Undergraduate Academic Advising
Currently enrolled undergraduate students are advised in the Office of Student Affairs, College of Public Health. Students should initiate a meeting with an academic advisor at least once a semester.
CPH Office of Student Affairs
Undergraduate Academic Advising Mission Statement
Advisors support students in the transition from high school or a previous college to Mason, serve as a resource for students for all things related to student academic affairs, assist students in developing and pursuing academic and professional goals; encourage students to contribute to the community, and function successfully within the University.
Undergraduate CPH students, regardless of major, are welcome to meet with any academic advisor in the Office of Student Affairs, Peterson Hall Suite 1000. It is recommended students schedule and meet with an advisor well in advance of the date they are eligible to register for the next semester classes. Registration dates can be found on the Registrar's website and in your Patriot Web account.
Privacy
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law established to protect the privacy of student records. The CPH Office of Student Affairs, faculty, and staff abide by these privacy guidelines. Confidential student information will not be communicated to a third party, including immediate family members, without the expressed consent of the student, except when allowed under FERPA law.
Meet your Undergraduate Academic Advising Team
Brian Gillette, Director, Undergraduate Student Success
Maria Perez, Associate Director, Undergraduate Student Success
Julio Diaz-Carroll, Academic Advisor
Dawn Kim, Academic Advisor
Hem Sharma, Academic Advisor
Troy Lowery, Academic Advisor
Scheduling an Academic Advising Appointment
To meet with an advisor in the College of Public Health, please make an appointment through Patriot Connect. Patriot Connect is your go-to tool for scheduling appointments and accessing student support services such as academic advising, student success coaching, and learning services. Appointments can also be made by calling the Office of Student Affairs in the College of Public Health at 703-993-1901 or sending an email to advcph@gmu.edu. We appreciate your patience and will respond to your email as soon as possible.
How to schedule an advising appointment through Patriot Connect:
- Go to the student log in page for Patriot Connect: https://connect.gmu.edu/.
- Sign in using your Mason Net ID and password.
- After logging into Patriot Connect, watch this helpful video for a step-by-step guide to schedule your advising appointment:
Need Help with Patriot Connect?
If you encounter any issues logging in or need technical support, please contact the Mason Student Services Center (MSSC) using this form to submit a ticket. On the ticket, select “Patriot Connect” for the question, “Which area of the university do you need assistance with?”
Prepare for a Successful Advising Session
Academic advisors can assist you with selecting and changing majors, program planning, credit transfer issues, withdrawals, reviewing degree requirements, course substitutions and waivers, and requests to study elsewhere. Advisors are also available to discuss non-academic issues and may refer you to other university student support services for learning services, financial assistance, or personal counseling.
Advisor and Advisee Responsibilities
Advisor Responsibilities:
- Be available to answer your questions in a timely manner through individual appointments, walk-in hours, e-mail, and phone. Please allow up to two business days for a response to messages.
- Support you in the process of exploring, evaluating, and selecting your academic program and career, and in creating an educational plan consistent with your goals.
- Help you to assess your academic performance and strengths to ensure consistency with your goals.
- Create an open, respectful, and inclusive environment for all students.
- Communicate curriculum requirements, university policies, procedures, and deadlines.
- Refer you to other university offices, resources, and services if appropriate.
Student Responsibilities and Email Etiquette:
- Schedule advising appointments at least once a semester. Additional appointments are expected if you are experiencing academic difficulty, personal challenges, or are feeling overwhelmed.
- Create a Mason advising file folder where you will keep all advising notes and resources.
- Check your Mason student email account at least once a day.
- Be proactive and take responsibility in the advising process by researching college programs, academic policies and procedures, and participating in career exploration.
- Become familiar with university policies, procedures, and resources.
- Use university resources such as Counseling and Psychological Services, Learning Services, the Writing Center, the Math Tutoring Center, Financial Aid, and Career Services.
When emailing your advisor (or any faculty or staff member at Mason), always include your full name, program of study, and G#. Always use proper grammar and proofread your emails before sending. If you are emailing to request an advising appointment, you should offer several date/time options that work for you, or simply give your general availability for the week in which you are requesting an appointment. Please allow up to two business days for a response.
Here are some tips to help you make your advising session productive:
- Be early and be thoughtful
- Review the Academic Calendar to find out registration priority dates.
- Avoid the rush, and set up an advising appointment well before your scheduled date to register.
