Dear UMBC Faculty and Staff,

With summer in full swing, this edition of The UMBC Connection brings together a few updates, opportunities, and highlights from across UMBC.

You’ll find information on new federal policies, employee resources, research and athletics accomplishments, and opportunities to connect with the UMBC community this summer.

Opportunities & Events

Opportunities to attend, participate in, or engage with across the UMBC community.

• Your Story Belongs Here (June 30)
  Join UMBC's award-winning Your Story Belongs Here storytelling showcase, featuring students sharing personal stories about finding community and belonging on campus. Presented through a collaboration between the Center for Social Justice Dialogue and the Department of Theatre, the performance will also be recorded for Welcome Week 2026.

• When AI Joins the Course Design Team (July 8)
  Explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping instructional design and faculty collaboration in course development through this Online Learning Consortium webinar.

• Summer Group Fitness Classes
  UMBC Recreation is offering weekly group fitness classes throughout the summer. Classes are open to all fitness levels and take place Monday through Thursday through August 6.

Campus Updates

Important updates, planning efforts, operational information, and community news affecting UMBC.

• Important Federal Updates for the UMBC Community
  UMBC's Federal Orders and Actions Core Team recently shared updates regarding proposed federal grant regulations, immigration-related developments, and other federal actions that may affect research, international students, faculty, staff, and university operations.

• Alternate Work Arrangements Portal Launches in PeopleSoft
  The next phase of My WorkView is now available through the new Alternate Work Arrangements (AWA) Portal. Eligible employees can formally request, update, and route telework or remote work schedules entirely online through PeopleSoft.

University Milestones

Major achievements, recognitions, funding, and institutional accomplishments across UMBC.

• Professor Roberto Yus Receives Prestigious NSF CAREER Award
  Computer science professor Roberto Yus has received an NSF CAREER Award, the National Science Foundation's premier award supporting early-career faculty researchers. The award will support research advancing a "sensorless" Internet of Things through new approaches to sensor data management.

• UMBC Receives NSF Grant to Advance AI Competency
  UMBC faculty Rebecca Williams and Edward Dillon have received a four-year National Science Foundation grant to build partnerships, resources, and recommendations that help faculty and students develop AI-related competencies and prepare for an evolving workforce.

• Retriever Student-Athletes Earn All-America Honors at NCAA Championships
  Graduate student Ava Roberts earned Second Team All-America honors with an 11th-place finish in the discus throw, while senior Iosif Papa earned Honorable Mention All-America recognition for the second consecutive year at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

More from Across UMBC

Additional updates, resources, and community opportunities from across the university.

• Beyond Compliance: How MLLI is Redefining Inclusive Pedagogy
  Learn how faculty in Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication are embedding accessibility and inclusive teaching practices into language learning experiences for all students.

• P.A.W. Circle Mug of the Month
  The P.A.W. Circle, UMBC's faculty and staff giving community, has announced its 2026 – 27 Mug of the Month event schedule. Members are invited to connect with colleagues while supporting scholarships, academic programs, student support initiatives, and other areas across the university.

• UMBC Bookstore Annual Summer Sale
  The UMBC Bookstore’s online summer sale runs through June 30. Online orders placed after June 25 will be processed beginning July 2 while the store completes annual inventory.

Help Shape The UMBC Connection

As this effort continues to take shape, your feedback will help guide how we strengthen internal communications across the university. We welcome your input and invite you to share your feedback on The UMBC Connection.

If you would prefer, you are also welcome to reach out directly to Jessica McGroarty, Director of Internal Communications, at jmcgro@umbc.edu.

University Communications and Marketing

Hello, I'm a final year PhD student at UMBC looking to move close to campus (near the bus route) from August '26 to February '27. I'm looking for a shared accommodation or an apartment, ideally with a private bathroom. I love hiking, birding, reading, and trying new food. I'm easy to get along with and respectful of shared spaces. Happy to pass along a previous reference if required. Preferred rent is up to $820 per month.

UMBC CS PhD student Shubhashis Roy Dipta received a $20k Google Cloud research grant through the Gemini Academic Program to support his LLM agentic research in the final year of his PhD program. He is working with his advisor, Professor Francis Ferraro, to make Large Language Model-based systems more reliable. His dissertation research involves using reinforcement learning to address three areas where LLM-based systems currently fall short: complex multi-step reasoning, agentic LLMs and tool use, and multimodal AI systems using Vision-Language Models. He is currently spending his second summer in the Amazon Science (Alexa AI) division as an applied scientist intern.

