As UMBC celebrates its 50th anniversary, the university has a chance to reflect on its young but textured past. A new exhibit in Special Collections, Presidents, Past & Present: A Biographical Portrait, explores the lives and leadership of UMBC’s five university presidents and chancellors. These hardworking, intelligent men came from various backgrounds and achieved extraordinary success despite some facing tremendous odds. The personality and passions of each of these leaders has seeped into the character of UMBC, creating the diverse, bright, creative and entrepreneurial community that can be seen today. The exhibit includes the Ralph Coats Roe Award gold medal, awarded to Dr. Hrabowski by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2015.

Presidents, Past & Present is curated by Tucker Foltz, a graduate student in Historical Studies. Materials are from the University Archives and Special Collections department. Exhibit assistance was provided by archivist Lindsey Loeper, and Special Collections student assistants Krystyna Dyadyura, Rakshith Gowda, and Jenn Montooth.

On display in the Special Collections Reading Room, March 1 - April 1, 2016. Available Monday-Friday 1-4pm, Thursday 1-8pm, or by appointment.

PROMISE Maryland’s AGEP  and The Graduate School at UMBC present the following event for Spring 2016:

The 2016 Graduate Student Seminar on Leadership

A Discussion with Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, President of UMBC 

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

1:00 – 2:15 PM

Lunch will be served at 1:00

Talk will begin at 1:30 PM. Everyone needs to be seated by 1:25 PM.

LOCATION: The Sports Zone, located on the Mezzanine/2nd floor of  The Commons (Student Center)

UMBC Campus, Directions & Parking – Park in the Commons Drive Garage (map, location F7), Visitor parking is available at metered garages located at Administration Drive, The Commons Drive and Walker Avenue. Please page down to the comments section below for more detailed directions.

REGISTER/RSVP

UMBC Community: Please RSVP on MyUMBC: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/38780

Guests: Please RSVP by providing your name and school/organization in the comment section below.

This event is free, but you will need to register.

As part of our PROMISE AGEP-T alliance with the University System of Maryland, graduate students from any school within the USM may attend. Guests from other schools are also invited as part of our commitment to provide graduate students with professional development. Faculty and staff are also invited to attend.

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More about Dr. Hrabowski:

• UMBC page: http://president.umbc.edu/
• TIME: The 10 Best College Presidents        |     TED talk: Four Pillars of College Success in Science
• White House Appoints Hrabowski to Commission
• PBS Tavis Smiley Interview   |    60 Minutes Interview    |     Books on Amazon

University of Maryland President Freeman A. Hrabowski speaks at the Justice Department’s Black History Month celebration March 2, 2010 in the Main Hall of the Justice Department in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Background: The first UMBC graduate student success seminar with President Freeman Hrabowski was held in 2004 as a result of a request from then public policy graduate student, Robert Alexander. Robert graduated soon after that first seminar.  His work and research with the Centers for Disease Control has since reached national attention as Dr. Alexander was a leading contributor to the U.S.’ first federally funded anti-smoking campaign (Journal article in The Lancet, Article on Health Communication, Article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.) Dr. Alexander’s work with the Tips from Smokers campaign produced “shocking, but effective videos” according to the New York Times.  Dr. Alexander returned to Maryland to be a Mentor-in-Residence for the PROMISE AGEP during the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI) in August 2013.   Dr. Alexander was a member of the first cohort of the PROMISE AGEP Peer Mentors for UMBC, 2004. He is currently the Director of Business Development for the Battelle Health and Analytics Business Unit, and still collaborates with the CDC (Read more about Dr. Alexander on Batelle’s website here.) We thank Dr. Alexander, whose request as a PhD candidate, launched the plans for our annual present-day Presidential “Pathways to Leadership” seminar for graduate students.

This Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, as part of the 2016 Annual PROMISE Research and Professional Development Symposium, there will be a 2 hour workshop that is specifically dedicated to discussing faculty diversity in STEM. Dr. Nancy Shapiro, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the University System of Maryland will bring the opening remarks, and the keynote speaker will be ACE Fellow and TED speaker, Dr. Talithia Williams, Mathematics Professor, from Harvey Mudd College in California.  Following Dr. Williams’ talk, Dr. Autumn Reed, Director of STRIDE at UMBC (the Committee on Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence) will lead facilitate a faculty diversity round table discussion that will involve graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty mentors. The round tables, sponsored by UMBC STRIDE, will feature faculty who will talk candidly about faculty diversity, provide details about the faculty hiring process, and share strategies for preparing to become a competitive faculty candidate. Some of the faculty will be looking for future candidates for the faculty. As an example, one of the guests, Dr. Ron Metoyer, Associate Professor and  Assistant Dean of Diversity and Special Initiatives, from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, is being sponsored by the College of Engineering at Notre Dame, and hopes to build relationships with students and postdocs that will inspire them to apply for the ongoing open positions at Notre Dame. 

