Dear UMBC Community,

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new shared inbox and centralized request system for the Office of the Provost-Academic Affairs to better serve the campus. This initiative is designed to streamline communication and ensure that your inquiries and requests are directed to the appropriate functions with Academic Affairs as efficiently as possible, and tracked internally for timely completion and response.

New Shared Email Address: academicaffairs@umbc.edu.

Centralized Request Form: We have also implemented a new Academic Affairs Request Form to better serve you. We encourage you to use this form for specific requests, which allows you to select a "Functional Area" (such as Assessment-Academic Program Reviews, Curriculum Development, Classroom Committee, Space Planning, General Inquiry) so that your inquiry is assigned to the relevant function/division.

We appreciate your partnership as we move to this organized system aimed at supporting UMBC's academic mission.

Best regards,

Anupam Joshi
Vice Provost and Chief AI Officer

UMBC's Center for Democracy and Civic Life in collaboration with the Graduate Student Association will host Dinner with Friends, an engaging, facilitated conversation that will connect you with other members of the UMBC community. The program will take place on April 29, 2026 from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. in the University Center, UC 312. The Center for Democracy and Civic Life will provide a catered dinner.

Attendees will be seated together in small groups and have the opportunity to participate in conversations in one of three topic areas:

• Transit access
• Student housing
• Graduate student employment

RSVP today to reserve your seat at this popular dinner program and select your conversation topic of interest!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email the Center for Democracy and Civic Life at civiclife@umbc.edu.

Private room available in a 2BHK townhouse for a male at Westland Gardens for a 3-month move-in, available from May to August. 

Fully furnished 2BHK townhouse: 

What you get:

• Spacious living room with sofa + TV
• Fully equipped kitchen (Oven, Microwave, Fridge, Dishwasher)
• In-unit Washer & Dryer
• Central heating & cooling
• Just a 1-minute walk to the UMBC bus stop
• Only 10 minutes walk to campus

DM for more information: +1-202-937-5716 or email me at IO95979@umbc.edu

Caring for others has always been central to who Maleeha Ahmed is. As the oldest of five children, she naturally stepped into caregiving roles early in life, supporting both family members and older adults in her community. Over time, she began to recognize that the work she had been doing informally for many years reflected the values and responsibilities of professional social work.

Balancing caregiving responsibilities and helping manage an accounting business with her husband of 26 years made returning to college challenging, and for many years her education was interrupted by family obligations. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ahmed realized how important it was to complete her degree and build long-term stability for herself. With renewed determination, she returned to school at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), where supportive faculty encouraged her to continue her academic journey.

Ahmed was introduced to social work during UMBC orientation by Kenneth Barron, assistant vice provost for academic advising and student success, who helped her see how the profession aligned with both her experience and her career goals. With his guidance, she chose to pursue social work alongside psychology and ultimately completed both majors after transferring to UMBC.

At UMBC, Ahmed found a welcoming community, especially among other adult learners balancing education with family responsibilities, especially within the social work program. Ahmed will continue her education at Salisbury University this fall in the Master of Social Work program, where she plans to focus on work with older adults and end-of-life care and counseling. 

Q: How did you come to be at UMBC? 

A: UMBC was always my first choice because it is close to home, which was important since I am a caregiver for my mother and needed to be available if she required support. I had started college several times over the years but had to pause because of caregiving responsibilities and family obligations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I realized how important it was for me to complete my education and build long-term stability for myself. That experience strengthened my motivation, and when I returned to school, I approached my studies with greater focus and determination. I completed my associate degree at CCBC and then transferred to UMBC to pursue a double major in psychology and social work. 

Q: What was different this time? 

A: This time I returned to school with a clear purpose and stronger self-confidence. Earlier in my life, caregiving responsibilities, especially caring for my father, made it difficult to continue my education. I also faced challenges as an ESL student returning to college after many years away. However, I eventually recognized that I had already developed strong problem-solving and leadership skills through running a business and supporting my family. That realization helped me believe in my academic ability and stay committed to completing my degree.

Q: How did your professors show their support?

A: At CCBC and UMBC, I was very fortunate to have professors who were supportive and encouraging throughout my academic journey. Their guidance helped me build confidence and stay motivated. I actually began by taking just one class at CCBC in 2022, but the encouragement I received from my professors made me feel capable and excited about learning again. That support played an important role in helping me stay committed and continue my education full time.

Q: What has your community been like here at UMBC? 

A: I found the campus community to be welcoming and supportive across different age groups and backgrounds. As an adult learner, it was especially meaningful to connect with other returning students who understood the challenges of balancing school with family responsibilities. We encouraged each other and became an important source of support throughout my time at UMBC.

Q: Why did you choose social work? 

