C2M Administration Reporter Hannah Menchhoff
Mason to study new William & Mary tuition freeze
|In an effort to address the rising cost of higher education, the College of William and Mary approved a “tuition freeze” on April 19 for current students, meaning tuition rates will not be raised during a student’s four-years at the college, except to account for inflation. To help pay for the new policy, incoming freshmen will pay 14 percent higher tuition in the 2013-2014 school year.
Mason facing budget shortfall after new state requirements
|At a budget town hall on April 15, Senior Vice President J. J. Davis and Provost Peter Stearns discussed increasing student tuition and the 2014 fiscal year budget.
Tuition rates are expected to rise, however, the exact amount of the increase is yet to be determined. Stearns hopes that it will be less than 4.2 percent, which is the expected increase for other Virginia public universities.
Krasnow Institute likely to play role in Obama brain initiative
|On April 2, President Barack Obama proposed to Congress to invest $100 million in the BRAIN Initiative.
BRAIN, which stands for Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies, is meant to map the human brain and to create technology that can record brain electrical activity. The goal of the initiative is to find cures for brain conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and autism.
If approved, George Mason University’s Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study is likely to play a major role in Obama’s BRAIN Initiative.
Jordan Foster elected as new student body president
|George Mason University’s Student Elections & Disputes Commission announced on April 4 that Jordan Foster, a rising senior, was elected as the next student body president for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Samantha Wettasinghe, also a rising senior, was elected as student body vice president as part of a combined ticket.
The pair won with 796 votes over write-in candidates Donald Garrett and David Noyes, who received 32 votes.
With vision approved, Mason administration to determine student growth
|On March 20, George Mason University’s Board of Visitors passed a resolution to approve President Ángel Cabrera’s new strategic vision for the university. With the approval, the university will begin planning to fulfill the goals laid out in the vision.
Though the vision provides broad guidelines for how the university will grow, the administration has yet to establish details on how to accomplish this goal.
According to Provost Peter Stearns, one of the first questions the university will explore is how to increase the student population.
Board of Visitors approves new strategic vision
|On March 20, the George Mason University’s Board of Visitors unanimously passed a resolution to adopt President Ángel Cabrera’s new strategic vision for the university.
The Mason Vision is intended to provide groundwork for the administration to make decisions regarding the future of the university.
“We have worked in drawing a picture of what we hope will be inspirational and aspirational picture of the type of university we want to build in the future,” Cabrera said to the Board.
Mason law school ranked among top 50 in the nation
|U.S. News & World Report recently ranked George Mason University’s School of Law as number 41 on their 2014 list of best law schools in the country.
The degree to which the U.S. News & World Report increases enrollment is unclear.
“In the past, many students told us that USNews rankings were very important to helping them decide which law school to attend,” wrote Daniel Polsby, dean of the law school, in an email. “Today, cost factors seem to be more important, and USNews less important, to this decision.”
Mason considered highly affordable compared to other universities
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| Under its new rating system, the U.S. Department of Education gave Mason high marks in affordability (photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Education). |
George Mason University received high marks on a new affordability rating by the U.S Department of Education.
The information is included in the Department of Education’s “College Scorecards,” in which the costs of various universities across the country were measured and compared.
New survey reveals differences between seniors and freshman
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| 61 percent of seniors did not participate in extracurricular activities in 2012 (Image by Frank Muraca). |
New results from the National Survey of Student Engagement revealed both progress and continuing challenges faced by George Mason University students.
Cabrera releases working draft of university vision
|On Feb. 5, George Mason University President Ángel Cabrera released a working draft of the Mason Vision.
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