Category: Archive

On November 23, George Mason completed the final step in a multi-year effort to modernize its core network, the high-speed data backbone that interconnects university campuses and buildings. Whether accessing Wi-Fi, wired connections, or university systems, this upgrade delivers dramatically faster connections across the university and between campuses. The new network provides a strong foundation for advanced research, digital learning, and seamless collaboration, positioning George Mason to confidently meet future technology demands. 

On November 6, Risk, Safety, & Resilience – Employee Health & Well-Being held a flu, COVID-19, pneumonia, and RSV vaccine clinic at the Population Health Center. Ninety-one people received vaccines at this free event for employees and their families. 

The Center for Collision Safety & Analysis has relocated to Katherine G. Johnson Hall and vacated the Commerce Building, which the university sold last year and has since leased. Led by Real Estate Strategy & Operations, the sale and subsequent move are part of the university’s efforts to leverage existing space and minimize external leases. The move was supported by ITS and Facilities in advance of the lease ending on December 15.  

ITS donated 15 laptops to the University's Office of Military Services in early November. These repurposed, fully functional laptops help the department continue its mission in the absence of the resources necessary to purchase new computers. This is part of ITS’s ongoing efforts to maximize the value and lifespan of existing resources while supporting the important work that is happening across the university. 

This new position is responsible for energy management, the combined heating & cooling plant, and sustainability within facilities & campus operations. Spader brings vast experience as a program and project leader for sustainability, energy efficiency, and decarbonization initiatives. She recently oversaw a $20 billion portfolio of innovative, high-impact decarbonization projects, including negotiations with Fortune 500 companies. 

It is now one step quicker to sign on at George Mason. In November, ITS removed the attribute release display from the single sign-on authentication process. User consent choices remain stored as a browser-specific cookie, and login processes are determined by each application vendor, so ITS determined that there was no impact on user security. 

ITS is simplifying George Mason University's Wi-Fi network this fall, fully transitioning to eduroam and retiring MASON-SECURE. Eduroam has been George Mason's primary Wi-Fi network since 2022, offering secure and seamless access across all campuses and at hundreds of participating institutions worldwide. While many users have already transitioned to eduroam, MASON-SECURE will be permanently shut down on Friday, December 19. For details, see MASON-SECURE Retirement FAQs.

In partnership with Athletics and the Office of University Branding, ABS Marketing and the Bookstore launched the new mobile merchandise trailer and the Collect the Spirit fan-engagement campaign. The initiative continues to debut exclusive game-day drops and amplify school spirit across home basketball games this season.

Parking & Transportation successfully transported more than 150 students to and from their Thanksgiving destinations via regional shuttle routes spanning from Virginia Beach to New York City. The service provided a safe, affordable, and convenient travel option for students heading home for the break.

Dining Services welcomed President Gregory Washington to Southside Dining Hall for the annual Thanksgiving turkey carving tradition. Students and staff enjoyed the festive experience, celebrating community and George Mason pride over a holiday meal.

Risk, Safety, & Resilience’s Emergency Management & Fire Safety piloted x-ray bag scanning technology at the Student Career Fair in Dewberry Hall, part of the university’s continued efforts to further enhance security at events. This technology is being considered for future use as it facilitates quick ingress into events while allowing students to carry their personal effects.

Facilities and Campus Operations held a town hall on October 20, focused on improving organizational culture with a focus on trust, transparency, excellence, and professional growth. Topics included department goals, upcoming initiatives, and discussions on, resources, recognition, and retaliation.

The project team has successfully deployed both an attended (user login) and unattended Robotics Process Automation resources for Fiscal Services. This will enable the eventual decommission of on-site desktop machines, instead of running in Windows Azure environments. This complex effort was made possible by the teamwork and commitment of ITS.

The RTS subsequent contract workflow went live on October 15. The new workflow modernizes the process to produce subsequent contracts for benefitted instructional/research/clinical faculty, postdoctoral research fellows, research staff, and administrative/professional faculty. There is a more efficient process that reduces turnaround time, risk, and cost to the university.

The Fuse building was selected by a panel of esteemed judges for the Environmental Impact Award at the P3 Awards ceremony in New York City on October 23. The judges noted the project’s comprehensive approach, spanning optimized systems, smart controls, climate resilience, and a living-lab experience. George Mason’s partner Edgemoor also won the prestigious 2025 Developer of the Year award for Fuse, as well as projects with the University of Nevada, Reno and University of Kansas.

A&O leadership participated in the Faculty-Staff Enrichment Day on October 16th. David Farris spoke about how to participate in, structure, and maximize the productivity of university committees. Charmaine Madison joined Amarda Shehu to present a session on integrating AI that introduced PatriotAI and CoPilot, part of George Mason’s effort to foster responsible and innovative use of artificial intelligence across campus.

