Faculty/Staff Newsletter

Eli Kalman-Rome is the first George Mason University graduate to pass the Registered Dietitian (RD) exam and become a credentialed RD in Virginia. Kalman-Rome was part of the first cohort to graduate from the new Master of Science in Nutrition, dietetics concentration program in May. 

A new generation of peer recovery interns builds stronger, healthier communities through compassionate and skilled peer support.

Chris Williams is the Associate Director of Graduate Recruitment & Admission. Chris previously worked in the college as an Academic Advisor. In addition to advising, he has extensive higher education experience in disability services, employer and internship partnerships, recruitment, student engagement, and program management. He received his BA in Communication and his MA in Higher Education, both from George Mason University. 

The Office of Student Affairs is thrilled to announce the opening of our brand-new College of Public Health Career Center! Whether you’re a freshman exploring potential career paths or a grad student preparing to launch/continue your professional journey, the career center is here to support you every step of the way.

The career center offers one-on-one career advising, resume workshops, networking events and internship opportunities! We are dedicated to helping you achieve your career goals. Stop by room 1500A in Peterson Hall to see the CPH Career Center and gain internship and job opportunities tailored to your Public Health goals.

Questions? Contact: PHCareer@gmu.edu

Welcome to the fall semester!  

Join our “Aims Page and Proposal Strategy” Writing Group

A quick reminder to our research community that we will continue our regular meetings to talk about funding proposals, reviewer feedback, and strategy. Typically, one or two faculty provide a one-page draft (e.g. an Aims page or equivalent) and the group provides constructive feedback in a safe environment.

Post-docs are also welcome to participate. Because our teaching schedules can overlap, we switch up the start times. The meetings are hybrid (i.e., in-person and virtual), and are a great way to connect with other researchers in CPH. Contact me (Alison Cuellar) to join us!

September 5, 12:00 - 1:00 pm
September 19, 12:00 - 1:00 pm
October 10, 1:15 - 2:15 pm
October 24, 1:15 - 2:15 pm

Welcome to Elaine Hicks, our new Mason Health Sciences Librarian who starts in September. We are delighted to welcome Elaine who has held a number of relevant positions in both public health and library science. I plan to invite her to CPH to speak with faculty after she settles in. 

The Center for Research, Health, and Social Justice (CRHS) has a call for research and teaching pilots for Early Stage Investigators and Teaching Faculty. Post-docs are also encouraged to apply.

Pilots must focus on cancer and CVD in African Americans in Arkansas and/or Virginia and are $25,000. The pilot LOI is due November 20, 2024 and applicants are required to attend a series of training sessions. Anyone can attend these sessions and if you are interested in proposal submission.

I encourage any of you to attend these sessions, as they touch on many of the key skills needed for proposals submission. Details on the training topics and submission requirements are here and here and the LOI submission form is here.

FY24 Combat Readiness-Medical Research Program (CRRP) (DoD/CDMRP)

The intent of the FY24 CRRP TRA is to support high-impact translational research that will accelerate innovative ideas into clinical applications, including health care products, technologies, and/or practice guidelines.
Pre-application deadline is 9/4/24.  

I’m happy to connect faculty to our Conafay consulting group for more information on DoD funding opportunities. 

NIH Revolutionizing Innovative, Visionary Environmental Health Research (RIVER) (R35 Clinical Trial Optional) (NIH/NIEHS) RFA-ES-24-004 

The RIVER program is intended to provide support for outstanding investigators in the Environmental Health Sciences, giving them intellectual and administrative freedom, as well as sustained support to pursue their research in novel directions in order to achieve greater impacts. 

The following AI services are approved for use at George Mason:

Copilot (Free) (https://copilot.microsoft.com): Microsoft Copilot is an advanced conversational AI model based on the GPT-4 architecture. It is designed to assist users by engaging in meaningful and productive conversations. The University provides access to Copilot using Netid and DUO login.   

GrammarlyGo with AI (Paid Subscription) (https://www.grammarly.com/ai-writing-assistant): AI supported writing assistant. 

Packback (Paid Student Subscription Required) (https://www.packback.co/): Discussion space geared towards improving writing. Students have access to a digital teaching assistant and writing coach. Faculty receive insight reports and recommended actions as well as automated participation scoring. 

Perusall (GMU Licensed) (https://www.perusall.com/): A social annotation system used to engage students with course content. Perusall includes an option to automatically grade the quality of student comments, using a proprietary large language model trained on faculty-generated grading comments. 