A: I have always felt drawn to helping others, but earlier in my life I did not realize that social work was a professional field I could pursue. Through my involvement with my mosque, I supported several refugee families and saw firsthand the importance of family support and counseling services. That experience motivated me to return to school and begin working toward a degree in psychology at CCBC because I was interested in becoming a family therapist.

During orientation, I met Dr. Kenneth Barron, who introduced me to social work as a profession and explained that it would allow me to reach my goal of becoming a therapist more quickly. As an adult learner, time was an important consideration, and his guidance helped me see how social work aligned with both my experience and my career goals. With his encouragement, I added social work as a second major. His mentorship played an important role in my academic journey.

Tell me about your social work field work placement. 

I am completing my field placement at Vantage Point, a continuing care retirement community in Columbia. It has been a very meaningful experience, and I have been fortunate to work with two supportive supervisors, one in a clinical role and one in a community-based social work role. This has allowed me to gain exposure to different aspects of practice across the continuum of care for older adults. Through this placement, I have been developing skills in assessment, collaboration with interdisciplinary teams, and supporting residents and families during transitions. 

Q: What do you see your career being like when you get your MSW? 

A: After completing my MSW, I hope to continue working with older adults, particularly in hospice or end-of-life care. My field placement at Vantage Point has strengthened my interest in aging services and has helped me better understand the importance of providing emotional support to residents and families during times of transition and serious illness. Through this experience, I have seen how meaningful it is for individuals to feel supported, respected, and not alone during vulnerable stages of life.

My interest in hospice work is also shaped by personal experience. I once cared for a refugee woman with cancer in my home when her family was unable to provide support, and I stayed with her until she passed away. I have also been present with three people in my life at the time of their death. Those experiences helped me become more comfortable with end-of-life care and showed me how important it is for someone to be present and provide dignity and companionship during that time. 

Q: What benefit do you get from the close contact with people you’re caring for? 

A: Working closely with people has always felt meaningful to me because I value helping others feel supported, respected, and understood, regardless of their background or life circumstances. Social work feels like a natural fit for who I am because it allows me to combine compassion with practical support and advocacy. It gives me a strong sense of purpose to know that I am contributing in a way that makes a real difference in people’s lives.

Q: How are you preparing yourself to prioritize self-care in order to undertake a career like this? 

A: Earlier in my life, I often focused on caring for others without paying enough attention to my own well-being. Over the past two years at UMBC, I have learned how important it is to recognize my limits and take time to recharge so I can remain effective in supporting others. I now make space for activities such as walking, prayer, and quiet reflection, which help me manage stress and prevent burnout.

Q: How do you hope to look back on your working years? 

A: I would like to continue working for as long as I am able because helping others gives me a strong sense of purpose. Most importantly, I hope I will have encouraged people to be resilient, believe in themselves, and continue moving forward even during difficult times. 

Q: What would you tell people who think it’s too late to go back and finish their education? 

A: It is never too late to return to school. During my time at UMBC, I met many adult learners who were balancing family responsibilities and other life commitments while attending school full time, and their dedication was a constant source of encouragement for me. I also experienced how powerful mutual support can be. For example, a close friend and study partner I met at CCBC had been taking classes only occasionally, but seeing my commitment encouraged her to continue her education. She is now preparing to pursue her nursing degree. Experiences like this have shown me that people can inspire each other at any stage of life, and that with determination and support, it is always possible to move forward.

Jeremy Mayo ('17) is currently the Senior Director of Technical Production for the Sphere in Las Vegas. Sphere is a groundbreaking venue launched by the Madison Square Garden Company in 2023, featuring the world's largest video screen, over 167,000 speakers, and many other cutting edge production technologies. Sphere was recently named the #1 venue in the world of any size by Pollstar and other agencies.

Jeremy received a BA in Theatre from UMBC in 2017, focusing his studies in lighting design under Professor Adam Mendelson. Jeremy is proud to have been part of the Linehan Artist Scholar's program, administered at the time by Professor Doug Hamby, and recently helped pilot an alumni mentorship program through the scholarship.

Following his studies at UMBC, Jeremy worked as the Master Electrician at Florida Reperatory Theatre, and soon afterwards started his MFA in Lighting Design at the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he now volunteers as a member of the Dean's Advisory Council. Graduating in 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic, Jeremy pivoted his career to Hollywood working as a creative technologist at a boutique studio startup (XR Studios). There, he produced extended reality and augmented reality content for various artists and organizations such as Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Kid Cudi, Disney, NBC, Snapchat, Riot Games, and many others. In 2022, Jeremy left XR Studios to form a small consulting agency (Unclaimed Creative) with a friend and cohort from graduate school.

