Virtual Open House Master of Health Administration Transcript

Brenda Sheingold: We don’t have a slide on Dave Wright, but, I certainly want to put that on your radar, because you can take advantage of that immediately. We could go to the next slide.

Maria Uriyo: So, this is the curriculum. We are… okay, so there are 24 credits. which are core, and they’re listed here. And these core classes are for both the executive and the, the air quality. Actually, it should be… yeah, it’s 24. So, you get to take the GCH500, which is Foundations of Public Health, and all students in the public health programs, or degrees. they’re all required to take this GCH500. So that’s another opportunity for you. As you can see, we’re all talking about networking. We emphasize a lot about networking, because Networking helps you in terms of future career, projection and movement. So, the core classes are statistics, leadership and organizational Behavior, which Dr. Shango just mentioned. We touched on quality measurement and evaluation. These classes were designed by NCQA, which is a National Committee for Quality Assurance, very well known in the world of healthcare quality control. And accreditation. Then health economics and policy, management of health information systems, the IT side of, you know, managing data and managing systems. And then legal issues in health administration, and then the 789 and 790, these are the… that’s the capstone class taken towards the end of the, the MHA program your last semester, essentially. Next slide. Sorry, can you go back? I think, Dr. Shango, you may want to talk about the photo there.

Brenda Sheingold: Oh, yeah.

Maria Uriyo: And the…

Brenda Sheingold: The photo was taken at… on the rooftop of, Health and Human Services building, the Humphrey Building on Capitol Hill. This was a, class of students that were in the Contemporary issues class, and we went to Capitol Hill for the day to meet with policy makers. And, we had actually 10 different speakers that day, that talked to the students about contemporary issues in healthcare. This is not… this is a real picture, it’s not photoshopped, it looks like it, but, the weather was just gorgeous that day with a gorgeous view of the Capitol, so, So these are all MHA students, and I would want to take a quick look. They have… Only one that’s in this picture hasn’t graduated, the rest are all graduated and positioned in the job market. So, we’re… this is a very, important picture for you, because you want to start with the end in mind, and this group of students, are out in the market right now.

Maria Uriyo: Okay, so in terms of the, concentrations, the, the column on the left is the healthcare quality concentration. It has two quality classes, the healthcare quality environment, and then liability and healthcare quality and patient safety. And then the other four are classes that you may find on the executive side. So on the executive side, we have… The difference is we have finance classes, 702 and 703, which are going to be blended into one eventually, so that that’s where we’re going to get the 42 credits.

Brenda Sheingold: Reduced.

Maria Uriyo: Instead of the 45. Actually, no, it’s actually gonna go to 39.

Brenda Sheingold: Bye.

Maria Uriyo: So, yeah. So, so you have to decide when you begin the program which pathway you want to take, healthcare quality or the executive concentration, route. The healthcare quality one gives you an elective at this current time, and you can either talk to Dr. Schein board and myself in terms of what elective you want, to take. Most students take the finance class, or the HR class. And some go to public health, GCH, and take a class there, as well. So, next slide.

Brenda Sheingold: So, this is one of our favorite things to talk about, the capstone class, and this is the one that students have the most questions about, usually. This is the final class that you take right before graduation. By the time you take this class, you’ve had almost 2 years under your belt with us. And as you’ve heard us mention several times, networking is, is a competency with this degree. We expect you to be able to, to launch, from this program very, able to network, comfortable with networking, and, and speak on the same level as executives. So, this gives you an opportunity to do that. We have partnerships with literally hundreds of executives in the area that have precepted our students. We give you access to their names, the kind of projects they’ve supervised before, all of our alumni that have graduated. So there is a wide field of opportunity to reach out and find someone that you would like to work with and do a project in an organization that is a service project, you don’t get paid for that. But to finish out your credits with us, to finish out with a project you can put on your resume that you can actually discuss with employers. And, with the safety net of George Mason, in order to accomplish that. These are high-level projects, We have a poster presentation scheduled for December 4th. from 6 to 8 in Peterson Hall, our building on campus. If any of you would like to attend that to see sort of what the end is, because I mentioned starting with the end in mind, you’re welcome to come, we’ll pay for your parking, and we look forward to hosting you that evening, if you’d like to come and see what the student projects are. So, so keep that in mind. You can contact Dr. Urio, or myself, or even Christopher, and we’ll be happy to, make sure that, you know, that we pay for your parking and that you, you know, that we can help you as much as possible. Look to talk to students. Meet students, and well, they’ll have one foot out the door by then. So…

