First Year Five (FY5) 

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First Year Five (FY5)

George Mason University has a deep commitment to inclusion in all aspects of university life, and faculty members’ work in designing and teaching courses is a fundamental aspect of that dedication. The Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning invites new faculty – in their first or second years – to join this endeavor, increasing their own capacities as instructors while building a network of colleagues across the university, starting in their very first weeks at Mason. 

Faculty who participate in First Year Five (FY5) will be invited to identify and participate in five hours of work that is intended to improve the inclusion and equity strategies they use to teach at Mason. 

Registration for the 2024-2025 academic year closes Monday, September 23, 2024.

To start, faculty will be asked to identify, complete, and log their five hours, which could include but are not limited to: 

• • • Attending relevant departmental workshops, field workshops, orientation sessions, or Stearns Center workshops focused on inclusive teaching practices  

• • • Reading journal articles or chapters that discuss inclusive pedagogical practice 

• • • Reading books or participating in discussions or conferences dedicated to inclusive practices in education in their fields 

• • • Taking any other suitable action that asks the faculty member to consider the work they do to strengthen their inclusive teaching 

This program is now housed in Canvas.  Please email the Stearns Center (stearns@gmu.edu) or Dr. Rachel Yoho (ryoho@gmu.edu) to enroll in this program. 

Written reflections on each of the five hours will be submitted in Canvas.  These reflections will describe how the faculty member’s pedagogy is evolving or might evolve because of the resource (book chapter, workshop, podcast episode, etc.).  

Once faculty have submitted their five reflections to Stearns Center, they will earn their completion certificate and a recognition email will be sent to their academic dean. 

Additionally, faculty will: 

• • • Enjoy support in the form of a kick-off meeting, a mid-year meeting, and end of the year celebration of success 

• • • Receive a newsletter (via Canvas) with suggested resources to explore and with communications from the Stearns Center 

• • • Benefit from other forms of support and engagement as needed 

This program, the origins of which are steeped in relevant research, will help new faculty engage with other new community members from across departments and colleges and connect with resources and programs as they begin their journey at the university. 

This program is open to instructors of all appointment types (tenure/tenure-track, teaching faculty, adjunct faculty) and levels of teaching experience, excluding graduate students.  Graduate students are instead directed to the AIEM – Teach individual earning opportunity and/or the unit-based graduate student inclusive teaching credential.