- Notify your advisor and the front office staff if you have to cancel the appointment.
- Be prepared
- Review the Mason catalog for program requirements and prerequisite courses.
- Review the Program Planning and Advising Sheet for your major and catalog year.
- Review your degree evaluation in Patriot Web. If you are planning to change your major, you will want to do a What-if Analysis. The What-If allows you to see how your credits will transfer into your new major and/or minor.
- Review your Mason transcript to make sure all transfer credits appear on the transcript from all colleges and universities attended.
- Create an advising folder to keep all of your advising notes while at Mason.
- Be informed
- Know important deadlines and dates. The Academic Calendar lists important semester dates and deadlines (e.g., first and last day of classes, last day to drop or add a class, last day to request a selective withdrawal (undergraduates only), holiday breaks, reading dates and the semester exam period).
- Read the catalog.
- What to take to your advising session
- Degree evaluation
- Preliminary course selection
- List of questions
Program Planning and Advising Sheets
A student is bound to the course requirements described in the university catalog for the student’s term of admission to Mason known as a catalog year. However, due to change of major or curriculum changes, a student may be advised to change catalog years, which can be selected from any of the years the student is enrolled at Mason. The catalog is available online at http://catalog.gmu.edu.
For students with a catalog term of fall 2025 or spring 2026.
Community Health, BS
- Clinical Science Concentrations:
- Global Health Concentration
- No Concentration (Pre-Occupational Therapy)
- No Concentration
- Nutrition Concentration
- Physical Activity and Public Health (PAPH)
Health Administration, BS
Health Informatics, BS
Nursing, BSN
- Accelerated Second Degree Pathway
- RN to BSN, Co-Enrollment (BCE), and Military Veterans (VCE) Pathway
- Traditional Pathways:
Social Work, BSW
For students with a catalog term of fall 2024 or spring 2025.
Community Health, BS
- Clinical Science Concentrations:
- Global Health Concentration
- No Concentration (Pre-Occupational Therapy)
- No Concentration
- Nutrition Concentration
- Physical Activity and Public Health (PAPH)
Health Administration, BS
Health Informatics, BS
Nursing, BSN
- Accelerated Second Degree Pathway
- RN to BSN, Co-Enrollment (BCE), and Military Veterans (VCE) Pathway
- Traditional Pathways:
Social Work, BSW
For students with a catalog term of fall 2023 or spring 2024.
Community Health, BS
- Clinical Science Concentrations:
- Global Health Concentration
- No Concentration (Pre-Occupational Therapy)
- No Concentration
- Nutrition Concentration
- Physical Activity and Public Health (PAPH)
Health Administration, BS
Health Informatics, BS
Nursing, BSN
- Accelerated Second Degree Pathway
- RN to BSN, Co-Enrollment (BCE), and Military Veterans (VCE) Pathway
- Traditional Pathways:
Social Work, BSW
For students with a catalog term of fall 2022 or spring 2023.
Community Health, BS
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Dental/Optometry)
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Med)
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Pharm)
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Physical Therapy)
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Physician Assistant)
- Global Health Concentration
- No Concentration (Pre-Occupational Therapy)
- No Concentration
- Nutrition Concentration
- Physical Activity and Public Health (PAPH)
Health Administration, BS
Health Informatics, BS
Nursing, BSN
- Accelerated Second Degree Pathway
- RN to BSN, Co-Enrollment (BCE), and Military Veterans (VCE) Pathway
- Traditional Pathway
Social Work, BSW
For students with a catalog term of fall 2021 or spring 2022.
Community Health, BS
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Dental/Optometry)
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Med)
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Pharm)
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Physical Therapy)
- Clinical Science Concentration (Pre-Physician Assistant)
- Global Health Concentration
- No Concentration (Pre-Occupational Therapy)
- No Concentration
- Nutrition Concentration
Health Administration, BS
Health Informatics, BS
Nursing, BSN
- Accelerated Second Degree Pathway
- RN to BSN, Co-Enrollment (BCE), and Military Veterans (VCE) Pathway
- Traditional Pathway
Social Work, BSW
Graduate Academic Advising
Currently enrolled graduate students in the College of Public Health (CPH) should refer to their decision letter or contact the administrative contact to identify their advisor. Faculty advisors are assigned by program, either alphabetically by last name or by program concentration.
