Category: Mason Family Flash

The Writing Center offers free tutoring to students, staff, and alumni. During the 45-minute sessions, tutors help writers learn and apply effective writing strategies and techniques across a range of genres and disciplines.

Sessions are currently offered in two formats: face-to-face and online. Face-to-face appointments are offered on the Fairfax and Arlington campuses and are ideal for those who are on campus or live nearby. Weekend hours are also available. Can’t get to campus? No problem! Just make an appointment for our Online Writing Lab (OWL) service.

The diversity among our tutors’ academic and personal experiences is perfect for meeting the diverse needs of Mason’s writers. Our tutoring staff is comprised of graduate and undergraduate students that are multi-lingual and multi-cultural and represent a wide variety of majors including, English, Economics, Global Studies, Chinese, Civil Engineering, History, Psychology, and Biology majors. With the English Language Institute’s support, The Writing Center also employs tutors specifically trained to work with multilingual writers and English Language Learners.

In each session, the tutor and student discuss writing strategies and processes that will help the writer improve. Each visit helps the writer build the skills and confidence they need to succeed.

Students, faculty, staff, and alumni may make an appointment by clicking here, by calling 703-993-1200, or by stopping by our main location on the Fairfax campus: Robinson Hall A114. Students who are interested in joining the tutoring staff may contact Susan Lawrence, the Director of The Writing Center, at slawrenb@gmu.edu.

Susan Lawrence
Director
The Writing Center

More students are choosing alternative transportation to travel to campus than ever before.  However, we still need your help to encourage even more students to explore alternative transportation options such as Mason Shuttles, carpooling, or bicycling.  Because 18% of Mason’s carbon footprint comes from commuting, we encourage all students to help us lower that number by choosing more sustainable and affordable commuting options.  Below are a few transportation tips to share with your student for a green and cost effective commute to campus:

• Burke Centre Virginia Railway Express Shuttle
  Mason has five different shuttle routes to on-campus and off-campus locations, including a shuttle to the Burke Centre Virginia Railway Express (VRE) station.  The VRE station offers railway transportation to locations such as Manassas, Alexandria, Woodbridge, and more.  The shuttle runs Monday thru Friday and is timed to the train’s schedule to minimize wait times.  Visit shuttle.gmu.edu for more information on shuttle schedules and other destinations serviced by Mason Shuttles.

• Bike to Mason Day
  Mason students are changing bike culture across the nation. Bike to Mason Day celebrates existing cyclists and invites all Mason students, faculty, and staff to try biking to campus. The event takes place during Earth Week in April and participants are greeted with breakfast, complimentary bike repair, and free give-aways!

• Zimride
  Ridesharing is a great and affordable way to commute to campus. Zimride is Mason’s free rideshare network for students, staff and faculty. Encourage your student to sign up with their Mason ID to find others in their area to carpool and save money on gas.

To stay up-to-date on all transportation options for Mason students, “like” Mason Parking and Transportation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @MasonShuttles and @MasonParking.

Marina Budimir
Transportation Coordinator
Parking and Transportation

Is your student looking for an interesting elective that prepares them for their career? They should consider a career course in fall 2014!  Taught by a team of career professionals and business executives, the courses provide information for students to navigate the job search and gain satisfying, professional employment.

Every fall and spring semester Mason students can select from multiple sections of each career course offered by University Career Services in collaboration with the Transition Resource Center. The four courses currently available to students include:

• UNIV 200: Decide/Confirm Major is a two-credit course for students who have completed at least one semester of coursework.  The course focuses on the self-exploration and research of academic majors and career options to help students with the decision-making process. The academic emphasis is on self-assessment exercises, inventories, and discussions that focus on personal attributes and academic major/career possibilities.
• UNIV 300: Internship/Career Readiness is a one-credit course which prepares students, sophomores or higher, to increase their marketability to employers through the pursuit of internships. The focus of this course is on the development of career-related documents (i.e. resume and cover letter), and strategies to identify experiential learning opportunities that align with student’s personal interests, values, and skills.
• UNIV 400: College to Career is a one-credit course which prepares juniors and seniors to develop knowledge and skills to effectively transition into the world of work, target their job search, and enhance their ability to be hired. The course highlights resume/portfolio development, presentation skills, networking and interviewing strategies, real-world expectations and professional etiquette.
• UNIV 400: College to Graduate School is a one-credit course for juniors and seniors which focuses on student readiness for the transition to graduate or professional school. The academic emphasis of this course is on the development of strong application materials, effective testing and interviewing strategies, research and evaluation of graduate programs, and financial planning options.

If your student is interested in enrolling in any of the above courses, encourage them to visit careers.gmu.edu/students/courses for more information.

Elena Chiru, M.Ed.
Career Education Manager
University Career Services

March 5, 7 p.m. EST:	Family Webinar – Understanding the Academic Advising Process
March 10 – 14:	Spring break, no classes
March 10:	Summer 2014 class registration begins