Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Mentorship Program Boosts Students’ Career Readiness

John Brandon Cantrell — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 13:00:23 +0000

Alumni Mentorship Program Boosts Students’ Career Readiness John Brandon C… Fri, 08/05/2022 - 09:00

The pilot program increased graduating students’ confidence in navigating their careers after graduation.

Students graduating with a Master of Public Health (MPH) or a Master of Science in Global Health degree are met with many career prospects; however, navigating today’s job market can be daunting. The Mason Public Health Mentor Program pilot aims to support graduating Global and Community Health (GCH) graduate students by pairing them with GCH alumni mentors, who provide professional guidance and career advice in the public health field.

The pilot mentorship program had successful outcomes for both students and alumni. Students reported increased confidence in their academic and professional endeavors, while alumni valued the chance to give back to their Mason community by sharing insight into the public health field with future graduates.

Kelly Beckwith

“The program is designed to connect Mason students with someone who also graduated from Mason–who has been in their shoes and can provide guidance on an individual level,” said Kelly Beckwith, assistant director of academic programs for GCH and organizer of the mentorship pilot. “I’ve been at Mason for nearly six years and have seen so many of our graduates become accomplished alumni. I wanted to provide them with an opportunity to connect with current students, which strengthens the Mason Nation and the field of public health.”

In collaboration with other GCH faculty, Beckwith paired students with alumni working in the students’ desired field and supplied the pairs with a workbook to help lead the discussion on professional development and understanding the current job market.

The pilot program during the 2021-22 school year allowed students and alumni mentors to explore topics on career readiness, such as practicing mock interviews, incorporating work-life balance in careers, confronting imposter syndrome, and identifying workplace bias.

Reena Rhim

Reena Rhim, a 2022 MPH graduate, found the mentor program helpful with her job search.

“I am so thankful for this [mentorship] program,” Rhim said. “I was able to build a deeper connection with my mentor and [explain] what I was going through. The mentorship allowed me to ask questions and gain honest feedback —specifically on what to expect during my practicum, outside of graduation, and when working in the public health field. I had several concerns about job searching after graduation, and my mentor addressed my concerns with open and honest advice, which genuinely helped me succeed in finding a job.”

After graduating, Rhim accepted a position as a health policy project analyst at Discern Health, where she conducts research on health care topics as well as analyzes and interprets health care legislation and regulations related to federal value-based payment programs.

Elizabeth Bramhall

Elizabeth Bramhall, a 2014 MPH alumna and Rhim’s mentor in the program, enjoyed sharing professional guidance and building a professional relationship with Rhim.

“Having the opportunity to give back and make even a small difference in someone's career is extremely rewarding,” said Bramhall, who works as a biological safety officer for the U.S. Army. “My goals for entering the mentorship program were to engage with the current MPH program and to be a sounding board for my mentee. I believe I met these goals and would like to continue to participate in the mentorship program in the future.”

Bramhall encourages Mason students to seek support from alumni members when entering the professional workforce.

“Many alums love to find ways to give back,” Bramhall said. “They may not be able to get you a job directly, but they may be able to set you up with more contacts and open your eyes to new career paths that you didn't know existed before.”

For Beckwith, the pilot program gave her the opportunity to help more students advance their professional development and career prospects.

“I hope that future students see this as an exciting opportunity for them to get a leg up on the job market as they leave Mason and go out into the public health workforce,” Beckwith said. “By strengthening their career development skills, as well as strengthening the connection between students and alumni, I hope we can make an even bigger impact on the public’s health throughout the area.”

For questions about the Fall 2022-Spring 2023 Mason Public Health Mentor Program, please reach out to Kelly Beckwith at kbeckwi2@gmu.edu.

Topics

Master of Public Health

Global Health

Alumni Spotlight

Michelle Vassallo Honored as CHHS Alumna of the Year

John Brandon Cantrell — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 20:43:25 +0000

Michelle Vassallo Honored as CHHS Alumna of the Year John Brandon C… Tue, 04/19/2022 - 16:43

Topics

Health Administration

Inova

Department of Health Administration and Policy

Alumni Spotlight

Master of Health Administration alumna led effort to get 100,000 people vaccinated in just 53 days.

When faced with fighting an unfamiliar and contagious virus, Mason alumna Michelle Vassallo rose to the occasion. Vassallo led a team of infectious disease prevention specialists, physicians, pharmacists, and researchers at Inova Health System to develop and execute a plan to distribute 100,000 vaccines in just 53 days. To do this, Vassallo and her team of nearly 30 public health professionals reimagined how their hospital system could fight the pandemic while keeping everyone's safety top of mind. The team reevaluated many components of the hospital system, such as establishing trusted communication channels for patients seeking information on vaccines and redesigning their treatment centers to accommodate a large number of socially-distanced patients. The team also faced ethical considerations when determining which groups would receive the vaccination first based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

In recognition of her achievements and contributions, Vassallo has been named the 2022 College of Health and Human Services Alumna of the Year.

