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February 2024 Uncategorized

Updates from Auxiliary Services

Feast for $5! First Fridays – Exclusive Dining Deal for Faculty & Staff

Visit any one of our dining halls and show your Mason ID for a $5 meal the first Friday of the month! Available in all dining halls. Visit dining.gmu.edu to view the daily menu and learn more about each dining hall!

Join us for a Watch Party as Mason Men’s Basketball challenges Loyola Chicago on the road!

Grab your colleagues, family and fellow Patriots and join us for a fantastic watch party at P.J. Skidoos in Fairfax on Saturday, February 24! Get ready for an unforgettable event filled with great food, drinks, and a lively atmosphere as we watch Mason Men’s Basketball challenge Loyola! Receive 10% off with your Mason ID! RSVP to enter to win a prize.

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Staff Senate Holiday Donation Drive

 

For the 2023 holiday season, the Staff Senate is encouraging the Mason community to support four organizations in our local communities. Thank you for your generosity!

  • Food and toiletry contributions to the Patriot Pantrywhich is available to Mason’s students, can be made using this Amazon Wishlist.
  • Donations of toys and supplies to Inova Children’s Hospital can be made through this Amazon Wishlist or directly through the Staff Senate fundraising page.
  • If you love the dogs and cats of our local community, support Lucky Dog Animal Rescue in Arlington by purchasing from their Amazon Wishlist.
  • SciTech will collect items for the Northern Virginia Family Services SERVE Campus through food donations brought to the SciTech holiday party. Items include canned vegetables, dry and hot cereals, canned chicken and tuna, canned beans, dry beans, cooking oil, dry mashed potato mix, canned soups, ramen, canned fruit, pasta noodles and sauce, and bagged or box rice. More information is available here.

Parking and Transportation is offering a citation credit in exchange for contributions made to Patriot Pantry. Find out more details by visiting their holiday donation page.

To learn about further community outreach initiatives by the Staff Senate, stay tuned to the Staff Senate’s Facebook page and our Staff Senate monthly newsletter.

 

 

Categories
August 2023 Uncategorized

2023 Staff Senate Election Results

The election results are in, and we are excited to announce our newly and re-elected senators:

Fairfax Campus:

Jessica Adams, Fiscal Services
Jariatu Bah, Early Identification Program
Timothy Diggins, Mechanical Engineering
Jeremiah Garcia, Undergraduate Education
Tabatha Hargrove, Honors College
Lei An Ilan-Garcia, Emergency, & Enterprise Risk Management
Lesley Irminger, College of Science
Megan Neff, Office of University Branding (University Events)
Tavia Reagan, Student Centers

Mason Square Campus:

Diana St.Amand-Campos, Continuing Professional Education
Carlos Sandoval, Antonin Scalia Law School

SciTech Campus:

Colby Grant, SciTech Campus Executive Office

At-Large Senators

Danielle Fritz, Operation Risk Management

Thank you to our outgoing senators for your contributions and volunteerism:

Shams Bahabib, Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science
LaTisha Elcock, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
Erin Iacangelo, SciTech Executive Office
Steven Lindner, Information Technology Services
Lauren Reuscher, Office of Communications
Stacey Remick-Simkins, English
Kimberly Shaw-Mack, Human Resources
Preston Williams, Office of Communications

 

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May Staff Senate Meeting Recording

The May Staff Senate meeting featured Whitney Owen, executive director of University Business Consulting, to discuss the university’s strategic direction.

If you missed the session, you can watch or listen to the recording.

Categories
May 2023 Uncategorized

Updates from Parking and Transportation

 

Summer 2023: Parking Permits on Sale

Summer parking passes went on sale May 4. Online sales only. Please visit the Parking and Transportation website for details. Reach out to parking@gmu.edu with any questions. 

Parking and Transportation Patriot Packout Donation Drive for Patriot Pantry

Would you like to help someone in need?  Through 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17, make an in-person donation at any Parking Services office to benefit Patriot Pantry and reduce the cost of an outstanding parking citation by $15, $20, or $30. For important details, including the donation/credit framework for donations, visit the Parking and Transportation website.

Regional Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 19

Celebrate the Washington region’s Bike to Work Day! Start your day off cycling. Pit stops will be open all over the Virginia, D.C., and Maryland area. Registration and details are available here.  

