Student Success

College of Public Health is fueling the pipeline for nutrition professionals

Taylor Thomas — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 12:49:46 +0000

College of Public Health is fueling the pipeline for nutrition professionals Taylor Thomas Mon, 08/05/2024 - 08:49

George Mason's first cohort of graduates had a 100% pass rate on the RD certification exam—and every student was immediately employed as an RD.

Eli Kalman-Rome is the first ��AV 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.

Kalman-Rome asserts his Mason education was paramount to this achievement. His prior experiences at George Mason left no question of the College’s capacity to facilitate his academic success.

“I did my master's at George Mason previously and trusted the university to provide a solid education with caring and competent faculty,” said Kalman-Rome.

To pass the RD examination, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics requires students to demonstrate competencies in the principles of dietetics, nutrition care for individuals and groups, management of food and nutrition programs, and food service systems. While the typical pass rate for this for this prestigious exam is 70%, George Mason's first cohort of graduates had a 100% pass rate—and every student was immediately employed as an RD. "These impressive statistics are a testament to how effectively the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies' MS, Nutrition Dietetic Concentration program prepares students for the RD exam and for the job market. We are proud of our first cohort of graduates and eager to grow this program to meet today's demand," said Martin Binks, PhD, MBA, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies.

“George Mason not only provided the didactic and internship components I needed to be successful at the RD exam, but it has made me competitive as a hiring candidate. The classes laid a solid foundation for my skills and knowledge, and the internship placements for the program were varied, interesting, and provided real-life experience that helped me understand how dietetics is used professionally,” Kalman-Rome said.

In addition to setting him up for academic success, Kalman-Rome praises the College for preparing him to enter the field as a nutrition dietetics professional with an appreciation for nutrition’s role in public health.

“Adequate nutrition is instrumental to public health outcomes because it's impossible to remain healthy without it. Nutrition impacts all stages of life, from fetal development, infant mortality, maternal health, success in the classroom for growing children, the incidences of infection and disease, shortened lifespan from chronic diseases, but it is also a critical aspect of culture. Sharing food is a way of caring for each other and passing down our traditions and beliefs, nutrition is not only about physical health but also part of a holistic wellness of communities,” he said.

Kalman-Rome recently accepted a position as a Clinical Dietician at HCA Healthcare.

Congratulations, Eli!

Topics

Nutrition Students

registered dietitian

MS Nutrition

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies

Student Success

Students

Independent analysis shows Mason is an economic driver to the state while keeping spending low on administrative costs

Colleen Rich — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 22:32:35 +0000

Independent analysis shows Mason is an economic driver to the state while keeping spending low on administrative costs Colleen Rich Wed, 02/28/2024 - 17:32

A recent State Council of Higher Education for Virginia-conducted analysis of Virginia’s public four-year institutions shows ��AV topping or leading most peers in a variety of metrics, including growth, opportunity, value, efficiency, return on investment, and state economic impact.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

The findings in a “fact pack” were compiled by Boston Consulting Group and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). Mason President Gregory Washington reviewed the data with the Board of Visitors at the governing body’s Feb. 22 meeting in Merten Hall. The fact packs for all of the state’s public four-year institutions can be found here.

“George Mason is the greatest human development initiative in this state since Reconstruction, and I think the data bears that out,” Washington said. “It is not just special. It is actually unprecedented. We are the shining light on the hill that others should be looking at to say, ‘How do we replicate that?’”

Among the Mason highlights:

Enrollment growth: 2.2% from 2013 to 2022 as Mason solidified its standing as the largest and most diverse public university in the state.
Opportunity/retention/completion: An acceptance rate of 91%, a first-year retention rate of 87%, and a six-year graduation rate of 69%.
Affordability: Cost of attendance, what students pay after financial aid, scholarships and other assistance, increased by 0.4% ($400) between 2018-19 and 2021-22 for in-state undergraduates.
Serving financially challenged students: 32% with Pell recipient status in 2021-22, which is 5% more than the median of Virginia four-year public universities.
Efficiency: Mason ranks at or near the bottom in administrative cost per student and administrative/instructional cost ratio among the state’s four-year public institutions.
State economic impact: 73% of in-state Mason graduates stay in Virginia—3% higher than public four-year institutions in the state—and earn among the highest-paying salaries. For out-of-state Mason students, 29% remain in Virginia after graduation, 9% higher than the state average.

