The Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s work builds from the idea that all of us, and the ways we pull together to address challenges and create our shared future, truly matter. Today we are releasing the November November 2021 edition of Community Matters, a monthly newsletter that offers a window into this work. Read on to discover ways you can get involved and connect with each other.

For an alt text version of the November 2021 edition, click here.

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a six-day immersive learning experience in which participants explore the systemic and human dimensions of complex social issues in Baltimore. Participants build connections with local leaders, organizations, and policy makers and develop a sophisticated understanding of available resources and challenges. The program helps participants identify pathways to long-term community engagement. 

ASB 2022 groups will focus on:

• Immigrant Health Equity (led by Dominique Henriques Melo and Mokeira Nyakoe)
• K-12 Educational Equity (led by Diane Stonestreet and Polina Kassir)
• Transformative Justice (led by Mulan Bell and Wendy Zhang)

ASB 2022 will take place from March 20-25, 2022. You can find more information, including in-depth topic descriptions, on the application form: here. The application is due November 22, 2022 by 11:59 p.m.

Contact the Center for Democracy and Civic Life at civiclife@umbc.edu with any questions.

Hello GSOs,

Please read the below information in regards to reminders, updates and new changes that will affect event planning and the submission of funding requests.

The Graduate School and GSA want to make it clear that event planning for the entire year still requires significant pre-planning due to the space and safety requirements of COVID. 

• Reserving space on campus has become extremely limited and there is currently a 14 day hold for reserving space. Please make sure that you are planning ahead of time for both Fall and Spring events

• Please refer to the university guidelines on hosting events linkedhere. Specifically, if you are planning on having more than 50 people for an in-person event, you must discuss it with your Vice President or Dean.  

• The Grants Review Panel is requesting that GSOs submit allocation requests forms at least 2 weeks in advance. The committee needs sufficient time to look over and discuss the request prior to approving it 

• Effective Spring Semester 2022: All allocation requests must be submitted at least one month in advance in order to be considered for funding. The Executive Council made this decision based on this semester’s requests and the new update can be found here. 

• If you are requesting food from on campus providers, please make sure you are giving them ample time to prepare an order. Many of the caterers are requesting at least a week notice, but it is always better to request earlier

• These are the approved methods currently for on campus food services:

• Individually wrapped, pre-packaged snack items

• Individually prepared, boxed meal options provided by one of the approved caterers

• Sit down catered meal prepared by and served by an approved caterer

• Pizza is allowed as long as there are designated servers that are masked and gloved.

If you have any questions or concerns about any of these updates, please reach out to gsa@umbc.edu 

Best,

Zane Poffenberger 

Community Liaison