Meet the Patriot Connect team members supporting you and the George Mason community as we adapt to Patriot Connect Release 1: Student Success and continue into Release 2: Recruitment and Admissions. Discover their roles, what motivates and inspires them, and a fun fact or two.
Get to know David Burge!
Name:
David Burge
Role at George Mason University:
Vice President for Enrollment Management, Office of the Provost
Role on the Patriot Connect Team:
Salesforce Executive Committee (SEC) Member for Enrollment Management
Q: What does being on the Patriot Connect team mean to you?
A: I am awestruck by the institution-wide effort that is the Patriot Connect project and I am filled with immense gratitude to the individuals who give so much each and every week to make sure it is a success. Being on the Executive team carries significant responsibilities to advocate both for our students and our staff—looking for solutions that will work for everyone, even if they are not obvious at first. I am excited that we will soon be able to use a robust, enterprise-wide engagement tool to enhance the Patriot experience for all of our students and staff.
Q: What excites you the most about Patriot Connect?
A: Personally, I am excited to learn about areas of the university that I don’t know much about—coaching and advising as two examples. Professionally, I am excited to see the creativity that our university community will bring to using this new, powerful tool. More than both, however, I am excited about the way that we are going about this implementation—with a holistic lens, developing something new with the input of all types of users, and better connecting technical staff with functional staff to make better decisions.
Q: How do you see Patriot Connect helping George Mason?
A: As Mason has grown and expanded—we only had 33,000 students when I joined the Mason community 10 years ago—all manner of processes and services have needed to change. We often have been limited by our technical tools or ability to configure those tools to meet the contemporary expectations of our students. I see Patriot Connect helping Mason break down silos between offices, leveraging automated communications to nudge students with just-in-time notifications, and better connect students to the really great things that Mason already does to encourage student success.
Q: What is your goal for Patriot Connect?
A: The immediate goal is to not lose a step while we build something bigger and better than what we have now. We have had to invest lots of time and energy into this project already and I think everyone has done a great job keeping the lights on while building something new. Five years from now I hope we are asking ourselves if we were able to do the work without Patriot Connect—feeling as though it is central to the Mason experience as Banner and Canvas have become.
Q: What is your favorite George Mason tradition?
A: My favorite Mason tradition is the annual painting of the benches by our student organizations—I seem to learn about a new club/organization each time I walk to Sub1 or the Johnson Center. I have worked at three other public universities and I have encountered nothing close to it.