UMBC has again been named one of America’s “Great Colleges to Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“We are a ‘Great College’ because of the people here,” says President Freeman Hrabowski. “This honor yet again affirms what we all know: UMBC is a place that supports people, values collaboration, and fosters trust, respect, and enthusiasm for educating our students.”

An annual survey by The Chronicle asks faculty and staff at institutions across the country to rank their workplaces on a host of factors. UMBC has made the list of “Great Colleges” for three years running. This year, it landed on the survey’s “Honor Roll” because it was ranked highly in seven categories:

• Collaborative governance
• Professional and career development
• Work/life balance
• Confidence in senior leadership
• Supervisor/department chair relationship
• Respect and appreciation
• Tenure clarity and process

You can read more on The Chronicle’s website. Congratulations to all our faculty, staff and students—you truly make UMBC a great place to work!

Julie Rosenthal of the Asian Studies Program was interviewed by Washington Jewish Week about her work fighting hunger in the community.

In neighboring Howard County, Julie Rosenthal, founder of the program Food on the 15th, is working with county parents and student volunteers to fight senior hunger while operating without any overhead. To date, Julie’s teams have delivered nearly 14,000 free bags of nonperishable regular and diabetic groceries and toiletries to low-income seniors right around the 15th of the month, when social security checks often run out.

“What people don’t realize is senior citizens don’t have transportation to food banks,” says Rosenthal. “These seniors look like you and me, but they’re hungry.”

U.S. News & World Report’s “STEM Education” blog recently featured President Hrabowski’s thoughts on the future of science, technology, engineering and math in higher education, including ways to develop a more robust pipeline for students and workers in those fields.

President Hrabowski, who was recently inducted into the magazine’s STEM Hall of Fame, was interviewed along with four other inductees. He spoke to U.S. News about the necessity for greater cooperation across spectrums. “Let’s knock down the boundaries between public and private sectors,” he said.

Doing so, President Hrabowski said, would help businesses better communicate exactly what they need in the STEM workforce, and universities could adjust their programs to incorporate more real-world problems. He also emphasized the importance of helping students with an interest in the STEM fields to stick with those programs of study, as opposed to continuing the current trend of many students leaving those fields before graduating.

“Two thirds of those who begin with a major in those areas are not making it,” he said. “And we assume that’s OK.”

Don Engel, assistant vice president for research, was interviewed in the August issue of Communications of the ACM, the primary journal for the field of computer science. Engel spoke about his participation in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) “Shredder Challenge.” Engel was half of the two-person team “Schroddon,” which was earned second place.

Over 1100 full-time employees contributed to the 2011 Maryland Charity Campaign, a participation rate of 70 percent, earning UMBC the Maryland Charity Campaign Governor’s Cup Award for Outstanding Performance for the fifth consecutive year.

John Jeffries, Shelly Graham and Terry Aylsworth presented the Cup to President Freeman Hrabowski.

Robert Deluty, associate dean of the graduate school, has published a new book of poetry, titled “Through Others’ Eyes.” In his review of the book, Dr. Ronald Pies states:

“If, as Marcel Proust wrote, the only true voyage of discovery is ‘to possess other eyes,’ then Robert Deluty envisions the world through the eyes of a multitude. This is best exemplified in his uncanny ability to enter into the world-view of the very young and the very old, as with ‘a fourth grader/ dreaming of statues sculpted/ in his honor’ and the ‘elderly chemist/ struggling to spell the word/ laboratory.’ As always, Deluty’s poetry does not judge–it appraises; his perceptions do not moralize–they empathize.”

Copies of “Through Others’ Eyes,” as well as of Deluty’s other books, are on sale at the UMBC Bookstore.

The one-year, post-baccalaureate Music Entrepreneurship Certificate Program is modeled around an innovative collaboration between UMBC and The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO). This marks the first time that a major American orchestra has collaborated with a university in a new academic program. With the BSO’s public education music program, OrchKids, at the center of the Music Entrepreneurship program curriculum, students will obtain practical experiences in entrepreneurial and educational ventures to make them successful twenty-first century musicians. Applications for Fall 2012 will be accepted through Friday, August 10.

For more information, click here.

Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Dr. Charles Brown appeared
on Maryland Public Television’s “State Circle” program on Friday, June 29.
Dr. Brown discussed the effect that Title IX has had on intercollegiate
athletics with host Jeff Salkin. The 30-minute program will be available
for online viewing at http://video.mpt.tv.

President Freeman Hrabowski has been named one of five inaugural inductees into the U.S. News STEM Leadership Hall of Fame, recognizing UMBC’s work advancing science education on campus, throughout Maryland and across the country.

Here’s what Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer of U.S. News & World Report, had to say: “Freeman Hrabowski is one of STEM’s brightest luminaries. His work at UMBC focusing on STEM is a true success story. Talk about filling the pipeline—Freeman turned UMBC into one of the country’s top producers of science, math, and engineering grads.”

That is a testament not just to leadership — but more importantly, to the vision, creativity and dedication of UMBC’s faculty and staff. It is also a testament to our partners, whose expertise and financial support have made UMBC’s successes possible.

On Friday, President Hrabowski joins business executives, philanthropists, policymakers and other educators at the U.S. News STEM Solutions 2012 Summit, an unprecedented gathering focused on one critical objective: creating a national consensus on the development of a STEM workforce.

As UMBC continues to address that pressing issue, the expertise and commitment of our faculty, staff, alumni and partners will be as crucial as ever. We are grateful for all you’ve already done and hope you share in our excitement about this honor.

From Ben Lowenthal, Associate VP, Financial Services and Charlene Hughins Uhl, Director of Budget and Resource Analysis, Financial Services

Financial Services and the Office of Budget and Resource Analysis are very pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Marlo Zeroth as Assistant Director of Budget and Resource Analysis in Financial Services, effective July 2, 2012.

Marlo has over twenty-nine years of experience in financial and budgetary analysis and application that spans the public and private sectors. He comes to UMBC from the Maryland State Treasurer’s Office, where he was the Deputy Director of Banking Services. He also worked in the financial offices of two former but well-known Maryland companies – Hechinger’s and Woodward & Lothrop, as well as at the top ranked auditing firm of Arthur Andersen & Company. Marlo received his Bachelor of Sciences degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park and earned the prestigious EW Sells Award ranking him among the top 100 scores in the country on the CPA exam. His accounting and budgeting background, data management skills, and experience in solving complex business problems will be valuable to UMBC in the years to come.

We are fortunate to have such an experienced accounting professional joining our team. Marlo will be located in the Budget Office; 3rd floor, Administration Building. He can be reached at mzeroth@umbc.edu or 5-2627. Please join us in giving Marlo a warm welcome to UMBC.