Graduate Education News

This year, Graduate Student Life and Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA) created a brand new award to recognize the individuals, offices, and organizations across the university who work tirelessly to advance graduate student success and well-being at George Mason University. The purpose of the Graduate Student Champion Awards is to celebrate the champions who support the success and well-being of graduate and professional students at George Mason and to cultivate and elevate a university-wide culture of graduate student support and success.to cultivate and elevate a university-wide culture of graduate student support and success.

Thomas Wilson is a second-year PhD student in the College of Public Health at George Mason University, where he specializes in Social and Behavioral Sciences. His academic work is driven by a commitment to understanding and improving the experiences of caregivers, particularly those facing structural and social inequities. In Fall 2025, Thomas earned first place in the university’s Research Poster Competition, presenting a project that examined how caregiver identity status interacts with adverse mental health outcomes. His research focused on depression and extended periods (14 or more days) of poor mental health, using self-reported data to explore how sexual orientation and gender identity may act as modifying factors.

Rania Zaied is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication at George Mason University and the 2025 winner of the university’s Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition. Her research focuses on media representations of marginalized communities, with a particular emphasis on how Muslims are portrayed in comedic media. Her dissertation examines the impact of these representations on Muslim audiences—work she successfully distilled and presented during the 3MT competition at Mason, and at the Council of Southern Graduate Schools Regional 3MT Competition.

Tabitha King is a recent graduate from the George Mason University College of Science who obtained her PhD in Environmental Science and Public Policy in December 2025.

George Mason University earned top Virginia placements across business, nursing, and education, and leads in the region as a college destination for veterans and working professionals in the 2026 Best Online Programs rankings by U.S. News & World Report, released today.

Graduate students now have a new resource to help them navigate the graduate school experience: Graduate Success Fellows.

This October, members of George Mason’s Graduate Education team - Graduate Student Life and Graduate Division - attended the biannual Virgina Council of Graduate Schools (VCGS) meeting. Hosted at the University of Virginia this semester, leadership from graduate education offices from universities across the state came together to discuss updates from their campuses, plans to host the 2027 Conference of Southern Graduate Schools in Northern Virginia, mentor/mentee expectations, services and supports for post-doctoral fellows, graduate assistant stipends, enrollment trends, and graduate student professional development.

Wai Ling Fong graduated this year with a PhD from the Higher Education Program in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. During her time at Mason, Wai Ling conducted research on the long-term influence of an online faculty development program that was created during the COVID-19 pandemic. By conducting a case study to compare data from 2021 and 2024, Wai Ling gained a better understanding of how online training shapes teaching practices as well as the greater need for wellness programs within higher education. In addition to her research, Wai Ling also made the most of her time as a graduate student at George Mason. She was an active participant in Communication Academy and the Communications Clinic at the Writing Center, going on to create a writing circle to assist with moving through her dissertation process.

Briana Davis, PhD., graduated this year with a PhD from the Communication Department in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at George Mason University. She took 3rd Place in the 2024 Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition and recieved the 2025 Outstanding Doctoral Student Award.

In her role as associate director for graduate professional and career development, Stephanie Bluth has established programs that allow Mason to meet state, national, and federal requirements while preparing students for the changing workforce and ensuring that those who come to Mason not only leave with degrees but also with job force readiness skills.

Wow graduate and professional patriots, we have really come so close to the end of the Spring 2023 semester and the end of the 2022-2023 academic year! First and foremost, congratulations for coming this far and coming to the end of another year. All of your hard work, time, effort, and perseverance throughout the year has not gone unnoticed and we ask that you please celebrate yourselves and provide yourself some grace as you crush finals season and end the semester strong. We have made a multitude of memories this year, from the kickoff with our annual Gradstravaganza event, to our Graduate Student Spring Picnic to mark the end of another wonderful year! During this busy yet exciting time of the year, there are so many wonders that are taking place. Many of you are graduating and are preparing to take transformative steps in your lives. Rather than it being a time of uncertainty, this should be a time of thrilling growth and development as you make these decisions - this I know is easier said than done. The world is full of endless possibilities and the great things that you will achieve have no bounds.

Graduate students at Mason Square (formerly Arlington Campus) recently attended Movers and Shakers, a professional networking event with Arlington’s business, government, and community leaders.