Welcome to April and all the signs of Spring! With warmer days, members of our community spend more time outside and a vibrancy emerges along with the spring flowers. We are over halfway through the semester, with LOTS of great opportunities left to unite and learn together. April brings a focus on change, stress, and mindfulness.
April is Stress Awareness Month. Instead of one Wellness Wednesday session, we will be holding a session each Wednesday in April (10:30-12:00) for an exploration of Stress Awareness: causes & impacts, stress management, stress at work, and creating a stress management plan. Come for as many as you are able.
Spring brings changes and transitions to our physical environment that we can see all around us. Change in our professional and personal lives aren't always as welcomed and our feelings about change can add to our stress. In April and May we lean into change and our reactions to it with two book discussion groups. First, we have a group based on the book Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, that is focused on "the human side of organizational change". This discussion is for managers and leaders and is led by Lynne Adams, CHRO, and Jill Wardell, Director of Workplace Learning, OD & Wellness. Second, we have a group based on the book Thriving Through Uncertainty: Moving Beyond Fear of the Unknown and Making Change Work for You. This group is for anyone wanting to learn more about moving through uncertainty and welcoming change. This discussion group is led by Melody Wright and Monique Conelius of the Workplace Learning, OD & Wellness team.
Mindfulness is a great resource to combat stress and uncertainty. Attached is a flyer announcing Community Mindfulness for Mental Health; mindfulness opportunities throughout April and May on Tuesdays and Fridays. These sessions are presented by a partnership between Human Resources and Retriever Integrated Health and are open to anyone in our community (students, faculty, staff). Registration for each session is individual, so sign up for those sessions that fit your schedule.
Other highlights this month include: two sessions of Violence Prevention: Behaviors of Concern; PMP Training for Supervisors; Effective Delegation; and Unconscious Bias.
Save the Date:
HR WEEK is coming the week of May 8th! Join members of Human Resources for sessions throughout the week. Topics include: recruitment and retention; benefits; giving effective feedback; work-life balance; leading hybrid teams, payroll topics, and more! Everyone will also have the opportunity for a virtual meet and greet with all of the HR staff so you can put a face with the name.
Retriever Talks 2023 is coming in May! Save May 17th 10:00am-12:00pm with a reception following from 12:00-1:00. More info will be forthcoming.
Please share this information with all that we may be able to serve.
Happy Learning!
Jill Wardell, Monique Conelius, and Melody Wright
UMBC Workplace Learning, OD & Wellness
]]>On March 1-2, 2023, we call upon Retrievers everywhere to join us for Black & Gold Rush, 36 Hours of Giving, by making a gift of any size to support any area that means the most to you. Our goal this year is ambitious -- 3,000 donors in 36 hours -- and every donation helps UMBC provide students with the tools they need to become leaders and to reach their full potential.
Retriever Integrated Health - Your gift helps support programs that help students, faculty, and staff to respond to student mental health needs, and programs to support student health and well-being. Please write in UHS and Counseling on the donation form. You can also donate at https://bit.ly/RetrieverIntegratedHealth23 .
In addition, please consider making contributions to other programs and initiatives with the Division of Student Affairs that support student health and well-being, help students become involved, and help students develop skills for leading others. We want every student to thrive at UMBC and as alumni.
Division of Student Affairs departments work together and with campus partners to support student health and well-being, including helping students to become involved, develop skills for leading others and creating a group of friends and community. We want every student to thrive at UMBC and as alumni.
As we return to the physical campus, we want to strengthen our community and ensure students have the support they need. This means finding ways to rebuild and expand our resources and programs.
What can we do in 36 hours? Contribute to #UMBC #BlackAndGoldRush and see what's possible when we work together. Here are a few of the ways you can support students:
Other Funds that Support Health and Well-Being
Peer Health Educators - Your gift helps support an internship program for undergraduate and graduate students to become nationally certified in health-related topics and provide programs for the UMBC community, especially students. Please write in Health Promotion on the donation form.
Retriever Essentials -Your gift helps eliminate the burden of food insecurity for UMBC members and connects them to ongoing support networks, in order to enhance their academic retention and career success.
Stay Black and Gold Emergency Fund - Your gift helps provide short-term financial assistance (tuition and fees) for current UMBC students who find it difficult or impossible to continue their education due to an emergency or sudden unforeseen circumstances.
Funds that Help Build Community
Campus Life Student Organizations- Your gift will help provide opportunities to promote student engagement through club and organization development and student leadership training.
Center for Democracy and Civic Life - Your gift will support students' participation in experiences that empower them to be effective and collaborative leaders and changemakers in their communities. These experiences include STRiVE and Alternative Spring Break.
Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (i3b) - In addition to supporting students finding belonging in identity-based spaces across campus, your gift will fund programs that help students develop the skills needed to dialogue across differences and become more equitable and inclusive community leaders. When you give to the i3b fund, you support programs like Interact Dialogues Program, Your Story Belongs Here programming, and annual graduation celebrations like the Lavender Graduation & Scholarship and the Multicultural Graduation Celebration.Individuals can also specifically support LGBTQ Outreach support and programming by giving to the LGBTQ Outreach fund.