaching context. Please review them and email Stearns@gmu.edu if you have specific questions about how this may impact your teaching.

The symposium aims to foster dialogue and collaboration among undergraduate and graduate student-led journals. Topics will include sustainable leadership, ethics, diversity, grants, partnerships, navigating AI in submissions, and more. The Student Journal Symposium offers opportunities for students, faculty, and administrators interested or involved in student publications to engage in interactive workshops and round-table conversations, hear from plenary speakers and student panelists, and connect.