“There is no better investment of taxpayer dollars from an ROI perspective relative to George Mason, and I can make that claim based on these results,” Washington said. “If you were going to paint a picture of what you want an academic institution to be for this state and nation, you would get an institution that looks like this one.”

Video of the Feb. 22 meeting can be accessed here and meeting materials here.

Other highlights from the meeting:

The Office of Safety, Emergency, and Enterprise Risk Management (SEERM) is now Risk, Safety, and Resilience and will be led by Chief Risk Officer Julie Zobel, former associate vice president for SEERM. Zobel is leading the university’s updated Enterprise Risk Assessment and will report directly to the president. Look for a future story with details in an upcoming issue of The George email newsletter.
The Governor’s Office has approved the incentive retirement plan that Mason had submitted.
Deb Dickenson, executive vice president for finance and administration, and Rose Pascarell, vice president for University Life, will host a town hall March 21 to engage students about a proposed tuition increase, which would be capped at 3% for in-state undergraduate students.
Keith Renshaw, senior associate provost for undergraduate education, provided an overview of the history, process, and course review status for the Mason Core including the new Just Societies course requirement scheduled to begin fall 2024 for new students. Mason Core courses are designed to “meet the needs of employers, students themselves, our state and region and society at large” and to fulfill accreditation requirements, Renshaw said. Following the BOV meeting, Mason Rector Horace Blackman created a university committee in response to questions raised by BOV members about the process of developing the new Mason Core requirements to continue the conversation and report back with recommendations at the next BOV meeting in May.
Research expenditures are up 31.2% in FY24, said Andre Marshall, vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact.

Topics

Campus News

Board of Visitors

Student Success

��AV Engages Accenture to Transform Student Experience with Salesforce Education Cloud

John Hollis — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 19:11:34 +0000

��AV Engages Accenture to Transform Student Experience with Salesforce Education Cloud John Hollis Tue, 02/27/2024 - 14:11

��AV and Accenture finalized a two-year agreement to roll out Salesforce Education Cloud and new marketing solutions as part of the university’s efforts to transform the student experience.

Enabling improved data-driven, connected, and streamlined processes, Mason and Accenture will initially focus on data alignment through two Education Cloud tools: Student Success and Recruitment and Admissions. Accenture will also identify and deploy additional marketing and communication tools to enhance these applications.

“As we build a more modern university for Virginia’s largest and most diverse student body, Mason is committed to delivering a comprehensive and unparalleled student experience and the best education outcomes for all," said Ken Walsh, Mason’s interim provost and executive vice president. “Accenture’s experience customizing and integrating Salesforce Education Cloud into existing systems will help advance the university’s goals to comprehensively support students at every step of their academic journey at Mason and beyond.”

In March 2023, Mason issued a request for proposal for a strategic partner to improve Mason’s student lifecycle management with Salesforce Education Cloud, selecting Accenture as a result of the procurement process.

“Higher education leaders recognize the opportunities to redesign the student journey, from recruitment through graduation and beyond, by focusing on the moments that matter to each individual,” said David Metnick, Accenture public sector and education lead for Virginia. “Mason’s move to the cloud will substantially strengthen its digital core, allowing it to deliver excellent student services and meet ever-evolving needs as new tools and opportunities emerge.”

Accenture will integrate the new technology into the university’s existing infrastructure, consolidating data and operations. This will provide faculty and staff with tools to improve collaboration by connecting and streamlining diverse information and processes. It will also help Mason support students’ individual needs and provide educational opportunities to ensure their success.

