Schar School of Policy and Government

Mason has eight graduate programs listed among top 25 nationally, led by part-time law that is best in nation among publics

Mandy Richburg — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 04:01:00 +0000

Mason has eight graduate programs listed among top 25 nationally, led by part-time law that is best in nation among publics Mandy Richburg Tue, 03/30/2021 - 00:01

Mason has 18 programs ranked in the top 50 nationally and 33 ranked in the top 50 among public universities, according to U.S. News and World Report's 2022 graduate program rankings. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

George Mason University has eight graduate programs listed among the top 25 nationally according to latest rankings by U.S. News & World Report, reflecting the university’s impact as one of the best institutions for advanced degrees.

The list was led by Mason’s part-time law program at the Antonin Scalia Law School, which was No. 1 in the nation among publics, and also included two programs at the Schar School of Policy and Government that were among the top 10 nationally for public universities. Rounding out the list were programs in criminology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences as well as elementary education and special education in the College of Education and Human Development.

Overall, Mason has 18 programs ranked in the top 50 nationally and 33 ranked in the top 50 among public universities.

“These rankings highlight the quality of our programs, expertise of our faculty, the impact of our research, and the achievements of our students,” Mason President Gregory Washington said. “Mason is a destination for the nation’s best students and we are very pleased that U.S. News has recognized our graduate programs that provide access to excellence.”

Mason is the largest public research university in Virginia, with campuses in Fairfax, Arlington and Manassas. Each of the top 25 ranked programs is based at Mason’s Arlington Campus, less than five miles from Washington, D.C. The campus is undergoing a $250 million transformation as part of the Rosslyn-Ballston Innovation Corridor, an innovation district that will be the first of its kind in Virginia, and will house the Institute for Digital InnovAtion where the School of Computing will be located.

U.S. News ranks different programs at different times of the year including rankings for online master’s programs, which were released in January, and the annual Best Colleges rankings released each fall.

“The recognition of Mason’s outstanding academic programs as among the highest ranked in the nation affirms the experiences of our students that they are well prepared for success,” said Provost Mark Ginsberg.

The part-time law program at the Scalia Law School is ranked No. 4 among public and private institutions, ahead of such distinguished universities as Temple, Loyola Marymount, University of Maryland, University of Denver and Rutgers.

“Our part-time JD program enables busy professionals to pursue a law degree in a flexible way without sacrificing on quality,” said law school Dean Ken Randall.

Starting this fall, through the increased use of technology, the part-time law program will offer students even more flexibility so students in the first two years of the four-year program can come to campus as few as two nights a week, instead of the traditional five days, Randall said.

“Our advantageous pricing point also makes a part-time legal education possible,” Randall added. “We are delighted that U.S. News has recognized Mason’s programs that connect students to distinguished faculty and unparalleled opportunities in the nation’s capital.”

Five of the Schar School’s specialties (homeland security, international policy, local government management, public management and nonprofit management) are ranked as the top program in Virginia and two (homeland security and international policy) ranked in the top five in the country among public institutions.

The Schar School’s prime location in the heart of U.S. policy provides students with one-of-a-kind professional opportunities that supplement learning from professors with real-world experience in everything from NGOs and nonprofits to lead government agencies like the CIA, National Security Agency and many more.

“In its first five years, the Schar School's rankings have climbed impressively,” said Dean Mark J. Rozell. “These rankings are a testament to the quality of a unique multidisciplinary faculty of leading scholars and policy practitioners who are dedicated to training the next generation of policy thinkers and leaders."

Mason’s criminology program ranked No. 10 nationally and best in Virginia among public institutions. Internationally renowned for its applied research, the program prepares students to pursue competitive positions in law enforcement, courts, corrections, and other government agencies, as well as advocacy and nonprofit organizations.

In partnership with faculty, practitioners, and lead organizations in the criminal justice system, students learn about how to conduct original scholarship that can make the justice system fairer and more effective.

“Criminology, Law and Society’s [CLS] graduate programs are relatively young, so it’s especially gratifying to watch their meteoric rise in the national rankings,” said Dean Ann Ardis, noting that other top tier programs have much far longer histories.

The recognition is a testament to the research and hard work of faculty and graduate students, Department Chair James Willis said, “and to the department’s steadfast commitment to using science and reason to inform policies and practices that best meet what justice requires.”

