Mason Staff Senate

Category: 2025

Categories
July 2025

Dining Program Update: Chartwells Named New Partner

Image provided by Chartwells Higher Education

George Mason University has selected Chartwells Higher Education as its new dining provider, beginning July 1, 2025. The transition brings a renewed focus on inclusive dining, innovation, and sustainability. National favorites like Starbucks and Chick-fil-A are staying, and all dining halls will remain peanut and tree nut free. Chartwells will also support food insecurity initiatives through financial contributions and free meal swipe donations.

Read the full announcement in this news article from The George.

Categories
July 2025

Updates from Facilities & Campus Operations

  • Volunteer with University Sustainability! Grow food sustainably, harvest and distribute produce, and more! All training and materials are provided for free. Learn more about how you can volunteer on the University Sustainability website.
  • Submit a Work Order! Help Facilities & Campus Operations ensure George Mason’s campuses are beautiful and functional for the start of the next academic year. Learn more about submitting a Work Order on the Facilities website.
Categories
July 2025

September General Meeting Annoucement

The Staff Senate September General Meeting will feature guest speaker, Chris Ackerman, Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer.

Wednesday, September 3
10 a.m. to noon  – Guest Speaker & Business Meeting
Constituents may attend in person in Merten Hall, Room 1201, or join the meeting via Zoom* / Passcode: SS123
Call in: 301-715-8592 or 267-831-0333
Meeting ID: 931 0040 3860 / Passcode: 621190

The Staff Senate will collect questions in advance for consideration. Please submit your question using the form below by August 22. Live questions will be accepted, time permitting.

    If yes, you will need to provide your name above so we can call on you during the meeting.

The Staff Senate represents all classified and non-student wage employees at George Mason University. Working closely with university administration, we address concerns that have an impact on the quality of work-life for the George Mason community. The work of the senate is accomplished through open and continuous communication with its constituents.

*The Staff Senate is requiring that virtual attendees join our Staff Senate General Meetings with their Patriot Pass credentials. If you are already signed into Zoom using your George Mason-licensed Zoom account, you should not see a difference. If you are not already signed into your George Mason-licensed Zoom account, you will be told authentication is required to join, and prompted to sign in. For more information, please access our helpful FAQ document.

 

 

 

 

Categories
July 2025

Fall 2025 Parking Permit Sales

Starting July 28, 2025, fall parking permits will be available for purchase in the Parking Portal. A complete list is listed below and is also available on the Parking and Transportation website.

As a reminder, those with payroll deduction permits do not need to purchase a new permit as it will auto-renew in September. If you need to sign up for payroll deduction based on eligibility or to deactivate a permit, more information can be found on the Parking and Transportation website.

 

 

Fairfax and Science & Technology Campuses

Faculty/Staff Permit Options
Permit Type Permit Price
West Campus $125
Lot M&P $200
Fairfax/SciTech General $290
Lot J Reserved $350
Shenandoah Parking Deck Evening (After 4 pm) $365
Mason Pond Parking Deck Evening (After 4 pm) $365
Lot I Reserved $375
Rappahannock Parking Deck (Levels 4 & 5) $440
Mason Pond Deck (Levels 3-5) $465
Shenandoah Parking Deck $465
Off-Campus Student Permit Options
Permit Type Permit Price
West Campus $125
Lot M&P $200
Fairfax/SciTech General $290
Lot J Reserved $350
Shenandoah Parking Deck Evening (After 4 pm) $365
Mason Pond Parking Deck Evening (After 4 pm) $365
Lot I Reserved $375
Rappahannock Parking Deck (Levels 4 & 5) $440
Mason Pond Deck (Levels 3-5) $465
Shenandoah Parking Deck $465
On-Campus Resident Student Permit Options
Permit Type Permit Price
West Campus $125
Resident General Lite $220
Townhouse1 $220
Fairfax/SciTech General2 $340
Cabrera Global Center $340
Lot J Reserved $380
Beacon Hall3 $390
Lot R Reserved4 $395
Lot I Reserved $405
Rappahannock Parking Deck (Levels 4 & 5) $440
Mason Pond Deck (Levels 3-5) $465
Shenandoah Parking Deck $465