“Our mission at Salesforce is to empower institutions with the tools they need to deliver better student experiences and outcomes,” said Balakrishnan Subramanian, VP & GM of Education at Salesforce. “We’re excited to see George Mason and Accenture work together to implement Salesforce Education Cloud to create a student-first experience for learners, increase enrollment, and improve the admissions process.”

“We are excited to embark on this journey with Accenture,” added Renate Guilford, Mason’s vice president for academic administration. “Together we’ll build an integrated system that enhances Mason’s technological framework while keeping our students at the center of our operations.”

About ��AV

��AV is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 40,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. In 2023, the university launched Mason Now: Power the Possible, a one-billion-dollar comprehensive campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and stewardship. Learn more at gmu.edu.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 743,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com. For more information on the Accenture and Salesforce relationship, visit www.accenture.com/salesforce.

# # #

Contacts:

Joe Dickie
Accenture
512-694-6422
Joseph.r.dickie@accenture.com

John Hollis
��AV
571-396-1578
Jhollis2@gmu.edu

Salesforce, Education Cloud and others are among the trademarks of Salesforce Inc.

Topics

Inspired By the Care of Mason Nurses

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 02 May 2022 14:27:36 +0000

Inspired By the Care of Mason Nurses Mary Cunningham Mon, 05/02/2022 - 10:27

Family members’ time in hospitals with caring nurses inspired Sarah Ringham to start and continue her nursing education

Caring nurses inspired Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) senior Sarah Ringham at a young age. She saw the impact that warm and compassionate nurses had on her family and knew it was the profession for her.

Ringham aims to be a pediatric oncology nurse so she can support children and families. When she was in elementary school, nurses cared for her sister, who has now been in remission from brain cancer for 13 years. She knows what a difference a great nurse can make and intends to provide the best care.

“I got into nursing by caring for my sister, and not only because of her, but because of the wonderful nurses who cared for her. They were so nice and amazing, and I enjoyed watching them work,” said Ringham. “I want to make it easier for other families in the hospital who are going through the same thing my family went through.”

Her sisters nurses are also a big reason she chose to attend Mason. Ringham says most of the nurses she talked to went to Mason and recommended the program.

Unfortunately, her sister is not the only family member to inspire her future career. During the fall of her senior year (Fall 2021), her stepfather passed away from a breakthrough case of COVID-19 (he caught the virus even though he was vaccinated). This, along with the shift to remote and hybrid learning because of the pandemic, changed her world and she considered leaving the program. She even mentioned the possibility to her professors, who wanted her to stay, but supported her in what was best for her.

“I was this close to dropping out of the nursing program because my family needed me. I was still doing classes and most of my schoolwork, but I was so afraid if I didn’t drop out that it would negatively affect my family,” she said. “My mom told me to stay in school. She said, ‘your dad would be so upset if you left. You’re so close to graduating.’” So Ringham stayed in school and is glad for it.

A New Spark

The loss of her stepfather greatly impacted how she viewed life, especially nursing, and gave her a new motivation for her education.

“I came back with a new mindset that I absolutely had to finish. The new mindset included a new flame to do everything to the best of my ability,” she said.

In addition to participating in the Student Nurses Association and Delta Alpha Pi International Honor Society (academic honor society founded to recognize high-achieving students with disabilities), Ringham spends her time in the Virtual Reality (VR) and Simulation Lab, where her voice is famous. As a Simulation Lab Assistant, she moderates VR and mannequin-based simulations, talking and reacting as the patient, with other students. After a student goes through a scenario, the debrief process includes watching a recording of another person who has completed the scenario, which allows students to see how to improve their practice. The scenario is a recording of Sarah completing the training.

“Hi, My name is Sarah, and I’m going to be your nurse” is her most used line in the scenarios and she has had other students recognize her because of her voice. She has found that she enjoys the teaching and supporting aspects of working in the lab.

“I want to make it easier for other families in the hospital who are going through the same thing my family went through.”

Ringham is glad she committed to her last semester and is excited to graduate in May. She thinks her new attitude is the reason the Nursing faculty awarded her with the Rita M. Carty Academic Achievement Award.

Just like the nurses she encountered, Ringham recommends Mason’s School of Nursing to anyone interested.