Jeremy credits his time at UMBC as the foundation for his career. Specifically, the accessibility and flexibility of the degree program gave him an ability to work professionally throughout the duration of his studies which provided a massive advantage in experience upon graduation. UMBC's close relationships with local organizations like the Everyman Theatre in Baltimore were also instrumental in opening doors to unique opportunities.

Jacob Mueller is an Architectural Lighting Designer and Consultant for Illuminations, Inc. serving Architects, Developers, and Interior Designers on both residential and commercial projects. Illuminations is an agency that represents best-in-class architectural lighting and design products from around the globe. In this role, Jacob became Lighting Certified by the National Council on Qualifications for Lighting Professionals.

"You’re probably thinking - but that’s not theatre. Architectural Lighting Design is all about focus, ambiance, and drama. The scenery rarely ever changes. People are still wearing costumes and moving through space. Triggers and Heaps abound. It’s 9-5 drama without the late nights and 10/12s. It’s lovely."

Before the current chapter in his career, Jacob served as a Project Manager for Barbizon Lighting Company where he managed theatrical lighting and rigging infrastructure installations across the Mid-Atlantic Region. Jacob managed high profile installations at The White House, The National Security Administration, The U.S. Naval Institute, The National Marine Corps Museum, The NEW Spy Museum, The American Indian Museum, The American History Museum, and The Kennedy Center.

Professor Adam Mendelson once explained lighting design with a fish tank metaphor noting 6 different perspectives. Lighting is hard to visualize and even harder to explain, so Jacob now finds himself using the fish tank concept in design meetings with his own clients. Jacob also credits Mendelson with the best advice he received while at UMBC. During an especially tense tech rehearsal, Adam pulled him aside and said, “You need to make decisions faster. Whether it’s the right decision or the wrong decision - it’s the only way you’ll know if you made a bad decision.”

In addition to his accomplishments in the theatre department, Jacob was also honored to be a Linehan Scholar and continues to be thankful for the unique opportunities it provided.

When Jacob isn’t working, he spends his free time fly fishing or lending a hand on the family farm back home in Easton, MD. Jacob resides in Washington, DC with his dog, Beasley.

Lloyd is an actor, musician and teaching artist working in the DMV. He is currently a Company member at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC) and a member of their Black Classical Acting Ensemble (BCAE).

After graduating, Lloyd initially found some work on camera in a few student films - theater was greatly affected by Covid-19 so he turned his attention to commercials and short films. He would eventually star in F^¢k 'Em R!ght B@¢k by Harris Doran which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was nominated for Best Short Film 2022 Grand Jury Prize and won several film festival awards. He was cast as Joseph Asagai in CSC’s 2021 production of A Raisin in the Sun, which led to a Helen Hayes recommended production of Keith Powell’s Sophisticated New Ones. His relationship at CSC would blossom to starring in the BCAE’s all Black production of Macbeth (matinee and a “remount” at Ellicott City), The Oresteia, Romeo & Juliet 1975, and the upcoming Mary Stuart (Spring 2025).

“UMBC was instrumental in getting me to where I am now in my career. I fondly remember Eve Muson’s words to me 'slow down-stand up straight'. I also reminisce about the roles I got to play at UMBC; they were usually against my “type” and I know now that the challenge was to expand my skillset. I am most grateful to Gerrad Alex Taylor, Eric Abele, Temple Crocker, Lynn Watson, Chelsea Pace and the faculty who genuinely saw me and encouraged me on this journey.”

The UMBC theater department is all over the DMV…seriously! And that is thanks in part to the individual artist's ingenuity, talent and skill but also to the professors who began fostering connections with industry professionals early. I remember auditioning for Noah Himmelstein (Associate Artistic Director of Everyman Theater), and attending a seminar by Vincent Lancisi (Founding Artistic Director of Everyman Theater) for Eric's Capstone class.

I felt very taken care of at UMBC and I fondly recommend our Theatre program to anyone who asks."

Four years of far-flung freelancing after graduation, Kaydin landed back home in rural Maryland with as much time spent working as a full time artist as he had spent at UMBC. His resume was strange and varied. From sound designing Shakespeare on California cliffs, to writing music while bartering with goat farmers, Kaydin’s dedication to the craft he learned at UMBC was a constant undercurrent to his artistic endeavors. Professor Adam Mendelson's words constantly echoed in Kaydin’s head: “follow your signal path,” a platitude of troubleshooting advice for audio engineers that doubles as a mantra. One must “follow your signal path” within.

