PURPOSE
The University Mission
George Mason University is innovative and entrepreneurial in spirit and utilizes its multi-campus organization and location near our nation.s capital to attract outstanding faculty, staff and students. George Mason will:
- Educate the new generation of leaders for the 21st century men and women capable of shaping a global community with vision, justice, and clarity.
- Encourage freedom of thought, speech, and inquiry in a tolerant, respectful academic setting that values diversity.
- Provide innovative and interdisciplinary undergraduate, graduate, and professional courses of study that enable students to exercise analytical and imaginative thinking and make well-founded ethical decisions.
- Nurture and support a highly qualified and entrepreneurial faculty that is excellent at teaching, active in pure and applied research, capable of providing a broad range of intellectual and cultural insights, and is responsive to the needs of students and their communities.
- Maintain an international reputation for superior education and public service that affirms its role as the intellectual and cultural nexus among Northern Virginia, the nation, and the world.
As amended by the Board of Visitors on October 8, 2008
The Provost's Office:
- Provides leadership and service to achieve the academic mission of the university.
- Promotes educational quality and effectiveness.
- Seeks to coordinate the activities of all academic units toward overall university goals.
- Works with the Faculty Senate to promote shared governance and address faculty concerns.
- Cooperates with the Senior Vice President in making recommendations to the President on resource allocations for academic units.
- Participates in evaluation of faculty, assesses performance of academic leaders and provides feedback to encourage improvement.
- Serves as primary voice on academic matters within the central administration and to the Board of Visitors.
- Offers a vision of the future for discussion, debate, and guidance, and advocates actions/strategic planning in pursuit of that vision.
- Strives to build a stronger university community engaged in continuing dialogue about collective goals.
- Articulates the academic values and functions of the university and represents the institution in various settings.
Operates as a collaborative, non-hierarchical team working together to
support the academic mission. It shares information and responsibility
for helping others associated with academic work and for connecting
academic and other areas of administration. To enhance coordination,
individual staff members are assigned responsibility for designated areas
as reflected below.
- Serves as Chief Academic Officer
- Serves as part of the senior management team for the university
- Works with deans and directors on strategic issues
- Provides academic leadership and vision
- Develops academic policy recommendations
Vice President of Enrollment Services
- Serves as deputy to the provost
- Participates in the development and implementation of academic policy
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Oversees SACS accreditation process, the offices of Admissions,
Financial Aid, Registrar, Academic Advising, Assessment,
Enrollment Planning and Administration, Summer Term, and Technical Projects - Participates in university budget process issues
- Serves as chief research officer
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Provides policy guidance and operational management applicable
to research and technology transfer - Develops/implements the intellectual property foundation
- Coordinates the university's federal relations and research activities
- Participates in unit reviews and the promotion and tenure process
- Oversees the activities of the Office of Technology Transfer
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Assists the provost, deans and directors, and other university
officers with academic resources management and policy issues
(both short-term and long-term) -
Serves as liaison with administrative functions under the senior
vice president, executive vice president, and vice president/university
equity officer -
Develops and supports special initiatives related to academic
personnel and budgets, and facilities planning.
- Directs the Center for Teaching Excellence
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Assists Colleges and Departments in the area of faculty and
graduate student development - Coordintaes with other institutional leaders who provide teaching & learning support services
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Supports faculty and units in educational program development and
assessment - Helps develop educational policy and procedures
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The Office of Institutional Research & Reporting (IRR) functions as
the official source of institutional information. It is the mission of IRR to
define, collect, analyze, maintain and disseminate official institutional
data, and to provide official institutional information to both internal and
external constituents for the purposes of describing, documenting, and
publishing institutional information and measure of effectiveness.
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Directs the Office of Institutional Assessment, including Academic
Program Review and student competency assessment -
Provides leadership and guidance for regional accreditation, particularly
for institutional effectiveness requirements and standards -
Conducts student surveys, including entry, enrolled-student, exit,
and post-graduation surveys -
Supports faculty, chairs, deans and support services in developing
and assessing student learning outcomes
- Expanding Mason’s interactions in Alexandria, Arlington and the District of Columbia
- Working with Mason central administration and academic units at the Fairfax, Arlington, Prince William and Loudoun Campuses to develop and/or address their mission and goals for support from the private sector, nonprofits and government agencies, both local and federal, to support academic goals, internships, partnership and research initiatives.
- Working with university administration and academic units and programs to define and promote initiatives with U.S. public and private businesses and nonprofit organizations and international governments through embassies and international private sector businesses and organizations.
- Working with University Relations to identify public relations opportunities for Mason with government, private sector and nonprofits organizations that are beneficial to the university and all partners.
- Supports the liaison to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in assuring the university's continued compliance with the principles of accreditation.
- Consults with academic units on issues related to compliance with SACS and SCHEV standards.
- Reports to the Provost and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs on progress and challenges related to compliance.