Vassallo began her career as a registered nurse at Inova. Having graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, she advanced in her career by accepting nursing leadership positions at Inova. As a graduate of Mason’s Master of Health Administration (MHA) program, Vassallo not only learned about health systems, she also learned about leadership and problem-solving. This knowledge served her well in her current role as vice president, clinical platform service line at Inova.

"It's very humbling," Vassallo said on being named the CHHS Alumna of the Year. "The work I am being acknowledged for is something that has saved my life, my family, and all the people I interact with. I can't imagine there will be something else that impactful to my community and the people I care about as that endeavor was."

The process of reworking how the hospital system would operate in the wake of the pandemic required Vassallo to hone her leadership abilities and work with a group of interdisciplinary professionals on critical projects in just a short amount of time.

"Everybody took on a different role and chipped in,” Vassallo said. “We had to fall back on the fundamentals of what are the right ways to engage, influence, and empower team members to make the decisions that are right in the moment. You, as a leader, had to pivot kind of moment by moment based on what the needs were of the situation."

Despite the challenges faced, Vassallo and her team embraced the adversity through strong leadership, organization, and trust in one another.

"We took the opportunity to function well as a system in a way that we never had before," Vassallo said. "We were able to quickly make decisions that were very important to patient care and for team member safety. It was hard work, long hours, and difficult times, but it was also incredibly inspiring and motivating. It's affected our work in a positive way as we have moved through the pandemic."

Vassallo said that the training she received in the MHA program had particularly helped her lead others through the pandemic. Having a clinical background as a nurse and experience in hospital system operations, she saw an MHA degree as a way to develop further her understanding of business management and leadership. These skills resulted in saving many lives through the successful vaccination outreach.

"Almost every class was applicable to this crisis," Vassallo said. "I really think the best benefit was that [the MHA program] gave a broad foundation of knowledge for theory, for business, for leadership skills themselves. The leadership principles and those foundation elements were important to lean back on. When you have a moment to breathe, you can think about them and do them a little more purposefully, and then in the times of crisis, you're just glad you have that muscle memory."

When asked what advice Vassallo would give to graduating CHHS seniors, she encouraged new graduates to pursue assignments that can advance their exposure in their organization, even if the tasks are not a part of their job description.

"The best advice is if someone asks you to do something, it's because they think you're going to be successful and you can do it," Vassallo said. "So, take that opportunity and have confidence in yourself and take that stretch assignment or project because you never know where it will lead you. I think that has been the number one key to my success."

Vassallo was honored as the CHHS Alumna at the Year in April during the Honoring Mason Nurses event. The School of Nursing invites all faculty, staff, students, and alumni to join the celebration. She will also be given the CHHS Distinguished Alumni Award at Mason's Celebration of Distinction on October 21. Learn more here.

From YouTube to the Marvel Universe

Emily Schneider — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 22:25:56 +0000

From YouTube to the Marvel Universe Emily Schneider Wed, 02/02/2022 - 17:25

Timing is one of the critical elements that students in the School of Art explore while they’re at Mason. If you wait to see how the light changes, or you make time to dig a little deeper about a subject, what does that change about your work? And when an opportunity presents itself, you learn to seize the moment and make the most of it, which could mean going from shooting your own films to working as an action designer on an international blockbuster with a legendary team.

Joseph Le (BFA in Graphic Design, 2012) knew that when he got the chance to work with one of his biggest idols in the film industry, there was no way he would let this moment go.

Joseph Le, BFA in Graphic Design 2012, stands on set talking through a new sequence.

“I emailed Brad, just explaining that I loved his work, and that I wanted to help him showcase kung fu in a new light, while still respecting and honoring what has come before. And I included links to my three best films in the email, showcasing my camera work, my visual storytelling through action, and my visual effects,” said Le, of the email that would change his life.

Brad Allan, the legendary late 2nd Unit Director, stunt coordinator, martial artist, and veteran member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, replied to Joseph’s email saying, “How could I not hire you?!” Allan asked Le to come to Los Angeles to shoot “previs” or previsualization, for two weeks with Allan and the rest of the team who would be working on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The journey from a graphic designer with a “9 to 5” office job to a film set on the other side of the world wasn’t a fast or an easy one for Le. Growing up in Fairfax, VA and living with his parents during college, Le wanted to major in film, but was worried that he should choose a traditional path that led straight into guaranteed employment after graduation. Knowing the demand for graphic design in the DMV, he thought that this was a surefire way to secure his future and keep his parents happy. He enjoyed his graphic design classes, furthering his understanding of impactful visual experiences and how to organize information.

During his junior year, Le took an animation class with Mason School of Art Professor Gail Scott White and found his passion for creating moving stories rekindled. He threw himself completely into his final project for the class, spending days rendering in the on-campus labs until late into the night.