In collaboration with Canon Print and Mail Services, Auxiliary and Business Services has initiated a major upgrade of George Mason’s campus printer fleet as part of a renewed contract agreement. This initiative will see more than 300 devices replaced across the university in stages over the coming weeks. The new devices feature a smaller footprint and improved energy efficiency, directly supporting the university’s sustainability goals, while also providing faster, more secure, and more reliable performance. This transition is designed to be seamless for faculty and staff, as all printer configurations and user access information will automatically transfer, requiring no action or reconfiguration from individual users.

Self-Service 9 (SSB9) for Finance was successfully launched on October 1. Led by the Enterprise Project Management Office, this upgrade delivers a refreshed interface, enhanced functionality, and new features that simplify and strengthen financial processes across the university. George Mason ITS was able to complete the roll-out of Patriot Web (Ellucian Experience) Banner 9 user interface as part of a long-sought-after enterprise user experience upgrade, in concert with the SSB9 Finance module for consistency. Retiring the SSB8 Finance Information tab is a crucial step towards full retirement of the Banner 8 platform elements still active in our ecosystem.

Thirty-seven George Mason classrooms have been modernized by upgrading educational technologies and creating state-of-the-art, innovative learning environments. ITS teams delivered advanced networking and instructional technology solutions, while the Facilities Department completed physical renovations. The project team coordinated planning, design, procurement, installation, and testing with campus partners, including the Provost’s Learning Environment Group and the University Registrar, as well as several external contractors.

The Policy Management Group is updating the university policy process for consistency, efficiency, and enhanced communication of policy changes, co-chaired by the interim vice president for enterprise risk management and assistant provost of academic affairs. The new policy process is anticipated to launch in early 2026 with broad communication to the campus community. The group also anticipates conducting a review of existing university policies to ensure they are on a consistent review cycle and reviews are to date, updated in alignment with changes in regulations, code or law, and consistent with other university policies.

Student Centers hosted its inaugural Movie Night, celebrating the 30th anniversary of "Toy Story" with an outdoor screening on Wilkins Plaza. Participants enjoyed complimentary popcorn and gained practical experience in event production, including setup and operation of a flown truss system, daylight outdoor projection techniques, and real-time color uplight coordination to match film scenes.

George Mason held an open house in October for the new faculty and staff condominiums in the Innovation Town Center, adjacent to the SciTech Campus, as well as welcoming the first resident. The open house drew strong attendance and generated several completed applications, moving closer to the goal of filling the first 10 units. Guests enjoyed music, refreshments, and the opportunity to tour the new Tessa and Julianne condos that will help with the University’s commitment to affordable housing for faculty and staff.

Condominium leasing is now available to faculty and staff. Two- and three-bedroom units are being offered with options starting at $2,200 per month. Contact [email protected] to schedule a tour.

Information sheet available to view here PDF.

Risk, Safety, and Resilience’s Employee Health & Well-Being is offering free well-body screenings, a non-invasive body composition scan with personalized results, a complimentary blood pressure check, and a consultation with a medical professional. This analysis provides physiological metrics for evaluating overall health. All slots are currently filled, but additional appointments will open on the sign-up page in the coming months. This service is open to George Mason faculty and staff (including wage, student wage, and adjunct faculty).

Risk, Safety, & Resilience – Employee Health & Well-Being will hold a flu, COVID-19, pneumonia, and RSV vaccine clinic at Population Health Center, Friday, November 6, 10 am to pm. This event is free and open to George Mason Faculty and Staff and their families. Register here.

Patriot Web, George Mason University's self-service site for managing personal, administrative, and academic information, was upgraded this month to a new, modern interface with improved navigation. A soft launch of the new environment was made available for use on September 1 at the Patriot Web login page. The prior version of Patriot Web was disabled on Tuesday, September 30.

ITS continues to implement new storage quotas to manage growth within our Microsoft 365 (M365) environment. The next phases include administering new email and calendar quotas, creating a MyHub request process for more MS Teams and SharePoint space, investigating M365 retention policies, and refining the account lifecycle process. For quota information and updated project details, see the M365 Storage Roadmap.

Enterprise Risk Management workshops for the identified top enterprise risks for FY26-27 have begun to take place. These workshops are focused on refining risk definitions, describing risk drivers and current controls, and identifying top mitigation actions to address these enterprise risks. These workshops will continue throughout fall 2025.

The new Activities Community Wellness Center has been substantially completed and is expected to be ready for use by mid-October following final safety inspections. The new 25,000 square foot facility features two full-sized basketball courts, other athletic courts, and meeting spaces for the university’s 350-plus student groups, as well as providing practice space for the Green Machine.

Risk, Safety, and Resilience is in the process of implementing TimelyCare well-being services for faculty and staff, which offers 24/7 virtual health and well-being services, fully independent of campus health and well-ness resources with no insurance required and no copays.

