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IN THE FEBRUARY EDITION
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Pass the Patriot Recipient
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2021
ALL STAFF MEETINGS
Staff meetings are Wednesday afternoons and will remain ALL VIRTUAL through May.
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Apr. 21, Relationship Mgmt
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Jun. 4, Professional Development
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Nov. 5, Professional Development
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Crystal Hall Brett is engaged to Sean Buckley! Sean proposed at the Crim Dell on the campus of William & Mary with a ring he designed that incorporates the school colors. Crystal is excited to be marrying Sean and to officially become a stepmom to Sean's son, Liam. You may have met Liam, he is the 7-year-old who likes to frequently pop into Crystal's virtual meetings.
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We wish you all the best and hope your life together is filled with happiness, laughter
and love!
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Congratulations go out to Ryan Barnett on the formation of his limited liability company: SOME Farm, LLC. He is one step closer towards his dream of producing and selling hydroponic organic veggies.
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Carla Goodwin
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Q. What does your usual workday look like?
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My main responsibility every day is to connect with students in some capacity. I am primarily responsible for southern New Jersey, the Philadelphia region, and Michigan, but on a given day, it is also likely that I will respond to inquiries and questions from students from other parts of the country and, sometimes, the world. I assist IEM with our digital communications through content approval and now, report writing. I also work closely with the K-12 partnerships team to coordinate high school group tours. And of course-- read apps!
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Q. What 3 words would you use to describe Mason?
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Interdisciplinary. Welcoming. Authentic.
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Q. What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most?
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I most enjoy coordinating the high school group tours for underrepresented students. I believe access to an education is invaluable and it is our responsibility to serve the diverse needs of students, no matter who they are or what they bring to the table.
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Q. What's your favorite movie, TV show or book?
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Grey's Anatomy even though I cry during literally every single episode.
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Q. Do you like sports? What's your favorite team?
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My favorite sports are football and tennis. I would share my favorite teams, but to save myself from the embarrassment, let's just say Serena Williams. One of the greatest athletes of all time. PERIOD.
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Matt Scott
Network & Desktop Specialist
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Hometown: Newport News, VA
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Q. Before working in the Office of Admissions, what was the most unusual or interesting job you had?
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Probably delivering pizza in college. You meet a lot of interesting people that way.
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Q. What does your usual workday look like?
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Support Admissions systems and our staff. Troubleshooting any issues that arise and handling security related matters and paperwork.
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Q. What 3 words would you use to describe Mason?
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Q. What is your favorite part about working with us?
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Admissions is like a family. Definitely one of the best groups of people I've had the good fortune to work with.
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Q. What are your top 3 life highlights?
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Marrying the love of my life and the birth of my two daughters.
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February
Pass the Patriot
Recipient
Crystal
Hall Brett
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During the February 17 All-Staff meeting Michele Reasinger announced that she was passing the Patriot to the incredible Crystal Hall Brett. Michele shared with us why she gave the award to Crystal, "Crystal did an AMAZING job filling Andrew’s shoes as the Interim Director of Admissions Operations. We all know that that Crystal is amazing on the Grad side of the house but in this interim role she really stepped up for the Undergraduate side as well. She set out enthusiastically to learn as much as she could as quickly as she could about Undergrad trying to make sure that nothing slipped through the cracks. She asked thoughtful questions while not shying away from any of the hard ones. Crystal is an asset to both the Admissions Office as well as to Mason in general."
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Congratulations
Crystal!
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February has been moving at the speed of light, and spring is right around the corner. Although I tend to enjoy the winter months, I have had my fix of snow and ice for the year. I am certainly ready for spring. Let's hope that March will bring warmer weather and some opportunities for us to see each other in person.
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Thank you for remaining so focused and dedicated throughout this pandemic. We still have a lot of work to do in this recruitment cycle, but we are well positioned to hit our fall enrollment targets. We are in the thick of reading and yield season, and we have a number of important recruitment events over the next few weeks. I want to encourage everyone to focus on making meaningful connections with our prospective students and their families. It is the personal touches you put into this work that make the difference and show people that we care about them and want them at Mason.
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You all are doing an amazing job, and because of this, we have an opportunity to do something special this fall. Thanks for all that you do!