Le believed it was too late in his college career to change his major, so he graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and began working for a local company. Despite having a full-time job and plenty of time to spend with friends, Le was unable to dull the nagging feeling that he was denying himself the path that was in his heart. In order to scratch that itch, Le began helping out his film major friends on some of their own local shoots, learning from them and teaching himself animation on evenings and weekends. A devoted student of kung fu and martial arts since high school, Le wasn’t sure he should focus on those subjects in his filmmaking, but his friends encouraged him, saying that his deep knowledge of the subject would lend authenticity to his work. He used his company vacation time to do re-shoots with friends, and would fund his projects himself or through Kickstarter or GoFundMe campaigns he and his friends shared.

“I would be totally exhausted from my office job, downing Red Bulls at 8 p.m. and firing myself up with YouTube clips of Arnold Schwarzenegger speeches,” laughed Le. The long days and nights spent shooting, editing, and releasing short films of the test fights he was creating, which mixed different forms of martial arts using participants from local dōjōs, meant that Le could start submitting his films to different festivals, both in the D.C. area, like the 48 Hour Film Project, and via YouTube.

As Le’s style developed and his films gained more and more attention and positive accolades in the industry, he became part of the stunt communities in both NYC and LA. He is known for his anime style of action design, melding together hip hop and martial arts, best seen in his film “Afro Samurai Champloo.” Le went back and forth from LA to shoot for that film, working with friends in LA and then back at home in Virginia. It was one of these friendships that led to Le’s name being mentioned to the Shang Chi team, and his return to LA for advance work with them.

Still frame from a pre-vis (Wenwu montage fight) with a placeholder effect for the ring power.
Fight Coordinator: Peng Zhang
Action Design by Joseph Le

Once on set, Le was excited to meet and get to know everyone, but noticed he wasn’t getting as much time behind the camera and shooting as he’d hoped. Rather than sit idle, Le started live storyboarding different ideas for the film’s action sequences on his tablet. Allan noticed and then asked Le to start creating specific storyboards for different fight sequences in the film, beginning with one that took place between Shang-Chi’s mother and father. As the work in LA continued, Le spent most of his time with one of the two teams who were shooting different sequences. Le and the team would film all day, with Le then editing the takes, and storyboarding more ideas for the next day – doing this every night until 2 a.m., then back up again at 6 or 7 a.m. to start all over again, getting 3-4 hours of sleep per night. At the end of the two-week period, Allan and the crew announced to Le “Congratulations, you passed the test” and booked him a flight to Sydney, where they spent the next four months working on the film itself. Le is credited as an action designer on the film, where he worked closely with an extensive team to conceptualize, create, and capture the work of the cast and bring it to the screen.

When asked if he felt unsure of himself to go from indie films to working on such an enormous and well-financed film, Le reflected, “You can’t go in intimidating yourself in that situation; there’s already so much at stake. I felt so lucky and told myself ‘I’m here because I’m valuable to them, yes, I’m learning and meeting everyone, but I’m also helping as I’m learning.” Staying focused helped to keep him grounded on set, where down time included grabbing Korean barbecue with the team and taking on star Simu Liu in games of Super Smash Bros.

Group photo during training with Simu Liu, Martial Club (Andy Le, Brian Le), and DY Sao

Looking back, Le pointed out a moment that overtook his imposter syndrome, something he still struggles with today. When his first short action film went viral in 2015 (now with over 2 million views), comments flooded the page, saying they wished they saw this kind of work in Hollywood blockbusters. Seeing that kind of response from an audience, the connection between viewers and what is portrayed onscreen, fuels him to constantly get better. Even after this kind of success, he still shoots, tests, and edits ideas just for himself, to keep constantly learning. Now, he knows not every project is going to be perfect, and that “It’s ok to make something bad after making something good.”

Hoping to continue his latest streak of making something good, Le returned to the U.S. recently after spending five months working on a new live action anime film “Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac” in Budapest, Hungary. His professional network has only grown and a feature film on a major streaming network is possible in the next year or two.

For current Mason students Le offers this advice, “Know that just because you started out in one field, it doesn’t limit you from exploring others. Make room for the things you are passionate about, and feed your time into them, even if you’re not sure yet where they’ll go.”

Topics

Tech Talent Investment Program (TTIP)

Faith Spillman - Strengthening the Community Through Social Work

John Brandon Cantrell — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 16:28:23 +0000

Faith Spillman - Strengthening the Community Through Social Work John Brandon C… Thu, 08/05/2021 - 12:28

Faith Spillman (MSW, '16) shares her experience as a MSW graduate student and reflects on how an internship with the Alexandria Public Defender's Office inspired her to pursue a career as a social worker, supporting court-involved youth.

Faith Spillman (MSW, ’16) began her graduate school journey with a mission to find a career that supports adolescents and young adults. When she joined the Master of Social Work program at Mason, she learned about the variety of ways she would be able to achieve her career goals and help young adults in the process.

