The Esperanza Center is hosting virtual ESOL sessions for community members in the Summer 2020.  This is a great opportunity to stay involved with the community and learn valuable skills while at home!

Participating students can enroll in the Community Service & Learning  Practicum 096 through The Shriver Center! Please see the info below and email elgrose1@umbc.edu to enroll and for more details!

Opportunity info!

We invite you to sign up now to volunteer for our next online adult ESOL session, May 18-June 25 (only training first week). The major change is that you will be paired with one student for the whole 5-week session. Please read on for the details.

Adult ESOL Online May/June Session Details:

Trainings: May 18-21 (Attendance at one online training required for new and returning volunteers)

Session: May 26 – June 25, 2020 (5 weeks)

Schedule:          

Monday, Wednesday 10am-11:30am

Tuesday, Thursday 6:30pm-8:00pm

(Volunteers, choose one or more of these 4 days when you sign up)

Cost to students: $20

Location: Zoom

Technology expectations:

Volunteers must have a computer, stable internet connection, and the ability to use the following features of Zoom during your teaching: share screen, annotate, and chat. If, after the training, you are not fully comfortable with using these features, we invite you to wait until we’re back in person to continue volunteer-teaching. 

Class length:

Classes will be 90 minutes long instead of 1 hour, based on feedback from some students and volunteers.

Please use this link to sign up to volunteer.

**Meet Brian and Larry. They have decided to apply for a URA Award. "There are three different awards this year," noted Brian, who was interviewed while blow drying his luxurious hair. "You've got the usual award, open to all majors and worth up to $1,500 and then you've got the Social Science award and the entrepreneurship award. Pretty amazing opportunity. And the deadline isn't until May 15th, so we've got plenty of time!" "Really does help us with our research," added Larry, who was interviewed while combing his mustache. "And you can even apply as a group!" URA’s provide up to $1,500 to undergraduate students to support their research or creative work with a UMBC faculty mentor on an original project. UMBC students of all years and disciplines are invited to apply, as long as they will remain enrolled at UMBC long enough to complete the proposed work.**

This Friday, May 1st @ 4pm, The Career Center is hosting an Info Session about The Choice Program at UMBC, presented by Halley Thompson, Personnel Coordinator with The Choice Program.  Founded  30+ years ago by Mark Shriver (one of Eunice Kennedy and Sargent Shriver's children), this not-for-profit organization is administered by The Shriver Center.  In these 30+ years, Choice has engaged, mentored, trained, and advocated for young people.   The overarching program goals are to disentangle young people from the juvenile justice system and to strengthen youth and family ties to the community through increased educational and vocational opportunities. 

The Choice Program is currently seeking candidates to fill mentoring and advocacy AmeriCorps positions (UMBCworks 9311182). The Choice Program utilizes a community-based, family-centered approach in order to promote positive outcomes for young people and families in Maryland. Our AmeriCorps Members serve as advocates and work to connect families to self-identified, needed resources and reinforce a strengths-based, anti-racist, approach to youth development.

For more info about this Friday's session and to RSVP, go to

Education Abroad Post: 

UMBC and its Office of International Education Services continue to actively monitor the outbreak of COVID-19.

As you may know, UMBC has suspended all university-related domestic and international travel. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department have issued travel advisories for the entire globe at this time. Given the current situation, and out of an abundance of caution, we have made the difficult decision to cancel education abroad programs for Fall 2020. 

This means that you will no longer be able to participate in your study abroad program this fall. Please contact your program provider about their refund or deferment policies. 

This is extremely disappointing news for all of us. However, this decision is based on the latest guidance available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is being made with your health and safety as our highest priority.
If you have submitted an external application for a non-UMBC study abroad program, you will need to notify your program coordinator as soon as possible. If you enrolled through UMBC, we will notify your program. 

We hope to resume study abroad activity as soon as possible and will continue to monitor the COVID-19 and health conditions around the globe. Our staff is ready and able to assist you with withdrawing or deferring your application, or advising you on future program opportunities. 

One such opportunity is offered during Summer Session 1 (4 week): GLBL 409 - Global - Local. This is a special offering that has been devised as an option for Global Studies majors who had applied for summer or fall 2020 study abroad. It will count as the Global Experience requirement for that group of students. It is also open to others outside of the GLBL program who might want a dose of cross-cultural content, albeit in a virtual format.