Category: Mason Family Flash

A new semester brings new opportunities for your student to get involved! At Mason, there are more than 400 registered student organizations, countless intramural sports teams, and a multitude of service opportunities. No matter how your student is attending Mason this semester, either virtually or on campus, there are resources and opportunities they can engage in. Encourage your student to get involved, make a difference and begin to leave their legacy by attending one of these upcoming events or programs.

Winter Welcome2Mason
We have lots of exciting events planned during Winter Welcome Week to start the spring semester off strong. Whether your student is planning to be in person or virtual this semester, we want to welcome them into the Mason community. At the beginning of each semester, there are a series of events specifically for new students and to welcome back returning students. Welcome2Mason is all about the student and helping them find opportunities to get involved in their college experience. Throughout the first two weeks of the spring semester, there are many events and opportunities, both virtual and in person, to engage.

• SI2GO Truck Events – Have a student on-campus? On select days, students who are on campus can stop by the truck outside of the Northern Neck Starbuck for giveaways, snacks, coffee and more! Each pop-up event is different so remind your student to be on the lookout for the next truck event and make sure your they don’t miss out.
• Virtual Events – Is your student completely virtual this spring? No problem! We have a variety of virtual events happening throughout the week such as virtual entertainment, evenings of reflection, and even trivia and bingo nights where students can win prizes that will be mailed to them.

Check out a full schedule of events by visiting welcome2mason.gmu.edu or on the Mason360 App.

Mason360
Mason360 is a must-have app to know what’s happening around campus, for students to connect with other Patriots with similar interests, and have quick access to important resources to help navigate Mason. With the Mason360 app, you can browse through 450 student organizations who use Mason360 as their primary engagement tool. Students can also create personalized profiles and connect with other students who share similar interests via directory suggestions within the platform.

The app is available in the App store and Google Play as well as a web version. Once your student has logged in on the web version, click on the events tab from the home page to find the events happening on campus. TIP: When using the web version, you can easily filter through events to find exactly the type of event you’re looking for.

Intramural Sports Registration
Does your student have a competitive edge? Mason Recreation’s intramural sports program may be perfect for them! Registration opened on January 25 and is free to all full-time students. Men’s, women’s and co-rec leagues are offered. Co-rec leagues provide a great way to play sports in a social environment where students can make connections with their peers and these opportunities are available even with COVID restrictions in place. More information is available online at recreation.gmu.edu/intramural-sports/fall-calendar and registration is at imsports.gmu.edu.

For more information about student organizations and involvement opportunities, encourage your student to visit si.gmu.edu or check out Mason360.

Samantha Greenberg
Associate Director of New Student Programs
New Student and Family Programs

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

If your student is considering living off campus, encourage them to check out the Virtual Off-Campus Housing Fair on Wednesday, February 3 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at Mason’s Official Off-Campus Housing Finder, och.gmu.edu.

The Virtual Off-Campus Housing Fair brings together local apartment complexes, in a digital space, so that students have a one-stop opportunity to learn about several off-campus living options. Additionally, students will have the ability to “live chat” with a representative from the properties in attendance to ask any pressing questions.

Is your student moving off campus? Here are some tips!
If your student has been living on campus or moving out on their own for the first time, the switch to off-campus life can be challenging, exciting, and scary. As a family member, you have the ability to support your student through this transition and use these tips to avoid problems later down the road.

Finding a Roommate
First, students will want to figure out who they want to live with. In Fairfax City and Fairfax County no more than four unrelated individuals can live together. Students can form groups on their own or use the roommate matching system at och.gmu.edu to browse potential roommates. It is strongly recommended that students set up a roommate contract and talk through their expectations of each other. Sometimes leases will outline certain expectations of behavior (i.e. how many nights in a row a guest can stay) that students should understand before they sign the lease.

Financial Implications
One of the most important parts of living on your own is understanding how to set up a budget and understanding what happens if you don’t follow through. Budgeting worksheets and apps, such as Mint or Wally, are extremely useful in helping students understand where their money is going each month. Family members can also help students understand the ramifications for failing to pay rent or utilities: eviction, loss of power/lights, and/or a lower credit score. For this reason, we recommend that students get individual leases, when possible, to make sure that their roommates’ failure to follow through on financial responsibilities doesn’t impact them.

We Can Help
For more information on the Virtual Off-Campus Housing Fair or Contemporary Student Services, contact Anthony Berardo, aberardo@gmu.edu, or Casey Machuga, csmit34@gmu.edu.

