A Message From The Dean
Welcome to the George Mason University College of Health and Human Services. We are one of three new colleges on the Mason campus to “go live” on July 1, 2006. Our multidisciplinary college is thriving and growing on many fronts. CHHS includes the Department of Global and Community Health, the Department of Health Administration and Policy, the Department of Social Work, and the School of Nursing. We have 85 fulltime and nearly 50 part-time faculty members to support more than 1,800 graduate and undergraduate students in our academic programs.
Programs in the School of Nursing provide vital support for the nursing workforce for much needed, well educated nurse clinicians, educators and researchers. Enrollment in our undergraduate nursing program exceeds all other entry level baccalaureate nursing programs in the Commonwealth and is one of the largest programs in the country to be found at a research intensive university. Our F.I.N.E. program (Fast Forward Initiatives in Nursing Education) is specifically designed to educate the next generation of nurse educators. The new graduate certificate in Forensic Nursing and a planned Doctorate of Nursing Practice are expected to keep our nursing offerings competitive and in very high demand. Even with such a complex mix of programs, the School of Nursing commitment to high quality education is underscored by the fact that our nursing graduates excel in their career paths. Many senior and high profile positions in health care around the world are occupied by Mason nurses.
The Department of Social Work received full accreditation for their MSW program in 2006 and was lauded during the process as a program of excellence. The unique focus of the program on Organizational Leadership and Social Change is unlike any other program in the country. Our proximity to the nation’s capital provides students with an opportunity to engage in policy analysis and to learn the knowledge and skills needed to affect important social, community, and organizational change. In 2008 a Clinical Social Work track was added to the graduate program in order to meet another important part of workforce needs for the profession. A dual graduate degree with the Mason Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution adds a very unique educational opportunity for the social work community. Looking ahead, the accreditation of the MSW program laid the groundwork for a PhD in Social Work, which is currently under development by faculty workgroups in the department.
The Department of Global and Community Health offers programs in Epidemiology, Gerontology, Nutrition, Community Health, and Global Health. These offerings include both graduate and undergraduate programs of study and position students well for careers in public health and health and human service settings. A new Masters of Public Health degree is moving quickly through the approval channels and should be ready in the next year to begin admitting students into this high demand area of study. Work on the research platform, being developed by researchers in our CHHS Center for the Study of Chronic Illness and Disability, has enabled an accelerated planning timeline for the new PhD program in Rehabilitation Science, which is projected for 2010.
The Department of Health Administration and Policy houses our programs in Health Systems Management and Health Information Systems, and Health Policy. Programs on the horizon for this department include degrees in Health Policy, Health Informatics and a PhD in Health Services Research and Policy. Our proximity to the epicenter of world health and human service leadership is a powerful draw for students in our administrative tracks and enables us to recruit bright, visionary students into these programs. In conjunction with researchers in the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics, students in health administration and health policy have the ”chance of a lifetime” to learn from and work with an array of talented and highly accomplished world leaders.
I welcome you to our College website. Please spend some time learning more about the exciting and innovative programs available to our students and reviewing the work and accomplishments of our productive and very talented faculty members and students.
Shirley S. Travis
Dean and Professor
College of Health and Human Services
George Mason University
MS: 2G7
4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
Contact Information
To schedule an appointment with Dr. Travis, please call Alice Hreiz
at
703-993-1918, email ahreiz@gmu.edu.