4-VA – Advancing the Commonwealth

Modeling Green Infrastructure to Ensure Sustainability
Project Creates Professional Learning Series to Support Inclusive Classroom Coteaching
4-VA Team Applies Novel Technology to Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
NEH Expands 4-VA Piloted Project
Ethical Data Analytics: Investigating Data as a Pedagogical Practice for the Humanities
4-VA@Mason Funding Smartphone App to Support Transfer Students

4-VA@Mason

Growing Great Ideas in Education and Research

4-VA@Mason identifies and imagines the potential in small but bright ideas in education, research, and student success — and then provides opportunities for each to grow. What’s more, 4-VA nurtures those ideas collectively by connecting Mason faculty and students with the seven other universities in the 4-VA system – the College of William and Mary, James Madison University, Old Dominion University, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute and Virginia Tech. Together, we support a broad range of initiatives with resources to develop programs and pedagogies that advance educational design and research.

Furthering Education and Access

Grounded in Collaboration, Innovation, and Technology

The core purpose of 4-VA is to improve efficiencies in higher education and research and promote collaborations that leverage the strengths of each partner university. We know that by working together we can grow that spark of a great idea into bright results and reduce the redundancy resulting from working in separate silos. Our programs support four program areas – Collaborative Research Grants, Course Sharing, Course Redesign, and Degree Completion. Importantly, 4-VA represents the breadth of higher education backgrounds; monitoring trends in education and learning and allowing each of our endeavors to evolve and change as necessary. One overarching tenant of the 4-VA foundation remains constant, however, to embrace emerging technology to achieve our goals.

“4-VA@Mason is on top of the changing needs and goals in Virginia — we are nimble and can jump on a new challenge almost immediately. For instance, when the pandemic hit and we needed to move immediately to distance learning, we were able to purchase a campus wide Zoom contract which was critical to keep our students and faculty moving forward.”

Janette Kenner Muir, 4-VA@Mason Campus Coordinator

Agile and Current.

For Virginia citizens statewide – and especially for George Mason faculty and students – 4-VA@Mason offers a unique partnership that:

Produces Innovations in Education
Provides Opportunities for Collaborative Research Throughout the Commonwealth
Presents New Pathways for Degree Completion

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