Maria Uriyo: Okay, so in terms of opportunities, We… we work hard to make sure that our students get, The chance to do more things just other than just classwork. So we have, an organization called Rising Healthcare Leaders of Mason, and, we have a student, the student here in the middle was the chair of the… of the… was the president of the RHLM, last… maybe… Two years ago? Yeah, a year ago, yes, yeah. And so there is that, and then they work… the RHLM leadership, they work with the National Capital Healthcare executives. which are part of the SCHE, which is the association, that, caters towards executives in the healthcare sector. So from the very beginning, you get access to those, you know, the, the decision makers in various parts of the healthcare, continuum. One of the biggest organizations that are… healthcare organizations in the area is Innova Health System. We have some faculty that used to work there, and were part of the faculty here. And, also we have, Academy Health student chapter. We have a faculty inside, the HAP department who oversees that chapter. And then, one of the other things that we’ve been doing is having national case competitions, and the picture here on the top right is To Shine got myself and four students who were taking part at a NASI case competition that took place in, Alabama, University of, Alabama. Yeah, UAB, University of Alabama at Birmingham. So… We took both an online student, an on-campus student, and also, once in a while, we’ll take an informatics student. So, it depends on the level of interest that students have. To do case competitions, because that’s another way of sharpening your skills, networking, and knowing, other parts of the country and what it is that they address in terms of the challenges that they face. So, this is one team and another team, that also was at Alabama, two different years. And this is the RHLM, every spring, well, former RHLM members, every… and this is the current president, actually. Every spring, they have an, an event where a spring symposium Where they bring, they address what are the hot issues in the healthcare sector right now, and they have, like a… A day where they have a conference where people come, and they actually The whole thing is organized by students, and They bring the panels, they work with the panelists, and, it’s well attended, and yeah, so you get to take part in that as well. I don’t know if Dr. Kashango, do you want to add anything else?

Brenda Sheingold: Only that we’re, constantly expanding these opportunities. We look for, our… we look to our partners in the community. They come on campus a lot. In Nova Healthcare System, Virginia Hospital Center, Sentara, we interface with everybody. We make sure we introduce you to everybody that we know. And it’s just a matter, really, of you being proactive about yourself. You can be your best advocate, but we certainly set the stage for success Whether you’re online or, in person. As I mentioned tonight, we have an event. This is an all-online event. We have… we have invited 40 students from across the country, and we’re gonna start it at 6.30 to accommodate all the time zones. And, great opportunity to meet our executive and residents who can also introduce you to more people, you know, like a snowball effect. So please take advantage of everything that we roll out for you. So…

Maria Uriyo: Go ahead.

Brenda Sheingold: So, as Dr. Urio mentioned, Rising Healthcare Leaders at Mason is a great leadership opportunity. We rotate the officers every year. This is a registered student association with the university. They also have money to support student activities, and so they’re very creative in what they do. And what they offer, And they… they’re sort of the front line of networking for everybody, for everybody in the program. They are there for every single student. So, if you’re interested in, being an officer, please contact us to let us know. We’ll be rotating these officers out in May, and we’ll quickly have to replace them. So, we’re already searching for replacements to line up, because that’s gonna… that always comes up very fast.

Maria Uriyo: Okay, so this… that’s… that’s always the burning question. So, at the end of the day, how much, what is the career path for our students? So many of them, either go into the hospital system, small, consulting organizations, or some of them are in the military, and some of them go into things like long-term care management. So, as you can see here, the salary is in the high 70s, and I would say the medium is in the 80s. So, that’s just the beginning, and from then on, it’s well above that, so… I think it looks good for all our students when they enter this program. So, I don’t know if you want to add anything.

Brenda Sheingold: Yeah, the one thing I would add is that we have data that supports that our students find jobs in their employment of choice within 3 months of graduation. Now, it’s not going to be the CEO job, or the CFO, you know, or the, you know, a director job that you Sort of as your end goal, the, you know, that your end point in mind, but starting positions, which is what these are, What’s listed here, starting positions, 90… 93%. of our graduates are positioned in the healthcare market, in the administration or management sector, within 3 months of graduation. So I think that that is excellent data, and we’re required to report that to our accreditors, so it’s very tightly monitored. And I do want to mention that the salaries listed here are brand new. We just updated this before our session, this semester. So, this is the current salaries. They’re not… this isn’t, out of date. This is what’s going on right now.