Alfred Boakye first began thinking deeply about the care and well-being of elders and their families while caring for his centenarian grandmother, Margaret Nyarko, in his home city of Tema, on the Atlantic coast of South East Ghana. She was in charge of her essential self-care routine—bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring from sitting to standing, and continence—and more complex daily tasks necessary for independent living: medication management, meal preparation, transportation, and shopping. But even with her mobility, his grandmother lacked a social network. 

Acting as both a devoted grandchild and a caretaker, Boakye experienced firsthand the complexities of aging. He learned to respect his grandmother’s independence while finding ways to support her where she needed help. Boakye, now a UMBC gerontology Ph.D. student in the social, cultural, and behavioral track, notes that his grandmother’s children didn’t live with her, and her grandchildren didn’t understand her aging process. As her friends and siblings passed away, her social circle shrank. “I asked her what motivated her to stay at church for hours, and she says the church supports her, brings her communion, visits her, and brings her Christmas gifts.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in human resources at the University of Ghana, Boakye wanted to broaden his understanding of aging and caregiving. In 2021, he moved to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in gerontology at Georgia State University (GSU), where he met his mentor and master’s thesis chair, Jennifer Craft Morgan, professor and director of the GSU Gerontology Institute.

In 2023, the year his grandmother passed away and the year he completed his master’s at GSU, Boakye published his first aging-related article, “Does the Church Care? Assessment of Social Support Strategies on the Health and Wellbeing of Older Adults within the Tema Metropolitan Assembly-Ghana” in the African Journal of Ageing Studies.

Craft Morgan fostered Boakye’s interest in gerontology and encouraged him to continue his work at the doctoral level, leading him to UMBC’s gerontology doctoral program, which is an interdisciplinary program in collaboration with the University of Baltimore. “Professor Craft Morgan has held my hand from the day I started my master’s program and continues to do so today,” says Boakye. “I always feel privileged that I have her in my corner.”

Stigma of male caregivers

Boakye’s studies are also informed by his experience being the primary caregiver to his father. Before moving to the U.S., Boakye did the grocery shopping, cooking, and laundry for Stephen, his 76‑year‑old father. He became aware of the multiple obligations children have when caretaking for themselves, their families, and their parents, as well as the isolation that can happen, especially if you are a male caregiver.

At the time, Boakye saw himself as being a “helpful child,” a term associated with a Ghanaian proverb that states, “If they take care of you to grow your teeth, you take care of them to lose theirs.” The proverb is more than words—it is a way of life in Ghana, which reinforced Boakye’s caregiving role and emphasized what it takes to be a helpful child—one built on responsibility and reciprocity. But it’s easier said than done. “I had to juggle my ‘identity’ as a male caregiver in a historically patriarchal society with my caring masculinity,” says Boakye. “Caregiving is predominantly perceived as ‘women’s work’ in Ghana, and men who take on these roles are often stigmatized and labeled ‘Kojo besia,’ which translates to ‘man woman’. To avoid such labeling, I was hesitant to ask for help, despite the toll caregiving took on my physical and psychological well‑being.” 

Boakye presented his research and personal experience to the leadership of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) during their visit to UMBC this spring. Thanks to the UMB Provost’s Global Scholar Program, Boakye will be traveling to Ghana this summer to engage with male caregivers—to listen to their caregiving experiences, explore what these experiences mean to them, and co‑create resources to support them. He will use this research to finish his master’s thesis in applied sociology—Boakye’s third master’s degree.

Meeting Japan’s centenarians

In 2024, Boakye joined the Global Healthy Aging in Japan study abroad program, organized by Taka Yamashita, professor of sociology, anthropology, and public health and co-director of the gerontology doctoral program. The two-week program leads students through research, community centers, and historic sites in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo. Japan is known for its cutting-edge research and policy that supports the active lives of the world’s largest aging population and the highest number of centenarians. The students visited multigenerational living communities and centers that merge theoretical research with real-world practice and outcomes.

