Hello everyone!! 🎲
Join Quantitative Finance & Analytics for a fun Board Game Night before finals week stress kicks in!

We’ll have games like:
UNO, Jenga, Monopoly, Catan, and Secret Hitler!!

Date: May 5th, 2026
Time: 7:00pm
Location: ilsb 201

We’ll also be kicking things off with elections for our new e-board—so come out, have fun, and get involved!

Don’t miss it!

Greetings CAHSS Graduate students, Faculty, and Staff, 

The Graduate Student Association (GSA) invites you to our upcoming Graduate Student CAHSS Town Hall on April 29th at 12:00 PM in Commons 331. As we navigate the current academic year, your voice is the most critical tool we have for driving policy changes, improving funding structures, and enhancing student well-being. 

This is your direct line to GSA leadership and university administration. Whether you have concerns about stipends, housing, GA/lab culture, or want to hear about upcoming initiatives, we want you in the room. 

The CAHSS graduate senators are committed to bridging the participation gap between our graduate students and the GSA. We want to ensure our CAHSS graduate community is fully aware of-and benefiting from - all available campus opportunities. In preparation for the townhall meeting, we are asking graduate students to complete the CAHSS GSA Participation Survey. Your feedback is very important for helping us understand how GSA can better serve our college.

Additionally, the GSA is currently seeking CAHSS Senators (paid appointment) for the 2026-2027 academic year. If you are interested in representing your peers, or would like to nominate a colleague, please email gsasenatespeaker@umbc.edu (GSA Senate Speaker) and Kneil1@umbc.edu (GSA Elections Chair) for information. 

If you manage a myUMBC group, you've probably noticed some things look a little different lately. We've been working on a big round of improvements to the editor and groups experience, and I wanted to walk you through what changed and why.

There's a lot here, so I'll try to keep it organized.

A Much Better Editor

The most visible change is the editor itself. We replaced the old one with a modern rich-text editor that, hopefully, just gets out of your way.

Paste from Word or Google Docs and it just works. Formatting comes in cleanly without a wall of mystery HTML. This one has been a long time coming.

Images are easier to work with. You can paste, drag-and-drop, or upload images directly into the body of your post. No more hunting for a separate upload button. When you insert an image you'll be prompted for alt text (more on that in a minute).

Paste a YouTube URL and it becomes a player. Drop a YouTube link into the editor and it automatically embeds as a video player. In the notification email that goes out to your group, recipients will see a clickable thumbnail linking to the video instead of a broken embed.

Attachments and tags got some attention too. The interface for attaching files is cleaner, and the tag editor now works like a chip input: type a tag, press Enter to add it, click the x to remove it.

One small but important change: the "Silent" option on the post form has been renamed to "Send Notifications." It's on by default, which is the right behavior for most posts. If you don't want to send a notification, just uncheck it. We made this change because "silent" wasn't exactly self-explanatory.

Preview Before You Publish (and Scheduling!)

Instead of going straight from editing to publishing, there's now a Preview step in between.

On the edit form, you'll choose whether to publish immediately or schedule your post for later. Group admins can schedule up to 30 days in advance. Once you've made that choice, you click Preview before anything goes out.

From the preview screen you can:

• See exactly what your post will look like to readers before it goes live
• Send yourself a test email to see what the notification looks like in your inbox
• Copy a shareable preview link to send to other group admins if you want a second set of eyes before it goes live

Then you confirm the publish or the scheduled time from there.

If your group does a lot of time-sensitive announcements, scheduling should make your life a lot easier.

Alt Text is Now Required

We're making a serious push on accessibility, and one concrete change is that alt text is now required on all images before you can publish. If you've got images without alt text, the Publish button will stay disabled until you fix them.

When you insert an image you'll be prompted right then. If the image is purely decorative, you can check "decorative" and move on. Otherwise a short description goes a long way for people using screen readers.