1 Townhouse residents only
2 Only Available to Non-Freshman Resident Students
3 Beacon Hall residents only
4 Only available to residents of Potomac Heights and Liberty Square

Mason Square

Faculty/Staff and Student Permit Options
Permit Type Permit Price
Vernon Smith General $290
Van Metre Reserved Faculty/Staff $440
Van Metre Reserved Student $440
Van Metre Reserved Day (Until 6 pm) $320
Van Metre Reserved Evening (After 2 pm) $320

Adjunct/Non-Student Wage

Adjunct Faculty and Non-Student Wage Employee Permit Options
Permit Type Permit Price
Adjunct/Non-Student Wage Rappahannock Deck (Rooftop Only) $65
Adjunct/Non-Student Wage Tower Lot (SciTech Campus) $65
Adjunct/Non-Student Wage Mason Square (Level B3 of Vernon Smith Garage Only) $65
Adjunct General Lite (Lots K, M, O, P, & PV Only) $120
Adjunct Mason Pond Deck (Levels 1 & 2) $150
Adjunct/Non-Student Wage Shenandoah Deck (Rooftop Only) $150

Motorcycle Permits

Motorcycle Permit Options
Permit Type Permit Price
Motorcycle Surface Lot Permit $75
Motorcycle Deck Permit $140
Categories
June 2025

Staff Senate Recognition Ceremony

A group of five senators with the Vice President of Human Resources. Senators are holding certificates of recognition.
Left to Right: Megan Neff-Boyle, Chris Ackerman, Melissa Hallman, Jeremiah Garcia, Jariatu Bah, and Rachel Spence. Senators featured online: Carlos Sandoval, Tabatha Hargrove, Lei An Ilan-Garcia, Danielle Fritz, and Diana St. Amand-Campos (Photo by Hannah King)

Each June the Staff Senate recognizes those staff senators who have completed their two-year term. This year we were joined by Chris Ackerman, vice president of human resources and Stacey Ellis, faculty and staff engagement program manager who presented senators with certificates and words of thanks during a brief recognition ceremony.

Thank you all for your service to the senate, the university, and our constituents. As Chris Ackerman said during his presentation, “I have been deeply impressed by the commitment and passion this group brings to supporting our classified staff and non-student wage colleagues…Despite the demands of your daily roles, you’ve made the time to lead and advocate for others—and that speaks volumes. Thank you for setting the standard for what servant leadership and active engagement look like at George Mason.”

The following senators were recognized:

Carlos Sandoval
Mason Square, Awards & Engagement Committee Co-Chair

Diana St. Amand-Campos
Mason Square

Jariatu Bah
Fairfax, Events Committee Co-Chair

Timothy Diggins
Fairfax

Jeremiah Garcia
Fairfax, Awards & Engagement Committee Co-Chair

Melissa Hallman
Fairfax, Parliamentarian

Tabatha Hargrove
Fairfax, 25th Anniversary Committee Chair

Lei An Ilan-Garcia
Fairfax

Megan Neff-Boyle
Fairfax, Events Committee Co-Chair

Danielle Fritz
At-Large

Categories
June 2025

June General Meeting Presentation

Lauren Posey, Director of State Government Relations, Photo Provided

The June 2025 Staff Senate general meeting featured guest speaker Lauren Posey, director of state government relations.

The Staff Senate would like to apologize for not including a recording to this session. We experienced technical difficulties during the Zoom and were unable to capture the session. For those who missed the meeting, or would like to review the presentation, you can view the slides here. Slide 14 includes Lauren’s responses to the pre-submitted questions.