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HR / Finance
WINTER WEATHER: The winter weather has really been intense this past month, affecting not only our Fairfax Campus employees but the majority of our remote employees too. We would like to let you know that if you have a power outage due to inclement weather you are permitted to use University Leave. Make sure to include this comment on your time sheet: "University leave is entered because of a loss of power due to inclement weather". If you have a power outage for another reason, please reach out to our team before submitting your time sheet so we can navigate what your leave options are.
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MEMES: After taking an MS Teams Training (available at MasonLEAPS.gmu.edu or lil.gmu.edu) it was discovered that we all have the ability to make our own memes right in that program! If you want to try it out, under the area where you type a new message click on the sticker icon (square with a smiley face). In the left menu scroll down towards the bottom and click on Meme. Click on one of the images on the right, or upload your own. Type in your text, click done, and then send it to the person in your chat. If you want to test this out, I will be happy to be your text subject!
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Relationship Management
I'm sitting here at my home office watching sleet fall atop a layer of freshly fallen snow. It's beautiful, but it's also a sign of winter's grip hanging on for a little longer. After I clean off my husband's car of snow and ice, I'm looking forward to sunny days, longer days of sunlight and warm weather this spring, though my allergies aren't looking forward to any of that! The RM team has been staying warm by reading lots of Regular Decision applications, participating in a myriad of virtual recruitment events and engaging in robust yield activities. This spring promises to be an interesting one as we mark one year since the time we came home during the onset of the global pandemic. It's hard to believe all of that time has gone by!
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We continue to assist students every step of the way with their applications, their admission and confirming their enrollment at Mason. We know that price sensitivity is a big concern for students and families at this unprecedented time, as well as health and safety on campus and being away from home. We are doing all that we can to demonstrate both the value and necessity of a Mason education, particularly at this difficult time.
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We are planning some innovative, exciting events this spring in partnership with the Events Team, IEM and other campus stakeholders. From a virtual Patriot Pep Rally (yay!) to a special virtual event for legacy admitted students, we hope that students can see we are a warm and welcoming place, a place they need to call home for the next four years. We cannot wait to make more future Patriots this spring, and our newly minted Mason Passport Program will help us do that! We're also launching an Ambassador Blog (go Kelsey!) and virtual class shadows.
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Orientation registration for Fall 2021 launches on April 1st. That's not an April Fools Day joke, and I would hope by then the weather is warm! That silly Punxsutawney Phil said six more weeks of winter earlier this month, and sadly, I think that rodent was correct!
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February 25: Honors College Celebration of Excellence
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March 8: Virtual Patriot Pep Rally
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March 24: Continue the Patriot Tradition, an event for Mason legacies
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March 29 - April 7: WYSE Virtual Experience
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March 30 - April 8: WJMC Virtual Experience
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Virtual Class Shadows are in portals March 4, and coming in late March are virtual yield receptions "A Day in the Life of the Patriot"
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WSP/K12/Events
The WSP/K12/Events Team is courageously working through the continued uncertainty to still provide students with incredible experiences that feature the best of George Mason. Check out the exciting things we have been working on!
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WSP - The Washington Youth Summit on the Environment and the Washington Journalism and Media Conference will drop invitations this week for a "Virtual Experience". You can view more details about the interactive online conference programs on their newly created websites:
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http://events.admissions.gmu.edu/wyse/
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WJMC March 30 - April 8
http://events.admissions.gmu.edu/wjmc/
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We will use Salesforce Communities so the students and staff can navigate the curriculum and schedule. And, we have BREAKING NEWS! We are happy to announce that we have booked Dana Bash from CNN and Peter Hamby from Snapchat as speakers for WJMC!
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The university is still deciding on in-person summer campus this summer, so the full WYSE and WJMC conferences remain on hold until a decision is made.
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K12 - Sydney is booking virtual tours with K8 groups. Rachel is working closely with Admissions domicile and the Registrar on the new DACA legislation.
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Events - The Honors College "Celebration of Excellence" is this week, and we are excited to debut a new opening recorded at GMU TV.
The Events team is also recording the "Patriot Pep Rally" on Sunday with special guest stars, Doc Nix, Darrell Green, Brad Edwards, and some of our student leaders. The “Patriot Pep Rally” will premiere on March 8. Be sure to check it out!!
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Plans are in the works for a new format for the virtual Spring Preview, and we still have high hopes for an in-person program at the end of April.
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Operations
by Jenny Chism
Greetings from Operations!
