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Third Quarter Edition - September 2024
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Congratulations on another record-breaking recruitment cycle! We are still one week away from the official fall census date, but we have clearly accomplished our goal of enrolling the largest incoming class in school history. New student enrollment for freshmen, transfers and graduate students have all increased for fall 2024, and our total enrollment has exceeded 40,600 for the first time. This is quite an accomplishment, and you should be extremely proud of the role you played in our success.
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I truly appreciate your commitment to this work. It would be easy for us to take our enrollment progress for granted as we continue to break records every year. However, you keep striving for excellence when the bar is raised. Our success is a direct result of your individual efforts and the relationships that you build and maintain with prospective students. Every interaction you have with a student is an opportunity to make a positive impact on their educational journey, so let’s keep transforming lives one student at a time.
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Again, thank you for all that you do for the Office of Admissions! We are truly blessed to have such a great team. I look forward to seeing what we will accomplish together in 2025.
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Nour El Meery
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Team: Relationship Management
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Bianca Meza
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International Credential Specialist
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Claire Edwards
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Admissions Counselor & Student Support Specialist
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Team: Relationship Management
Location: Johnson Center
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Conor Krouse
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Team: Relationship Management
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Adele Cosse
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Graduate Admissions Specialist
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Sofia Cochis
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Team: Outreach & Partnerships
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Fernando Aguila
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Veteran & Dependent Benefits Coordinator
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Special Features in this Edition
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EXCITING NEWS for our OneTeam Colleagues!
OneTeam SPOTLIGHT on Jiuk (Austin) Choi
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HR & Finance
Fiscal Services has done us all a huge favor and has modified the Vendor Registration / Maintenance Portal. Vendors will no longer have to upload a separate Commonwealth of Virginia Substitute W-9 form – they will fill in their data and the form will be automatically generated for them and sent via Docusign for signature.
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Mark Your Calendars!
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Faculty/Staff Enrichment Day
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Tuesday, October 15 from 10 am – 4 pm.
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Operations
We have a few updates from the Credit Evaluation, Document Center, INTO Mason, and Transfer Processing teams. For updates on ADVANCE, Graduate, and Transfer Recruitment, please check their individual sections.
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Credit Evaluation: It has been a busy summer for the Credit Evaluation team! In July, they reviewed over 3,300 documents, and in both June and August, they evaluated more than 1,500 each month. The team continues to process updated transcripts from spring and summer courses as they prepare to apply registration holds for missing final transcripts in mid-October. They are also working with faculty on transfer equivalency update requests, managing approximately 100,000 transfer credit equivalencies in Banner. This is a significant task! We are grateful to our faculty and staff approvers for ensuring the list remains accurate and comprehensive.
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Document Center: The Document Center is excited to welcome back many of our student workers after summer break. Currently, we are working on a large data entry project for OIEP while also handling transcripts for the graduate audit and processing Spring/Fall 2025 undergraduate applications. Busy as ever, and we are making steady progress!
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INTO Mason: INTO Mason enrolled 223 students for Fall 2024, with 137 being new enrollees. The team has significantly reduced evaluation turnaround times, moving from several weeks of backlog to issuing offers within three days of receiving applications. We are also piloting delegated evaluations for graduate applicants to further reduce our turnaround time to 48 hours consistently. In addition, we are refining our document collection processes to enhance automation, improving both efficiency and the accuracy of Banner data. While still in progress, these changes should dramatically reduce the time required for document collection and provide clearer communication to our student populations.
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Transfer Processing: As of September 17th, we have received 611 transfer applications for Spring 2025 and have admitted 316 students. With the September 15th deferral deadline behind us, we are nearly finished processing Fall 2024 applications and have shifted our focus to Spring 2025. The team is working diligently to stay ahead of the October 1st priority deadline. On the non-degree side, the Spring 2025 application opened on September 1st, and we are beginning to see applications trickle in. Additionally, the domicile team attended the VACRAO domicile workshop this summer and has been actively updating our SOPs with the new information gained. These updates are crucial for ensuring our processes remain current and effective. Thank you for your continued dedication and attention to these important tasks.
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Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to make improvements across our teams and as technology continues to evolve!
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Transfer Recruitment
The Transfer Recruitment team is pleased to celebrate the incredible transfer and ADVANCE NVCC/MVP enrollment numbers we achieved for the Fall 2024 semester! While taking a moment to celebrate the third largest transfer class in the history of the university, and being the premiere transfer institution in Virginia, we have also sprung into recruitment activities for the Spring 2025 semester and beyond. We are visiting many community colleges across the Commonwealth, and in Maryland in order to reach or exceed our goal of 1,525 transfers for Spring 2025, and 3,200 transfers for Fall 2025. Both ADVANCE for NVCC and the MVP partners will see us this fall several times to connect with students and staff. Here's to seeing Fairfax in our rearview mirrors!
