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IN THE OCTOBER EDITION
Good Bye Webex Teams,
Hello Microsoft Teams
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Pass the Patriot and Patriot Pride Award Recipients
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SPECIAL FEATURE
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GETTING TO KNOW
Dr. Alan Byrd
Dean of Admissions
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2020
ALL STAFF MEETINGS
Nov. 6, Professional Development
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2021
ALL STAFF MEETINGS
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Thanks to everyone that completed the survey!
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Staff meetings are moving to Wednesday afternoons and will remain ALL VIRTUAL
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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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ADMISSIONS FALL 2020 VIRTUAL EVENTS
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Jeff Fusco
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Team: Relationship Management
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Q. How long have you been part of Mason?
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I've been with Mason Admissions professionally for two years (as of June 13th!) but I attended Mason as a student from 2009-2013, so 6 years active but 11 years altogether!
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Q. What does your usual workday look like?
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One of my favorite parts about my role is that my day-to-day looks different depending on what time of year it is. During travel season I spend a lot of time visiting various high schools and developing relationships with guidance counselors throughout Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. I go to college fairs, meet with prospective Patriots and their families, I read applications, plan and advertise regional events. I tell the families that I work with that my job is to help them navigate Mason from the point of interest until they set foot on campus for their first day of class and everything in-between.
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Q. What 3 words would you use to describe Mason?
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Innovative. Friendly. Dynamic
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Q. What's your favorite movie, TV show and book?
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My all time favorite TV show is Survivor. I've never missed an episode in 40 seasons!! My dream is to be on the show one day.
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Meghan Walter
Director of International Admissions
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Q. What does your usual workday look like?
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I work to recruit amazing international students to come to Mason! On a typical day, I attend so many meetings, review files from students with international transcripts, and answer a bunch of emails. I also love collaborating with my colleagues to find ways to improve the admissions process or overall experience for international students.
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Q. What 3 words would you use to describe Mason?
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Innovative. Welcoming. Global.
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Q. What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most?
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I love helping international students navigate the admissions process that might be confusing and intimidating.
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Q. Tell us anything about yourself and/or family.
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I grew up doing competitive Irish Step Dancing. As a Senior in high school I went to Ireland to compete in the World Championship. I didn't place in the competition, but it was a really cool experience.
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October
Pass the Patriot Recipient
Dennix Averion
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The Patriot was passed to Dennix Averion during the October 16 All Staff Meeting. Here is what Carla Goodwin had to say about why Dennix received the award, "I often admire Dennix when I think of his work ethic. When I first started in 2018, Dennix was one of, if not the only, person working in International Admissions. Yet, he persevered all while still serving as an invaluable resource to myself and others on the Relationship Management team. Dennix has been like an open book with all of my questions and I owe to him my increased comfortability working with international applicants. But the admiration does not stop there. Since we have been teleworking, Dennix helped put together an amazing summer training, to say the least. He also chaired our most recent search committee for the admissions counselor position and brought us some really great candidates! This was all while also somehow managing to conduct virtual visits during the wee hours of the morning, or night, depending on how you look at it. Hats off to you, Dennix!
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Congratulations Dennix!
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As we prepare to welcome Dr. Alan Byrd, as the next Dean of Admissions, I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your support of me while serving as Interim Dean. The amount of transition and uncertainty that we have all faced in the past eight months is extraordinary. A new president, a new provost, a global pandemic, and a 180-degree turn in the way we do business is a lot. Fortunately, we are an office and community of dedicated, caring individuals who recognize the importance of the work that we do. We know that education is the answer to solving many of the world's problems. Right now, there seems to be no shortage of those problems. Despite those challenges, we can help students achieve their goals. As we make one more transition on November 2, I am confident that Alan will do everything in his power to get to know each of you and the important work that you do to serve our students and families.
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I want to offer my sincere gratitude to Elena and Crystal for their great work in serving as Interim Associate Dean and Interim Director of Operations. Both have done an amazing job of juggling all that I have asked of them while doing their day jobs supporting WSP/Events/K12 and Graduate Admissions. I also want to recognize the Dean's Team of Suzy, Jen, and Leah who keep the person sitting in this chair organized and informed.