Mason’s Special Education and Elementary Education programs ranked in the top 20 nationally, coming in at No. 16 and No. 20, respectively.

With expert faculty instruction combined with experiential learning opportunities with K-12 students in local school districts, the School of Education provides Mason students with the knowledge and skills to improve lives and make a difference in their communities.

“These rankings are reflective of the productivity and impact of our faculty and students,” said Interim Dean Robert Baker, adding that students from the College of Education and Human Development are highly sought after upon graduation. “We are unique in that we are not only among the top programs in the country, but we also provide access to excellence as one of the larger programs, as well.”

The Best Graduate Schools rankings for business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing are based on expert opinions about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research and students, U.S. News reported.

The rankings derive from statistical surveys of more than 2,125 programs and from reputation surveys sent to more than 23,000 academics and professionals in fall 2020 and early 2021.

Below is a preview of Mason’s rankings for its graduate programs. It will be updated if additional rankings become available:

LAW

Part-time program: 1 among public institutions; 4 overall

Full-time program: 19 among public institutions; 41 overall (up from 42 last year)

Intellectual Property: 10 among public institutions; 26 overall (up from 31 last year)

Corporate Law: 16 among public institutions; 36 overall

Constitutional Law: 20 among public institutions; 41 overall

Contracts: 21 among public institutions; 45 overall

Tax Law: 35 among public institutions; 73 overall

International Law: 36 among public institutions; 78 overall

Trial Advocacy: 33 among public institutions; 90 overall

Dispute Resolution: 42 among public institutions; 100 overall

Criminal Law: 42 among public institutions; 81 overall

Health Care: 108 overall (up from 114 last year)

Legal Writing: 74 among public institutions; 159 overall

Clinical Training: 58 among public institutions; 129 overall

Environmental Law: 70 among public institutions; 136 overall

CRIMINOLOGY

Among public institutions: 10 (Best in Virginia)

Overall: 10

HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT

Among public institutions: 17

Overall: 33 (tied with Georgetown University)

NURSING

Master’s: 21 among public institutions; 37 overall (up from 51 last year)

DNP: 31 among public institutions; 51 overall

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Among public institutions: 34

Overall: 48 (up from 49 last year)

Homeland Security: 4 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 7 overall

International Policy: 5 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 14 overall

Local Government Management: 18 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 22 overall

Public Management: 18 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 26 overall (up from 28 last year)

Nonprofit Management: 23 among public institutions (Best in Virginia); 32 overall

Public Policy Analysis: 11 among public institutions; 23 overall

PUBLIC HEALTH

Among public institutions: 36 (tied with University of Virginia for best in state)

Overall: 60

BUSINESS (Part-time MBA)

Among public institutions: 40

Overall: 66

FINE ARTS

Among public institutions: 41

Overall: 73 (tied with Georgetown University)

HISTORY

Among public institutions: 42

Overall: 73

COMPUTER SCIENCE

Among public institutions: 42

Overall: 68 (tied with William & Mary)

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Among public institutions: 46

Overall: 76

ECONOMICS

Among public institutions: 48

Overall: 77

EDUCATION

Among public institutions: 52

Overall: 70

Elementary Education: 17 among public institutions; 20 overall

Special Education: 15 among public institutions; 16 overall

ENGINEERING

Among public institutions: 55

Overall: 93 (up from 102 last year)

Industrial Engineering: 24 among public institutions; 37 overall

Bioengineering: 53 among public institutions; 89 overall (up from 93 last year)

Civil Engineering: 68 among public institutions; 95 overall

Computer Engineering: 46 among public institutions; 76 overall

Electrical Engineering: 52 among public institutions; 85 overall (up from 87 last year)

STATISTICS

Among public institutions: 55

Overall: 83

SOCIOLOGY

Among public institutions: 57

Overall: 84

PSYCHOLOGY

Among public institutions: 57

Overall: 90

ENGLISH

Among public institutions: 63

Overall: 99

SOCIAL WORK

Among public institutions: 68

Overall: 96

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Among public institutions: 75

Overall: 101 (tied with George Washington and Catholic University)

MATHEMATICS

Among public institutions: 76 (tied with Maryland-Baltimore County)

Overall: 117 (tied with Maryland-Baltimore County)