Honorlock (GMU Licensed) (https://honorlock.com/): An AI-powered test proctoring service. Honorlock’s AI analyzes student behavior and environment to monitor for cheating. If the AI identifies suspected cheating, an Honorlock employee is alerted to review the student’s behavior. 

LinkedIn Learning (GMU licensed): LinkedIn Learning has a series of video courses addressing AI in general, and more specifically how to use Microsoft Copilot and applying that to Office 365 tools. 

If you would like to join or contribute to the CPH AI Working Group Teams site, please contact Matthew Hicks or Terri Ann Guingab.

24/7 Canvas Support, and Other Resources

Spring 2025 is the final semester that courses may be offered in Blackboard.

The College continues its transition to Canvas. In Fall 2024, 54 out of more than 200 College of Public Health full-time and adjunct faculty will teach 112 sections in Canvas. Social Work has the most faculty teaching in Canvas (24). Both Social Work and GCH have the most sections in Canvas this fall (44 and 41, respectively). Some general education courses will be taught in Canvas, including all UNIV 100 and UNIV 150 sections. Faculty in other popular courses such as ENGH 101 and ENGH 302 have the option to teach in Blackboard or Canvas.

The instructional design team recommends taking a little time each week to review and clean up migrated Canvas courses you may teach in the future. Blackboard migrations are not a 1:1 copy and course cleanup and reorganization is required. Both Terri Ann Guingab and Barbara Helmick are available to assist.

CPH Canvas Office Hours on Zoom:  
Tuesdays 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Thursdays 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
And by individual appointment at HLTHLRN@gmu.edu.

Faculty mentors Lila Fleming and Allison Miner are on hand to provide guidance on reviewing and redesigning course activities that make the most of Canvas’ features. Training and migration guides and other migration support are available on the LMS Transition website.

The CPH Steps Challenge is back again for a new semester of healthful, departmental competition. Participants may walk anywhere, anytime, within the weekly time frames, counting their steps, and then report their CPH unit affiliation along with the steps they’ve walked.

At the end of the semester, the unit with the most steps (proportionally) will be awarded a prize and take the trophy! Each week, the individual with the highest weekly number of steps will be acknowledged in the CPH newsletter along with a report of unit standings. 

Report your steps no later than 12:00 pm on the Monday after each Monday-through-Sunday challenge week. 

The first week of walking is September 2 - 8. Report your steps by 12:00 pm on Monday, Sept. 9.

Bookmark this link to report your Fall semester steps and get stepping!

September 5, 2024 | 12:00 - 3:00 pm | Peterson Hall Quad

Welcome back fair for undergraduate and graduate students at George Mason University

At this fair:

Questions?
Contact Office of Student Affairs at cph@gmu.edu or 703-993-1901

September 27, 2024 | 12:00 pm | Virtual
November 1, 2024 | 12:00 pm | Virtual

CPH Virtual Lightning Talks are back for the fourth consecutive year!  

More information will be provided soon! If you have any questions, please contact Cathy Tompkins, ctompkin@gmu.edu.
 
To access the recordings from previous Lightning Talks, please go to:  https://publichealth.gmu.edu/lightning-talks

October 9, 2024 | 5:00 pm | Peterson Multipurpose Room

Confirmed Speakers

Samantha Koehler, Senior Health Policy Advisor for U.S. Senator Tim Kaine

Timothy Nanof, BSW, MSW, Vice President for Policy & Government Affairs, American Nurses Association

Corey Feist, JD, MBA, Founder & CEO, Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation

September 17 | 11:30 am - 12:30 pm | Multipurpose Room
Optional lunch to follow

Title: "More than One Plus One: Syndemics in an Aging
and Unequal World"
Presenter: Denise Burnette, PhD

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. 

Every Thursday | 12 pm | Peterson Lobby  

Join fellow CPH faculty, staff, and campus colleagues for a weekly walk around campus. It’s a great way to take a break and get to know others.

The walking group leaves at 12:05 pm for a 20-25 minute walk. To be added to the announcement list, contact Terri Ann Guingab.

Every Tuesday | 12 pm | Peterson 2800  

CPH yoga is returning on Tuesdays beginning September 17. You are welcome to stay for as much or as little of the class as you are able and we hope to see many of you there! If you have any questions, please contact Cathy Tompkins.

PUBLICHEALTH.GMU.EDU

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