“Honestly, do it and give it your all. If you like nursing and medicine, this is the school for you. The faculty are so into student education and finding ways to improve,” said Ringham. “If you want to do nursing, go for it. It’s an amazing field and there’s a lot of great resources at Mason.”

Topics

Tech Talent Investment Program (TTIP)

TTIP

Senior of the Year graduates as a leader at Mason and at home

Colleen Rich — Tue, 04 May 2021 16:46:08 +0000

Senior of the Year graduates as a leader at Mason and at home Colleen Rich Tue, 05/04/2021 - 12:46

Senior of the Year Isabella Bah began her Mason journey as a student in the Early Identification Program. Photo provided

Isabella Bah, who graduates this month with a degree in accounting and a minor in entrepreneurship, is described as a motivated and determined leader by her mentors at ��AV.

Bah “is special because she embodies resilience and perseverance,” said Rhina Alvarado, associate director of Mason’s Early Identification Program (EIP), in which Bah, a first-generation student, participated beginning in the eighth grade.

“She knows the challenges many first-generation students face, and is committed to pay it forward by mentoring other first-generation students and serving as a role model to her peers,” Alvarado said.

Bah has been recognized by the Mason's Alumni Association as the Senior of the Year.

“I love the sense of community at Mason,” said Bah, a member of Mason’s Honors College. “I have had a lot of opportunities here, and I have worked hard.”

Bah has excelled at Mason, winning awards and finding leadership positions in which she has helped other students and the entire Mason community.

She earned the EagleBank Scholarship in Entrepreneurship and the Cardinal Bank Endowed Scholarship. Bah served as treasurer and then president of the African Student Association. She served as chairperson for Mason’s Student Chapter Reporting and Evaluation Program for the National Association of Black Accountants.

Bah serves as the treasurer and fundraising chairperson for a local nonprofit organization, Safe Haven Space, that helps provide mental health and wellness resources to immigrant and refugee communities. In high school, Bah participated in a variety of volunteer activities, such as providing food for the homeless.

“She often comes to my office after rushing from one leadership meeting to another, to let me know of more ways for students to get involved and, of course, to review her courses,” said Malerie Gamblin, Bah’s academic advisor in the School of Business.

Bah, of Woodbridge, Virginia, said it was her participation in EIP that made her determined to attend Mason.

“Through EIP, I knew the resources and opportunities available to me,” Bah said. “I was pretty set on coming to Mason. I also knew it wasn’t too far from home, and that attracted me too.”

EIP provides access to educational resources for middle and high school students who will be first in their families to attend college. It provided Bah with friends and mentors that helped ease her transition from high school.

“I already had my EIP family and that gave me strength,” Bah said. “As I grew at Mason, I ventured out into other groups and was able to foster relationships that made my years here much more enjoyable.”

Bah, who has two younger sisters, stayed active in EIP, serving as the budget assistant and as a mentor for the middle and high school students in the program.

“I’m glad my sisters were able to see all I was able to accomplish, and that has helped them to envision what they can accomplish,” Bah said. “My parents want us to have a better life, and so to see me excel makes them very happy.”

Topics

Graduation

Students

Honors College

Costello College of Business

Student Success

Early Identification Program (EIP)

Meet Us

Accounting Concentration

Costello College of Business News

Athletic training and perseverance: How a graduating senior is preparing for the future

Colleen Rich — Tue, 04 May 2021 15:40:39 +0000

Athletic training and perseverance: How a graduating senior is preparing for the future Colleen Rich Tue, 05/04/2021 - 11:40

Graduating senior Destini Manuel aspires to become a surgeon. Photo provided

Graduating senior Destini Manuel is fully dedicated to saving lives.

“I know it’s my purpose here on Earth,” the athletic training major and aspiring cardiothoracic surgeon said.

It is a notable pivot for the first-generation student and Toledo, Ohio, native, who had to concentrate on herself her senior year, including going out of state to finish her coursework.