PHYSICS

Among public institutions: 93

Overall: 138

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Among public institutions: 127

Overall: 190

Topics

Rankings

Campus News

Antonin Scalia Law School

College of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Criminology

Schar School of Policy and Government

College of Education and Human Development

Graduate Education

Driven by service, Mason alum lands job at CDC through prestigious government fellowship

Mariam Aburdeineh — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 20:13:00 +0000

Driven by service, Mason alum lands job at CDC through prestigious government fellowship Mariam Aburdeineh Fri, 03/12/2021 - 15:13

In This Story

James K. Conant

Mason alumnus Louie Al-Hashimi is a Presidential Management Fellow, currently working at the CDC. Photo provided.

Louie Al-Hashimi is driven by service. It started in high school, he said, when his history teacher encouraged him to get involved in community service and he began volunteering at a local food pantry, supporting road cleanup projects, and organizing school concerts for charity.

“That, coupled with my studies, encouraged me to pursue public service,” said Al-Hashimi, who earned his master’s in public administration from George Mason University in 2020. “Having the opportunity to build or facilitate a connection with other people—that’s what I’m drawn to.”

In November 2019, the Pittsburgh native learned he was a finalist for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF), administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Through the fellowship, he also secured a position with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in March 2020.

“It’s a great honor to be able to serve my country in this way, to be in a position of public service, and to be part of a program to grow within the federal government,” said Al-Hashimi, who works as a management and program analyst at the CDC, helping with staffing and human resources, data management, and process improvement efforts.

“The PMF is the premier fellowship program within the federal government and carries a lot of prestige with it,” said Duane Bradshaw, director of career development at Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government.

The two-year program designed to mentor and bring graduate-level talent into federal service is also highly competitive. In 2019, nearly 8,000 people applied, with around 600 becoming finalists, Bradshaw said, adding that Mason had eight finalists.

“[The fellowship has] been really valuable, and Mason paved the way for me to be part of it,” Al-Hashimi said. “I don’t think I could have gotten to where I am now without the support of [the Career Development Office].”

In mid-December Al-Hashimi said he also had the chance to work on the CDC’s COVID-19 response, providing operational support for the Vaccine Task Force.

It was insightful and eye-opening, Al-Hashimi said, to see a pivotal response in action, and to witness how changes in presidential administrations influence the approach to the response.

“Having the chance to contribute to the broader efforts that are addressing the current pandemic and be a part of the solution to hopefully bring it to an end, that’s what was most appealing to me,” he said.

Al-Hashimi’s Mason experiences have also been influential.

“Since starting the MPA program, my understanding has grown both in the way government works and in my own approach to public service,” said Al-Hashimi, who has also worked for Fairfax County in the Department of Family Services and the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services.

In particular, he enjoyed courses by Schar School professor James Conant, with whom he partnered on policy research projects.

Conant said he was impressed by Al-Hashimi’s intellectual curiosity, and his diligent work collecting and analyzing data on their research regarding local governments and Virginia’s Medicaid expansion program.

“I had the pleasure of recommending Louie for a position in the CDC,” Conant said. “It is a good position for Louie, and I am confident he will be able to make important contributions.”

Topics

Alumni

Schar School of Policy and Government

graduate fellowships

Students

Graduate Education

Networking event extolls the value of good manners

Damian Cristodero — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 09:30:00 +0000

Networking event extolls the value of good manners Damian Cristodero Fri, 03/13/2020 - 05:30

More than 70 graduate and professional students from 14 different majors received advice and practice in networking at a recent event on George Mason University’s Arlington Campus.

Topics

George Mason University

Arlington campus

University Life Arlington

University Career Services

Schar School of Policy and Government

School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Students

DHS CIO Zangardi: The Doctoral Degree Was Challenging, But It Was Character That Earned It

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 14:58:03 +0000

DHS CIO Zangardi: The Doctoral Degree Was Challenging, But It Was Character That Earned It Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/29/2019 - 10:58

The characteristics it takes to earn an PhD are the same it takes to assume a role of major responsibility in a company or organization, said John A. Zangardi.

He should know: He earned his PhD in Public Policy from George Mason University’s School of Public Policy—now the Schar School of Policy and Government—in 2005 and now, as Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he manages a department of more than 400 federal workers and an annual budget of $590 million.

