Patriot Connect: We Hear Your Concerns
The Patriot Connect Program’s leadership team has heard a lot of feedback regarding the system. Some has been positive, and some has made us aware of items that hinder work. In the spirit of transparency, one of our core values, we are sharing highlights of what we are hearing below. We take your feedback seriously and are working to actively address all issues:
- Application windows are slow to load
- Application process has too many windows and clicks
- Deferred and Reconsidered Applications are not actionable
- Login buttons and text are small
- Some users do not have appropriate levels of access
- Data integrations continue to have errors
The status of these known issues can be viewed at plan.connect.gmu.edu/feedback-tracker. If you are experiencing issues or have feedback on Patriot Connect, please submit a case via the Patriot Connect Support Hub. Applicants and current students in need of support can continue to submit cases to the MSSC Support Desk. This information can be found on the Support page of the Patriot Connect program website along with helpful training resources; we recommend bookmarking these links for easy access.
Patriot Connect Fall Micro-Trainings
We hope you are having a successful start to the semester. There is just under one month left to take advantage of micro-trainings for Application Reviewers and Application Processors. If you were unable to attend live, end-user training held in April or July, or you simply would like to refresh your knowledge and skills in Patriot Connect, consider signing up for a micro-training.
The instructor-led micro-training sessions, which will last approximately 30 minutes, are currently being offered twice a week through October 15 with content specifically for Application Reviewers and Application Processors. Watch the Microsoft Teams Patriot Connect Training Community for training announcements and register in MasonLEAPS for these virtual sessions hosted in Microsoft Teams. To register:
- Login to MasonLEAPS.
- From the Learning menu, select Events Calendar.
- Click on the session you wish to attend to view the session details.
- Click the Request button to register.
As a reminder, all Patriot Connect: Recruitment and Admissions users are also required to complete self-guided introduction training before utilizing the system.
Transitioning to the Patriot Connect Program Office
In March 2026, George Mason launched a new Patriot Connect Program Office to provide ongoing support for the platform. The office provides oversight and coordination for program administration and governance, including long-term strategic planning, risk and issue management, budget and resource oversight, vendor management, change management, and Salesforce Center of Excellence activities. It also oversees platform enhancements, user support, and maintenance activities to ensure Patriot Connect continues to deliver value for George Mason students, faculty, and staff.
We’re pleased to share with you the members of the Patriot Connect Program Office team:
- Charlie Spann, who served on the Patriot Connect Executive Committee since 2023 leads the office as Assistant Vice President.
- Khurram Siddiqui serves as director of customer relationship management and is responsible for overseeing centralized Salesforce administration. As part of this change, Salesforce administrators from Enrollment Management were moved under Reeti Bibhuti, who was promoted to Salesforce Support Manager.
- Michelle Barr, along with her team members Chanel Figueroa and Jon-Michael Odean, have transitioned from Enrollment Services to the Patriot Connect Program Office to provide organizational change management support.
- Samantha Greenberg and Bradley Morris, who served as product owners for University Life and the Costello College of Business, respectively, during the implementation phase, have joined the Patriot Connect Program Office as product owners to represent the needs of Student Success and Recruitment and Admissions.
- Karmanpreet Gill from the Salesforce Center of Excellence, Sonya Sonneman from Enrollment Management, and Amber Shackleford from University Life, have also moved to the Patriot Connect Program Office to serve as business analysts.
We are excited to welcome these members to the team and will continue to share updates as structure and governance for the office is finalized. .
ICYMI
In Case You Missed It
- Identify when your unit is scheduled to gain access to Patriot Connect
- Patriot Connect Micro-Trainings for Application Reviewers and Application Processors
- Where to go for Patriot Connect Support
- Join the Patriot Connect Training Community on MS Teams
- Patriot Connect FAQs
- Did you know you can find last month’s update on the Patriot Connect program website?
Please share the sign up form with your colleagues who are interested in staying up to date with Patriot Connect.
For more information, explore the Patriot Connect website.
As always, we welcome your feedback.