Dear UMBC Community,

 

For the second time in less than a week, a local university community has seen its celebrations marred by gun violence. This time the incident occurred at Bowie State University, one of our fellow University System of Maryland institutions. While the two people injured in the shooting Saturday are not Bowie State students, the campus community is nevertheless feeling the impact of this incident. I have extended a message of care to Bowie State President Aminta H. Breaux, and I know that the entire Bowie State family is in our thoughts. 

 

As we advised last week after the incident at Morgan State, please avail yourselves of the support resources at UMBC as needed, including Retriever Integrated Health's mental health services and resources for helping others, as well as our Employee Assistance Program. Please also review our information and resources related to emergency management and make sure you are signed up to receive emergency alerts. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Dear UMBC Community, 

 

I write to share updates on two searches for key university leadership roles: vice president for communications and marketing and provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. 

First, I am pleased to announce that we are beginning the search for the vice president for communications and marketing. University Communications and Marketing, formerly part of the Office of Institutional Advancement, comprises a team of talented individuals dedicated to advancing our mission by telling the UMBC story and engaging diverse audiences and stakeholders here on campus, among our alumni, families, and friends, and externally in our local and statewide communities and the wider world. As this new division continues to evolve, we aim for it to provide comprehensive strategic leadership for the university in all areas of communications and marketing--to ensure that the world knows UMBC and the difference it makes in the lives of individuals, in the creation of knowledge, and in the advancement of an informed, equitable global community. The vice president will report to me and serve as a member of UMBC's senior leadership team. 

I am delighted that UMBC will partner in this search with Isaacson, Miller. My thanks to the following individuals who have agreed to serve on the search committee for this role: 

 

Vice President for Communications and Marketing Search Committee:

 

We will develop a position profile and begin recruiting very soon. We anticipate moving expeditiously to fill the role. Angela Paik (formerly Angela Paik Schaeffer) continues to serve in the role on an interim basis, helping to advise me and support the work of our communications and marketing team. 

 

Regarding the search for a permanent provost: As you will recall, we are extending that search in partnership with Isaacson, Miller. The search committee, whose members are listed here, continues to serve, chaired now by Linda Dusman, professor of music. Anupam Joshi stepped down as committee chair when he took on his new role as acting dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology. I would like to thank Anupam for his leadership and service on the search committee.

We expect to have a permanent provost by next summer. Interim Provost David Dauwalder will serve at UMBC through this academic year. My thanks to our interim leaders, Angela and David, and to all who will take part in these important search processes. 

Sincerely,

 

Dear UMBC Community,

 

Our care and support go out to the Morgan State University community after last night's shooting on campus that left five people injured. Through colleagues, friends, family members, and neighbors, we are closely connected to Morgan State, and I know our colleagues throughout Baltimore and across Maryland are likewise extending their support to Morgan State President David Wilson and everyone in the Morgan State family.

 

For any members of our community who may need support, I encourage you to please find help through the counseling resources and other forms of support available to you, including Retriever Integrated Health's mental health services and resources for helping others. The UMBC Employee Assistance Program provides counseling services to staff and faculty. Please do not hesitate to reach out for help. 

 

This also is a moment to review our information and resources related to emergency management and make sure you are signed up to receive emergency alerts. 

 

Please take care of yourselves and hold the Morgan State community in your hearts today.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dear UMBC Community,

 

As I said at my inauguration in the spring, there is much to celebrate in reflecting on UMBC's journey and the institution it has become since its founding in 1966. Over the decades, UMBC has become a national model for inclusive excellence, a comprehensive Research 1 public university, and a welcoming learning community that engages actively in advancing our surrounding neighborhoods, the state of Maryland, and the wider world. We are inspired and propelled by our shared values and a shared vision for UMBC. 

 

We have the vision. The time is now to take up the challenge of setting a course to realize that vision. Over the coming year, it will be our collective endeavor to articulate a set of strategic aims for the university. We launch that effort officially today, and you will hear more in the coming days and weeks about the process by which we will invite your broad engagement--first in helping to determine how we will go about the work of strategic planning, and then in developing the plan and its aims. I have met this month with shared governance leaders and asked for their partnership in this effort. 

 

Our strategic planning will be informed by the UMBC Bold Campus Conversations we convened last spring--listening sessions facilitated by students, faculty, staff, and alumni and attended by more than 1,000 members of our community. I am pleased to share with you the final report from those listening sessions prepared by our Bold co-chairs, Professors Vandana Janeja and Michelle Scott, and Vice President for Institutional Advancement Greg Simmons. It is a terrific summary of the sessions, which explored our aspirations for the undergraduate and graduate student experience, the research enterprise, economic development, community engagement, and more. I am deeply grateful to our co-chairs and to all who facilitated or participated in those sessions. 

 

If you did not participate, do not worry: You will have many opportunities to engage in strategic planning. The Bold conversations were critical for our collective listening and learning, but they were just a beginning. As we move forward with strategic planning, we will look to continue to engage every part of UMBC and to hear diverse perspectives and voices from throughout our community. 

 

Why bother with strategic planning, you may ask? The process of developing strategic priorities can unite a community, and a strategic plan that is grounded in our specific purpose and values can serve as a consistent reminder of who we are and what truly matters. It can engage all our audiences--our stakeholders, our neighbors, and our prospective students, families, and employees--in understanding and joining us in service of our purpose. 

 

And articulating our purpose is both important and urgent in today's world, when the value of higher education is questioned daily; when the public mission of our institutions can easily be forgotten; when diversity, equity, and inclusion are positioned aggressively as barriers to excellence, rather than integral to it; and when a liberal arts approach to education is essential to solving the complex challenges of today and tomorrow. We have not only the opportunity, but also the responsibility to continue the pursuit of our vision to redefine excellence in higher education, and, as we do so, we will communicate to our community and to the world the extraordinary, distinctive value of our beloved UMBC.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dear UMBC Community,

It is my great privilege to share the news that UMBC has again--for the 14th consecutive year--been recognized in the Great Colleges to Work For program, and that we were among just 11 institutions nationwide (and one of only two universities with the Research 1 Carnegie Classification) to excel in all 10 recognition categories.

Of course, it comes as no surprise to me that UMBC would be recognized nationally time and again for its workplace community and culture. We are fortunate, indeed, to come to work each day propelled by the worthy and noble mission to serve our students, our state, and the wider world through the transformative education we provide and the knowledge we create. I am grateful every single day for this extraordinary community, and I thank all of you who took the time to participate in this year's Great Colleges to Work For survey.

The program, run by ModernThink, recognizes colleges that create great workplaces and is based on employee ratings and participation rates in ModernThink's faculty/staff survey. Nearly 200 institutions participated in this year's program, and UMBC received recognition in all 10 categories, including job satisfaction; professional development; compensation and benefits; well-being; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and more.

You can see all the details about UMBC's recognition on the Great Colleges to Work For website. Thank you for all you do for UMBC, and congratulations on this high honor!

Sincerely,