COVID-19 limited practicum opportunities in the Washington, D.C., metro area, so Manuel, with the blessing of her program, relocated to New Orleans, where she is doing fieldwork connected to the University of New Orleans and Dillard University.

The detour, and the expenses she is bearing from her life savings, will not change Manuel’s graduation this month as a member of Mason’s Honors College and recipient of the Kyle Wilson Memorial Scholarship from the College of Education and Human Development for excellence in her major.

“I feel accomplished,” Manuel said. “I’ve done something no one in my family has been able to do.”

“I know she is going to break ceilings, so I have big expectations for her within the profession,” said Heather Murphy, an adjunct professor in Mason’s Athletic Training Education Program. “I saw her in the classroom, and she was a standout.”

Manuel attributes her perseverance to guidance from her grandmother, Patsy Bolden.

“My grandmother always told me, ‘learn as much as you can because knowledge is something no one can take away from you,’ ” Manuel said. “She said life is going to be hard, but as long as you know something you will make it through.”

Manuel discovered Mason the summer after her sophomore year in high school when she attended an Envision leadership conference in the Washington, D.C., area, which included a trip to Mason.

When applying to colleges, Manuel recalled her trip to Fairfax.

“It was time for me to be independent, grow up and mold myself,” she said, and added, “I love that Mason is very diverse and made me feel like home. You can be as different as you want and still find people that fit you.”

Manuel was vice president of the Mason Athletic Training Society, and participated in Women of Color in STEM, the Black Student Alliance, the Kinesiology Club and Catholic Campus Ministry. She was a member of the Alpha Lambda Honor Society, worked as a Mason Ambassador, and was a resident assistant for the upper-level Honors College Living Learning Community.

“I’ll be traveling and have on my Mason gear, and people are, like, ‘Oh, my son heard about Mason, tell me something about it,’ ” Manuel said. “And I’m, like, ‘Of course, where do I start?’ ”

Topics

Graduation

College of Education and Human Development

Student Success

Students

Meet Us

Mason business students gain friendship and experience at CFA Ethics Challenge

Colleen Rich — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 21:17:24 +0000

Mason business students gain friendship and experience at CFA Ethics Challenge Colleen Rich Thu, 04/08/2021 - 17:17

Amber Wilkins, a junior at ��AV, transferred from Northern Virginia Community College in the middle of the pandemic. She wasn’t able to meet people and make friends or get involved in school activities the way she would normally.

And then came the CFA Washington Ethics Challenge. The opportunity, as Wilkins put it, allowed her to meet in a virtual environment with a group of four other students also interested in finance to work for a month on a competition. In the process, Wilkins said, she made friends and had fun in a subject that interests her.

Her team, which competed in a virtual environment in March, also came in first place over two challengers, another group from Mason and a group from Johns Hopkins University.

“I thought it would be a cool opportunity, and it really was,” said Wilkins, a School of Business student with a concentration in finance. “Overall, it was a fantastic experience. For some reason, our group was just all on the same page and wanted to work hard and really supported each other. And then when we won, we got to see that hard work really does pay off.”

Wilkins said she enjoyed the friendly working atmosphere, especially in a pandemic.

“We made a point of keeping our cameras on while we were working together so that we could see each other and have some interaction,” said Wilkins.

The CFA Washington Ethics Challenge, in its inaugural year, presented local finance students with the opportunity to examine a case containing several ethical dilemmas and then present their analysis and advice to a panel of judges. Steve Pilloff, associate professor of finance, mentioned the competition to his students hoping some of them would be interested in participating.

To his surprise, there was enough interest to create two teams—Mason Gold and Mason Green.

“I’m really proud that so many Mason students chose to participate,” said Pilloff. “Despite the pandemic, these students are moving forward with their lives. They saw an opportunity to do something challenging, and they seized upon that opportunity.”

For the competition, each student group presented their analysis for 10 minutes. During the week before, Pilloff sat in virtually on some of their practices. Pilloff added that all the students showed enthusiasm for the competition and dedicated their time to working as a group.

Summer Nasir, another finance student and member of the winning team, said she appreciated looking at ethical challenges she may face during her career.

