Author: Shyanne Hardy

Learning Communities (LCs) are an opportunity for students to live on a floor or in a building with other students who share a common interest or major. The 2021-2022 Learning Community application opens Monday, December 14.   

 Why LCs?
LCs provide students an opportunity to develop friendships and community, discover, explore, and apply knowledge through multidisciplinary projects, programs, and coursework in a wide array of different themes. LC students create connections to their academic work in new and creative ways, receive additional academic and social support, and engage in transformative experiences through:  

• On and off-campus projects and field trips with faculty and staff
• Faculty mentorship
• Networking opportunities with alumni and employers
• Access to academic tutors in a wide-array of different subjects
• Common courses and peer mentorship   

Mason LC students outperform their non-LC peers in both retention and graduation rates. They report having a smoother transition to and through college both academically and socially. All current students are encouraged to apply, even if they are not presently in an LC. LCs open to returning students include:

• Arts
• Business & Entrepreneurship
• College of Engineering and Computing
• Environment & Sustainability
• Global Patriots
• Green Machine
• Honors College
• Leadership through Community Engagement
• LGBTQ+
• Well-Being  

LC applications are due Tuesday, February 2 via the housing application: gmu.starrezhousing.com/StarRezPortal. If you have questions, contact LLC@gmu.edu or (703) 993-6674.   

Not Returning to Campus
Students seeking to cancel their housing assignments for any reason must follow the Housing Agreement Release Request process to terminate their spring assignments. Please visit housing.gmu.edu/apply/cancellations for more information about the cancellation process.  

Off-Campus Housing Options
If your student is considering living off campus in 2021, encourage them to contact Contemporary Student Services and set up an appointment with one of our Off-Campus Advisors. These student staff members are trained on how to navigate the Off-Campus Housing Finder website, och.gmu.edu, and can help answer basic questions about living off-campus. Your student can set up an appointment with one of these staff members by visiting contemporary.gmu.edu, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking on “Click here to set up an advising appointment.”

Contemporary Student Services provides students with a Mason-specific resource for their off-campus housing search. Encourage your students to make a profile at och.gmu.edu with their Mason credentials (their @gmu.edu email address). Then, students are able to search for properties, contact landlords, conduct virtual tours, and even find other Mason students to live with as roommates! Family members can make a guest account as well. For all this and more, visit och.gmu.edu!   

Contemporary Student Services provides a centralized resource center and comprehensive offering of academic and social engagement opportunities to specifically meet the needs of students living off-campus and those transitioning to off-campus living, contributing to a successful, holistic, and seamless collegiate experience.  

For more information on the Off-Campus Housing Fair or Contemporary Student Services, you can contact Anthony Berardo, aberardo@gmu.edu, or Casey Smith, csmit34@gmu.edu. If your student  would like to speak with a staff member from Contemporary Student Services, they can make an appointment at contemporary.gmu.edu or contact our Off-Campus Advisors at offcamp1@gmu.edu or 703-993-6563.

Aysha Puhl
Associate Director of Residential Student Education & Engagement
Housing and Residence Life

Casey Smith
Assistant Director for Off-Campus Student Services
Contemporary Student Services

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Housing and Residence Life will wrap up another fall semester just about one month from today! We would like to remind you of a few items as we make the transition into spring 2021: 

• If your student is not returning to Mason in the spring due to graduation, study abroad, or not enrolling in classes, your student must fill out and submit an Agreement Release Request Form in the Housing Portal as soon as possible.
• In rare cases, a student encounters an extreme, unforeseeable, and uncontrollable problem that interferes with the ability to continue living at Mason, and Housing cannot provide a reasonable solution or alternative accommodations. Emergency issues might be medical, psychological, and/or financial. Students can request to be released from the Housing Agreement with proper documentation by filling out and submitting the Housing Agreement Appeal Form found in the Housing Portal.
• Housing and Residence Life transitions into Winter Break Housing on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 12 p.m. (noon) ET. Students who have a need to stay on campus will need to fill out the Winter Break Housing application found in the Housing Portal by Dec. 1. Since Winter Break Housing is need-based, students must meet certain criteria in order to remain in the residence halls over the Winter Break. Also, students may be required to temporarily relocate to an open residence hall.
• Residence halls will reopen for the spring 2021 semester Jan. 20-24. In early January all residential students will receive information on how to schedule a spring move-in appointment to ensure proper social distancing in all communities.
• Is your student in need of on-campus housing for spring 2021? We have openings for new freshmen, new transfers, and current off-campus students. The Housing Application opened on Nov. 4. If your student currently lives on campus, there is no need to reapply for spring!   

