The end of the spring semester is upon us, and we are speeding toward Commencement! As our students complete final projects and exams, and as our graduating students prepare to head out beyond UMBC to begin their next chapters, I want to extend my congratulations for everything you have accomplished during this semester and year.

 

It has been a challenging set of circumstances in which to have achieved so much, and that makes me especially grateful—to you and to UMBC. So, with this end-of-semester message, I want most of all to express that gratitude directly.

 

I am grateful to the entire UMBC community for caring for one another and for this great institution; for sharing your ideas and your feedback for how to make our community even better; and for showing up in pursuit of our academic mission and in service in so many places where you have been needed. Your work, your voices, and your care matter so much and are valued so deeply. Thank you. 

 

To our faculty and staff, I would take that one step further. I am grateful to you for continuing to deliver the world-class education that our students expect and deserve, despite the many challenges, both on campus and in our world, that could have disrupted or distracted us from this core mission. You kept teaching, you kept mentoring, you remained in service to our students and our mission throughout, and, as a result, our students have continued learning and stayed on their educational paths. 

 

Our shared governance leaders—students, faculty, and staff—are deserving of our gratitude as well, for taking on vexing issues while continuing to attend to the critical day-to-day functioning of our shared governance system. I am also grateful to all those who have taken on roles in the monumental process to prepare for our Middle States Commission on Higher Education accreditation evaluation. 

 

My thanks to the co-chairs of this effort—psychology Professor and Chair Anne Brodsky, Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Dauwalder, and Associate Vice Provost for Institutional Research, Analysis, and Decision Support Connie Pierson—as well as to the many individuals who are participating in myriad working groups and committees in support of this process. Your dedication will set a course for UMBC’s continued excellence. 

 

I am grateful for and moved by the overwhelming support we continue to see for UMBC from within the campus community; from our alumni, parents, and friends; from the University System of Maryland; and from across the state, including elected officials. They all know, as I do, that UMBC is an extraordinary and special place, and they are with us on the journey to create UMBC’s future. 

 

It is a bright future, to be sure, and I am excited for what lies ahead in the near term, including welcoming our new provost and new vice president for communications and marketing this summer, and moving forward together into strategic planning in the next academic year. 

 

As I reflect on our path together these last several months and imagine all that is ahead for us, I am truly grateful to be here, in this role, at UMBC, at this moment in the history of this institution and our world. I am privileged to serve this university, one whose values are clear and unshakable, and one whose impact on individual lives and on the public good is truly transformative. I am honored to continue to move UMBC forward with all of you. 

 

Sincerely,