“I have the responsibility for the department’s information technology and communications networks,” he said. “As the information technology authority for the department I have the responsibility for the security of the network and how we modernize it; I’m responsible for the maintenance and the innovation for our information technology and communications platforms.”

The DHS information technology department is a key and vital component to the nation’s security, to be sure, and Zangardi believes the work he put in for his advanced degree helped him understand more than the topic of his thesis (for the record, it was on the regulation of top-level internet domain names).

“The most important things to getting to a position of responsibility are having honor and integrity, working hard, and being persistent,” he said. “And those are traits you need to have in place to pursue a PhD. A PhD provides the analytic ways to look at things, but honor and integrity are crucial to succeeding.

“If you have the integrity and the work ethic and the persistence, everything comes together.”

Zangardi is not the only member of his public policy PhD cohort to find success after earning the degree. Among his classmates was Bruce Lindsey, now a Navy Vice Admiral and the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command and keynote speaker at the Schar School’s Degree Celebration on May 16; Kevin “Kip” Thomas, now the Principal Investigator for the Laboratory for Human Neurobiology at the Boston University School of Medicine; and Sarah Maxwell, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Texas-Dallas, who earlier this year was named Assistant Provost.

Zangardi said earning the PhD was important for him as an active duty Naval officer not necessarily to advance in rank but “to pursue knowledge. That was my primary motivating factor,” he said.

It also helped that the Schar School’s administration was flexible and accommodating to a busy part-time PhD student. “That was a big deal for me,” he said. “I valued my educational experience at Mason a tremendous amount.”

Topics

Schar School of Policy and Government

Graduate Education

New Beginnings: How an Investment in an International Security Master’s Degree Opens Doors

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 18:39:03 +0000

New Beginnings: How an Investment in an International Security Master’s Degree Opens Doors Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/16/2019 - 14:39

“If you want to make a career move into the security field, this program is the way to go,” said Rebecca Ames.

Some people think it’s impossible to juggle a full-time job, a part-time school schedule, and a research fellowship. Because of her hard work and dedication, Ames is living proof it is possible. The Master’s in International Security student at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University has used her degree to turn her career around in a big way.

Ames started her career in information technology, but her true passion was international relations, grand strategy, and reducing the costs and risks of conflict. Looking back on her studies in political science and international affairs at Boise State University, Ames decided to pursue a master’s degree that combined her interest in public service and global security. This led her to the Arlington, Va.-based Schar School—recently ranked as one of the best security studies schools in the country, earning the coveted No. 2 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 rankings in homeland security focused programs.

Since beginning her graduate studies, Ames changed jobs, moving from a consulting position with the Department of Veterans Affairs to joining a prestigious management consulting firm that works with the Department of Homeland Security.

“Because I had ‘Master’s in International Security’ on my resume, I was able to get a job consulting for DHS while still in school,” she said. “My classes overlap with work all the time, and I am able to communicate more effectively with DHS officials because of what I learned in school.”

Highlighting how her studies have benefitted her career, Ames described a conversation with a DHS headquarters.

“I told him I needed to run to class at the Schar School,” she said. “I mentioned I was studying international security at [the Schar School], and he paused our work conversation to emphatically say ‘That’s a great program—I mean, a really great program.’”

Ames participated in an independent study paper with John Gordon, Schar School adjunct professor and senior researcher at the global policy think tank RAND Corporation.

“Rebecca is an example of an exceptional student who came into this program with little military knowledge, and despite a very steep learning curve, is leaving the program well-versed in the language of national security,” said Gordon.

As a student fellow at the Schar School’s Center for Security Policy Studies (CSPS), led by Master’s in International Security program director Ellen Laipson, Ames has had the opportunity to create and execute crisis simulations for students and faculty. “[The Center for Security Policy Studies] events are really geared to get students involved,” she said. “Members of the community, faculty, and students are able to get incredible exposure to people in the field that they otherwise wouldn’t.

“The international security program has forced me to put things together in new ways,” said Ames. “By combining practical application with theory, students are able to obtain the knowledge needed to work in the security field.”

After graduation in May of 2019, Ames plans to continue advancing her career in security. “Because I am able to take what I learn in the classroom to work every day, so many doors have been opened,” she said.

Topics

Schar School of Policy and Government

Graduate Education