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We are also preparing for a move. The Office of Transfer Services will collapse into the Fran Bright Room beginning on Friday, September 20th. We are excited for our new, shared space, and plan to use the JC Conference Room, and open offices or spaces that are private for an admission conversation in the JC common areas.
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ADVANCE NVCC declarations open September 15th, and the ADVANCE MVP declaration is already open for Spring 2025. We have received the first official graduation report from NVCC, and we expect hundreds of students to matriculate to GMU via ADVANCE this spring. We expect to have our second matriculant to GMU via ADVANCE MVP this spring. We are reviewing and updating SOPs for both ADVANCE partnerships as we prepare for spring processing.
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For regular transfer, the Processing Team is making admission decisions on Spring 2025 applications. We are beginning to release spring admission decisions now on a rolling basis.
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Finally, we are preparing for a series of virtual and in-person transfer events this fall. From ALCANZA to Fall Premiere, to an in-person Spotlight Day-like transfer event for admitted students, we will meet transfer students where they are, and where they one day wish to be - at GMU!
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Graduate Admissions
Hello fall weather! Students are back on campus and that always brings new energy. We are in the middle of our transcript audit process and are hoping students get their documents in sooner rather than later. We are also in the process of getting some new University policy changes approved that would make us friendlier in the international space; Graduate Council is voting on accepting 3 year undergraduate degrees from the Bologna Process next week and we are running a pilot program accepting 3 year Indian degrees from two institutions effective Fall 2025. The focus of this admissions cycle is to grow our international numbers by reducing barriers!
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Important Dates to Remember
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Sunday, September 15th - Fall 2025 Degree, Spring 2025 Non-Degree, and Summer 2025 Degree and Non-Degree applications GO LIVE!
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Wednesday, September 18th at 4pm in Dewberry Hall - Graduate Fair showcasing all of the graduate programs at George Mason
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Other than that, we are busy on boarding new team members! In July we welcomed Bianca Meza to our International Evaluation team. She worked for the Doc Center for a few years and we were happy to bring her over to OGA in full-time capacity as an International Credential Specialist. Last week our new Graduate Admissions Specialist started; Adele Cosse joins from Louisiana where she grew up, attended college, and started her career in higher education! Adele took a break from higher ed and worked the last couple of years as a flight attendant but she is excited to return to working on a college campus! We have two new wage employees located in Sub1 who will be helping our team with our high volume of emails and light processing for this coming fall - Itemad Khan and Laariab Arshad! Lastly, we would like to welcome Somaja Raavi to the team as the newest JC Front Desk Assistant. Somaja is a graduate student in the Data Analytics program here at George Mason!
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P.S. If you didn't know, Wiley merged with another company and is now called Risepoint!
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Freshman Recruitment
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Fall is almost here, but travel season is in full swing over here for RM. We are starting the year off with a plan to visit 27 states from September to November spending our time at high school visits, behind the tables at college fairs, and various other recruitment events! We are also kicking off this new recruitment cycle with a total of 24 partner schools for our Direct Admission program (all Northern Virginia schools). All this to say, when you throw in some on-campus events, RM will be staying busy leading up to the early action deadline.
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RM, when we are not traveling, will also have multiple staff members chipping in to support our Telecounseling staff, welcome team, and of course the Mason Ambassadors. If you have any students in your life that are looking for ways to get more involved or potentially find some part-time work please reach out to Mariel, Carla or Kelly.
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Next time I write to you, we will be knee deep in application review...so until then, good luck with your Halloween decorations and all your pumpkin spice everythings.
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Upcoming Recruitment Events
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September 17 - Virtual Transfer Event
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September 21 - Fall Visit Day
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October 20 - Fall Premiere
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October 25 - NOVA/GMU Transfer Day (Hosted by the Office of Community College Partnerships)
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November 15 - Admitted Transfer Spotlight Day
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Outreach & Partnerships
The AOP team is running right from summer to fall with a busy schedule for events and outreach.
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WSP: The teacher package went out on September 6 and we are now collecting nominations for 2025. The digital marketing plan is running alongside the direct mail and approximately 30,000 teachers and counselors nationwide were contacted.
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Envision: Envision mail is dropping in October with Niche and Cappex data sources. If someone asks you about Envision programs on the road, you do know about them and they are legitimate. I will follow up in a Same Page meeting with more info.
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Outreach: Dozens and dozens of high school and middle school group tours have been scheduled through the fall. The high school program is focused on direct admissions schools. The middle school program was again awarded a grant from SCHEV to continue our efforts to reach students in high need schools.