Change to Reaching the Main Number of Parking on the Fairfax Campus

The Fairfax Campus Parking office main number has moved to a call center for its phone service. To reach the main number for the office, please dial the full 10-digit number, 703-993-2710. Even though it is an on-campus phone number, you can no longer reach the main number for the office by dialing the five-digit extension, 3-2710. All other Parking and Transportation extensions remain unchanged. If you have any questions, contact Parking Services at 703-993-2710 or email at parking@gmu.edu. 

Summer Mason Shuttles Schedules

The summer Mason Shuttles schedules and service summary are posted at shuttle.gmu.edu. Summer service begins on Monday, May 22, and is Monday–Friday only. Updates for summer include:

  • Regular spring service on the West Campus shuttle ended on Friday, May 5. From May 8–17, there will be one bus on the West Campus route with service every 40 minutes. May 17 is the last day of West Campus service until fall.
  • West Campus permit holders may park in the general lots on East Campus for the summer, now effective.
  • The On-Demand shuttle will not operate during the summer. The last day of spring service for the On-Demand shuttle is Sunday, May 14.
  • The last weekend for service on Gunston Mason and the Fairfax/SciTech routes is May 20–21. Service on these routes will resume in the fall.

Contact 703-993-2828 or shuttle@gmu.edu with questions.

Faculty/Staff Bike Commuter Choice

Do you live within a few miles of campus and think biking to work could be good for your well-being? All faculty and staff are eligible to participate in the Bike Commuter Choice Program. The program has four tiers of support. The more you ride, the greater the financial incentive. The introductory tier is just five rides per quarter. For details, visit bike.gmu.edu and select the Faculty/Staff Bike Commuter Choice Program.  

Need some help finding a route? Check in with our bike volunteers. Questions? Email transpo@gmu.edu. 

 

 

 

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Nominate a Team for the Patriot Pathbreaker Award

One of Mason’s values is We Thrive Together, but what does that value look like in action? How do Mason teams actively nurture a positive and collaborative community?  Good teamwork is always important, and even more so this year.

The Patriot Pathbreakers Award, established by Human Resources & Payroll and the Staff Senate, seeks to honor two high performing teams who embody the Mason value of thriving together. High performing teams are active pathbreakers, using the individual talents of team members to overcome obstacles and make progress toward the team’s, unit’s, or Mason’s goals. These teams are innovative, adapting their services/processes when necessary to meet the changing needs of the Mason community. The sum of their efforts is a result of communication, teamwork, and team spirit and commitment.

Learn more about the criteria and submit a nomination form.

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Message from the Staff Senate Chair

Photo by Creative Services / George Mason University

Classified Staff and Non-Student Wage Employees:

First, let me start by thanking our staff for their incredible effort and continued support that helped make this transition to online learning and mandated telework possible.  As I stated in the May 6 Board of Visitors Listening Sessionfaculty are here to teach and conduct research; students are here to learn and succeed; staff are here to support everyone.  We are the infrastructure of the university. Any crack in the foundation can cause the day-to-day operations to crumble and new initiatives to stall. 

It is no doubt that the leaders of our university have many difficult decisions ahead. In March, I was invited to join the Emergency Operations Group to represent the Staff Senate.  This has provided me the opportunity to give input from the staff perspective. When the telework mandate went into place, there were still many employees coming into work. I advocated and pushed that the group work hard to get these remaining staff home. As decisions were being made early on in the pandemic, many felt their concerns were not being heard.  To get a sense of the pulse of staff, we cancelled our originally scheduled April General Meeting, rescheduled our meeting with the Campus Planning Committee, and prioritized a telework session where staff could voice the challenges they were facing, share with each other ideas for well-being and balance, and learn about professional development opportunities that are available to them.

Our first telework session took place on April 1  and was followed up with a telework panel on April 15.  At our recent May General Meeting with David Farris , Mr. Farris answered questions about Mason’s emergency response to COVID-19.  The impetus behind these sessions was to get a sense of the concerns our staff are facing, share resources with each other, and provide answers where they are available. The senate also co-hosted an engagement session with the master planning team Tuesday, May 19, where staff provided feedback regarding the university’s master plan.  Our June General Meeting will focus on the university budget and will feature Carol Kissal, senior vice president, Administration and Finance.