“The MSW program really broadened my horizons because I didn’t know there were so many types of social work,” Spillman said. “Before I [started my MSW], I assumed I would work in Child Protective Services (CPS) or Foster Care because that is what I knew social workers did. When I think back on my time at Mason, a lot of my focus was on reducing the number of youths who are police involved or court involved.”

During her second year in the program, Spillman accepted an internship that changed her career aspirations. After expressing that she would like to work with court-involved youth, Spillman’s practicum advisor connected her to an internship with the Alexandria Public Defender's Office. “That internship completely changed my career desires and what I wanted to do,” Spillman said.

The opportunity allowed Spillman to get a glimpse of how interdisciplinary the field of social work is and inspired her to pursue a career in the criminal justice field. “The internship was vital in preparing me for where I am today,” Spillman said. “I feel like that was such an integral part of my education.”

Spillman’s first post-graduation role was with Pathway Homes, a nonprofit organization in Fairfax, Virginia. In this role, Spillman worked with adults with mental health challenges. “It was a wonderful learning opportunity,” Spillman said. “It really expanded my understanding of psychotropic medications, clinical practices, residential care, and case management.”

Following her desire to work with youth, Spillman later transitioned into a new role in the law enforcement field. As the Youth Services Coordinator with the Alexandria Police Department, Spillman works to reduce the occurrence of adolescents and young adults becoming involved in the criminal justice system. Spillman accomplishes this through connecting youth and families to local resources, instructing Youth Mental Health First Aid trainings, developing community-based programs and initiatives, as well as coordinating outreach events to bridge the gap between governmental agencies and the communities they serve.

“What we found here in the City of Alexandria is that we are super fortunate in terms of resources,” Spillman said. “However, the youth and families don't always know they exist or how to access them.”

One of Spillman’s favorite outreach initiatives is organizing community outreach cookouts, an event that involves bringing neighborhoods together while raising awareness for local organizations and agencies committed to serving the community. The cookouts began several years ago under the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities’ SafePlace Program. With Spillman’s assistance, the program grew to now having over 80 service providers that help sponsor events and share helpful information with communities throughout the City of Alexandria. Even with COVID restrictions and precautions, the 2021 cookouts linked around 1600 community members to resources, including offering on-site COVID vaccinations.

“The goal of [the cookouts] is to bring all of us to the community, so they know that we exist, we care for them, and we support them,” Spillman said.

Spillman’s commitment to serving her community did not go unnoticed. To recognize her service, Spillman was recently honored in the “40 under 40 Honorees” by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Zebra Press.

Having worked in a field that supports her passion, Spillman advocates for social workers and encourages current and prospective students to reach out to her with any questions regarding the program, career opportunities, or what it is like to be a social worker.

“One thing that is awesome about the social work field is that it’s super flexible,” Spillman said. “You can end up becoming a therapist, work in policy, do outreach, and even write grants. The skills that we learn as MSWs are translatable to other fields.”

As a proud Mason alumna and accomplished social worker, Spillman continues to pass along the support she received throughout her career to others, as she strongly believes in creating communities that help one another. “We are all better together,” Spillman said.

Topics

Social Work

Social Work Alumni

College of Health and Human Services Department of Social Work

internships

Alumni Spotlight

CHHS News

Mason alumna named a top influential Arab American, advocating for Palestinian refugees

Mariam Aburdeineh — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 19:47:39 +0000

Mason alumna named a top influential Arab American, advocating for Palestinian refugees Mariam Aburdeineh Mon, 06/07/2021 - 15:47

In This Story

Bassam S. Haddad

Mason alumna Laila Mokhiber visiting Palestine refugees from Syria displaced for a second time to the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon in February 2016. Photo credit: Francesco Romagnolo, UNRWA

Activism runs in Laila Mokhiber’s blood.

Well before she became the director of communications at UNRWA USA, the nonprofit that provides support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Mokhiber was a child holding protest signs in human rights demonstrations. Before then, her mother held her as a baby in the gallery of the Supreme Court, as her father argued to incorporate Arab Americans into the Civil Rights Act in 1987.

The ��AV alumna has also made a name for herself. In 2020, she was named one of the top 40 influential Arab Americans under 40 by the Arab America Foundation.

“I was very humbled,” said Mokhiber, who graduated with a BA in global affairs in 2009. “The work I do is a labor of love, and if this brings more attention to the cause that I work on… I’m pleased to have received this recognition.”

UNRWA USA raises awareness about the plight of Palestinian refugees to support their humanitarian needs.

“We’re trying to create our own narrative around who Palestine refugees are and demystifying what it means to be a refugee,” Mokhiber said. “I love being able to advocate for the people who I see as my sisters and brothers and be able to measure the impact.”

The nonprofit and its annual Gaza 5K support UNRWA, mental health, and urgent assistance for those living in and around refugee camps, said Mokhiber, who leads a content team that helps tell their stories.