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Events: Fall Visit Day has 800 people registered and is happening on Saturday, September 21. Fall Premiere is Sunday, October 20. We will see everyone there and at the pre-event meeting on Friday, October 18. We also are planning for a CEC Visit Day, Grad Fair, and transfer virtual events. Alcanza is the week before Fall Premiere on October 16. We are also again partnered with FCPS to host their annual college fair at Eagle Bank Arena. Help us welcome some much-needed help to the Events Team, Sofia Cochis! We are so happy to have her on the team!
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Honors: The team has worked through a new process to admit transfer students to the Honors College. We also distributed Honors College Book Awards to 44 high schools last year and are excited to continue and expand the efforts for this cycle. The Honors College Recruitment Team (HCRT) is training and ready to start working events this fall and spring.
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Military Services
The Office of Military Services is off and running for the fall. Admissions trends continue to hold for the military related population. This fall, as we welcome the largest undergraduate class, 20% of the incoming class are military-related. It should be no surprise that the summer orientations kept the office extremely busy!
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The Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Program (VMSDEP) continues to attract applicants to George Mason University. The program offers 8 term tuition and fees waivers to certain dependents of veterans 90% disabled or greater and whom have had a "presence" in Virginia for 5 years. The population has increased 2,512% since the Office of Military Services was founded. The additional manpower efforts required to oversee the program have caused significant strain on the office. Thankfully, George Mason leadership approved a critical vacancy in August. We are extremely pleased to have the first additional position added to our staff since the office was created! Please join me in welcoming to the OMS family, Fernando Aguila, as the Veteran and Dependent Benefits Coordinator. Fernando will start in the office on September 23.
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Admissions Tech Team
Per ITS requirements, Windows 10 will no longer be supported on Mason devices beginning next fall (2025). While recently issued Admissions computers are already running Windows 11, many of us are still using Windows 10 and will need to upgrade at some point. If anyone is feeling particularly ambitious, please reach out to Matt Scott to schedule an appointment. Windows 11 is currently available as an upgrade in the GMU software center, or it can be installed as a fresh image if you feel your computer would benefit from a clean slate. The process typically takes about 90 minutes. No, you can't use it as an excuse to play boom hockey, I already asked.
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Banner Permission Updates
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ATT is making some adjustments to Banner permissions in order to bring Admissions more in line with commonwealth audit guidelines. While this should be transparent to most of you (thanks to the awesome assistance of Jacob Brooks and Bryon Whitehead), if you happen to notice you no longer have access to something that you should, please reach out to Matt Scott.
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Congratulations to Laura Super, Christina Bizzaro and
Jaqui Casallas, who welcomed babies this summer.
The moms and babies are all doing great!
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What are your job duties in the office?
I assist incoming international students from overseas who are interested in studying at Mason and guide them through the process of obtaining an international student visa.
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What do you like most about working at Mason?
I really like the collaborative team culture at Mason. It seems like everyone is open to working together as one unit to support all students at Mason. I am really happy to be part of
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What 3 words would you use to describe Mason?
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Collaborative, Communicative, and Supportive environment.
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Where is your hometown?
What was your first job?
My first job was Student Assistant
at English Language Institute.
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Do you have any Pets?
Tell us about them!
In my family, we have two cats
named Kiwi and Mango.
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What are your hobbies or
spare time activities?
I have a home gym room, and I make it a habit to exercise almost every day. Additionally, when
the weather is good, I like to go outside
for a short walk.
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Share a FUN FACT about you.
When I first arrived in the United States, I had limited knowledge of English. Now, after nearly 10 years, I can confidently speak English, Japanese, a bit of Spanish, and a bit of Mandarin.
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Favorite Food and Beverage
Even though I'm Korean, I'm cool with all kinds of food, just not the spicy dishes.
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Favorite Restaurant
In Virginia: Tiki Thai in Reston, Soricha in Annandale, and Tachibana in McLean.
In Maryland: Lao Sze Chuan and La Panetteria Restaurant in Bethesda.
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Favorite TV Show, Movie, or Book
I'm into talk shows like Conan O'Brien
or David Letterman. Forrest Gump is my all-time favorite movie. Recently, I read
"The Courage To Be Hated" and
"Atomic Habits," not my absolute favorites,
but they left an impression.
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Favorite Quote or Movie Line
Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get.
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Favorite Holiday
Cinco de Mayo, Lunar New Year, and
Oktoberfest aren't official national holidays,
but they vividly showcase the importance of diversity in cultural celebrations.
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Favorite Vacation Spot
All National parks or State parks
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Favorite Sports Team
Not a huge fan of any sport teams,
but I like Ohtani Shohei.
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Favorite Superhero
Favorite Band or Musician
Radwimps, One Ok Rock, Masayoshi Ōishi,
Bruno Mars, Queen
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