Fall Opening Meeting Recording

Dear UMBC Community,

Thank you to everyone who attended last week’s Fall Opening Meeting, whether in person or virtually. 

If you were unable to join us, I invite you to watch the recording of the meeting. We covered several key topics, including updates on our incoming graduate and undergraduate classes, the impacts of federal actions and orders, a budget briefing, and an update on the upcoming rollout of UMBC’s strategic plan. We also recognized several new members of our UMBC community. 

It was particularly inspiring to hear remarks from three students who are starting at UMBC this fall: Saad Waqas, a first-year student and Sondheim Scholar; Sabirah Burt, a junior transfer student from Howard Community College; and Sydney Braithwaite, a first-year doctoral student in chemical engineering and one of our NSF Graduate Research Fellows. Learning about their journeys to UMBC is a meaningful reminder of the importance of our work. My thanks to Saad, Sabirah, and Sydney for sharing their stories with us. Please join me in welcoming them and all of our new students to UMBC.

The meeting was an uplifting and energizing start to our academic year. I am so proud to be starting my fifth year at this extraordinary institution. Thank you for all you do for UMBC.  

Sincerely,

President Valerie Sheares Ashby