Centers

The Center for Education Policy is located in George Mason University's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). It was chartered in 2003 with a mission to enrich the education policy knowledge base and promote the discussion of national, regional, and state policy alternatives. A three-course sequence of doctoral-level courses in education policy form the nucleus of a policy concentration for students enrolled in the Ph.D. in Education Program.

Primary goals for the center are to:

• Translate educational research into policy options and recommendations for a variety of audiences (decision makers, practitioners, and the public)
• Conduct timely, sound, evidence-based analysis; and
• Develop interdisciplinary and cross-sector policy networks

The Center for International Education (CIE) is housed in the College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University (GMU). GMU is situated in the heart of the Washington, DC metropolitan area, serves one of the most varied populations in the world and was recently named as the most diverse campus in the United States. We believe that education provides the means to transform our world, to bring together the richness of diverse populations and to improve opportunities for all people, world-wide.

The Center for International Education at GMU is committed to developing international partnerships, delivering high quality academic programs and building the capacity of domestic and international institutions to better serve children, family, community and educators.

Beverly Shaklee, Director

The Center for Language and Culture (CLC) is an interdisciplinary campus based organization that serves the needs of the rapidly growing culturally and linguistically diverse student population in the Northern Virginia-Washington DC metropolitan area, while at the same time, provides opportunities for collaboration among scholars and researchers interested in multicultural/multilingual education, English as a second language, foreign language instruction and related areas.

Under the direction of Dr. Ellen Rodgers, this center located on the Prince William campus promotes research and disseminates information in the areas of recreation, parks, natural resource management, and tourism.

The Center for Restructuring Education in Science and Technology (CREST) provides leadership in education by developing partnerships with the education and business communities to conduct teacher professional development, research, and public service.

CREST:

• Fosters professional development of leaders in education;
• Conducts research in professional development, teaching, and learning;
• Transforms education through collaboration and applied research at all levels.

George Mason University's Center for the Advancement of Public Health (GMU's CAPH) assists organizations and individuals as they promote health and safety. Established in 1986, GMU's CAPH offers a range of resources and services designed to add value to local, state and national initiatives. Engaging university-based expertise and resources with community-oriented applications, GMU's CAPH focuses on applied strategies that blend sound foundations with meaningful strategies.

GMU's CAPH operates with six underlying principles:

• Approaches benefit from being broad-based and comprehensive
• Initiatives should include a conceptually grounded research foundation
• Cultural considerations must be incorporated into planning and implementation
• Evaluation is an integral part of the programmatic planning process, beginning at the initial stages
• Targeted applications should be realistic and reasonable
• Existing resources should be utilized where possible

Numerous projects and activities engaged in by GMU's CAPH focus primarily on selected topic areas, primarily surrounding substance abuse. Specifically, resources and expertise are based on alcohol, tobacco, and substance abuse prevention overall. In addition, HIV/AIDS prevention and services are highlighted. Further, a wide range of resources and research has been conducted on numerous topic areas associated with traffic safety.

The main focus of GMU's CAPH has been with youth development, with a primary emphasis upon college-based initiatives. Evaluation and research services focus, to a large extent, upon the traditional college-age student. Other resources focus on youth of all ages, whether directly applicable or for program planners serving youth. Community leaders and policy makers serve as another major source for which resources and strategies are provided by GMU's CAPH.

Throughout Northern Virginia a wide range of public and private human service organizations serve the ethnically and racially diverse population. However, these organizations work relatively independently and carry out their work without the ability to learn or collaborate with other regional organizations doing similar work with different populations.

Fred Bemak and Frank Blechman recognized this deficiency and met in 2004 to examine the need for and development of an organization to coordinate diversity services in Northern Virginia and to integrate research, consulting, and action. Bemak and Blechman met with leaders of human service organizations to discuss this endeavor. There was unanimous agreement that there was a need for such an organization. Thus the Diversity Research and Action Center was created.

The Kellar Institute for Human DisAbilities (KIHD) is an interdisciplinary campus based organization that focuses on the mission statement,

Hemlock Overlook Center for Outdoor Education is a jointly operated by George Mason University and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.

The Center provides an opportunity for people of all ages to participate in Experiential and Outdoor Education activities. Hemlock Overlook is located within 5,000 acres of Regional Park land along the western border of Fairfax County, Virginia (Washington DC Suburbs). The center is rich in regional Civil War history along the banks of Bull Run and offers overnight accommodations and hiking trails in addition to our 42 element Low and High Challenge Course including our newest high element: Total Team Challengeâ„¢.

The Center is open six days a week throughout the year to serve public and private groups. Each year more that 25,000 people from public and private schools, religious groups, community groups, sports teams, corporations, and professional organizations, as well as local, state, and federal government and military agencies participate in Hemlock Overlook programs.

Nearby Fountainhead Regional Park includes water-based activities such as boating, angling, and nature study, allowing Hemlock Overlook to expand its educational offerings. In addition, the Marina serves the general public by offering river access for canoes and small watercraft.

The Mathematics Education Center is located in the Graduate School of Education in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. The Mathematics Education Center conducts research, provides professional development, and designs instructional materials. One unique focus of the Center is the study of mathematical representations including physical and virtual manipulatives.

The Mathematics Education Center works in collaboration with the Mathematics Education Leadership programs at George Mason University to support the scholarly research and professional development of Ph.D. and Master's level graduate students enrolled in the programs.

Housed on the Fairfax campus, this center focuses on the dissemination of information relating to health promotion and illness prevention for police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and other public safety personnel.

Housed in the 110,000 square foot Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center on the Prince William campus, the Human Performance Research lab supports basic and applied research in Exercise Physiology and related academic areas.