Another academic year is coming to a close as weÌý. Here we highlight a few of the College's recent milestones.
The 2021-22 academic year reflects the College’s strong, positive trajectory of continued growth and notable milestones. For the past five years, the College has seen significant progress in enrollment, degree offerings, philanthropy, and research funding and expenditures – thanks to the hard work of all.
Just some of our achievements since 2017 include:
- 19% enrollment growth;
- 97% increase in budget;ÌýÌý
- 122% increase in research expenditures;
- 254% increase in philanthropic giving;
- Recruitment of 83 new faculty, 30 new administrative staff, and 14 new research technical staff; and
- 76% six-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen, which is a 14% increase from 2010.
In addition to sustaining our substantial growth metrics, the College has also achieved significant milestones in our journey toward becoming an accredited college of public health including:
- Launching our in August 2020 and earning degree (CEPH) in March 2021;
- Achieving CEPH accreditation for our PhD in Health Services Research in April 2022;
- Submitting our Initial Application to CEPH to become a College of Public Health in April 2022;
- Gaining approval from Mason’s Graduate Council for a new Master of Public Health concentration in Health Equity and Social Justice in April 2022, to launch in fall 2022; and
- Receiving notification in May 2022 that CEPH accepted our initial application submission to become an accredited college of public health.
This academic year, we also made sizable strides on several strategic initiatives relative to the College’s mission of supporting students and advancing the public’s health across the lifespan, such as:
- ;
- Opening the Virtual Reality and Simulation Lab for interprofessional student education in the fall of 2021;
- Working to promote a by launching our climate survey and key priorities in March 2022;
- Convening health directors, philanthropy, and technology sectors for the in March 2022;
- Launching in the Population Health Center in fall 2021 and the Nutrition and Weight Management Clinic, which is scheduled to open in June 2022;
- Awarding more than $500,000 in student scholarships to 124 students;
- Continuing as a member of the Johns Hopkins Clinical Research Network as well as advancing plans for a research collaboration with Inova;
- Engaging more than 500 alumni, donors, and friends of Mason at events such as the , Fifty & Flourishing Social Work event, 5thÌýAnnual Farm to Table dinner, and regional alumni events;
- Launching a strategic enrollment marketing initiative to support our degree programs; and
- Envisioning a Center for Health Equity to advance research and practice.
Congratulations also to the faculty in the College who achieved important tenure and promotion milestones this year:
- were promoted to associate professor;
- were promoted to full professor;
- Michael von Fricken and Katherine Scafide were tenured and promoted to associate professor;
- Emily Ihara, Ali Weinstein, and Janusz Wojtusiak were promoted to full professor; and
- Andrew Guccione and Sunny Harris Rome were appointed as faculty emeriti.
"It’s been an eventful, successful, and very busy year of achievements. We can all be proud. Your efforts will have a lasting impact on our students as well as the populations and communities we serve," said Dean Germaine Louis to faculty and staff.Ìý"I am grateful for your contributions in all that we’ve accomplished together and wish you a restful summer with family and friends. There is still much work to be done to become a college of public health and to bring health to all people."
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