Mokhiber posing with volunteers and colleagues at the NYC Gaza 5K, which brought together more than 1,000 people in solidarity with Palestine refugees at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park just days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country, March 2020, Photo credit: Sara Afridi

“To be that link and bring their stories to my fellow Americans, I see that as a great responsibility and duty,” she said. “Once you see what life under occupation looks like with your own eyes, you can’t ever stop speaking up or advocating about it.”

Mokhiber’s work has sent her to Gaza several times—a rare privilege for an Arab American, due to the area’s land, sea and air blockade.

Each time, she brings back stories and is inspired by Palestinians she meets who make an impact with nearly nothing, and are resilient despite supplies not being allowed into Gaza. Those included a young man who built a 3D printer from recycled materials to print life-saving tourniquets, and a young woman who took rubble from bombed buildings and engineered a way to turn it into bricks to help families rebuild.

Since speaking with Mokhiber, Gaza suffered an 11-day onslaught in which she said an Israeli military airstrike destroyed the facility where these 3D-printed medical devices are made.

Mokhiber on her first visit to al-'Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Palestine, March 2014, Photo credit: Christoph von Toggenburg, UNRWA

Mokhiber, who also co-hosts the Latitude Adjustment Podcast, said she seeks to advocate for people who don’t have a platform to do so themselves. Her time at Mason, where she studied music and global affairs with a focus on the Middle East, continues to be influential.

“I had the great privilege of studying under Mason professors Bassam Haddad and Sumaiya Hamdani, and the context of the region I learned from them is really helpful to know how to navigate it and translate it to other people in my work today,” she said.

Mokhiber also stayed connected. During the COVID pandemic, she co-hosted virtual music sessions with Haddad that raised tens of thousands of dollars for organizations like UNRWA USA.

“Laila is an exemplary conscientious force and human being,” Haddad said. “Her impact manifests in myriad ways, but the most powerful is the extent to which she empowers individuals and groups by bringing them together for good.”

The same was true on campus, where Mokhiber said she expanded her community in student organizations like the Arab Student Association, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Orthodox Christian Fellowship.

“I amplified what these organizations were doing as an outreach chair and did communications, which is how I ended up in my current line of work,” said Mokhiber, who also worked as an outreach and communications coordinator for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).

“I loved my days at Mason because it exposed me to a rich diversity of people and perspectives that encouraged my curiosity about the world and would have taken years of global travel to gain.”

Mokhiber and Abby Smardon, former UNRWA USA Executive Director, at an UNRWA food distribution center in the Gaza Strip. More than half the population of the Gaza Strip, around a million people, relies on food assistance from the international community.

Topics

Mason Nursing Alumna, Deborah Bundy-Carpenter, Featured in The Scroll

John Brandon Cantrell — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 18:46:19 +0000

Mason Nursing Alumna, Deborah Bundy-Carpenter, Featured in The Scroll John Brandon C… Tue, 06/01/2021 - 14:46

Bundy Carpenter earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Mason in 1979.

Article originally published by Mason's Alumni Association.

For Deborah Bundy-Carpenter, BSN ’79, there was no doubt about going to ��AV as soon as she decided she wanted to go into nursing. The program offered her the opportunity to pair hands-on clinical experience with the theoretical knowledge she would learn in the classroom, which would prepare her well for a career in nursing and public health. She also loved Mason’s diverse campus community, and it prepared her for caring for people from a variety of different backgrounds.

“All of the clinical experience we received at Mason taught us to get our hands dirty,” said Bundy-Carpenter, “and with that came lessons in humility that were really important.”

As a nursing student, she had clinical rotation placements at Fairfax Hospital (now a part of the Inova hospital system), the Arlington Health Department, DeWitt Army Hospital at Fort Belvoir, and in Manassas for public health rotations, where she was able to learn practical skills, like starting an IV and working in the delivery room. After graduating from Mason, Bundy-Carpenter worked in a pediatric unit in Charlottesville for a year before she began working at the University of Virginia’s medical center, where she largely worked in the operating room and emergency room.

“In the operating room, it was like all of the anatomy and physiology that I learned in school had come alive,” Bundy-Carpenter said. “It was such an education, especially at a trauma center like UVA, and being able to actually put eyes to what you had read about was one of my favorite things.”

After ten years at UVA, Bundy-Carpenter transitioned from the operating room to public health. As a nurse manager for the Virginia Department of Health, she was responsible for seven health departments across five counties in the Central Shenandoah Health District. In this role, she was responsible for engaging the various communities in the health district. Bundy-Carpenter traveled to communities to educate groups on public health initiatives, managed nursing and nutrition programs, wrote and managed the grants needed to fund local health programs, performed community needs assessments, and strategized with local coalitions to decide which health focuses needed to be prioritized in their communities. And while a lot of her work was administrative, Bundy-Carpenter also trained new public health nurses as part of their year-long orientation and continued with hands-on nursing herself, like administering flu shots. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Bundy-Carpenter, as a public health nurse senior manager, was tasked with leading the health district’s coronavirus response team. Her team has managed strategic planning for pandemic response, testing, contact tracing, community outreach, and now vaccination efforts.