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HR / Finance
The HR/Finance Team has been hard at work this past month. We are getting things ready for Dr. Byrd's start date, wrapping up the Admissions Counselor search, and starting up the Admissions Coordinator and Director of Operations searches. A huge thanks to all of you who have served and continue to serve on our search committees. I also would like to recognize the work that Leah and Jen F. have put into our searches, they have done a great job working in this environment and I greatly appreciate all that they do.
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While we are on the subject of environments, lets talk about yours! Have you been working from a location that is different from your listed address in Patriot Web? I suspect 90% of you have temporarily moved to Key West and are keeping it a secret! If that is the case, we need you to update your address in Patriot Web because you may owe income tax in a different state. This applies if you have been working in a state other than your "home state" for longer than 30 days. If you aren't sure if this applies to you, please reach out to Payroll at [email protected] or to me and we will figure it out together.
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Relationship Management
Greetings in the midst of a busy virtual recruitment cycle! The RM Team has been hard at work meeting with students from across the country during virtual high school visits, college fairs, 1:1s and panels. This new modality of recruiting students in a virtual space is going well and has its advantages. I love speaking to students and school counselors from the comfort of my office at home!
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We just held an awesome Mason LIVE! talk show event. Congrats to our Events Team, Eva and Dennix for hosting an incredible show! That event was the precursor to our Virtual Fall Premiere that is coming up later this month. We are getting the word out to make this next event as large as possible as we head into our November 1st Early Action deadline.
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We are gearing up towards beginning to read Fall 2021 freshman applications starting later this month using Workflow, and we have been actively reading Spring 2021 freshman applications. Our amazing Doc Center staff are being trained on how to calculate some GPAs to help create greater efficiencies in the reading process, enabling my team to be able to focus more on building relationships with prospective students and families. Our Admissions Tech Team, some members of the Operations team, and my team are actively working on getting the Application Review Tool (ART) in Salesforce Lifecycle up and running for Regular Decision application review. This is super exciting! A big thank you to all involved in getting this uplifted. I know this is a big undertaking!
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Before you know it, it will be time to release Early Action admission decisions on December 11, 2020. Not sure where the time is going, but please stay well this fall. My team and I are here if you need anything.
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WSP/K12/Events
We are continuing to work through the unknown to create the best experience for all of our prospective students. Check out our latest projects!
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WSP - We are continuing to review projections and monitor health conditions. Please check out the new websites for WYSE and WJMC. Ali has done a great job creating new content and design for the web. I'm so excited for students and families to experience the sites.
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K12 - K8 tours are busy and students/teachers are very excited to meet with Sydney and learn more about college access. Dual enrollment programs are running with no issue. Rachel is working closely with a select group of DC students through a new partnership with Mason and DC CAP.
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Events - The 20th (!!) annual ¡Alcanza! college fair is this Thursday, October 22. We are pumped to run this tradition in a virtual format and reach students from across the country. Thanks to everyone who is helping with this exciting event!
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Fall Premiere is next week. You should all have a hold on your calendar for the evening of October 29. The event could not run without the help of all of you, so thank you in advance! We are hoping for big numbers and a successful event as the final push to November 1.
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The Mason Counselor Connection is the new Counselor Fly-In and will happen the second week in November. Marketing will begin soon!
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We are piloting a new transfer event at the end of the year that will consist of only 1:1 appointments. We are working on the technology now and will invite students closer to the event.
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We have learned a ton about virtual events this cycle and are now working on creating a spring calendar for even more events. If you have ideas for a creative yield event for the spring, please let me know!
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Operations
by Crystal Hall Brett
Happy October! Fall is here and it is glorious!
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Here are the team updates:
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Transfer, Non-Degree, and Domicile Team - Another day, another semester! The team is busy reviewing and admitting students for the Spring 2021 term. They are also testing out the review tool and providing detailed feedback to the Tech Team. The open Transfer Coordinator position was approved and listed! Thank you to the search committee for volunteering to fill that important position.
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Transfer Credit Evaluation Team - They are working on clearing students from the hold that was recently placed for those who have not submitted a final transcript for evaluation. We had a large number of students and we want to them free to register for Spring courses when it opens up.
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Document Center - The Doc Center has officially switched over to their new on campus schedule. There are two teams that rotate and are on campus Tuesday and Thursday. The rest of the team continues to telework Monday - Saturday. Keep in mind, if a student needs to drop off a document, the Mason Student Services Center is collecting them for us Monday - Thursday and Julio's team picks them up when on campus.