Chris Williams: Alright, so as you all have gotten this information, we are now going to transition into what you need to apply to to our MHA program. The application can be completed online. There’s a non-refundable application fee of $75. As you are submitting your application, if you are in-state, you would also… if you are a Virginia resident, you would also complete the application for in-state tuition rates. You will need to submit transcripts from each institution that you have attended. As you are submitting your application, it is fine to upload unofficial copies of your transcript. However, if you are admitted into the program, you would need to submit official copies of your transcript from all institutions that you’ve had attended during your first semester. You will also need to submit a goal statement highlighting your interest for pursuing the MHA degree, and what are your future goals after obtaining the degree. You’ll need two recommendation letters from professionals that can speak to your readiness and preparedness for graduate study, or a supervisor, if maybe you’re currently working in the field and you want to advance, a supervisor is a great candidate as well to submit a letter of recommendation for you. We do not require the GRE for any of our graduate programs within the College of Public Health. For international applicants, you will need to submit transcript evaluations if you have degrees from any institutions outside of the United States. For those transcript evaluations, we accept any of the NASIS organizations’ evaluations. And then also, international applicants, you may need to submit English proficiency exams as well, and we have examples of some of

Chris Williams: the, exam scores that we accept, TOEFLs, IELTS, Duolingo, and Pearson’s. And then we have it linked there, too, in the PowerPoint for more information on, if this applies to you, what scores we require for graduate admission at George Mason. And then we also have information, too, for international applicants. We have our Office of International Programs and Services, so this is a great resource if you do have questions about visa requirements or submitting documents. They have immigration advising resources. They also have virtual appointments, too, that you can talk on the phone or meet via Zoom, and there’s a number on the screen to schedule an appointment. They also have drop-in hours as well, so this is a great resource for international applicants if you do have questions, about submitting materials or, like, visa requirements or things, kind of next steps, after you, if you’ve been admitted, next steps after that you’ll need to complete. This is a great resource for… for just kind of all, any questions that you may have in regards to those. And then, important, admission deadline. So, we are currently accepting applications right now for the spring semester. We are accepting applications November 1st would be the deadline for Spring 2026 admissions for our Master’s of Health Administration and the Healthcare Quality Graduate Certificate. And then, if you’re interested in applying for the Fall 2026 semester, applications are currently open for fall as well. Our deadline is April 1st. However, I will admit, I’ll share that that is a priority deadline. We will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis through August 1st for the fall semester. So if you’re interested, ready to start for spring, November 1st, and then for fall of next year. April 1st, and then know that we will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis through August 1st.

Brenda Sheingold: So, I have a question, Christopher, about the deadlines. Just to clarify for everybody, if they have started their application prior to November the 1st, but maybe they need to add a letter of recommendation, or they might not have quite finished their goal statement. Does that count as part of our rolling admissions, or is that a hard stop deadline?

Chris Williams: It… November 1st is not a hard stop deadline, so they will still need… they will still be able to submit. So, perfect example, maybe you’ve submitted your… your application October 31st, and maybe you’re waiting on a recommender, and they don’t get their, they don’t complete their recommendation until November 2nd, as an example. The application would still go through for faculty review.

Brenda Sheingold: Perfect. Thank you. Thank you for that clarification.

Chris Williams: Absolutely, no problem. And here’s information of getting in contact with us in the Graduate Admissions Office. We have our email. We have our Central Graduate… we’ll have our George Mason Office of Central Graduate Admissions email and contact information, and then we also have the College of Public Health, our email and phone number as well. And then we do have drop-in hours on a weekly basis, so if you do have questions, you’d like to meet with someone, and maybe you’re going through the application and you have a question that comes up, we do meet with prospective students. We have availability on Tuesdays from 3 to 4 4 p.m. You can meet with us in person. We are located in Peterson Hall on the Fairfax campus on the first floor, or you can meet with us via Zoom. And then on Thursdays, we do have availability for 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern Time, available Zoom only.

Chris Williams: Drop-in hours are first come, first serve, so it is an opportunity for you to meet one-on-one with someone from our admissions team, and then we have the link there for you to register for any of our drop-in hours, and also for you to see a full list of all of our information sessions throughout the semester. With that, and here is the general contact information for the Department of Health Administration and Policy. They are located on the fourth floor of Peterson Hall in Suite 440… and Suite 4400, excuse me. We have their phone number, email, and web address as well, just for… to learn about more information on our programs, or if to reach out if you do have any questions. I think now we will open it up, if anyone online has any questions.