“At Mason, we talk a lot about ethical questions, so it’s obviously really important to understand,” said Nasir. “I liked thinking about these questions and trying to answer them as a way to help me better understand what to do when I face ethical dilemmas in my career.”

The other members of the winning team were Valerie Mayer, Katherine Vargas Medina and Ama Obeng.

Mason finance students also competed in the CFA Research Challenge, which was sponsored by CFA Virginia. Pilloff said that competing in any of the challenges provides students with opportunities to further develop and showcase their skills to an audience of finance professionals.

Pilloff expects Mason students to participate in the ethics challenge again next year.

“We got a big trophy, but we only get it for a year, so next year, we’re going to have to defend it,” said Pilloff.

Topics

Students

Costello College of Business

Finance

Student Success

Breaking down barriers and making connections through networking

rlebreto@gmu.edu — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 22:29:00 +0000

Breaking down barriers and making connections through networking rlebreto@gmu.edu Wed, 04/07/2021 - 18:29

From left, Soraya Ngarnim, Chanel Grice and LaNitra Berger meeting on campus in 2019. Photo provided

The number of Black women entering the foreign service and STEM PhD programs is low. A GAO report said just 3% percent of State Department workers were Black women in 2018, and the National Center for Education Statistics reported that just 10.9% of doctoral degrees awarded in the 2018-19 went to Black women.

But current ��AV student Soraya Ngarnim and alumna Chanel Grice were determined to overcome those barriers.

With the guidance of LaNitra Berger, senior director of Mason’s Office of Fellowships, and thanks to a happenstance meeting between them, Ngarnim and Grice are fulfilling their dreams and helping promote the ideals of International Black Women’s History Month, which celebrates the achievements and rich histories of the past present and futures of Black women.

Berger said she takes seriously responsibility of guiding Black female students, and that networks for Black women are powerful and oftentimes underestimated.

“I think what’s important for the larger community to see is that young Black women at Mason are doing hard work, getting things done and being successful,” Berger said. “And the university is better for it.”

Grice was a sophomore at Mason in 2014, majoring in global affairs. The daughter of a military officer, she had already lived in multiple countries and wanted to study in Japan. But Grice struggled to find financial assistance. A fellow student suggested she speak with Berger, who introduced Grice to the Boren and Rangel scholarships.

“Dr. Berger gave me books, magazines and other items to help me enrich my studies while showing me how I could follow my vision without the financial capabilities,” said Grice, who earned a Boren scholarship in 2015 and a Rangel fellowship in 2018.

After graduating from Mason in 2017 in bachelor’s degrees in global affairs and economics, Grice earned her master’s in international economics and development from Johns Hopkins University. In June she heads to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam for her first two-year appointment with the U.S. Foreign Service.

It was in 2017, while working as an intern at the U.S. embassy in Dakar, Senegal, that Grice met Ngarnim, who also worked at the embassy and was transferring to Mason from Howard Community College. Ngarnim, who will graduate from Mason in May with a biochemistry degree, grew up in Chad, where she was a top student but was shut out of advanced math and physics classes because, as she said she was told, the classes were “too hard” for females.

“That weighed on me, so I pushed and was the only female in those classes in my last year of secondary school,” Ngarnim said. “I know what I can do.”

Ngarmin’s determination prompted Grice to recommend she contact Berger at Mason. Ngarnim said her weekly conversations with Berger helped grow her confidence and realize graduate school is her next step.

“We Black women are more than competent to do any of these positions, and the more advice I have given, the more determined I have become,” Grice said. “I am not lacking. I am in a field where I am underrepresented, but I am confident, and I am here for a reason.”

Ngarnim feels the same as she heads for Rochester, New York, where she has a full scholarship to pursue a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Rochester. Being part of a group that is underrepresented in STEM fields only emboldens her, she said.

“I have always looked for challenges,” Ngarnim said. “I’ve learned that the further you get in your education and career, you have to expect the diversity to narrow. So by getting out of my comfort zone I can pave the way for others.”