If your student is unable to attend the fair and 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.

Finally, remember that och.gmu.edu is the official Mason Off-Campus Housing Finder. Mason does not recommend or partner with any other websites or services.

Anthony Berardo
Assistant Director
Contemporary Student Services

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

Encourage your student to register for the Mason Emerging Leaders Program
Is your student looking for ways to enhance their person and professional leadership skills, build a relationship network with students and staff, and challenging themselves to learn new things? If so, then the Mason Emerging Leaders Program is a great professional development opportunity.

The Emerging Leaders Program is an 8-week course designed to introduce leadership topics to a cohort of new and beginning leaders. Topics include leadership styles, communication, understanding of values, team building, group dynamics, identity development, and much more.

Students who participate in the Emerging Leaders Program will:

• Identify possible leadership involvement opportunities at Mason
• Establish and build a relationship network with students, faculty, and staff
• Locate activities and programming on campus and within the LEAD Office to enhance leadership development
• Define at least one of the Mason Leads Core values and it’s importance to your leadership practice
• Articulate a way in which you can apply what you have learned in the Emerging Leaders Program in your everyday leadership practice

For more information and to RSVP, visit lead.gmu.edu/emergingleaders.

Lisa Snyder
Associate Director
Leadership Education and Development

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

Parking & Transportation

Parking Permits

• 2021 Spring semester parking permits are on sale at parking.gmu.edu.
• Permits will be sold only as daily, weekly, monthly, and semester options. Annual permits are discontinued for the 2020-21 academic year.
• For information on semester and daily/weekly/monthly permit rates, visit transportation.gmu.edu/parking-services/permits.
• Motorcycle permits are available for purchase at the Parking Services office by appointment only. Please call (703) 993-2710 to schedule an appointment.
• All permits are PRINTABLE with the exception of Motorcycle permits. Permits will not be mailed.
• As the last step of the online permit purchase process, please print and display the permit on the vehicle dashboard prior to parking. The permit link will expire 14 days after the purchase date.

Shuttle Service

• Spring Mason Shuttles service will begin on Monday, January 25 with two routes:  Fairfax/SciTech and Gunston Mason. Each route will run Monday through Friday only.  There is no weekend service. The Fairfax/SciTech route will have two buses with service every 75 minutes. Other than Fairfax/SciTech and Gunston Mason, all other routes will not run during the spring semester.
• Spring schedules and the latest information on Mason Shuttles can be found at shuttle.gmu.edu.

Parking Changes for the Spring Semester
West Campus
West Campus permits will not be sold due to discontinued spring semester shuttle service. Any Mason parking permit is valid at West Campus, if needed. A portion of the West Campus parking lot is blocked off and not available for parking. Valid Mason permits can also be used to park in spaces located on Rapidan River Road.

Rappahannock Parking Deck
The gates for the reserved levels (3 through 5) will remain lifted for the semester so an access card will not be required for entry. A valid Rappahannock reserved permit is still required to park on reserved levels and will be enforced.

Freshmen Resident
Freshmen resident students can purchase any permit except the General and Lot M/P permits.  Freshmen residents can purchase the “Resident Lite” permit option, which is valid in Lots K, M, O, and P.

Off-Campus Freshmen
Off-Campus Freshmen can purchase the “General Lot” permit option.

Sophomore Residents
The “General Lot” permit option is available for purchase.

Short-Term Parking
For students, faculty, and staff who do not require parking on campus on a regular basis, there are daily, weekly, and monthly options available online. Hourly visitor parking is available in all parking garages at $3/hour with a $15 daily maximum. At the Field House, Lots M and P are the lowest priced daily parking at $3/day and can be purchased online or by using the ParkMobile app. A daily permit for General areas is also available online for $9/day as well as one for Lot K only for $6/day.

Student Centers

Spring Semester Building Hours
Johnson Center: 7 a.m.-11 p.m. daily
Student Union Building I (SUB I): 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
The HUB: 7:30 a.m.-11 p.m. daily

Mason Dining

Click here to know what’s open on campus right now! Looking for a full list of our hours of operation? Visit masondining.sodexomyway.com and click on the first link on right of the home page (first link if you’re on the mobile site).

Southside and Ike’s reopen Sunday, January 24. View the Move-In Week Hours here.
Southside Dining Hall
Sunday, Jan. 24: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Ike’s Dining Hall
Sunday, Jan. 24: [Breakfast] 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; [Dinner] 5-9 p.m.