In This Story
Brett Josephson, Associate Dean for Executive Development and Associate Professor of Marketing within the School of Business, was recently named Associate Provost for Learning Initiatives and Executive Director for George Mason University’s Continuing and Professional Education (CPE), reporting to the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. He had been serving as interim since April 2022.
“I am honored to be entrusted to lead Mason’s Learning Initiatives efforts and to further position Mason as a premier educational partner for individuals and organizations in the DC region and beyond. I look forward to working with my colleagues across campus to bring Mason expertise and thought leadership to market and establish the University as the major engine for workforce development, executive education, and professional growth” he said.
Mason Learning Initiatives, through CPE and working across the Mason Enterprise, is designed to support colleges and units across campus by doing work in the non- and for-credit space using non-traditional approaches. Specifically, its current portfolio provides educational opportunities to over 4,500 students for new technical knowledge, industry-based micro-credentials, and professional certificates. It also plans and implements nearly 300 programs a year in condensed, schedule-friendly formats — making it one of the largest units on campus in terms of headcount.
As Associate Provost, Josephson and the Learning Initiatives ecosystem will serve academic units as a collaborator and engine for success by helping to create a model that builds strategic partnerships for open enrollment, identifies institutional training and upskilling opportunities, and supports academic units in developing federal and corporate training contracts.
Currently Mason is one of the largest providers of talent to the federal government and Josephson envisions Mason’s Learning Initiatives growth as a reflection of the university’s mission of access to excellence that will aid more people in the Commonwealth and region along their educational journey.
“While Mason is the provider of choice for government agencies seeking to upskill or retrain their workforce to remain competitive today and, in the future, I want Learning Initiatives and CPE to be the front door for industry and government to engage with the university,” he said.
An example of the power of building a collaborative network is the recent selection of Mason as a training provider for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), providing support for the federal government’s 140,000-person strong financial management workforce, known as Fed140k initiative. Done in collaboration with the School of Business (SBUS), and focusing on a variety of offerings across the university, Mason was one of eight educational partners selected, and one of only two universities (the other being Columbia University), to be chosen. The government estimates providing nearly $140 million dollars in funding per year for this workforce development initiative and this selection identifies Mason as a trusted learning partner, providing opportunities for innovative course work and new student populations.
“The GSA initiative allows us to leverage the excellent programs Mason already has in SBUS and CPE, and also continue to grow and expand our offerings moving forward,” Josephson said.
“We are very pleased to have Dr. Josephson serving in the Provost Office and overseeing Continuing/Professional Education for Mason,” said Janette Muir, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, “In his interim role he addressed critical issues in CPE, rebuilt the infrastructure, and created significant new partnerships. He is the right person to implement a new design that places CPE as the engine that supports innovative learning initiatives across the university. We are excited to see what this new model with yield for Mason’s future.”