Topics

Students

Office of the Provost

Student Success

Office of Fellowships

Backwards Design for Maximizing your Time in Graduate School

Kristin Heydt — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 21:50:28 +0000

Backwards Design for Maximizing your Time in Graduate School Kristin Heydt Tue, 03/23/2021 - 17:50

by Shannon N. Davis, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Sociology

edited by Austin A. Deray. Leadership and Advising, Graduate Student Life

It seems kind of silly but a question that many people ask new graduate students is, “When are you going to finish?” You begin your graduate program with a goal in mind and possibly even a deadline by which that you anticipate completing your degree. But how about we think about this differently. Think only about having your degree as the endpoint. Don’t you want your time that you spend pursuing your degree to yield not only the degree but also launch you into a successful next chapter in your professional life after securing your degree?

If your degree is not only the end of your graduate studies but the beginning of your next chapter, what do you need to do during your graduate education to ensure that you’re going to be successful? How will you even know what being successful means? What are the things that you know you need to accomplish while you’re seeking your degree that will make you be a stand-out in the job search process? As Victoria Suarez wrote on this blog in October, you have something to contribute whenever you are seeking employment. Your job during your graduate program is to figure out what your unique contributions are going to be (or what you want them to be) and craft your time in graduate school to enable you to cultivate that uniqueness.

Pedagogy scholars who focus on crafting a course based upon the desired outcomes use the language of backwards design. You know what you want the outcomes to be. What do you do during the course to give students the maximum opportunity to be able to demonstrate those outcomes? Think about your own graduate degree from this backwards design approach. What do you want to be able to say you have done or accomplished that makes you unique and special once you have your degree in hand? Once you know the answer to that question, your job in graduate school is to engage in backwards design. Figure out what you need to do to set yourself up to be that successful unique person at graduation and put that into motion.

This approach may mean that you need to focus only on your coursework. Your degree program may be a streamlined program where you complete your studies quickly in order to be able to earn your degree. If that is the case, what is going to make you stand out relative to your peers when you graduate? Is it what you do in your coursework? Is it what you do outside of your coursework that complements your degree?

You may be in a degree program that affords you substantial flexibility in coursework as well as your final product, whether it be a thesis, capstone project, or a dissertation. What kind of graduate do you want to be? What do you want to be able to say you can do and have experience doing when you graduate? When are you going to accumulate those skills? If your coursework affords you only an introduction to those skills, where are you going to gain that experience? This is relevant for those who are in research-based disciplines as well as practicum-based disciplines. Coursework is designed for you to have the knowledge required in your field. You need to design your graduate experience so that you can secure a job after earning your degree. If you need to have practical experience and everyone in your program has that experience, how will you stand out? If your field requires a research-based thesis or dissertation, when are you going to accumulate research experience outside of the classroom? When would you practice your research skills, both data collection and data analysis? If securing a job requires social networking, when will you plan on engaging in that practice? Even in the time of COVID it is incumbent upon students and their faculty advisors to be thinking about all of the ways that students can be networked into possible job fields. Again, see Victoria Suarez’s blog post for more information on the value of networking.[i] When will you plan to present at national or international conferences? When will you plan to attend those conferences even in the virtual space?

Does your degree field lead you to an academic position where teaching is a primary component of the job? Have you taken any pedagogy courses? Do you have practical teaching experience? Grading for a faculty member is absolutely useful. There is no question that having experience evaluating student work will be beneficial should you end up in a primarily teaching job. Having the responsibility as instructor of record is like a practicum for those focused on securing an academic position. Seek out opportunities to teach. And seek out conversations with faculty who are known for their pedagogical prowess; learn from them how they are able to be the successful teachers that they are.

Ensure that you have regular communication with faculty, including your faculty advisor and graduate program director, regarding what you see as your end goal. What do you want to do with your degree? What do you need to have in your toolkit when you graduate in order to be successful with your degree? How are you going to structure your time in graduate school to ensure that you have all of these experiences that will set you up for success? All doctoral programs require students to have a program of study. However, all graduate students, regardless of degree field, should use something like a program of study to plan not only for coursework but non-coursework requirements and field expectations as well as part of planning their degree using this backward design approach.[ii] If you have not already done so, have a conversation with your director of graduate studies and/or your advisor to map out working backwards from your degree plans to now and how you’re going to work forward to meet your desired outcome.