In addition to her presentation, Lauren referred to the following resources from the Office of State Government Relations website:

Guidelines for Public Testimony and Communication with State Officials

Members of the University Community are asked to keep these Guidelines for Public Testimony in mind when they choose to communicate with state officials. These policies have been approved by University Administration as well as both the Faculty and Staff Senates.

State Government Relations Key Facts Pocket Card

George Mason University State Government Relations Key Facts Pocket Card

Categories
June 2025

Updates from Information Technology Services

Upcoming Microsoft Storage Changes
As cloud storage utilization has increased, vendors have responded by re-configuring their service offerings and storage pricing, making providing free storage no longer sustainable for higher ed institutions. ITS conducted a formal review of our Microsoft 365 (M365) system storage and found that approximately 90% of users are operating within 5GB or less of storage. As a result, new storage quotas will be implemented to manage further growth starting this summer. In the coming weeks, impacted users will receive direct communications from ITS on what to expect and how to prepare. For updated project details, see the M365 Storage Roadmap or the full announcement.

Microsoft Feature Updates
As of Monday, May 19, Microsoft feature updates for George Mason-managed computers will be rolled out in phases and completed by November 1, 2025. To minimize disruption, users will be able to defer the required reboot for up to three days. Please note: the reboot process may take up to 20 minutes, depending on your system.

macOS Updates
There are presently George Mason-managed Macs still operating on macOS 12 (Monterey), which is no longer supported. Some of these devices are actively in use and eligible for an upgrade. To check if your Mac can be upgraded, see the Apple Support page. For assistance with unused or unmanaged Macs, please submit a request to Hardware Support Services.  ITS will increase the frequency of scans to identify computers running unsupported versions of macOS and expand efforts to upgrade Macs to ensure security of these devices and the network. For instructions on how to update visit the update instructions webpage.

Blackboard Storage Reminder
Access to save any content from Blackboard will end on July 15. Before July 15, users are strongly encouraged to download and save any materials from Blackboard that they may want or need to keep. Once Blackboard access ends, these materials will no longer be available. You will not have access to these courses in Canvas. If you have any questions or need assistance downloading your materials, please visit the Canvas LMS transition webpage or contact the project team at [email protected].

Categories
June 2025

Information from Facilities & Campus Operations

Facilities & Campus Operations Information Technology Services (FITS) led a project to transfer nearly 140 elevators from wired to cellular phone services.

    • The project was completed two weeks ahead of schedule and in less than 90 days! Learn more about this impactful project!

The Free Store hosted by Patriot Packout will return to the Gillespie Gallery – generously provided by Mason Exhibitions – again this summer.

Submit a Work Order if you notice something that is broken and needs to be fixed. You can also request via Work Order additional pick-ups for large volumes of trash/recycling.

    • You may submit a work order online or contact the Facilities & Campus Operations Customer Service Center at 703-993-2525 for repairs and pick-ups of large volumes of trash/recycling. If an additional pickup is needed, you will not be charged a fee for large volume trash/recycling pick-ups.
Categories
Featured on Homepage June 2025

Prospective Staff Senator Information Session Recording

 

On May 21, 2025, The Staff Senate held an information session and discussion for George Mason classified and non-student wage staff interested in learning about the nomination and election process, the work of the senate, and what senators do. During the presentation, constituents learned about the structure of the senate, how its committees work, and the time commitment expected of senators. The recording of this session is now available.

If you still have questions about our work or the nomination/election process, please email [email protected].

 

Categories
June 2025

2025-2026 Staff Senate Meeting Schedule

The Staff Senate will be in recess during the month of July while we focus on our Staff Senate Election. During August, we will have a closed session to welcome newly elected senators and plan for the new academic year.

We’ll see you at our next meeting on September 3, 2025 with guest speaker, Chris Ackerman, vice president of Human Resources and chief human resources officer (CHRO).

2025-2026 General Meeting schedule:

September 3, 2025
October 1, 2025
November 5, 2025
December 3, 2025
February 4, 2026
March 4, 2026
April 1, 2026
May 6, 2026
June 3, 2026