Boakye was not expecting that at a time when he was missing his grandmother the most, Kanagawa would make him feel like he was home in Tema. It wasn’t only that both Japan and Ghana operate on a similar collective familial care system focused on intergenerational living and inclusion, notes Boakye. It’s also the physical environment. “The buildings are close together, and people put chairs in front of their homes to talk,” says Boakye. “Older adults greet passersby, and people stop to have a conversation with them. They will tell you they are out for a little sun.”

A highlight of the trip for all the students was meeting a supercentenarian. The 110-year-old woman welcomed them and kissed each of them on the cheek. “All the students say that they were blessed to have this welcome and that she could still talk to us,” says Boakye. “It was really emotional for me. I just kept thinking of my grandmother.”

Boakye was also impressed by the Kanagawa ME-BYO approach to aging, which encourages monitoring vital signs using biomedical technologies. ME-BYO focuses on preventing and minimizing illness progression through programs that promote healthy behaviors such as a balanced diet, exercise, and social activities. “My experience in Japan has been one of the best things that has happened in my personal and academic life and in my career,” says Boakye, who wants to find a way to incorporate ME-BYO into his current and future caregiving research and practice. “This trip has equipped me with the cultural competence, literacy, sensitivity, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills needed to have a real-world impact in the field of gerontology.”

Looking Ahead

With five years of longevity research, Boakye now understands that his grandmother’s experience is common for many older adults in Ghana. He discovered in the 2021 Population and Housing Census of Ghana that adults 65 years of age and older make up 4.3 percent of Ghana’s population. However, he explains, the need for person-centred and geriatric care services has not kept up with the demand.

“I feel like I am now clearly connecting the dots between my experiences in Ghana, what I saw in Japan, and what I have learned in class. I am passionate about encouraging more men to engage and support the people they love, but also seek help when they need it,” says Boakye. He plans to finish his doctoral program in fall 2027.

“It has been a pleasure to watch Alfred’s research grow during his time at UMBC,” says Nancy Kusmaul, professor at UMBC’s School of Social Work, his dissertation chair, who Boakye works with as a research assistant. “He is committed to raising the voices of paid and unpaid caregivers who provide vital services to older adults and people with disabilities in the US and abroad. I am confident that he will continue to make significant contributions to the field.”  

He knows there is a long road ahead, but he is confident that he is on the right path. “I want to build culturally relevant and gender‑sensitive resources that support male caregivers, not only to improve their health and well‑being but also to amplify their voices when it matters most.” His grandmother, Margaret, continues to inspire Boakye’s work on how caregiving shapes the experiences of both the carer and the care recipient. 

Learn more about UMBC’s gerontology doctoral program.

Alfred Boakye first began thinking deeply about the care and well-being of elders and their families while caring for his centenarian grandmother, Margaret Nyarko, in his home city of Tema, on the Atlantic coast of South East Ghana. She was in charge of her essential self-care routine—bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring from sitting to standing, and continence—and more complex daily tasks necessary for independent living: medication management, meal preparation, transportation, and shopping. But even with her mobility, his grandmother lacked a social network. 

Acting as both a devoted grandchild and a caretaker, Boakye experienced firsthand the complexities of aging. He learned to respect his grandmother’s independence while finding ways to support her where she needed help. Boakye, now a UMBC gerontology Ph.D. student in the social, cultural, and behavioral track, notes that his grandmother’s children didn’t live with her, and her grandchildren didn’t understand her aging process. As her friends and siblings passed away, her social circle shrank. “I asked her what motivated her to stay at church for hours, and she says the church supports her, brings her communion, visits her, and brings her Christmas gifts.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in human resources at the University of Ghana, Boakye wanted to broaden his understanding of aging and caregiving. In 2021, he moved to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in gerontology at Georgia State University (GSU), where he met his mentor and master’s thesis chair, Jennifer Craft Morgan, professor and director of the GSU Gerontology Institute.

In 2023, the year his grandmother passed away and the year he completed his master’s at GSU, Boakye published his first aging-related article, “Does the Church Care? Assessment of Social Support Strategies on the Health and Wellbeing of Older Adults within the Tema Metropolitan Assembly-Ghana” in the African Journal of Ageing Studies.

