This year I had some long waits for the elevator in the Mason Korea building. I was grateful! It meant Mason Korea was again crowded after two pandemic years in which our building was mostly empty of students.
It was not just our elevators that were full. With students returning to in-person class, international travel resuming full force, and attention to covid becoming less demanding, Mason Korea had a year full of accomplishments. Among them:
- We had the largest number of students ever on campus, with record numbers of both direct enrolled students and students visiting Mason Korea from Mason’s US campuses.
- With our undergraduate Computational and Data Science program a great success—it hit and exceeded its enrollment goals in its second year running—we applied to the Korean Ministry of Education to begin an MS program in Computational Sciences for Spring 2023.
- We created a Learning Assistant Program, in which our more senior undergraduate students serve as teaching assistants in introductory courses.
- We had our largest executive education program to date, a twelve-week Professional Writing and Communication in English program for international managers at KEPCO, the Korean Electric Power Company.
- We had our largest community education project to date, through our participation in the Incheon Citizens College, which provided no-cost lifelong learning classes to Incheon citizens. Our offerings were so successful that heads of Lifelong Learning programs across Korea came to visit in order to learn about our program.
- We enjoyed many visits of colleagues and friends from our home US campus, including the University President, Chief of Staff, Provost, and Vice-Provost for Academic Initiatives/Mason Korea Board Chair and several US members of our Mason Korea advisory board.
- The Mason Korea building was full of construction noise as we refreshed or created new student spaces for socializing and studying.
- We held our largest gathering of Mason alumni in Korea to date.
- We achieved our $50,000 fall fundraising goal, the largest amount raised in Mason Korea’s history. With this support, we are helping students achieve their educational goals even in these challenging economic times.
- We are completing the hires of 9 new faculty members—another sign of our campus’ growth.
All this accomplishment is the result of the dedicated and talented faculty and staff here at George Mason, Korea. This summer, because of Mason Korea’s growth, we will be expanding into our building’s seventh floor. As I wait a bit longer to reach that higher floor, I’ll occupy my time by reflecting on Mason Korea’s good fortune in having such excellent faculty, staff, and, of course, such terrific students.
For now, I think the entire Mason Korea community is ready for some holiday rest and celebration. I wish all Mason Korea’s friends and supporters a restful and happy holiday as well.