Last week, we gathered input from our constituency regarding operating procedures for fall 2020.  We received overwhelming feedback from diverse units across campus.  However, there was a common voice of deep concern for the safety and well-being of all Mason stakeholders as decisions are being made regarding the future.  Last Wednesday, following our general meeting, the Patriot Tiger Team welcomed our input on their report during a shared session with Faculty Senate and student organizations.  We communicated these main points to the team:

  • Ensuring we have the proper infrastructure and sanitary efforts in place to keep all stakeholders of the university safe (safe ventilation, sanitizing between classes, mask policies, plexiglass barriers, access to sanitizing stations, protection for our staff serving on leased property, and limiting access to buildings to only those who have business on campus)
  • Offering solutions to encourage a safe and successful semester (i.e.: long term flexible and telework options for employees, phased in opening when it is deemed safe to return to campus, rotation schedules to limit the number of staff in offices at one time, accelerating electronic forms with electronic signatures to limit the amount of paperwork in envelopes circulating on campus, and signage informing students, faculty, and staff of proper social distancing protocol)
  • Offer employees with extenuating circumstances flexible telework options, reinforced by Human Resources and supervisors, without the possibility of retribution, to include:  working parents, those in the vulnerable age category, high risk employees or employees that are caretakers or household members with someone high risk.
  • Access to safe and dependable transportation to work (shuttles, vanpools, Metro, buses, etc.)
  • Long-term priority of providing access to healthcare resources for employees (flu shot clinics/health clinics)
  • In the extreme case of salary cuts, cutting salaries from the top down to protect our most vulnerable staff members
  • Asking how Dr. Washington’s input is being taken into account in the decisions

If you would like to provide your personal comments and counsel to the Patriot Tiger Team, you may do so by submitting them to their comment portal.

We are listening to your concerns and taking your feedback to ensure that we are working toward our mission of advocating, educating, and appreciating while also supporting the significant work of staff during these uncertain times. Again, thank you to staff for the incredible work you are doing to support your colleagues, faculty, and students.  If you have any suggestions or input of how or where you would like to see more Staff Senate involvement, please provide feedback using this form.

Regards,

Erin I. Rogers

Staff Senate, Interim Chair

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Telework Special Session

The Mason Staff Senate will host a special community session to discuss telework and other aspects of work life in the age of COVID-19. This session will be in lieu of our regularly scheduled April general meeting. The session will provide a platform for Mason staff members to engage about experiences or issues related to teleworking (or not teleworking) and to share suggestions and insights about how we can use this as a time for professional development, redefining roles, and finding new ways to achieve personal and department goals.

Wednesday, April 1, 2020
10 a.m. to noon

WebEx Event Information:
https://gmu.webex.com/gmu/onstage/g.php?MTID=ebd73b3e4a35dbc3d4a330f87a203b781

Event number: 612 407 723
Event password: SS123

Join from a video system or application:
Dial 612407723@gmu.webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.

Join by Phone:
To receive a call back, provide your phone number when you join the event, or call the number below and enter the access code.
+1-415-655-0003 US Toll
+1-202-860-2110 United States Toll (Washington D.C.)Access Code: 612 407 723

Event Protocol:
Microphones will remain muted for attendees during this session and can only be unmuted by the meeting host.  If you would like to speak or ask a question, you may raise your hand to be unmuted.  If you’d like to ask a question or make a remark please do so via text in the Q&A or use the “raise hand” feature located in the bottom right of the chat panel. You will be called on and unmuted at that time.

Submit your questions to the Staff Senate:
To promote dialog at the Staff Senate general meetings, the Senate is collecting questions/comments from constituents. Submit your question using the online submission form or email your question to staffsenate@gmu.edu. You may include your name, or you may ask to remain anonymous. Please also include whether you would liked to be called on during the session to ask your question or if you would like the Senate to ask the question on your behalf.

The Staff Senate is an advisory body that 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 Mason community. The work of the senate is accomplished through open and continuous communication with its constituents.

For questions, contact staffsenate@gmu.edu.

 

 

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Uncategorized

Staff Senate May General Meeting: Turn Your Focus Outside

Wednesday, May 7, 2014, 12:00 – 2:00 pm

Fairfax Telepresence Rooom UHall 3001, Arlington Founders Hall 720, Prince William, Occoquan 221; Loudoun Ridgetop 202 and Front Royal Academics 219

The Staff Senate present Elizabeth Torrens, from the Mason Enterprise Center, discussing the Innovation Food Forest and how to improve our community. Following, Meredith Muckerman and Lee Wilson, from Environmental Health and Safety, will discuss outdoor seasonal safety. Guest speakers begin at noon, followed by time for constituents to take the microphone to express their concerns or accolades. The business meeting begins at 1:00. All are welcome, and registration is not necessary.

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Congratulations to Patrick Ledesma, April Employee of the Month

Give a big hand to Patrick, April Employee of the Month and Staff Senator!Read more about Patrick here!