Welcome to the Fall 2019 Semester

Dear students,

Welcome to the Fall 2019 semester at George Mason Korea!  I hope your first week of classes has gone well and you are off to a great start.

I had a chance to meet students new to Mason Korea at this semester’s opening convocation, and some of our returning students last spring. I want to take this opportunity to (re)introduce myself, your campus dean, to the entire student body.  Before coming to Mason Korea, I spent over 25 years as a member of the faculty and an academic administrator at George Mason in Fairfax. While I love Mason Fairfax, I remain very pleased and excited to be here in Songdo.

I hope that you are pleased and excited too, and determined to make the most of this semester.  Participate in class discussions, ask questions in class, go see your professor at office hours—whether you want extra help on some topic or assignment, or would like to discuss some idea from class at greater depth. 

Outside of class, meet new people, especially people from a country other than your own.  This semester, we have 15 students from the Fairfax campus, and students from 5 different countries. We are a global campus, and proud of it. Get involved on our campus.  Join a registered student organization (RSO)—or two. Check out the current list of RSOs or apply to create a new one.  Participate in a student life activity.

Need help with your classes? You can take advantage of the academic resource center, located on the 6th floor – conveniently next to the student study center. Faculty offices are on the 5th and 6th floors so please be sure to visit them!  

In response to your suggestions, we’ve made some changes since last spring.  I’m pleased to announce that we’ve added 6 never-before-taught courses to the lineup this fall, including an Anthropology course on refugees, an Art and Visual Technology courses on two-dimensional design and color, and a Math course on linear modeling.  We will continue to work on adding new courses each semester. We are also working with the IGC leadership to create more co-ed meeting space in the student residence halls; you should be receiving a survey from the IGC soon about what kind of meeting space you’d like--be sure to answer it!  We will again be seeking to sponsor lots of activities where students from all backgrounds can get together, meet one another, and have fun.

I look forward to meeting you and hearing about your experiences at Mason Korea.  Look for invitations to join me for a weekly coffee (or tea or hot chocolate, if you prefer) on campus.  But you don’t need to wait until then. Please stop me when you see me in the hall and introduce yourself!  

Best wishes again on your new semester,

Robert Matz
Campus Dean, Mason Korea

A photo so you can recognize me, in case we haven’t met yet. Here I am hiking up a mountain in Korea’s Seoraksan National Park.