Dear Colleagues,

 

What a fantastic start to the fall semester we had last week! If you know me, you know that the first day of classes is an especially joyful day for me, as I am sure it is for many of you. This year, as we launched the academic year, I saw joy in a great many students, faculty, and staff. There was palpable enthusiasm for the privilege we all enjoy of being in community here on campus and creating a future for UMBC together.

 

I am grateful to every one of you for your passion and commitment to UMBC and its bright future. I am grateful, as well, for the graciousness with which you have welcomed our new provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, Manfred van Dulmen (as you welcomed me two years ago). He and I could feel the energy and positivity as we walked around campus on the first day of classes, speaking with students, faculty, and staff, and visiting a class together. At the meet and greet he hosted that same day, I was delighted to see so many of you and inspired by the beautiful remarks Provost van Dulmen delivered, sharing his perspective on UMBC.

 

The year ahead is going to be one in which we set our sights high in supporting our students, our community, and our mission and vision for UMBC. Those of you who were able to attend the Fall Opening Meeting know this—and I have heard from so many of you since then about how energizing that event was! For those who could not attend, I am happy to share some highlights here, and I invite you to watch the recorded event.

 

In addition to officially welcoming our new provost, we introduced and welcomed two other new senior leaders: Tracey Reeves, vice president for university communications and marketing; and Tiffany Tucker, director of athletics, physical education, and recreation. As you will recall, we recently announced two other senior leadership appointments in Paul Meggett as general counsel and Jake Weissmann ’06 as vice president for government relations and community affairs. I could not be more excited about these appointments or more confident in the strength and wisdom of the team leading UMBC.

 

As you are likely aware, the state is facing significant budget challenges. Rest assured: We planned for and are prepared to absorb budget reduction requests that come our way this year. Neither the educational experience we provide, the research we advance, nor our commitment to community engagement will be affected, and that is owed in great part to your collective, careful stewarding of resources. Thank you!

 

Central to our ability to carry out UMBC’s academic mission is our accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. As we are being evaluated for our next period of accreditation, we hosted a peer evaluator team for a terrific campus visit in the spring, and our self-study has been very well received. My thanks to the provost’s office for leading the effort and to the scores of individuals who are participating in this enormous undertaking.

 

Last year at this time, we endeavored to advance toward strategic planning, knowing that a full process would need to include our new provost. The time for strategic planning is now upon us. Provost van Dulmen will soon launch a process and invite all of you to participate. We will be led by our vision and values as we build upon our history and imagine what is possible for UMBC’s future.

 

We are so very excited to have launched the UMBC Institute of Politics and to have appointed Mileah Kromer to lead it! This is a critical time in our world and a distinctive opportunity for UMBC to advance our work to strengthen democracy and civic engagement.

 

You will hear more soon about the exciting new partnership we have entered with College Track on a program with M&T Bank and the Baltimore Ravens to support Baltimore City Public School students on their journeys through high school and to and through college. We are honored to join this effort—part of College Track’s national mission to “democratize potential” and part of our deepening connection and commitment to Baltimore City.

 

This year, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Linehan Artist Scholars Program, is an apt occasion to launch a celebration of the arts! We envision a multi-semester interdisciplinary initiative across the arts that engages every part of our community and amplifies the arts at UMBC. A steering committee is in the early stages of planning this initiative; stay tuned for more.

 

In case you missed it, NASA has selected UMBC to develop one of the first three lunar instruments that will be deployed as part of the Artemis III mission to the moon! We could not be prouder that UMBC was the only U.S. higher education institution selected for this program. Mehdi Benna, a planetary scientist with the Center for Space Sciences Technology, is leading the effort to develop the instrument, which will continuously monitor seismic activity in the moon’s south polar region.

 

With so many exciting initiatives and events, there is no question that this is going to be a big year for UMBC! Thank you for all you do to support and advance this extraordinary community. My best wishes to you for a wonderful semester and academic year.

 

Sincerely,