Brenda Sheingold: I just want to mention that one slide you just showed, Christopher, for the admissions. That is exactly what our campus looks like right now with the fall colors. We have a stunning campus, and I encourage you to come to campus to see it, to come see us. You know, stop by and, and say hello to us if you do decide to come for a visit, but it’s a beautiful, beautiful campus.

George Mason Online Admissions: Not too hot and not too cold. Perfect weather.

Brenda Sheingold: Yeah, so I… Eric, you had something… I’m just trying to pull up the chat. Completed applications, all checkmark screen. Did so…received… oh, you’re… Christopher, when does he get a G number? That’s what he wants to know.

Chris Williams: Yeah, so applications are… application processing, can take up to a few weeks. after you have submitted. So if you’ve received all green checkmarks, then it still could be in processing through our graduate admissions office, just kind of getting everything through. We are currently in peak time right now, for applications coming through for the spring semester, and some are starting to come through for summer and fall as well. So continue to be patient. It typically takes about a few weeks, for everything to be processed and for you to see that, okay, your application is Faculty Review before receiving an admissions decision. No problem, happy to help.

Brenda Sheingold: Oh, that’s a good question, Matthew. We… we don’t have a GPA, regarding the GPA, so… so you’re talking about your grade point average, not the GRA? We don’t have any, We don’t have any pathway to count experience to replace a class. However, if you’ve taken graduate classes. in another facility, we do have a pathway for that, and Dr. Urio and I review those classes to see if they match up with one of our classes that’s offered in the program, and very often, we can substitute a class you’ve taken somewhere else for, you know, for one of ours that is required. But personal events, don’t substitute for a credit-bearing course. We’re happy to talk to you about that personally. I don’t know what experience or personal event you’re referring to, but we’re happy to discuss that, you know, offline from our info session, if you’d like. Feel free to reach out to us. Okay. Well, we hope to see you all! And please let us know if you’d like to attend the poster presentations if you’re in the area. Maybe we could quickly go around and find out where you’re from, because I don’t, you know, we don’t really know. Maybe you could just take yourself off mute for a second to let us know where you are.

Erik Cudd: Guess I’ll be the guinea pig and go first. I am in Gaithersburg, Maryland. And originally from Union, South Carolina, military spouse. And my wife has got one more assignment before she retires. So, this is kind of a… an interesting time for me, because I came from 30 years of journalism and radio, so I’m interested and excited about entering the field. So, not sure where I’m going to land once she gets her second assignment, which will be her last, but we’re… We’re, very, very, very excited about me being in the program, and I really appreciate your time.

Brenda Sheingold: Well, Eric, if you want to come to that poster presentation, bring your wife. If you have children, bring those. This is a family-oriented event. I mean, that’s a little bit of a hike from Gaithersburg, so, you just bring them with you, and, You can talk to anybody you want, any faculty member, any student, any graduate, any alumni, the preceptors. We’re really an open book. We’re very transparent about this program, and very welcoming. So, that’s a family-friendly event. You bring them with you.

Erik Cudd: Wonderful. Well, I know that we’re going to be here for at least the next couple of years or so. We’re actually getting ready to relocate to Centerville. So, while I may not be able to come this evening, I’m definitely planning on making several campus stops. I have a toddler currently, and she’s kind of like the Tasmanian devil in the old…

Maria Uriyo: brother’s coach.

Erik Cudd: So, once she gets a little bit older, I think I might bring her, but once we move down to Centerville, you’ll probably see me more than you really want to.

Brenda Sheingold: I doubt that very much, and that event I’m talking about, I should have been more clear, because I mentioned two events, didn’t I? There’s one tonight related to our classes, so people enrolled in that Leadership and Change class, that’s tonight, a virtual event for 40 students. On December 4th. That’s a Thursday. That’s when we’re having our poster presentation. I don’t care if your daughter runs around. Nobody does. She’ll fit right in. Trust me, this is not a formal event, sit down. This is intended for families.

Maria Uriyo: This is intended for husbands, wives, significant others. We want… this is all comers. We want everybody. So.

Brenda Sheingold: Don’t feel like, you can’t bring her. You don’t have to get a babysitter for that night. Just bring her.

Erik Cudd: Well, that’s extremely generous. I think we’ll definitely be there, probably next year. We’re trying to deal with the government shutdown right now, and…

Brenda Sheingold: Yes.

