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E-Waste 101: Inside George Mason’s Recycling Process with Kevin Brim & Colleen Regan

This Earth Month, Information Technology Services (ITS) is highlighting an often-overlooked waste stream: electronic waste, or e-waste. With support from our partners in Facilities Campus Operations(F&CO), we met with Colleen Regan, Zero Waste Mason Program Manager, University Sustainability, and Kevin Brim, Waste Recycling Supervisor, Facilities Services Logistics, to get a behind-the-scenes look at the recycling process for our old devices once they’re no longer functional. One of the biggest takeaways… Continue reading

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Operational Updates

May 2026
- Microsoft 365 Storage Update: Beginning Monday, May 18, Microsoft 365 (M365) Outlook emails that are 90 days old or more located in the Deleted Items folder will be tagged for permanent removal on a rolling basis. To prepare, review your Deleted Items folder and evaluate your data with University Records Management Resources. If there are deleted items you want to keep, please move them to another Outlook folder or another appropriate storage space, such as OneDrive or SharePoint. For more project details, see the M365 Storage Roadmap.
- Adobe Update: This summer, changes to Adobe licensing will take effect following a new enterprise agreement and recent updates to Adobe’s higher education licensing model. As a result, existing Creative Cloud licenses will transition to Adobe Acrobat Studio, George Mason’s new standard Adobe platform for faculty and staff, emphasizing creativity, accessibility, efficiency, and automation. Impacted users have been contacted directly, with more information to come for the larger community this fall. For more details, see New Adobe Products.
- Outlook Phish Reporting: If you receive a phishing email in your George Mason Microsoft Outlook account, you’ll now be able to report it directly. Right-click on the email, pick ‘Report’ and select ‘Report Phishing.’ When the selection is made, the phishing email will be reported to ITS and Microsoft simultaneously. When reported, ITS will post an alert and notify recipients. Microsoft will use the information to strengthen our filters and block phishing. For more information, see Reporting a Phishing Email in Outlook. If you are not using Microsoft Outlook, phishing emails can be sent to [email protected].
- Patriot Connect: George Mason University’s next phase of Patriot Connect is officially underway. As of May 1, the first wave of spring 2027 graduate applications is live. This launch builds on the success of Release 1 introduced in April 2025, and advances George Mason’s vision of a unified, end‑to‑end student engagement platform. Patriot Connect replaces fragmented systems with a centralized, data‑driven experience that supports students from first inquiry through graduation. With intuitive applicant portals, streamlined application processing, and mobile‑friendly document management, Release 2 strengthens visibility across the student journey and enables timely, personalized support—delivering a more connected, inclusive, and impactful experience for the entire Mason community. A special thanks to the following ITS teams for their roles in meeting this important milestone:
  - Banner Central Support
  - CISO/Risk Management
  - Database, Middleware & ERP Support
  - Enterprise Applications Software Development
  - Enterprise Automation Team
  - Enterprise Collaboration Services
  - Enterprise Data Integration Services
  - ITS Finance
  - ITS Support
  - Web Applications & Services

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