“To this day, I still remember the nursing school’s mantra about self-care and people being their best selves,” said Bundy-Carpenter. “I still talk that talk with patients about self-care and reaching your optimal level of health.”

For all of her public health efforts, Bundy-Carpenter, received the highest honor for a state employee in Virginia: the 2020 Governor's Honor Award in the category of Personal and Professional Excellence. She was recognized for her dedication and excellence in her profession, public health, and collaborative spirit with other healthcare entities and agencies.

Bundy-Carpenter recently retired after more than thirty years of service with the Virginia Department of Health, but she is keeping busy by serving on the boards of local nonprofits organizations. She is currently studying to be a mentored counselor for hurting women.

Written By: Kristen Greiner, MFA '20

Topics

Three-time Mason Nursing Alumna, Theresa Davis, Featured in The Scroll

John Brandon Cantrell — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 18:07:57 +0000

Three-time Mason Nursing Alumna, Theresa Davis, Featured in The Scroll John Brandon C… Tue, 06/01/2021 - 14:07

Article originally published by Mason's Alumni Association.

Theresa Davis has earned a BSN (’98), an MSN in Nursing Administration (’02), and a PhD in Nursing (’13) from Mason.

As the clinical operations director of enVision TeleICU at Inova Health Systems, Theresa Davis, BSN ’98, MSN Nursing Administration ’02, PhD Nursing ’13, has been incredibly busy since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She leads the telemedicine division that supports the intensive care units across the Inova hospital system. Since last March, the ICU has grown from 61 beds to 102 beds as patient acuity increased and more resources were needed. Davis’ unit also became a transfer center to move patients across the hospital system as the need arose.

Davis has been a nurse for over thirty-five years. She earned her associate’s degree from Northern Virginia Community College before transferring to ��AV, where she has earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, and the combination of working and learning throughout her career has been invaluable. Before the pandemic, Davis even taught classes on organizational learning and nursing informatics as an adjunct professor.

“I think being in school for a good part of my career has made my whole nursing experience very enriching because I love to learn, and it has allowed me to have a different way of looking at things and not get too focused in one area,” Davis said. “I grew up as a trauma nurse and I’ve been working in telemedicine for sixteen years. It’s been a very exciting adventure.”

Over the last year, hospital visitor guidelines became more restrictive due to COVID-19, making it difficult for family members to be at the bedside with their loved ones. This made the use of voice and video technology an essential capability. Over 1,000 iPads—some provided through donations to Inova—have been distributed across the Inova hospital system to support technology needs to bring families together.

“We connected families to their loved ones and clinicians to patients,” said Davis. “It was just incredible what you could do with the technology to create those connections.”

In addition to her role at Inova, Davis also had the opportunity to speak at the White House in March 2020 as a representative for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, where she is on the board of directors. Davis sat across the table from President Trump and Vice President Pence, where she had the opportunity to brief the Coronavirus Task Force and answer questions about the issues nurses were facing in the early days of the pandemic. After the meeting, President Trump signed an executive order that invoked the Defense Production Act to expedite the production of critical medical supplies.

A year later, as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, Davis looks to the future with hope. The pandemic has changed how she sees the world—after such a turbulent year, it will take time to fully heal and become whole again, but she sees it as a chance to learn and grow as we enter our new normal. One way Davis plans to do this is by promoting diversity and working towards eliminating disparities and unconscious bias in healthcare. Inova has created many opportunities for this important work.

“I think that we have great opportunity to look at our future and the new world and what it should look like, and what we’ve learned,” said Davis. “We have to make sure all patients receive the care that they need, no matter who they are or where they come from. We have to think strongly about what we’ve just gone through and how we can create a better world for everybody. We will get through this!”

Written By: Kristen Greiner, MFA ’20

Topics

Mason Alumni

CHHS Alumni

Nursing Alumni

coronavirus; covid-19

Alumni Spotlight

CHHS News

The Washington Post-American Nurses Association and The Washingtonian Magazine Recognize Mason Nursing Excellence in Local Awards

John Brandon Cantrell — Mon, 10 May 2021 15:32:49 +0000

The Washington Post-American Nurses Association and The Washingtonian Magazine Recognize Mason Nursing Excellence in Local Awards John Brandon C… Mon, 05/10/2021 - 11:32

In This Story

Caroline Sutter, DNP

Martha (Marti) Y. Kubik, PhD, RN, FAAN

Local Nursing Awards Recognize Mason Alumni.

As we continue to celebrate National Nurses Month, the American Nurses Association has dedicated the week of May 10 to May 14 as a time to recognize and celebrate the dedication, commitment, and contributions nurses provide to their patients, colleagues, and communities.