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The Ops team has wrapped up the spring semester and is already full speed ahead! I couldn’t be prouder of the work they’ve accomplished and continue to do!
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Ops is really engaging in continuous improvement evaluating our processes and procedures and identifying areas for growth. Their thoughts and ideas amaze me daily!
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Last week, the Ops Transfer Team began utilizing the National Student Clearinghouse’s StudentTracker in their transfer processing improving the enrollment history reliability for prospective students while potentially improving their processing efficiency. We are so excited about the NSC!
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We are partnering with ATT and have begun the early development stages of the Undergraduate Academic Review Tool. We are working hard to get this tool prepared and tested with the official launch date of August 2. ITS has been a great partner so far and we are working hard to do the same!
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The Domicile team has collaborated with the Registrar to review and update our process for High School Completers to be more flexible for our admitted students. The undergraduate application was updated to be more user friendly as well. For more info, contact or direct your students to [email protected]. Cheers to the dom team as they continue to be flexible as legislation changes!
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Our graduate numbers keep growing! Graduate continues to work hard processing more and more applications! Hats off to each of you for your dedication to your students and your respective departments.
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INTO Mason had a great yield for the spring semester and is working hard to work through some system inefficiencies! We can’t wait to see what they do in the fall!
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The Evaluation team is in the process of updating and digitizing the universal course appeal form, their communication flows, and is looking for solutions to improve the efficiency of the deferral process in Banner. Keep pushing the needle!
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A big thanks to the Doc Center that was described to me early on as the invisible machine that keeps us all going! You’re doing just that. We appreciate you!
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International
by Meghan Walter
We are so excited that we have launched our online chat! One thing I have heard from international students through the years is that they want to be able to speak directly with current students about life on campus. They want to hear about campus culture, student groups, and even if they can get a certain type of food in the area. I am so happy that we have this opportunity to connect our current students with prospective students! For now, we have students working the chat from 9am-5pm. We may expand those hours if we see a large demand.
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We have also brought on a new in-country recruiter in India, Kushala Mahadeshwar. Kushala lives in Mumbai and works with our India partner, Gen Next. She will be working with the International Team and the International Enrollment Partnership Office to recruit throughout India. This position is so important at this time when we are not able to physically travel to India ourselves. I am so excited to see what this new opportunity will do for our recruitment numbers in India over the next year.
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Finally, my team has been working away at reviewing Fall 2021 files. We will be making our announcement soon on which applicants received the You Are Welcome Here Scholarship!
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Military Services
The Office of Military Services is pleased to announce Mason has earned the 2021-2022 Military Friendly™ School designation. Institutions earning the Military Friendly™ School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. Over 1,200 schools participated in the 2021-2022
survey with 747 earning the designation. The 2021-2022 Military Friendly™ Schools list will be published in the May issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com. Methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by Viqtory with input from the Military Friendly™ Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. Final ratings were determined by combining the institution’s survey response set and government/agency public data sources, within a logic based scoring assessment. They measure the
institution’s ability to meet thresholds for Student Retention, Graduation, Job Placement, Loan Repayment, Persistence (Degree Advancement or Transfer) and Loan Default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans. Please take a moment to congratulate the staff of OMS for their dedication and tireless effort in support of the veteran and military related population!
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Admissions Tech Corner
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ITS is increasing the number of days devices can be
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remembered for users verifying their identities with
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Duo Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) from 7 days to 14 days.
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For additional information on this change, visit:
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The stage is set! We already know you are an amazing co-worker, this new regular feature of the Admissions All-Staff meetings is an opportunity for us to learn things that are unique to you and your life experiences. It's a short presentation during the meeting - about 5 minutes - where you can share some fun details about YOU! Pictures are not required, but highly encouraged.
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Need some ideas of things to share? How about:
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A major event from your life, like moving to a new country.
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A moment in your life that has led you to be who you are today.
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A unique interest or fact about yourself.
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A story about a special item that means a lot to you.
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A hidden talent, hobby, or your interests outside of work.
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A picture of your favorite childhood memory and the story behind the photo.
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Pictures of your sweet kids or grandkids on a special trip with you.
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Pictures of you and your fur-baby on "gotcha" day.
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These are just a few ideas of some amazing life moments to share!
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The Office of Admissions publishes a monthly newsletter. An archive of past newsletters can be found at Admissions Newsletters. If you have questions, comments, complaints or would like to unsubscribe, email the Editor at [email protected].
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