You may notice other accessibility-related changes around myUMBC as we continue this work. We do our best to make sure nothing breaks along the way, but if something feels off please don't hesitate to reach out to me or the team.

Archive Your Content

Groups can now archive posts and events rather than choosing between leaving old content in the feed or deleting it forever.

Each post and event now has an Archive button. Archiving moves that item out of the main listing into a separate archived view. On your Posts tab, there's a button on the right side that says "View Archived Posts" to toggle between active and archived content.

This is especially useful for groups targeting students with announcements. Old posts that aren't relevant to new visitors can be tucked away without losing them permanently.

If you want to do a bulk cleanup, say archive everything before a certain date, submit a ticket and our team will take care of it.

A Few More Things

Events: In-Person, Virtual, or Hybrid. When creating an event you now explicitly choose the format, and the form shows or hides relevant fields based on what you pick. No more filling in a location for a fully virtual event.

Subscription tag filtering. If your group subscribes to another group's content, you can now limit that subscription to specific tags so only the content you care about comes through.

Group inactivity process. After eight months of inactivity, your group will start receiving emails letting you know. You'll have the option to extend the group for four more months, or choose to archive or delete it. Archiving sets the group to read-only so people can still see past content but no new posts can be made. Deleting removes the group itself but keeps individual posts intact since we hold onto public content for the historical record.

My Events page. Go to the Events section in the left nav and choose My Events to see upcoming events you're signed up for, plus upcoming events from the groups you belong to.

Personal posts are now called Messages. For groups that use them, you'll see the updated label.

Questions?

If something isn't working right or you have questions about any of this, reach out to our team and we'll be happy to help.

Are you, or do you know someone who is a part of the Early Childhood community and ready to drive meaningful change in Maryland?The Maryland Early Childhood Leadership Program (MECLP) is officially seeking applicants for its next transformative cohort.

The MECLP Experience

Strengthen your leadership skills and commitment to equity through this yearlong, graduate-level hybrid course designed for ECE change-makers. Join a statewide network of leaders and receive personalized coaching to drive meaningful change for Maryland's children and families.

Important Dates

Don't miss the chance to learn more or submit your application:

• Virtual Info Session 1: May 8 @ 10:00 AM 
• Virtual Info Session 2: May 27 @ 7:00 PM 
• Application Deadline: June 24, 2026

Ready to Lead?

Apply Today Here For session links, email marloeli@umbc.edu or visit umbc.meclp.edu for more details.

Please find the flyer attached for more details!!

The Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy (GOCPP) seeks candidates for the Fall 2026 internship program. 

GOCPP is seeking talented students with an interest in criminal justice and public service.

GOCPP is Maryland's one-stop shop for resources to improve public safety.

Main Purpose of Job: Individuals will experience the inner workings of state government from the vantage point of each division within the office. Individuals can expect to assist the office in making data-driven and policy-driven decisions and utilizing evidence-based practices to create a safer Maryland. This program also provides an opportunity to network with professionals throughout state and local government agencies, corrections, law enforcement, and nonprofit organizations, all of whom will support professional growth and career interests.

Learned outcomes or skills learned throughout this program include developing work habits and attitudes necessary for career success; receiving informal feedback and mentoring from their supervisor; developing communication, interpersonal, and other critical skills necessary for success in the workforce; and building a record of professional work experience in the public sector.

Potential Program Placements: 

·        Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network (MCIN)

·        Audits

·        Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB)

·        Data and Research

·        Victim Services

·        Grants

A successful candidate will be enrolled in criminal justice, social sciences, research, business, or a related program.

Be a Junior or higher standing (i.e., a minimum of 60 credit hours obtained).

Possess a demonstrated interest in criminal justice-related subjects.

Have a strong desire to engage and learn about the criminal justice system and public safety. Possess excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills.

Be detail-oriented and have strong organizational skills.

Additional Program Information: This is an unpaid opportunity; therefore, students must be eligible to receive school credit (or an equivalent) from their university.