Caroline Sutter, Mason alumna, professor, and co-director of the Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics, was named one of the 2021 Star Nurses from the Washington Post and American Nurses Association (ANA).

At ��AV, the School of Nursing prepares nurses to become leaders in their field through extensive practical and academic training. Mason Nursing excellence has been recognized through two local awards.

This year, three Mason alumni (including one faculty member) were selected as 2021 Star Nurses finalists by the Washington Post, in partnership with the American Nurses Association.

With over one hundred nominees, the Washington Post and American Nurses Association (ANA) selected the top candidates who represent the “epitome of skill, professionalism, and care” as they work in the frontlines to provide care in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia Metropolitan area. Of the 2021 Star Nurses, six nurses will be named as Nightingale Award winners on May 26.

Among the nurses selected is two-time Mason alumna, Caroline Sutter (MSN ’01, DNP ‘12), who is also the co-director of the Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics and associate professor in the School of Nursing.

“I am humbled by this recognition and have loved every minute of my nursing career,” Sutter said. “I am proud to be a Mason nurse, where we encourage innovative thinking and allow ideas to blossom into initiatives that make a difference. I am particularly proud of the work we do at the Mason and Partner Clinics to improve the health of the most vulnerable in our communities and to offer hands-on learning opportunities that prepare our students to thrive in the health care workforce.”

Along with Sutter, Mason alumnus Kenneth Daniel (BSN ’00) and alumna Donna Thomas (MSN ’17) were selected as 2021 finalists.

“We’ve always known that Mason nurses are special and that they bring passion, competency, and resilience to their careers,” said Marti Kubik, director and professor of the School of Nursing. “I particularly want to congratulate Carrie Sutter for the well-deserved honor and to thank her for her tireless work in the community.”

In addition to the Mason nurses selected as the 2021 Star Nurses, eight Mason alumni were featured in the Washingtonian’s 50 Exceptional Nurses list to honor nurses who “go above and beyond every day for their patients and colleagues.” In this recognition, Mason alumni represented 16% of nurses on the list.

Laila S. Bailey, BSN ’85, MSN ‘10; Meghan K. Bozzelli, BSN ’07; Christine M. Chaney, BSN ’02; Susan E. (Sue) Frank, BSN ’78, MSN ’96; Lauren J. Keane, BSN ’11; Kimberly A. Miller, MSN ’15; Myra B. (Connie) Wisnaes, BSN ’93; and Michelle J. Vassallo, MHA ’15 were among those who received the Exceptional Nurses honor.

“It’s wonderful to see our faculty and alumni recognized in the community through initiatives like the Washington Post/ANA Star Nurses and Washingtonian Magazine Excellence in Nursing Award,” Kubik said. “Thank you to all nurses – we appreciate your many contributions.”

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Kevin Cevasco Honored as CHHS Alumni of the Year

John Brandon Cantrell — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 14:13:28 +0000

Kevin Cevasco Honored as CHHS Alumni of the Year John Brandon C… Thu, 04/15/2021 - 10:13

��AV Names Kevin Cevasco as the 2021 College of Health and Human Services Alumni of the Year.

In addition to being named Mason’s CHHS Alumni of the Year, Cevasco is set to address graduates at the upcoming spring graduation ceremony.

Kevin Cevasco is a proud Mason alum. Cevasco graduated from Mason in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and returned to pursue a Master of Public Health degree, which he completed in 2020. Currently, he is working toward his third Mason degree as a doctoral candidate in the College’s inaugural cohort for the PhD degree program in Public Health.

While Cevasco is now an accomplished scholar in public health, his career didn’t begin in the health field. “For me, the calling to public health started in my 40s,” said Cevasco, whose prior career was in business and Information Technology (IT).

Cevasco became interested in public health while serving as the treasurer for Friends of Patients at the National Institute of Health (NIH) where he discovered socioeconomic discrepancies in access to life-saving treatments and financial concerns affecting patients and their families.

“I joined the board as the Treasurer at the request of a retired NIHer,” Cevasco said. “Friends at NIH’s mission is to provide emotional, financial, and logistical support to patients while they are receiving groundbreaking and life-saving treatments at the NIH.”

Through his work at Friends at NIH, Cevasco encountered a family facing housing uncertainty while the mother was undergoing a Lupus Research Protocol at the NIH Clinical Center. The experience of helping this family enlightened him on the importance of making health care accessible to all.

“Our funds prevented her oldest child from dropping out of high school to work to save the family home,” Cevasco said. “With a tear dripping down my cheek, I approved the rent check. I’d approved such requests before, but this time I emotionally grasped the contradiction between world-class NIH research and the dire health-related financial distress many American families face.”

The opportunity to support patients facing financial concerns when seeking treatment at the NIH inspired Cevasco to pursue a Master of Public Health degree at Mason. While completing his master’s degree, Cevasco applied his knowledge of information technology with the new information he was learning in the Master of Public Health degree program to develop IT health solutions and foundations for programs that increase access to care.

