Mason Impact for Students

With Mason Impact (MI), use your studies to build the foundation for a future that will enable you to tackle global questions and challenges.

MI Courses

MI courses provide the skills and knowledge for you to tackle global challenges. These courses are offered through every college and school so no matter what your major, your studies can leave an impact. 

Through your time at Mason, you will experience courses focusing on each of the MI course focus areas: Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities (RS), Community Engagement and Civic Learning (CECL), and Career, Industry, and Entrepreneurship (ENTR).

Research and Creative Activities (RS)

With the support of Mason's Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research, you will conduct research to make an intellectual or creative contribution to your field of study—taking ownership of a project in the process. 

For sustainability-based projects, visit the Patriot Green Fund for more information. 

Community Engagement & Civic Learning (CECL)

You will participate in local, regional/state, national, or global community partnerships—in the public or private sector—that involve a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge, resources, or services.  

To learn more about Mason's commitment to community engagement and social justice, visit Mason’s Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning

Career, Industry, and Entrepreneurship (ENTR)

Do you see a problem as an opportunity to recommend a policy, start a business, create a prototype, or participate in their future profession? With a MI+ENTR experience, you will be able to identify and address problems and challenges within a professional context. 

If you want an experience tackling a global challenge, then browse the lists below for MI + (RS, CECL, ENTR) courses and MI + co-curricular options that will engage you in a project that makes an impact. 

 

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MI Projects 

You can choose to complete a MI project that conducts in-depth studies that add to the world's knowledge, creates a new product, and enhances our communities. 

Upon completion of a MI project, you'll submit the best representation of your project to the Office of Undergraduate Education. At graduation, you'll receive a notation on your transcript containing the title of your project. 

For more information, contact the Undergraduate Education Office.

Projects

Mason Impact projects can:  

  • Be led by an individual student or a team of students 
  • Be substantial in breadth, scope, scale, maturity, effort, and time involved 
  • Draw from academic research and scholarly practice 
  • Be presented to a public audience appropriate to the project and discipline 

Project submission can come in many forms, including: 

  • Papers 
  • Novels 
  • Slides 
  • Videos 
  • Audio 
  • Or anything that showcases your best work

Learning Outcomes

  1. Understand how academic knowledge is generated and communicated, and how it can be used to address questions or problems within your discipline and in society. 
  2. Identify and negotiate multiple perspectives, work collaboratively within and across multiple contexts, and engage ethically with your subject and with others. 
  3. Use inquiry skills to articulate a question; engage in an inquiry process; and situate the concepts, practices, or results within a broader context, including: 
    • Asking increasingly complex questions about significant problems, debates, or challenges 
    • Evaluating and choosing inquiry methods that are appropriate to a project 
    • Explaining how a project has value to local, civic, professional, scholarly, or global contexts 
  4. Design and carry out a project (individual or collaborative) that explores our original question, seeks a creative solution to a problem, applies knowledge to a professional challenge, or offers a unique perspective. 
  5. Professionally communicate knowledge from your project through a presentation, publication, or performance to an audience beyond the classroom.

MINI Grants

You may be eligible to receive up to $500 for expenses and supplies needed to complete a Mason Impact project. To be eligible you must: 

Once you receive funding, you will be expected to submit your project to the Office of Undergraduate Education as a Mason Impact project receiving a transcript designation. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the semester. 

For more information about Mini Grants

Apply for a MINI Grant and start making an impact. 

 

Through a Summer Team Impact Project, the Department of Bioengineering and the School of Dance collaborated on research into sensorimotor learning. Colleagues from the Department of Psychology and Mason's SMART Lab also participated.

Through a Summer Team Impact Project, the Department of Bioengineering and the School of Dance collaborated on research into sensorimotor learning. Colleagues from the Department of Psychology and Mason's SMART Lab also participated.