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College of Health and Human Services

About the Department

Introduction

The Department of Global and Community Health is a part of the College of Health and Human Services at George Mason University. Its mission is to prepare individuals for new health professional roles at the community and global level through dynamic undergraduate and graduate programs. Students of these programs will apply theoretical concepts, real world experience and research findings to the goal of enhancing health and the health care of populations.

The Department currently houses three masters programs focused on International Health, Gerontology, and Epidemiology/Biostatistics, to which additional programs and foci will be added shortly.

It also provides an undergraduate degree program in health sciences with focuses in the general health sciences, gerontology and an undergraduate certificate programs in nutrition. Other emerging programs, currently under preparation, include an undergraduate degree in community health, a master's degree in nutrition science, and programs related to public health, behavioral health, and rehabilitation science.

The department also houses a Visiting Scholars Program that allows international scholars to join temporarily the College of Health and Human Services to interact with our faculty and programs and to develop liaisons for the development of research in the health sciences.

Mission

The Department of Global and Community Health (DGCH) is an academic department within the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) at George Mason University, and as such it echoes to the college’s overall goals. Specifically, the educational mission of DGCH is to provide introductory and advanced degrees in health-related disciplines centered in global and community issues. Its research mission is to promote and develop solid and meaningful research programs that help define and address health issues and the needs of affected populations at the regional and global level. Its service mission is to increase the awareness of these problems, enhance health-promoting information, and collaborate with other organizations toward enhancing community, national and international health.

Goals

  • Increase student enrollment of DGCH academic programs.
  • Increase visibility of all DGCH programs at the local, national, and international level.
  • Improve the quality and rigor of all DGCH academic programs.
  • Develop new academic programs in response to the needs of the university and external community as specified by the Health Commission Committee’s Report.
  • Increase research productivity through securing competitive funding, providing mentorship to students and junior faculty, and offering research projects to students who desire them.

Five Year Goals

During the period 2006-2011 the Department of Global and Community Health will have:

  1. Developed a system to track departmental prospective, current, and graduating students by the spring of 2007. Also have developed an efficient contract system for student practica.
  2. Increased student enrollment in all programs.
  3. Established new programs including degrees in community health (by fall 2008), pre-health professions (to be named) (by fall 2007), rehabilitation science (by TBD), behavioral health (by fall 2008), nutrition (by fall 2010), a certificate in health care coordination will be created (by fall 2008), and a doctorate in gerontology (by fall 2011).
  4. Developed the necessary core elements related to DGCH for the establishment of a public health school by the fall 2009 (and those elements will be ready to move into the school of public health by the fall 2011).
  5. Increased external funding through increased student FTE’s, increased grants received, and increased development funds to assist in achieving the priority goals of the department.
  6. Increased quality and rigor of existing academic programs.