As UMBC is in the midst of its 50th anniversary year, the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) is reaffirming its commitment to inclusive excellence, teaching and research across disciplines, and civic engagement while laying the groundwork for the future success and growth of the college.

Dean Scott Casper presented the first “State of the College” address last month to CAHSS faculty and staff to reflect on the college’s significant accomplishments over the last several years and to establish a vision for what CAHSS wants to accomplish in the years ahead.

In his presentation, Dean Casper outlined the three hallmarks that are central to the college and university’s mission of research, teaching and thinking across boundaries, and civic engagement. He explained how the college is immersed in cutting-edge research across disciplines, establishing connections in teaching and research across a range of departments and programs, and upholding the civic engagement mission through guiding students, faculty, and staff in their efforts to become better citizens of the world and local community.

As the college has grown significantly through the hiring of 50 new faculty members at all ranks over the last three years with 280 full-time faculty, 200 adjunct faculty, more than 100 staff members, 5,000 majors in the college and 1,000 graduate students, Dean Casper explained that CAHSS has been actively engaged and committed to the university’s inclusive excellence mission.

“We are driving the university forward on creating a more inclusive faculty. If you think about the faculty who we’ve hired over the last several years, an increasing percentage of our faculty are people of color. More than sixty percent of our new faculty are women. We have taken seriously the university’s mission of having faculty that reflects in many ways our student body,” shared Casper.

College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences faculty have also been moving into new leadership positions on campus. Tyson King-Meadows, associate professor of political science, is now an associate dean in CAHSS and began in that role back in July.

“I am very excited about this new opportunity to serve,” shared King-Meadows. “I look forward to working with alumni, faculty, students, staff, and our community partners on projects aligned with the strategic plan and that support the missions of the College and UMBC.”

Kimberly Moffitt, associate professor of American studies, has moved into a new leadership role as president of UMBC’s Faculty Senate. “This is a big role with very large shoes to fill because of the great work of my colleagues who have held this role previously,” she said. “But I’m indeed honored to have the opportunity to serve the university in general, but more importantly, the faculty by representing their voice in our shared governance system.”

Education Professor Sarah Shin was appointed special assistant to the provost for academic initiatives earlier this year. She will assist the provost in the design, management, and communication to campus stakeholders of special projects originating from the provost’s office working collaboratively with faculty, college deans, academic affairs support units, and shared governance bodies.

Other recent appointments include Bruce Walz, professor of emergency health services, being named special assistant to the provost for strategic initiatives and Economics Professor Robert Carpenter‘s appointment as associate provost for analytics and institutional assessment.

The new leadership positions for CAHSS faculty exemplify the growth and achievements of the college in recent years. In his State of the College address, Dean Casper said that there is still plenty of work to be done through continued recruitment of a diverse faculty, increasing the number of students in the college, building on community and extended connections, and continuing to engage CAHSS students, faculty, and staff with work in Baltimore City and the surrounding region.

“We are not just 22 departments and 13 programs and centers. We are one college, and we are working together to make each other’s worlds better as well as the world around us,” he said.

For the latest on news within the college, visit cahss.umbc.edu.

Image: Scott Casper presents the 2016 College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences “State of the College” address. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.