Dear UMBC Community, 

 

We write today to once again address the need for respect and civility among our community. This comes as we are hearing reports and seeing for ourselves incidents of disrespectful behavior and antisemitic messages posted across campus and on social media. These include conduct during a recent Student Government Association (SGA) meeting and recent student demonstrations on campus and antisemitic posters displayed in violation of our university posting policy. 

 

We will hold accountable those who violate university policy, and we encourage the continued reporting of any incidents of harassment or bias through the Office of Equity and Civil Rights’ online reporting form, by emailing ecr@umbc.edu, or by calling 410-455-1717. We also want to remind the entire community that the freedom for individuals to express themselves is not absolute: All members of the community—students, faculty, and staff—are expected to adhere to university policies and procedures, including UMBC’s policy on discrimination and equal opportunity. We will not tolerate speech or behavior that creates a hostile environment for others or that denies or limits individuals’ access to our educational programs or activities on the basis of race, religion, national origin, or other protected categories. 

 

The behavior of some individuals at last week’s SGA meeting was particularly disappointing. The meeting was held to address a resolution that asked the university to boycott and divest from “entities complicit in the violation of Palestinian human rights” and to actively protect “Palestinian students and their allies as they advocate for justice for the Palestinian people.” Although SGA leadership asked audience members to respect our community standards and provided specific expectations for the meeting, some in the audience chose to engage in behaviors that were unacceptable—disrespectful to those testifying, as well as to the SGA. For the SGA to truly represent the undergraduate student body and advocate for it within our system of shared governance, its processes must allow for a multitude of voices and viewpoints to be heard and considered—not silenced by peers. 

 

Campus Life staff is actively and regularly engaged with SGA and will continue to support its members as they remain dedicated to their roles in shared governance. Additionally, we continue to work with our religious organizations and Religious Council to provide care and support and co-create a vision for the future that builds bridges across communities of differing beliefs and identities. With regard to campus protests and demonstrations, we have improved and clarified our safety protocols to ensure the well-being of all community members. And our student conduct and community standards team stands ready to address violations of the student code of conduct, including behaviors that disrupt the functioning of the university and that target specific individuals or threaten the physical safety of community members. 

 

To foster greater understanding of the First Amendment-protected freedom of speech, we are providing educational sessions for students, faculty, and staff. Sessions for student leaders begin today, Monday, March 11, and we will offer additional sessions throughout the semester. Efforts are also underway to implement targeted conversations and engagement to offer care and support and address specific faculty and staff needs.

 

Thank you for your partnership in making the UMBC community welcoming, inclusive, and safe for all. 

 

Sincerely,

Dear UMBC Community, 

To enhance vehicle security on campus, the UMBC Police Department will provide steering wheel locks free of charge to students, faculty, and staff who own Hondas or Infinitis. This initiative follows a recent nationwide uptick in break-ins and thefts, as well as thefts of airbags and catalytic converters. Locally, Hondas have become a particular target, with the driver's side window being broken and airbags being stolen from steering wheels. 

UMBC Police will distribute steering wheel locks and other safety enhancements on a first-come, first-served basis from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting today, February 9, and continuing next week, February 12 through 16. Please bring your vehicle to the trailer located in the back of Parking Lot 8 and be prepared to show your registration and UMBC ID. 

Additionally, vehicle owners are advised to take the following precautions:

Sincerely,

The UMBC Police Department will be assessed by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) February 12 through February 14, 2024. An assessor will examine all aspects of our policy and procedures, management, operations, and support services to verify our compliance with professional standards.

 

The assessment is part of the voluntary process required to achieve accreditation, a highly prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence. UMBC Police achieved initial accreditation in 2016 and reaccreditation in 2020.

  

As part of the assessment, and on an ongoing basis, university employees and members of the community are invited to offer comments related to the department's compliance with professional standards, engagement in the service community, delivery of public safety services, and overall candidacy for accredited status.

 

Public comment can be given via the CALEA portal on the UMBC Police website or submitted directly. 

 

An overview of the CALEA process, including the titles of standards, is accessible for your review. Please direct questions related to the accreditation to the accreditation manager at sm@umbc.edu. 

Dear UMBC Community, 

UMBC is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), one of six regional accrediting organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate all aspects of operations of its member institutions. UMBC received its original accreditation in 1966, and its status has been reaffirmed every 10 years, most recently in 2017. The university's next evaluation is set for 2025 - 26, and our work to prepare for this intense evaluation begins in earnest now. 

Accreditation affirms to our students and families, as well as to governmental entities and peers in higher education, that UMBC is providing a quality education. Accreditation is part of the lifeblood of any university, required for students to receive many grants and loans, including all federal loans, and to be eligible for various professional licenses upon graduation. It also is a necessity for institutions to receive federal grants and other funds. 

While there are processes specific to accreditation, at its core, this work will connect fundamentally to strategic planning, as we consider all aspects of the university and the education we provide. As President Sheares Ashby noted in her beginning-of-semester message, that work will continue this semester, informed by last year's Bold Conversations and what we have heard from shared governance leaders about how best to engage the entire UMBC community in the effort. 

As for accreditation, in advance of evaluation, each MSCHE-member institution prepares a comprehensive self-study examining all aspects of the institution--including modality of instruction and all academic programs and services--in line with a set of established standards. A team of higher education professionals, drawn largely from other MSCHE universities, serves as peer evaluators and conducts a campus visit to confirm the self-study. The peer evaluator visit to UMBC will occur over a three-day period in fall 2025 or spring 2026.

