GMU-TV

Off the Clock: Susan Kehoe unleashes the potential of service dogs in training

Lauren Reuscher — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:19:37 +0000

Off the Clock: Susan Kehoe unleashes the potential of service dogs in training Lauren Reuscher Wed, 12/03/2025 - 13:19

Susan Kehoe has worked at �鶹��Ƶ for more than 35 years. As executive director of academic strategies and senior executive producer for GMU-TV, Kehoe leads an award-winning educational television team whose work reaches audiences throughout Northern Virginia and around the globe. GMU-TV’s state-of-the-art facilities and staff provide the university with academic video content, live event production, and more.

A George �鶹��Ƶ alum, Kehoe earned her doctorate in communication and serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Film and Video Studies Program.

Through her work with GMU-TV, Kehoe supports public access to George �鶹��Ƶ’s learning opportunities, scholarship, and research enterprise.

Outside work, Kehoe opens doors and broadens the experiences of others in a different way. As a volunteer Puppy Raiser for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), she (along with her family) raises and trains service dogs.

CCI provides service dogs to people with disabilities, professionals working in hospitals, schools, and law enforcement, veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and individuals who experience life-threatening blood sugar fluctuations due to insulin-dependent diabetes.

Susan Kehoe (left) with GMU-TV staff and service-dog-in-training Enrique. Photo provided

How did you first get started training service dogs?

Over a decade ago, our high-school-aged son said he’d like a dog. We saw that request as an opportunity to teach responsibility, sacrifice, and charity. What appealed to us about CCI is the fact that their graduating dogs are provided to the recipients at no charge. My husband, son, and I drove to Medford, New York, to pick up Lennon. Since then, we’ve also raised Connor, Dawson, Carli, Colette, and Enrique.

How much time goes into training each dog?

We have each dog until they are one-and-a-half years old. Twice a month, we attend one-hour training classes. Between classes, our job is to teach and practice over 30 basic commands (example: sit, stay, down) and to introduce the pups to new people and experiences. Basically, share all the fun, love, and adventure life offers.

What is the next step for the dogs after you work with them?

After their time with us, we return the pups to CCI to work with professional trainers. Successful pups graduate in six to eight months and are placed in their forever homes.

Colette, service-dog-in-training, at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo provided

What has been the most meaningful or memorable experience you have had in this volunteer work?

My experiences range from the sad to the sublime. While raising Colette, my amazing husband passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. I found Mike and Colette in his office. Colette would not leave his side. She offered me peace of mind, knowing that Mike did not die alone.

The sublime is hearing from the forever homes. I receive cards and texts, updates on how the pups and their people are thriving together. These amazing pups change lives for the better.

What lessons have you learned?

Thanks to our involvement with CCI, my family—my children and grandson—and I have learned to treasure time—knowing you only have a year-and-a-half with each puppy makes every moment more special; that these pups open hearts—when we are out together, we are greeted with smiles and questions from folks wanting to know more about service dogs; that the amazing humans at GMU-TV are the world’s best dog aunts and uncles; and that the pain of saying goodbye is overshadowed by the pride of saying hello to the people with whom the pups match.

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After Virginia Votes to offer insider look at gubernatorial race

Mariam Aburdeineh — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 17:32:59 +0000

After Virginia Votes to offer insider look at gubernatorial race Mariam Aburdeineh Fri, 10/29/2021 - 13:32

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Mark J. Rozell

Schar School Dean Mark J. Rozell will be a panelist for the Nov. 9 event, "After Virginia Votes" held at �鶹��Ƶ. Photo by Creative Services/�鶹��Ƶ

Virginians will head to the polls on Nov. 2 to cast their vote for the state’s next governor. Once the results are in, campaign experts will be ready to analyze what went well—and what didn’t—with After Virginia Votes, a post-election discussion, held at �鶹��Ƶ on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m.

“After Virginia Votes offers the first insider and scholarly retrospective on what happened in the recent statewide elections,” said Schar School Dean Mark J. Rozell, a panelist for the Nov. 9 event. “Representatives of the campaigns offer candid views of how the key issues and candidates' strategies played in the election, and of what best explains the meaning the outcome.”

The discussion, hosted by the Virginia Public Access Project in partnership with �鶹��Ƶ’s Schar School of Policy and Government and Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Civic Leadership, is ideal for students and others interested in politics, as it provides a unique look at the inner workings of campaigns.