Program Dates: September 2nd, 2026 through December 15th, 2026.

Up to 16 hours per week. Most positions are located at 100 Community Place, Crownsville, MD 21032, however the CICB position is located at 6776 Reisterstown Rd #206, Baltimore, MD 21215.

Both require at a minimum one in-office day per week, with the Crownsville location having preferred in-office days on Wednesdays, whereas the Baltimore location has a preference for Tuesdays or Thursdays.

For more information, visit this website

Please reach out to melissa.bitting@maryland.gov or dlinfo_goccp@maryland.gov if you have any questions or need assistance.

Relationship skills can make the difference between a strong and a weak professional school application. Adam Morris, Assistant Director, Internships and Employment, Career Center joins Melissa Huselton, Health Professions Advisor, to talk about how to make professional connections, build relationships, and make a good impression in professional environments.

Send your questions to us in advance here!

Original Post & RSVP Link can be found HERE. 

This event is taking place TODAY, 4/29 from 12-1PM in TLC (UC 115). 

This is a great opportunity for students interested in environmental justice, policy, and advocacy!

UMBC's Office of Sustainability is looking for undergraduate students who are excited about campus sustainability and want to be a part of our team of peer to peer educators.

Eco-Ambassadors lead unique events and campaigns throughout the academic year to spread awareness on environmental issues, engage the campus community, and drive impactful change in areas like waste, policy, and ecosystem conservation. 

Eco-Ambassadors receive a stipend of $1500 for their efforts, as well as access to professional development opportunities and real world experience in climate action and sustainability. 

If this sounds like a good fit for you or someone you know, review the full job description here and apply with the google form before Sunday, May 3rd.

 Please email us at sustainability@umbc.edu with any questions!

We’re excited to announce that the Public Stories Lab is hosting our annual Mini-Storytelling Festival online on May 12th from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM! All members of the UMBC community (students, faculty, staff, and community partners) are invited to submit a story they’ve created this year. We welcome all formats: oral, digital, written, musical, visual, and more! Please feel free to share this with your networks!

Submission details:

• Stories can be audio, video, image, or live performance.
• Less than 5 minutes (excerpts are okay!)
• 2 sentences describing your story and the format you’d like to present it in
• A link to your story, if available (YouTube video, online image gallery, etc.)

Submission Deadline: May 3rd

Submit your proposal here: https://forms.gle/n5BTbUFwEYTZyyFG7

We will reach out to you no later than May 8th with details for sharing your story in the mini-fest or to request more information.

Please follow the PSL MyUMBC Group for event info and updates!

I know there's a few people asking this, but I need 1 more graduation ticket for May 21st at 3 pm if anyone is willing. I am willing to pay for it. Please contact me at 781-860-2247 if interested. Thank you

Rithik Kavanakudy, a UMBC student majoring in Media Communication Studies and Information Systems, shares his enriching internship experience on the Division of Information Technology’s (DoIT) Communications team. In May, Rithik will be joining the other members of the Class of 2026 as they graduate from UMBC. 

Rithik’s Digital Story

In celebration of this milestone, Rithik recaps his experiences in the DoIT Student Digital Stories series. This video highlights hands-on projects like filming, live replays, and community promotion. All of these helped him refine his career focus and passion for behind-the-scenes work.

Work Highlights

Check out a few highlights of Rithik's work from local restaurant videos to DoIT collaborations: 

• OCA Mocha Video Highlight (46 seconds)
• Taste Tea Video Highlight (35 seconds) 
• DoIT x AOK Library: Streamlining Transcription: How DoIT and the AOK Library Leveraged AWS to Enhance Media Accessibility at UMBC (2-minute read)
• Tips and Best Practices for Managing Your Cloud Storage (2-minute read)

Congratulations, Rithik, on your soon-to-be graduation! We appreciate your video editing, interviewing, and collaboration skills.