Erik Cudd: have some other challenges that are going on in the family, and so this year’s probably not going to work, but after December 31st, I’m most definitely interested in coming and participating.

Brenda Sheingold: Anytime. You just let us… just let us know to make sure we’re there. We’ll be happy to meet you. So… Thank you for that, Eric. And I’m sorry about the government shutdown. We’re hearing that a lot, so we understand, we really do. So, I still… next on my screen is Felix. Felix, I don’t know where… if you could just tell us where you are, a little bit about… When you’re looking to start, or…

Felix Manuel Sermon: Hi, thank you for having me. Thank you for putting on the webinar and all of that. I’m actually currently in, Quantico right now. Currently at… at work, on my lunch break, going through this, but, currently work for… as a contractor for the Department of Justice, and just been looking to transition out of that and into healthcare, because I’ve always kind of wanted to get into healthcare. But I will see if I can try to make it to the event.

Brenda Sheingold: Great.

Felix Manuel Sermon: Thank you for the invitation.

Brenda Sheingold: Oh, you’re absolutely welcome, and it’s very sincere. I hope to see you all there. So, Najma, I just see your name next, I’m not trying to… go in any order, I’m just trying to, go by who I see on the screen.

Najma Abikar: Hello, my name is Nejma, and I’m in Virginia. I actually attend George Mason right now as a master’s student in public health. I’m the new graduate… the graduate professional assistant here, and I just wanted to attend the info session so I can understand the different programs better.

Chris Williams: Najma is on her third day of working with us in the Office of Student Affairs as our Graduate Assistant for Graduate Admissions, so she is… has been attending info sessions to learn more about our program, so that she’s well equipped to talk with prospective students.

Brenda Sheingold: Well, thank you. And, you know, if you want to move from public health to health administration, we’ll be happy to help with that, too. So, good for your third day. Off to a good start.

Maria Uriyo: Thanks so much, thank you for having me. Yeah, you’re welcome.

Brenda Sheingold: Oh, I see Matthew next, I should have said that.

Matthew Young: Hello? Yeah. Hi, I’m actually in Richmond right now, just on my lunch break at work. I am not sure I’ll be able to make it to that event tonight, just, you know, because of distance, and I have, you know, work two and a half hours away tomorrow, but I’ll definitely keep in touch regarding that.

Brenda Sheingold: Yeah. Even on… in December, for sure. I’m a little bit more free around then, anyway. Okay, and then, Matthew, you know, we have a lot of events, and, we invite a lot of people, so there’ll be more after that December event. You know, please stay in touch with us.

Matthew Young: Sure, sure.

Brenda Sheingold: Yeah, even if December 4th doesn’t work out for you, we have others as well. So, and we invite people that are, you know, interested in the program, just as welcome as somebody already enrolled.

Matthew Young: That sounds good, thank you for the invite.

Brenda Sheingold: And last but not least, I… is Samuel.

George Mason Online Admissions: Samuel came in a little bit late, but yes, Sam was the last.

Brenda Sheingold: So, Samuel, we’re just trying to find out where everybody’s from.

Chris Williams: Yeah, so I see that Samuel put in the chat, oh, okay. I’m currently, currently in the library, so I can’t use the microphone, but a current GMU student interested in the BAM program and decided to learn how the online master’s program works.

Brenda Sheingold: Okay. Okay, well, we’re thrilled about that. We love BAM students, so, All I can say is reach out to us, Samuel. We’re happy to give you one-on-one information about that. I know Christopher is, too. All three of us that you see here this afternoon, would be happy to speak with you. So, don’t worry about joining late. We’ll catch you up, and and we understand about the library. So, we’ll fill you in on whatever you want to know about the band program.

Chris Williams: And I’ll note, too, that the great thing about the BAM program, as well is that there’s a $0 application fee. So whenever you, you know, you’re ready to get your application in, or if you have questions about when to apply, you can apply to that after you have 60 credits, and you can start taking graduate courses after you have obtained 75 credits. So, as Dr. Scheingold mentioned, anytime that you want more information on that, we’d be more than happy to discuss with you and help you with getting your application in for consideration. BAM applications, those are considered fall and spring semesters, so students can apply in either term. To start the band program.

Brenda Sheingold: Any other questions? Well, thank you all for taking your lunch break with us. This was a great lunch. So, let us know if there’s anything we can help you with. We’re all happy to help.