This year’s panelists include Republican Glenn Youngkin’s Senior Advisor Garrison Coward, Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s Senior Advisor Michael Halle, as well as Rozell and Quentin Kidd, director of the Wason Center. Julie Carey, Northern Virginia bureau chief of NBC4 Washington, will moderate.

After Virginia Votes will be filmed in front of a small studio audience on �鶹��Ƶ’s Fairfax Campus, and livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and GMU-TV at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9. Presenting sponsor Cox Communications will rebroadcast to viewers in Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, and Roanoke.

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GMU-TV wins six Tellys for videos showcasing research, student programs

Colleen Rich — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 09:00:49 +0000

GMU-TV wins six Tellys for videos showcasing research, student programs Colleen Rich Tue, 07/07/2020 - 05:00

�鶹��Ƶ’s GMU-TV was awarded six Tellys this year—two Golds, two Silvers, and two Bronzes—for excellence in the nonbroadcast/educational institution category for videos promoting the university’s research endeavors and programs. This is the most awards �鶹��Ƶ’s television studio has won in one year.

Three of the awards went to �鶹��Ƶ Research videos, which are part of a series GMU-TV created in collaboration with the Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Impact and the schools/colleges.

“We are very excited to be brought in to partner on the research videos and are very happy with how they turned out,” said Richard Wood, general manager and executive producer of GMU-TV. “This kind of collaboration is a perfect fit. There are so many brilliant and talented people at �鶹��Ƶ making real impact on our world, the opportunity to share their story to a wider audience is a privilege.”

A variety of GMU-TV staffers worked on the videos.

“Often we assign a lead producer and then other staff members serve as crew and in various roles from director of photography to editor,” said Wood, who has a BA in communication from �鶹��Ƶ.

“The �鶹��Ƶ Impact,” one of the videos winning a Gold Telly, was created by GMU-TV for the 2019 New Student Convocation in collaboration with the Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR). The team working on this video was Mike Kurec, Wood, Stacey Rathbun, Andy Riddle, and Jessica Riddle.

Also receiving a Gold Telly was “Concussion Biomarkers,” which is one of a series of videos that GMU-TV created for the �鶹��Ƶ Research series. This video focuses on the work of �鶹��Ƶ researchers Emanuel “Chip” Petricoin and Shane Caswell on diagnosing and monitoring concussions. Kurec, Wood, and Rathbun worked on this project.

Winner of a Silver Telly was another video in the �鶹��Ƶ Research series, “The Enslaved Peoples of George �鶹��Ƶ,” which focuses on the historical research being conducted by �鶹��Ƶ students on the men, women and children enslaved at Gunston Hall. Wood, Rathbun, and Mike Aitken worked on this video.

A profile of �鶹��Ƶ chemistry major Mosufa Zainab, “Mosufa: Fighting Superbugs,” also won a Silver Telly. Zainab, an OSCAR undergraduate researcher who was also featured in the "The �鶹��Ƶ Impact” video, discusses how her experiences in her native Pakistan drive her research into better antibiotics. It was produced by the same team as “The �鶹��Ƶ Impact” video.

Another video in the �鶹��Ƶ Research series, “Prosthetics Research,” won a Bronze Telly. This video focuses on the work being done by �鶹��Ƶ bioengineering professor Siddhartha Sikdar and his team at the Center for Adaptive Systems of Brain-Body Interactions to improve the function and quality of life of individuals with physical and psychosocial disabilities. Kurec worked on this video with Gloriana Wills.

“The Education Leadership Program,” a student recruitment video for the graduate program in the College of Education and Human Development, also won a Bronze Telly. The team on this project was Wills, Andy Riddle and Jessica Riddle.

“At its core, video is a storytelling medium and because of its ability to engage with an audience, video allows us to effectively communicate the implications of a �鶹��Ƶ researcher's work well beyond the world of academia,” said Wood. “It also allows our team at GMU-TV to flex their creativity muscles while getting unfettered access to some of �鶹��Ƶ’s greatest minds.”

Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards honors video and television made for all screens and is judged by the Telly Award Judging Council; a group of leading video and television experts from some of the most prestigious companies in entertainment, publishing, advertising, and emerging technology.

GMU-TV

Off the Clock: Susan Kehoe unleashes the potential of service dogs in training

How did you first get started training service dogs?

How much time goes into training each dog?

What is the next step for the dogs after you work with them?

What has been the most meaningful or memorable experience you have had in this volunteer work?

What lessons have you learned?

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After Virginia Votes to offer insider look at gubernatorial race

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GMU-TV wins six Tellys for videos showcasing research, student programs