PROMISE AGEP-T Professional Development Workshop:

A Forum on Faculty Diversity in STEM

Friday, February 12, 2016

Rever Room – Alumni Hall, Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, The University of Maryland College Park 

7801 Alumni Drive, College Park, MD 20742

Stadium Drive Parking Garage (digital pay stations), next to the Riggs Building, $3/hour

1:30 – 3:30 PM 

Welcoming Remarks: Dr. Nancy Shapiro, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University System of Maryland, Chair of the William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation. Dr. Shapiro is the author of “Powerful Pedagogy: Learning Communities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and “Learning Communities: Renewing a Commitment to Civic Engagement,” in J.A. Galura et al (Eds.) Engaging the Whole of Service-Learning, Diversity, and Learning Communities. Ann Arbor: OCSL Press, University of Michigan, 20-25. Dr. Shapiro participated as a speaker for the PROMISE Research Symposium in 2015, and was a special guest for the Fall 2015 PROMISE workshop for STEM faculty.

Part I: Special Guest Speaker, Dr. Talithia Williams, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Harvey Mudd College, ACE Fellow: 

You are the Solution to Faculty Diversity: Real Talk About Preparation and Readiness.

Read the PROMISE post about Dr. Williams.

Part II: Round Tables with Faculty: Faculty Diversity: Preparing for Faculty Positions in the USM and Beyond. 

Moderator: Dr. Autumn Reed, Director of STRIDE, and Program Coordinator for Faculty Diversity Initiatives, Office of the Provost, UMBC

Faculty will lead round tables. Several of the faculty will be providing advice for submitting strong applications for current or upcoming faculty searches: 

• Dr. Anita Komlodi, Department of Information Systems, UMBC
• Dr. Jane Turner, Department of Physics, UMBC
• Dr. Kevin Omland, Department of Biological Sciences, UMBC STRIDE Professor
• Dr. Ronald Metoyer, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Assistant Dean of Diversity and Special Initiatives
• Dr. Mark Lewis, School of Operations Research and Information Engineering, Cornell University, Associate Dean for Diversity and Faculty Development
• Dr. Tyson King-Meadows (invited), Co-Chair of the Executive Committee on the Recruitment Retention and Advancement of Underrepresented Minority Faculty, Associate Professor of Political Science and Affiliate Faculty in the departments of Public Policy and Africana Studies, the Honors College and the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research.
• Dr. Chris Murphy (invited), Chair, Department of Psychology, UMBC STRIDE Professor

For more information on applying for faculty positions, and preparing competitive applications, read the “Operation Flood the Gates” post by the PROMISE Director. 

Photo: Dr. Tyson King-Meadows, Co-Chair of the Executive Committee on the Recruitment Retention and Advancement of Underrepresented Minority Faculty at UMBC, works with students at UMBC. Photo credit: http://news.umbc.edu/

UNIT: REFERENCE - REFERENCE STUDENT - WEB ASSISTANT

Purpose:Provide support for Reference Department by assisting with web-based tutorial development activities, compiling data, and producing reports.

Reports to: Sarah New, Web Services Librarian

Duties:The Reference Student - Web Assistant will assist the Web Services Librarian by:

• Assisting with the design, creation, and editing of online tutorials

• Compiling results of assessment activities and assisting with other special reports

• May also have the opportunity to participate in and provide support for various other reference-related projects.

Skills required:The assistant should have technical competence with computers and databases, and experience with media creation and/or screen capture creation software, such as Adobe Illustrator, TechSmith Camtasia or Adobe Captivate.

Preference will be given to applicants who have experience recording audio using software such as Audacity; or who have graphic design and/or animation experience.  Applicants will be asked to share a portfolio of their work.

Schedule:Up to 10 hours per week during the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters; work hours are somewhat flexible.

Pay Scale:$10.25 per hour

To Apply:Contact Sarah New by e-mail: snew@umbc.edu or phone: 410-455-1551