For additional on-campus housing resources, encourage your student to visit housing.gmu.edu or contact Housing and Residence Life at (703) 993-2720.

Erin Brandt
Associate Director, Housing Operations
Housing & Residence Life

*To receive more articles like this straight to your inbox, sign up for the Mason Family Association at masonfamily.gmu.edu/mason-family-association. 

Attending college is a new and exciting experience for students as they develop new friendships, learn both inside and outside the classroom, gain skills and find their passions. Housing & Residence Life (HRL) student staff help support students in their transition to and through college, gain important leadership and career development skills, and lead the residential student experience.  The Housing & Residence Life student staff application for the 2021-2022 academic year closes on November 20. Students interested in being a part of the HRL team should visit the Housing Portal and submit the short application before the deadline.  

What opportunities are available for my student? 

There are three different opportunities available for students who wish to join the HRL team. 

Community Assistants: A Community Assistant (CA) is an academic-year student employee within HRL that helps build, guide, and support a community of residents residing in the residence halls at Mason. Community Assistants dedicate their time and energy to residents by ensuring that residents have a healthy, safe, and supportive environment in which to learn and develop. CAs are expected to assist with overall residential health and safety and provide operational support for the residence halls through on-call responsibilities, evening rounds, and community desk shifts as well as other operational efforts. 

Resident Assistants (RA) and Learning Community Resident Assistants (LC RA): RAs and LC RAs are academic-year student employees within HRL who develop community among the students in the residence halls at Mason. RAs and LC RAs dedicate their time and energy to the residents of their community by connecting with students both in groups and individually to provide support, connect students to resources, and help students get involved at Mason. LC RAs serve a special population of students who live in a learning community and collaborate with the LC partner on the development of the LC.  Both positions are expected to be visible in their communities and serve as available resources within their residence hall through peer-to-peer communication, residential curriculum initiatives and programming. 

Why should your student consider applying? 

Housing & Residence Life student staff: 

• Gain extensive leadership, mediation, problem solving, and communication skills that can be applied to any future career 
• Lead and educate their peers on important topics such as mutual respect, life skills, and well-being through the educational initiatives in the residence halls 

• Gain valuable experience in time management, public speaking, and technology skills 
• Receive a compensation package that includes a single bedroom within their assigned residence hall community, a prorated meal plan, and a stipend. 

To learn more about these opportunities including the position descriptions, please visit Mason’s Handshake website and encourage your student to apply by November 20. For further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at ResStaff@gmu.edu.

Aysha Puhl
Associate Director
Housing and Residence Life

*To receive more articles like this straight to your inbox, sign up for the Mason Family Association at masonfamily.gmu.edu/mason-family-association.

Housing & Residence Life is excited to welcome more students back into our residence halls this spring. This is possible because as a university we have managed to keep COVID-19 cases low and create a safe environment for learning and engagement.

Now, as we begin to expand the number of in-person academic courses for the spring semester, we can invite more current and incoming students to apply to live in campus housing. The Spring 2021 Housing Application opened in the Mason Housing Portal (gmu.starrezhousing.com/StarRezPortal) on November 4. Students can access the Mason Housing Portal using their Mason email credentials.

While Housing & Residence Life will make all efforts to provide students with their housing style and amenities preferences, it is first come-first serve. The Spring 2021 Housing Application will remain available through January 2021, but students who submit a completed application by December 5 will be certain to receive their housing offer prior to the Winter Break.

Whether you are a current Mason student living off-campus or a newly admitted Mason Patriot, we are excited to share all of the fantastic options that Mason Housing & Residence Life has to offer. On the Fairfax Campus, we offer a wide variety of residential communities including traditional style first-year halls, suite-style communities, apartments, and townhouses for undergraduate students. On the SciTech Campus, Beacon Hall provides apartment-style housing for graduate students in studio, 1-bedroom, and 2-bedroom layouts. You can learn more about all of these great options, including amenities and housing rates, at housing.gmu.edu/housing-options.

Housing & Residence Life will continue to utilize the guidance of our campus and local medical experts to keep our communities as healthy and safe as possible. Throughout the fall 2020 semester, Mason Housing & Residence Life has provided thousands of students a safe, healthy, and comfortable home through increased cleaning of all community areas, revised policies designed around COVID-19 regulations, consistent testing protocols, and a detailed process for student quarantine or isolation accommodations as needed.

For more information on Mason Housing & Residence Life, visit housing.gmu.edu, send an email to housing@gmu.edu, or call (703) 993-2720 with your questions. We look forward to seeing you on campus in January!

Christian J. Barber
Interim Director
Housing & Residence Life

*To receive more articles like this straight to your inbox, sign up for the Mason Family Association at masonfamily.gmu.edu/mason-family-association.