Employees can access immediate emotional support (TalkNow), scheduled mental health counseling, health coaching, self-care tools, and medical care for low-acuity issues. TimelyCare also provides a dedicated Guidance Line that faculty/staff can call to get expert help in identifying and connecting students in distress with appropriate resources.

This service is expected to be available to all employees by January 2026.

Parking Services introduced a new AI-powered license plate recognition system in the Van Metre, Vernon Smith, and Fuse garages that makes parking a faster, more convenient experience for the Mason community and visitors alike. Developed and operated by George Mason’s long-time partner, Metropolis, this cutting-edge platform makes parking seamless. Permit holders simply drive in and out as their license plate serves as their credential — no swiping or tickets required. Guests can quickly register their license plate and payment method on a mobile device, with charges processed automatically upon exit.

The laboratory was issued no findings from the Center for Disease Control, a rare accomplishment that is reflective of exceptional teamwork across Facilities, Safety, Operations, Research, and students being committed to upholding the highest safety and research standards.

The recently opened Fuse building at Mason Square has been nominated and put on the shortlist for an Environmental Impact Award from P3 Awards. The ceremony will be held in late October in New York.

Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Julie Zobel hosted the first A&O leadership retreat for Administration & Operations (A&O) on August 7 and 8, gathering the department’s unit leaders and their direct reports at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia. The 40-person group conducted Emergenetics teambuilding, organizational visioning, and identified priorities for the newly formed department.

SciTech’s job fair on August 15, drew far more participants than expected, requiring additional space and support for the surprisingly high turnout. Held at the request of U.S. Representative Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), the successful collaboration provided support to the region’s workforce and strengthened community partnerships, while demonstrating the campus’s utility as a host for large-scale events.

Annual mandatory Emergency Preparedness Training was updated and launched in August on MasonLeaps, the university’s online, self-service learning and performance system. Based on feedback from the university community, training is condensed, easier to navigate, and a test-out option is now included. These changes will reduce the time and compliance burden on faculty and staff and is expected to improve training compliance.

Canon USA, George Mason’s partner in print, mail, and copy services since 2016, has been awarded a new five-year contract that began on July 1, 2025, with an option for a five-year extension. The agreement includes a $150,000 signing bonus, and technology upgrades such as a refreshed multi-function-device (MFD) fleet, a new smart locker system in the HUB, cloud-based support, and Wi-Fi compatible devices.

Emergency Management and University Events partnered to implement a physical security rubric into George Mason’s event registration process, 25live. George Mason will pilot this security process enhancement in FY26 to determine security requirements for internal and external events, before establishing it permanently in FY27, incorporating learnings from the pilot phase.

A working group has been established to examine the installation, use, maintenance, and testing of panic buttons installed throughout the university; procedures will be produced to mitigate false alarms and improve the utility of panic buttons.

George Mason has completed the multi-year implementation of the Research Administration Management Portal (RAMP), a collaborative effort by the Office of Sponsored Programs, Information Technology Services, and the Enterprise Project Management Office. This integrated system streamlines research administration by consolidating critical functions into a single platform, reducing duplication of effort and better supporting faculty and staff.

RAMP enhances compliance with sponsor regulations through automated workflows and reminders and improves reporting and decision-making by capturing research-related data in one system. The portal includes seven modules: Grants, Agreements, Safety, Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment, Institutional Review Board, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and Payroll Certification. This milestone represents a significant advancement in George Mason’s research infrastructure and administrative efficiency.

George Mason began implementation of a Risk Management Information System application, led by Operational Risk Management. The RMIS will manage and coordinate the university's risk and insurance-related information and will serve as a centralized platform for risk managers to collect, store, analyze, and report data related to business risk and insurance coverage. Having received approval from the university’s Executive Administration Domain Council, this application will facilitate decision-making, streamline workflows, provide better risk visibility, while reducing costs, improving compliance, and increasing efficiency.

As part of the development of the Enterprise Risk Management priorities for FY26 and FY27, interviews with key university leaders have been completed. The interviews help update the university risk register, gain information about key components of top enterprise risks, and begin the process of identification of key mitigation actions to be taken to address enterprise risks for the next biennium.

Department of Environmental Quality audited George Mason’s MS4 Program for compliance with state permit requirements. 132 of 155 audit questions were in compliance, with 22 deemed not applicable, and only one corrective action found, which will be addressed promptly. The results of the March 2025 audit were received on July 17, 2025.

Monumental, which has managed EagleBank Arena for the past 40 years, has been awarded a new five-year contract beginning July 1, 2025, with an option for a five-year extension. The new agreement includes priority blackout dates to support Intercollegiate Athletics needs, including basketball practices, special events, and postseason play.

The previous agreement generated $3.1M in university returns in FY24 and $2.5M in FY23. These returns are expected to grow under the new contract, which increases Mason’s minimum guaranteed payment. In 2024, the arena reached a record-high attendance of 623,000 guests, hosting 30 concerts and numerous athletic events—the most concerts since its 1985 opening.