I wish you all the best, for each of you deserve it.

[i] Editor’s note: I’d like to share two upcoming opportunities specifically for graduate students to learn more about networking:

Graduate Student Career Workshop: Building Your Network from the Ground Up on Feb. 25: for details and registration, check out Mason360.
2021 Mason Graduate and Professional Student Virtual Networking Event on March 2: for details and registration, visit Mason360.

[ii] Editor’s note: Many graduate students use a document called an Individual Development Plan (IDP) to map out their career and professional development goals and to plan for the experiences that will build skills and qualifications in pursuit of those goals. For all things IDP, visit the Graduate Student Life Professional Development page.

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Student Success

Mason’s ADVANCE program celebrates first graduates

Colleen Rich — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 16:38:40 +0000

Mason’s ADVANCE program celebrates first graduates Colleen Rich Wed, 12/09/2020 - 11:38

��AV’s ADVANCE program, which partners with Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) to help students earn four-year degrees at Mason, is celebrating its first four graduates next week.

The ADVANCE graduates are Amir Bhatti, Rocio Cornero, Erica Koprowski and David Kowalewski.

“I am very proud of these graduates,” said Ashlie Prioleau, executive director of the ADVANCE program. “They thought strategically about their education and how to achieve a Mason degree while spending less money for it. They are dedicated to their education, intelligent, determined. To achieve this important milestone in a pandemic means these students are tenacious.”

Rocio Cornero. Photo provided.

Cornero, 31, transferred from NOVA to Mason in 2019, and is graduating with a degree in chemistry. A native of Argentina, Cornero started studying chemistry at a local university, before moved to the United States four years ago. She said her experiences at both NOVA and Mason have been “great.”

“I have felt so comfortable at both NOVA and Mason because there are so many people from so many different places, and we all get a chance to discuss our different cultures in very immigrant-friendly environments,” said Cornero.

The ADVANCE program was created in 2018 to help streamline the educational path of community college students wishing to attend a four-year institution. More than 1,800 students participate in the program.

Students who are accepted into the program are assigned success coaches who help guide them as to which classes they need to take to get credit from Mason, so they don’t waste money taking classes that don’t help them achieve their four-year degree. The success coaches stay with them throughout their time at both schools.

“Research has found that students in community colleges weren’t going on to four-year colleges because they lacked resources. One problem was that they were spending money for classes that didn’t transfer to four-year institutions,” said Prioleau. “The program was designed to mitigate these types of barriers and create a streamlined admissions process.”

Erica Koprowski. Photo provided.

Students who participate in the ADVANCE program also get access the Mason’s health insurance benefit and receive identification cards that allow them to be use Mason’s resources, such as its libraries and recreational facilities. Once they have earned their associate’s degree, students in the program can transfer to Mason without having to pay an application fee. To transfer, they must have maintained at least a 2.5 grade point average. Students with a 2.85 grade point average are eligible for a general education waiver.

Koprowski, 32, moved to Virginia with her husband, then started at NOVA in 2018, after having taken some community college classes in New Jersey. She has been working full-time as a human resources administrator while finishing up her classes at Mason. Koprowski said that her ADVANCE counselor helped her with the transition from NOVA to Mason.

“I felt much more comfortable with the transition because I knew she had my back,” said Koprowski, who is graduating with a BS in business with a management concentration. “There are no words to describe how excited I am to be graduating. I am feeling very accomplished.”

Cornero has been doing research on honey bee colonies since she first arrived at Mason for the Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program. She’s planning on pursuing a PhD in bioscience.

“The ADVANCE program helped me so much to get to where I am today,” said Cornero. “I am the first person in my family to get a college degree, so even though it has taken a long time, I am very proud. It’s been very important to me.”

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