Cevasco has worked with leading experts in public health and also led studies of his own. At the beginning of the pandemic, when universities across the nation were making decisions on the best ways to continue operating while mitigating the spread of COVID-19, Cevasco led a group of MPH students to publish a study on university response rates in relation to the guidance from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

After graduating with his Master of Public Health degree, Cevasco continued his work through his involvement in various programs. He is currently an active member of the Northern Virginia Area Health Education Center (NVAHEC), where he advocates for the Center’s workplace development programs. In addition, he worked with the National Association County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) to publish a Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA) directed at the Opioid Overdose Epidemic.

His work has been recognized with several awards at Mason. In 2020, he was awarded the CHHS Graduate Award for Excellence in Leadership. This year, in addition to being named Mason’s CHHS Alumni of the Year, he is set to address graduates at the upcoming spring graduation ceremony.

When asked what he would say to Mason’s soon-to-be graduates, Cevasco spoke on the importance of maintaining involvement with the Mason Community. “One thing I’ve learned is that your Mason experience doesn’t end with graduation,” Cevasco said. “Earning your degree is an incredible achievement, and while your time as a student may be over, your relationship with Mason is just beginning. You are now part of the Mason network.”

To learn more about Cevasco’s work, visit his Research Gate page.

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Healing the Healers Through a Pandemic

John Brandon Cantrell — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 14:14:07 +0000

Healing the Healers Through a Pandemic John Brandon C… Tue, 04/06/2021 - 10:14

Mason alumna provides mental health support to health care workers and achieves the highest score on the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam in fall 2020.

Parriski (right), standing beside Professor McDonald, leads a team of counselors to provide wellbeing strategies and support to health care departments in Central New Jersey.

To combat the growing mental health challenges affecting health care workers, Mason CHHS alumna Irene Parriski leads a team of crisis counselors dedicated to providing wellbeing strategies and self-care resources for local health departments.

After graduating in May 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Community Health, Parriski applied her skills and experience to help others. “I currently serve as Team Lead and Crisis Counselor for New Jersey Hope and Healing,” Parriski said. “This program is designed to offer emotional support for those impacted by a disaster and to provide referrals to specific programs or a crisis counselor. Specifically, my team supports health care workers in the Central Jersey region.”

To further educate others on managing health concerns, Parriski became a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) in Fall 2020. After taking the exam, she soon found out that she earned the highest CHES score out of the nation.

“I have been passionate about public health since I started at Mason but entering into my career amidst the pandemic added unforeseen challenges,” Parriski said. “Learning I achieved the high score on the CHES exam was very validating for me, and I felt reassured that my passion and work in the field was worthwhile.”

When asked how she prepared for the exam, Parriski spoke of the support she gained from Mason faculty and the experience acquired from her program’s coursework. “I especially want to thank Professor McDonald who I had for GCH 350 (Health Education and Promotion) and GCH 411 (Program Planning and Evaluation),” Parriski said. “Not only were these classes the most relevant to the CHES exam, but Professor McDonald has [also] been a great mentor as I studied for the exam and entered into the public health field.”

“Irene’s stellar performance on the CHES exam is a testament to her hard work," Mason Professor Kayla McDonald said. “I applaud Irene’s ongoing dedication to educating health care workers on the importance of well-being and mental health.”

Parriski’s time at Mason allowed her to gain the needed experience to be a successful health educator and establish a mental health program at New Jersey Hope and Healing. “The wide-ranging classes I took within the community health program primed me to navigate all of the stages of programming,” Parriski said. “I am grateful to the faculty at Mason for preparing me to be successful in my current role.”

In addition, Parriski praised Mason for providing a dynamic atmosphere to learn in, which helped her gain the needed skills to provide care to others. “While at Mason, I encountered such diversity in thoughts, ideas, and experiences,” Parriski said. “This has made me more understanding and empathetic of others’ circumstances so that now I can better meet them where they are in life.”

Parriski’s team supports health care workers by promoting activities and resources that aid in wellbeing, such as hosting mindfulness breaks, running workshops on effective coping skills, and holding support spaces to help health departments process their experiences working through a pandemic.

Speaking on what it is like to support health care workers experiencing mental health concerns, Parriski said that it has been one of the most rewarding experiences in her life thus far. “It is a great feeling to see my team growing as counselors, helping others, and working with passion,” Parriski said.

Dedicated to service, Irene recently completed training to be a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer as well as a Disaster Response Crisis Counselor (DRCC) volunteer.

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����AV Names Kevin Cevasco as the 2021 College of Health and Human Services Alumni of the Year.

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Mason alumna provides mental health support to health care workers and achieves the highest score on the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam in fall 2020.

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��AV Names Kevin Cevasco as the 2021 College of Health and Human Services Alumni of the Year.