Program faculty and coordinators advise graduate students within CPH. The contacts are listed below by academic unit and program.
Department of Global and Community Health Program Contacts
Public Health, PhD
Dr. Jhumka Gupta, PhD Program Director
jgupta4@gmu.edu
703-993-1985
Isaac Chomitz, Academic Programs Coordinator
ichomitz@gmu.edu
Global Health, MS
Epidemiology Graduate Certificate
Global Health Graduate Certificate
Public Health Graduate Certificate
Dr. Jenna Krall, Director of Master's Programs
jkrall@gmu.edu
703-993-1474
Kelly Beckwith, Assistant Director of Academic Programs
kbeckwi2@gmu.edu
703-993-4555
Public Health, MPH
Dr. Jenna Krall, Director of Master's Programs
jkrall@gmu.edu
703-993-1474
Dr. Marybeth Mitcham, Director of Online MPH
mmitcha2@gmu.edu
518-338-7497
Sarah Liu, MPH Program Coordinator
sliu16@gmu.edu
703-993-7200
Administrative Contact
Kelly Kim, Operations and Budget Manager
mkim250@gmu.edu
gch@gmu.edu
703-993-3126
Department of Health Administration and Policy Program Contacts
Health Services Research, PhD
Dr. Gilbert Gimm, Director of Health Services Research PhD
ggimm@gmu.edu
703-993-9165
Health Informatics, MS
Artificial Intelligence in Health Graduate Certificate
Health Informatics and Data Analytics Graduate Certificate
Dr. Janusz Wojtusiak, Division Director of Health Informatics Programs
jwojtusi@gmu.edu
703-993-4148
Dr. Abdul Hafeez, MS in Health Informatics Program Coordinator
ahafeez7@gmu.edu
703-993-9164
Health Systems Management, MHA
Healthcare Quality Graduate Certificate
Dr. Brenda Helen Sheingold, Division Director of Health Administration Programs
bsheingo@gmu.edu
703-993-9733
Dr. Maria Uriyo, MHA Program Coordinator
muriyo@gmu.edu
703-993-5185
Administrative Contact
Tracy Shevlin, Department Manager
tshevlin@gmu.edu
hap@gmu.edu
703-993-1929
School of Nursing Program Contacts
Nursing, PhD
Dr. Kathi Huddleston, PhD Division Interim Director
khuddles@gmu.edu
703-993-1947
Nursing, DNP
Dr. K. Pierre Eklou, DNP Division Director
keklou@gmu.edu
703-993-6615
Dr. Andrea Landis, AGNP & FNP DNP Program Coordinator
alandis@gmu.edu
703-993-1965
Dr. James DeMarco, NUAD DNP Program Coordinator
jdemarc4@gmu.edu
Dr. Natalie Brooks, PMHNP DNP & Certificate Program Coordinator
nbrooks6@gmu.edu
Nursing, MSN
Dr. Angelina Harman, MSN Division Director
aharman1@gmu.edu
703-993-9659
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate
Dr. Natalie Brooks, PMHNP DNP & Certificate Program Coordinator
nbrooks6@gmu.edu
Nursing Education Graduate Certificate
Dr. K. Pierre Eklou, DNP Division Director
keklou@gmu.edu
703-993-6615
Administrative Contact
Victoria Hough, Administrative Assistant
vhough@gmu.edu
Katie Spaulding, Operations and Budget Manager
kspauld@gmu.edu
nursing@gmu.edu
703-993-1961
Department of Nutrition and Food Studies Program Contacts
Nutrition, MS
Nutrition Graduate Certificate
Dr. Martin Binks, Chair
mbinks@gmu.edu
Graduate Program in Nutrition and Dietetics (Nutrition, MS - Dietetics Concentration)
Dr. Sapna Batheja, Dietetics Program Director
sbatheja@gmu.edu
Administrative Contact
Allison (Allie) McKay, Department Manager & Clinical Coordinator
amckay4@gmu.edu
nutr@gmu.edu
703-993-9709
Department of Social Work Program Contacts
Social Work, MSW
Evelyn Tomaszewski, Divisional Director of Graduate Programs
etomasze@gmu.edu
703-993-5976
Dr. Daphne King, Associate Divisional Director of Graduate Programs
dking9@gmu.edu
Administrative Contact
Le Anne Wisnieski, Student Services Coordinator
lwisnies@gmu.edu
socw@gmu.edu
703-993-4247