Kaydin’s work came to a halt when multiple health concerns coalesced and asked him to come home and recover, his “signal path” rerouted. Physical therapy would need to be tended to every day for at least a year, which coincided with the choice to base himself in Frederick in both his career and personal life. The Maryland Ensemble Theatre had been an artistic home to Kaydin since early days of his freelance career, and the Weinberg Center for the Arts was hiring stage technicians to work shows at both the Weinberg and New Spire Arts. These three theatres occupy a single block of Patrick street in the heart of Downtown Frederick. Kaydin’s integration into the Frederick’s arts and entertainment district has proven mutually beneficial.“I fulfill an important niche of the artistic ecosystem here, and I’m really proud to say that what I learned at UMBC informs my artistic and technical work every day. I can fall back on my instincts knowing that they are coming from my education and I can trust them,” Kaydin says about his work downtown.

Kaydin Hamby is company member at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre. Past MET credits include Sense and Sensibility, The Three Swingin’ Little Pigs, Angels in America Parts 1 & 2, Revolutionists, Meteor Shower, Admissions, Circle Mirror Transformation (Sound Designer), Head Over Heels (Guitar 1), Christmas Carol, The Tempest (Audio Engineer). Kaydin is the musical director of MET Comedy Night's "Off Key: An Improvised Musical” where he provides guitar accompaniment for a group of improv performers (and a drummer!) to sing along to, which Kaydin describes as “basically the improv version of sound design.” His work as a stage technician and audio engineer at the Weinberg and New Spire Arts is ever-changing and demands close attention to detail. Kaydin knows that “a piece of genius forethought during load-in might save the show later that evening.” Kaydin can be heard around town with his guitar, writing his own music, practicing for Off Key, coming up with ideas for sound designs, or just taking a break from the noise.

To learn more about Kaydin and listen to samples of his work, go to KaydinHamby.com.

Tommy Malek is an award-winning theatre & film professional based out of Columbia, MD who specializes in the crafts of directing, acting, and design (wig & costume). Tommy proudly served as the Artistic Director of both The Maryland Theatre Collective [originally the purple light theatre company] from 2012 to 2024 and Silhouette Stages from 2017 to 2019, and has served as the resident wig designer at Classic Theatre of Maryland in Annapolis since 2021. Recent directing/choreography credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with Compass Rose Theater (nominated for seven 2025 Helen Hayes Awards including “Outstanding Director of a Musical” and “Outstanding Costume Design”), Spring Awakening, Agnes of God, RENT, and Little Women the Broadway Musical with The Maryland Theatre Collective, 9 to 5 the Musical with Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre, and Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein with Silhouette Stages. Recent/favorite acting credits include "Marvin" in Falsettos and "Tateh" in Ragtime the Musical: In Concert with Maryland Theatre Collective, "Man 3" in Putting It Together with Colonial Players (WATCH Award win for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical), "Emcee" in Cabaret with Silhouette Stages (WATCH Award win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical), and "Benny/Iona" in Del Shores’ Southern Baptist Sissies with Spotlighters Theatre. Currently, Tommy is playing “Mordcha the Innkeeper” (as well as understudying Tevye & Lazar Wolf) in Fiddler on the Roof with The Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre in Lancaster, PA, and after that, will be traveling to Princeton, IL to star as “Edna Turnblad” in Hairspray with Festival 56 this summer!

“Training with the Department of Theatre at UMBC laid an invaluable foundation for my professional life which still carries me through to this day. The program, led by its top-notch faculty and staff, instilled in me a strong sense of self as an artist, an exquisite technique in the craft of acting, and the abilities to explore, research, & keenly refine my work. I had the great fortune to witness and learn from some of the very best directors I’ve worked with to this day, and continue to utilize what they taught me now as a professional director and actor myself. The great Eve Muson’s frequent instruction “don’t pretend to do it—REALLY do it!” proved to be not only terrific guidance in acting, but words to recall and live by in every facet of one’s professional life. I am forever grateful to UMBC’s theatre program for all it has given me, and I will be a proud Retriever for life!”

Sanjana Taskar ('19) is currently in her last year of her MFA in Acting program at UNC Chapel Hill and will graduate in May. For the past three years, she has been a Resident Company Member with PlayMakers Repertory, one of North Carolina's premier and professional theatre companies on the East Coast.

Sanjana credits the UMBC Theatre department and its outstanding faculty as a cornerstone of why she wanted to continue her education in honing the craft of acting. Her cumulative experience at UMBC gave her the skills in approaching her graduate classwork with a sense of play and curiousity - and she lovingly carries the words of advice of all her undergrad professors as she embarks on each project.

Sanjana's last show in grad school was the world premiere of Bekah Brunstetter's (NBC's This Is Us; Broadway's The Notebook) The Game - a comedy about a woman's journey in navigating her misgivings about marriage, friendships, and video games. Sanjana plans to move to New York City - but hopes to return to the DMV often to continue to work in its vibrant theatre scene.

Learn more about Sanjana's work on her website: www.sanjana-taskar.com