Craft Morgan fostered Boakye’s interest in gerontology and encouraged him to continue his work at the doctoral level, leading him to UMBC’s gerontology doctoral program, which is an interdisciplinary program in collaboration with the University of Baltimore. “Professor Craft Morgan has held my hand from the day I started my master’s program and continues to do so today,” says Boakye. “I always feel privileged that I have her in my corner.”

Stigma of male caregivers

Boakye’s studies are also informed by his experience being the primary caregiver to his father. Before moving to the U.S., Boakye did the grocery shopping, cooking, and laundry for Stephen, his 76‑year‑old father. He became aware of the multiple obligations children have when caretaking for themselves, their families, and their parents, as well as the isolation that can happen, especially if you are a male caregiver.

At the time, Boakye saw himself as being a “helpful child,” a term associated with a Ghanaian proverb that states, “If they take care of you to grow your teeth, you take care of them to lose theirs.” The proverb is more than words—it is a way of life in Ghana, which reinforced Boakye’s caregiving role and emphasized what it takes to be a helpful child—one built on responsibility and reciprocity. But it’s easier said than done. “I had to juggle my ‘identity’ as a male caregiver in a historically patriarchal society with my caring masculinity,” says Boakye. “Caregiving is predominantly perceived as ‘women’s work’ in Ghana, and men who take on these roles are often stigmatized and labeled ‘Kojo besia,’ which translates to ‘man woman’. To avoid such labeling, I was hesitant to ask for help, despite the toll caregiving took on my physical and psychological well‑being.” 

Boakye presented his research and personal experience to the leadership of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) during their visit to UMBC this spring. Thanks to the UMB Provost’s Global Scholar Program, Boakye will be traveling to Ghana this summer to engage with male caregivers—to listen to their caregiving experiences, explore what these experiences mean to them, and co‑create resources to support them. He will use this research to finish his master’s thesis in applied sociology—Boakye’s third master’s degree.

Meeting Japan’s centenarians

In 2024, Boakye joined the Global Healthy Aging in Japan study abroad program, organized by Taka Yamashita, professor of sociology, anthropology, and public health and co-director of the gerontology doctoral program. The two-week program leads students through research, community centers, and historic sites in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo. Japan is known for its cutting-edge research and policy that supports the active lives of the world’s largest aging population and the highest number of centenarians. The students visited multigenerational living communities and centers that merge theoretical research with real-world practice and outcomes.

Boakye was not expecting that at a time when he was missing his grandmother the most, Kanagawa would make him feel like he was home in Tema. It wasn’t only that both Japan and Ghana operate on a similar collective familial care system focused on intergenerational living and inclusion, notes Boakye. It’s also the physical environment. “The buildings are close together, and people put chairs in front of their homes to talk,” says Boakye. “Older adults greet passersby, and people stop to have a conversation with them. They will tell you they are out for a little sun.”

A highlight of the trip for all the students was meeting a supercentenarian. The 110-year-old woman welcomed them and kissed each of them on the cheek. “All the students say that they were blessed to have this welcome and that she could still talk to us,” says Boakye. “It was really emotional for me. I just kept thinking of my grandmother.”

Boakye was also impressed by the Kanagawa ME-BYO approach to aging, which encourages monitoring vital signs using biomedical technologies. ME-BYO focuses on preventing and minimizing illness progression through programs that promote healthy behaviors such as a balanced diet, exercise, and social activities. “My experience in Japan has been one of the best things that has happened in my personal and academic life and in my career,” says Boakye, who wants to find a way to incorporate ME-BYO into his current and future caregiving research and practice. “This trip has equipped me with the cultural competence, literacy, sensitivity, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills needed to have a real-world impact in the field of gerontology.”

Looking Ahead

With five years of longevity research, Boakye now understands that his grandmother’s experience is common for many older adults in Ghana. He discovered in the 2021 Population and Housing Census of Ghana that adults 65 years of age and older make up 4.3 percent of Ghana’s population. However, he explains, the need for person-centred and geriatric care services has not kept up with the demand.

“I feel like I am now clearly connecting the dots between my experiences in Ghana, what I saw in Japan, and what I have learned in class. I am passionate about encouraging more men to engage and support the people they love, but also seek help when they need it,” says Boakye. He plans to finish his doctoral program in fall 2027.