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Graduate Admissions Team - OGA is in the middle of the transcript audit for new Fall 2020 students. Several emails have gone out to 400+ students warning them of a hold being placed on October 26 to prevent them from registering for Spring 2021. Needless to say, they are all now trying to take action. Thank you to the Doc Center for processing all of these last minute transcripts!
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INTO Mason Team - The team is busy working on cascades that came in last minute for Fall 2020 applicants while working on new Spring 2021 applications! Tanisha is out on leave for a couple of weeks, so please reach out to Ousswa with any questions!
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Have a safe and SPOOKY Halloween!
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International
by Meghan Walter
I hope everyone is doing well! Normally I would be writing this newsletter from a really cool place like Vietnam, unfortunately not this year. We are keeping busy with all of our virtual events from all over the world. We have already participated in events in South East Asia, South Asia, and South America! Still to come are events in Europe and Africa. We are also participating in high school visits even when they are in the middle of the night (go International Team). The high school counselors have mentioned they are impressed when we agree for these visits because so many schools are turning them down due to the timing.
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Besides recruitment, we are making decisions on Spring 2021 files and getting ready to start the Fall 2021 reading cycle! During the Freshman file reading training we will cover information on how to handle an international student if they come across your workflow. In some cases, you will send them to the International Team to read and in other cases we will work with you to come up with a GPA on the international coursework and you will make the decision. As always, if you ever have a question about an international transcript you can check with us. I am looking forward to seeing all of you in the Freshman file reading training. Happy file reading!
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Military Services
Active Duty Dependents stationed in Virginia, or a state contiguous to Virginia, and reside in Virginia, regardless of domicile are eligible for in-state tuition. Often, military families are unaware they are required to submit an application for in-state tuition in order to be considered. Make sure you always reference the Office of Military Services for additional guidance.
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COVID 19 and GI Bill Benefits
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S.3503, gives VA temporary authority to continue GI Bill payments uninterrupted during an emergency. The law has been extended until December 2021 and allows VA to pay education benefits regardless of the fact that a program has been converted from resident training to online training. GI Bill students will continue to receive housing allowance payments at the resident training rate. Please direct applicant inquiries to the Office of Military Services for additional information.
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Admissions Tech Corner
Good Bye Webex Teams, Hello Microsoft Teams
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The Admissions Tech Team would like to remind everyone that Webex Teams is being sunsetted by ITS in the spring of 2021. All areas and individuals should be familiarizing themselves with Microsoft Teams and begin migrating their group chats and video meetings there (or Zoom). Microsoft Teams can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, and mobile at - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/download-app
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More documentation on Teams is forthcoming,
but in the meantime Matt Scott is available for any questions.
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SPECIAL FEATURE
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GETTING TO KNOW
DR. ALAN BYRD
DEAN OF ADMISSIONS
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In just two weeks, on November 2, Dr. Alan Byrd will join Mason as the next Dean of Admissions. We all had an opportunity to see his resume during the search and it certainly presented an impressive record of his professional accomplishments. A proud alumnus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), where he earned his PhD in Educational Policy and Leadership, and for the past 11 years helped navigate enrollment challenges in the St. Louis region during a period of widespread downturn. Dr. Byrd was an advocate on campus and in his community, tirelessly working to provide access and opportunities for first-generation, low-income and underrepresented minority students. He was instrumental in forming partnerships with community-based organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, Wyman and College Bound to provide scholarships, mentorship and support services to enhance student success. Making college affordable was central to Dr. Byrd’s work at UMSL. He developed innovative financial aid programs such as the "UMSL Grant" and "Finish Your Degree Scholarship" that earned UMSL national recognition for providing social mobility to Pell Grant recipients. As co-chair of St. Louis Graduates, he also led advocacy efforts at the state level to expand need-based aid and to offer resident tuition rates to DACA students. Dr. Byrd is a firm believer in the transformative power of higher education and has committed his career to ensuring that everyone has access to it.
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The resume presents the professional side of the man; let’s get to know the personal side!
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We invited Alan to answer a series of questions to help us get to know him a little better.
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Here are his responses to:
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47 QUESTIONS WITH ALAN BYRD
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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 items to share, send them to the Editor at [email protected].
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