Developing the self-study and preparing for the peer evaluator site visit is a major undertaking. Our self-study process will be led by three co-chairs and comprise seven working groups, one for each of MSCHE's accreditation standards. The process will be overseen by a Steering Committee, with additional support from a Core Support Team and an Evidence Inventory Committee. 

Today, I am pleased to share with you the co-chairs of this effort, as well as the working group co-leads and committee membership identified to date. 

Working Groups and Co-Leads 

Each working group will have two or three co-leads--one administrator and at least one faculty member. Working groups will be charged with conducting a thorough review and evaluation of UMBC's programs, practices, and policies relevant to their specific MSCHE standards, MSCHE's criteria for the standards, and the MSCHE-defined evidence expectations. 

Co-leads: Damian Doyle '99, M.S. '16, Deputy Chief Information Officer; Barbara Smith, Program Management Specialist, Academic Engagement and Transition Programs; and a faculty member to be confirmed

Co-leads: Tanyka Barber, Vice President, Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer; Christine Mallinson, Director and Professor, Center for Social Science Scholarship; and Marcela Mellinger, Associate Professor, Social Work

Co-leads: Katharine Cole, Vice Provost and Dean, Undergraduate Academic Affairs; and Elaine MacDougall '99, Assistant Director, Writing Center, Academic Success Center

Co-leads: Jayshree Jani, Associate Professor, Social Work; and Renique Kersh, Vice President, Student Affairs

Co-leads: Elisabeth Arevalo-Guerrero, Senior Lecturer, Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication; and Peggy Re, Associate Provost, Academic Affairs

Co-leads: Animikh Biswas, Professor and Chair, Mathematics and Statistics; and Kathy Dettloff, Vice President, Administration and Finance

Co-leads: Anthony Johnson, Director, Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research and Professor, Physics and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering; and Laila Shishineh, Director, Academic Engagement and Transition Programs

Co-chairs and working group co-leads will be building out the working groups over the next few weeks, aiming for each to include seven to nine members. If you are interested in volunteering to serve on one of the working groups, please contact a co-lead for that particular group or one of the three co-chairs of the effort.

The Steering Committee will be responsible for overseeing the development of the required self-study document; ensuring that sufficient resources are available for the effort; and managing and participating in the site visit. Its membership will include the three co-chairs of the effort, the co-leads for each working group, and the lead for the Evidence Inventory Committee. 

The Core Support Team will help to organize, guide, and support the work of the Steering Committee and working groups. It will comprise the three co-chairs, a communications and logistics lead, a representative from the Division of Information Technology (Collier Jones '16, Campus Portal Architect), and liaisons between each working group and the Evidence Inventory Committee. 

The Evidence Inventory Committee will help identify and fulfill data and information needs of the working groups. Its work is already under way; key documents are being placed in the UMBC Knowledge Management Repository for use by working groups. 

The Evidence Inventory Committee membership includes: 

The most intense work for these groups will occur over the next 10 months. By mid-to-late fall 2024, each working group will submit a draft chapter to the Steering Committee, which will compile the chapters into a draft self-study report that will be shared with the campus community late in 2024 or early in 2025. We will seek the community's feedback on the draft and incorporate that feedback into a new draft version that will be shared with the MSCHE peer evaluation chair. The chair will make a preliminary visit to UMBC in late spring 2025 prior to the full evaluation team's visit. 

 

Steering Committee Kickoff Meeting

 

Campus Open Meeting with Terrance Peavy, Vice President, MSCHE: This open session will allow for questions about MSCHE accreditation and the process.

Self-Study Retreat: All members of the working groups, Evidence Inventory Committee, Core Support Team, and Steering Committee will meet to organize accreditation efforts.

This is an enormous undertaking, requiring the dedication and collaboration of many across the university. I cannot stress enough the importance of this work or my gratitude to all who will take part in it. I look forward to communicating with you as our work advances in the coming months. 

Sincerely,

Due to weather, UMBC closed its physical campus on January 16, effective 6 a.m. The campus will reopen on January 17 at 6 a.m. 

Essential personnel should report to campus as scheduled. Remote learning and telework will continue for those approved for telework. Non-essential personnel who are not approved for telework will receive paid administrative leave.

Winter Session classes will be remote.  

True Grit's will be open for lunch (11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) and dinner (5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.).     

UMBC Transit is closed today. 

To receive alerts about campus emergencies and weather-related campus closures, please sign up for UMBC Campus Text Alerts.

More information about campus closure policies is available here. 

Dear UMBC Community,

The longstanding legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is about justice, equality, and peace. As we commemorate today in his honor, let us not forget the sacrifices Dr. King made in his fight for racial equality and civil rights to ensure that we all have the ability to be ourselves and to be treated equally, respectfully, and most importantly, humanely.

As Dr. King's words remind us, "Change does not roll on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." Dr. King embraced an interracial, interfaith, and intercultural approach to forge strong partnerships, bridge divides, and usher in change. This is a roadmap for how we can individually and collectively live out our shared value of inclusive excellence.

As we celebrate a great man and his legacy, I remind us all to endure, persevere, and, above all else, be kind. I also encourage each of us to use today and every day to be in service to others. This was Dr. King's true legacy.

In continued partnership,