“It has been a pleasure to watch Alfred’s research grow during his time at UMBC,” says Nancy Kusmaul, professor at UMBC’s School of Social Work, his dissertation chair, who Boakye works with as a research assistant. “He is committed to raising the voices of paid and unpaid caregivers who provide vital services to older adults and people with disabilities in the US and abroad. I am confident that he will continue to make significant contributions to the field.”  

He knows there is a long road ahead, but he is confident that he is on the right path. “I want to build culturally relevant and gender‑sensitive resources that support male caregivers, not only to improve their health and well‑being but also to amplify their voices when it matters most.” His grandmother, Margaret, continues to inspire Boakye’s work on how caregiving shapes the experiences of both the carer and the care recipient. 

Learn more about UMBC’s gerontology doctoral program.

Good afternoon,

I'm looking for packages for the several orders that were placed from Amazon for our Summer classes that started on Monday. The packages should have been delivered to campus by now.

The packages are addressed to Ella Sagan, 900 Walker Ave, Ste 101.

Also, we are missing one package for Bria Thorpe from DigiKey.

Please email me if you find it at esagan@umbc.edu.

Thank you in advance,

Ella

The UMBC Bookstore is running their annual summer sale. The in-person sale is active and runs through Friday, June 26. The online sale is active and runs through June 30. 

The Bookstore is physically closed from June 27 through July 1 to conduct their annual physical inventory. Orders placed after tomorrow, June 25, will be processed starting July 2.

Please see the attached flyer for more details. 

The UMBC Bookstore is running their annual summer sale. The in-person sale is active and runs through Friday, June 26. The online sale is active and runs through June 30. 

The Bookstore is physically closed from June 27 through July 1 to conduct their annual physical inventory. Orders placed after tomorrow, June 25, will be processed starting July 2. Be patient, turnaround times on the online orders may take a little longer due to higher volume during the sale. 

Please see the attached flyer for more details. 

Dear Colleagues,

Please be advised that the official guidelines on fund balance management have been finalized and added to our online resources tab. We encourage all relevant stakeholders to review these materials to maintain alignment with our current financial practices.

The comprehensive document is now available for download on the OPSSC Resources Page.

Should you have any questions or require further clarification regarding these guidelines, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Sincerely,

The OPSSC Team

In any major IT modernization project, the secret ingredient isn't just the technology; it’s the grit of the people behind the screens. This spring, the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is proud to present the Spring 2026 DoIT Gritty Award to the Analytics & Business Intelligence Student Team. Please join us in celebrating this outstanding group of student innovators: Amaya Levine, Ling Zhang, Naba Waseem, Pratik Cholkhane, Soumya Bhate, and Sydnee Angus.

Tackling a Monumental Migration

The team was nominated for their relentless work on a massive, business-critical project: migrating the university's existing REX reports over to Tableau. They have completed over 170+ reports and have over 100 reports in active development. Transitioning nearly 300 intricate reports is no small feat for seasoned professionals, let alone a student team. Yet, this group stepped up to the plate and completely owned the challenge.

Embracing the Steep Learning Curve

What makes their achievement truly "gritty" is where they started. The team began this initiative with minimal prior knowledge of Tableau. To succeed, they had to simultaneously master a complex new software platform and reverse-engineer how the legacy REX reports functioned under the hood.

According to their nominator, the team’s attitude has been the cornerstone of the project's success:

"They have been extremely patient through our trial-and-error process with some of these conversions, and they never hesitate to research how to make the reports work the way we need them to."

A Culture of Collaboration

Beyond their technical stamina, the Analytics & Business Intelligence Student Team exemplifies what it means to be a community. Instead of working in silos, these students constantly lean on and support one another. They have actively championed knowledge-sharing across DoIT, with many team members participating in "Lunch and Learns" to present their findings and teach others the Tableau tricks they've picked up along the way.

Thank You, Team!

A migration of this magnitude is a massive undertaking, and DoIT is incredibly thankful for the dedication, patience, and brilliant problem-solving this team brings to the office every single day.

Congratulations to Amaya, Ling, Naba, Pratik, Soumya, and Sydnee! Thank you for showing us all what true grit looks like.

About the DoIT Gritty Award

The Gritty Award recognizes outstanding work within the Division and beyond. Full-time employees, student employees, and teams are all eligible. Do you know someone going above and beyond? Complete the Gritty Nomination Form today!