You just finished uploading a PDF - a syllabus, lecture notes, or a set of slides exported for printing. It looks fine to you, but how does it perform for a student relying on a screen reader? Would those scanned pages you dropped in actually be readable at all?

That is the exact gap Blackboard Ally is built to close. Running quietly in the background of every course and organization, Ally checks your files and gives you quick, actionable ways to fix what it finds. Here is a refresher on how Ally helps you save time, improve readability, and create a better learning experience for every student.

1. See Accessibility at a Glance with Color-Coded Meters

Every file you upload and link in Blackboard is scanned by Ally. Next to each piece of content is a color-coded accessibility meter that resembles a gauge. These color-coded gauges are visible only to you, never to students. The color coding can tell you at a quick glance the level of accessibility -- ranging from green or orange (high to perfect) to yellow or red (low to medium). 

Image: Ally scores range from Low to Perfect. 

• Low, medium, high, and perfect ratings give you an immediate sense of priority without opening the file.

• Click any meter to see exactly what's wrong and how to fix it, right where the content lives in your course.

2. Use the Course Report to Prioritize Your Time

Rather than checking every file one by one, Ally’s Course Accessibility Report (accessed and launched from Books & Tools -> Ally) gives you a course-wide score, a breakdown by content type, and a list of issues sorted by severity.

• Start with "Easy issues to fix" -- these are often the fastest way to raise your score.

• Many easy fixes turn out to be missing image descriptions, so that one filter can knock out a lot of ground quickly.

3. Fix PDF Problems Without Leaving Blackboard

Ally's "quick fixes" handle some of the most common PDF issues, such as missing titles, missing language settings, and scanned-only pages. All are visible right inside the Instructor Feedback panel.

• Add a title or set the document language in seconds through a simple field or dropdown.

• Convert a scanned PDF to readable text with built-in OCR, with the option to preview and download the original first.

4. Let Ally Auto-Tag Your PDFs

With Ally's Auto-Tagging feature, UMBC instructors can now generate a full tag structure for an untagged PDF automatically. 

• You review and approve the tag structure before anything is applied, and you can download the original file first.

• It won't fix everything (image descriptions, tables, and contrast still need separate attention), but it removes the heaviest lift.

5. Give Every Student a Format That Works for Them

Ally can also generate alternative versions of your files, including audio, mobile-friendly HTML/ePub, Immersive Reader, and BeeLine Reader, which lets students choose what fits their needs, device, or moment.

• A student might listen to the audio version on a commute, or use the HTML version to read comfortably on a phone.

• Framing these as options for any student, not just those with accommodations, helps normalize their use.

6. Get AI-Assisted Suggestions for Image Descriptions

Missing alt text is one of the most common issues Ally flags. When it finds an image without a description, Ally can now generate a suggested one automatically.

• You always review and approve the suggestion before it's saved; nothing is applied automatically.

• For complex images or diagrams, tools like Gemini, Copilot, or ChatGPT can help you write a more detailed long description when Ally's suggestion isn't quite enough. 

Coming Soon: AI Alt Text for Images Inside PDFs

Ally's next update extends AI-generated image descriptions into PDFs, so images embedded inside PDF files, not just standalone uploads, will be eligible for AI-suggested alt text. As with existing AI suggestions, instructors will review and approve every description before it's applied. We'll share more as this rolls out.

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Pick up close to campus.

Text if interested 443-690-0992

Today, Tuesday, August 18th, at 2pm! As part of CNMS Advising's "College Boot Camp" virtual series, Mx. Melissa Huselton, Health Professions Advisor, will be available to answer questions during "White Coats Start Here," an unstructured, virtual Question and Answer session about how to prepare for health professional school (ex: medical school, dental school, etc). More information about the "College Boot Camp" series, as well as the link to access the Webex virtual meeting room, may be found below:

The countdown to the start of the semester is HEERRRE! It's time to gear up and lock in to make sure that you are as successful as possible. To help with this -- CNMS Advising will be releasing short video playlists everyday this week that are curated for CNMS-majors specfically!

To get things started, we will kick things off today with a focus on general STEM study skills. Whether you’re a new, incoming student or even a seasoned upperclassman, we’re sure you’ll be able to find a helpful info session somewhere in our lineup (see attached flier and schedule below).  

Monday 8/17 -- STEM Study Skills

Tuesday 8/18 -- Core Competencies

** Special Guest and LIVE Q&A Session "White Coats Start Here" with Mx. Melissa Huselton (PMED/Health Professions Advisor) @ 2PM via Webex **

Wednesday 8/19 -- BIOL/CHEM Course Support

Thursday 8/20 -- Research/Careers

Friday 8/21 -- Mental Readiness

** LIVE Q&A Session with Ms. Christine Powers (Assistant Director for Student Success and CNMS Advisor) @ 2PM via Webex **

Check your myUMBC email everyday and spend a few minutes reviewing some of the helpful tips/tricks that may make a big difference to your semester readiness and success! We will also host TWO, live and virtual Q & A sessions so feel free to join with any pressing or last minute questions and concerns that you have for CNMS and Health Professions advisors. 

You get to pick what videos are relevant to you so plan your academic bootcamp schedule accordingly! Let's get going!

Due to unforseen circumstances, the Office of Graduate Student Life will be closed Tuesday, August 18 and will reopen Wednesday, Auguast 19. 

Our apologies for any inconveinence this may have caused. 

See you tomorrow! 

Hello UMBC Undergraduates!

NOTE: If you already participated in one of the previous 4 week programs, you ARE eligible to join this (new, expanded) 10 week program!

The Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Public Health (SAPH) has an ongoing program that may be of interest to you. The program is entitled "Youth Well-Being" and is funded by the prestigious Stevens Initiative, which is an international collaboration funded by the US Department of State, the Bezos Family Foundation, and the governments of Morocco and the UAE. The effort is named after the U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens who "devoted his life to building connections through open and respectful dialogue and person-to-person diplomacy... He served the majority of his Foreign Service career in the Middle East and North Africa, a region he grew to love, and eventually served as U.S. Ambassador to Libya." In other words, the goal of the Stevens Initiative is to build friendship, learning, and exchange between countries. The program is completely FREE and includes a mixture of asynchronous and synchronous (Wednesdays from 10:05–11:35am USA EDT on Sept. 2, Sept. 9, Sept. 16, Sept. 30, Oct. 14, and Oct. 28). See details, timeline, and sign up link below!

Youth Well-Being: Stevens Initiative Virtual Exchange Program 
Join undergraduate students from Khalifa University, UMBC, and Miami University (of Ohio) for an engaging 10-week virtual exchange (mixture of asynchronous and synchronous content, see schedule below) exploring youth well-being from a global perspective. Running September 2 – October 28, 2026, the program dives into American and UAE lifestyles, the dimensions of well-being, and the role of families, communities, and economies in shaping healthier futures. Through interactive modules, live discussions, and collaborative projects, students will connect across cultures, sharpen their critical thinking, and gain practical insights into improving well-being worldwide. Participants who complete the program will earn a certificate of completion and join the Stevens Initiative Alumni Network, expanding their global academic and professional connections. Apply by August 31, 2025 to be part of this unique international learning experience! 

ENROLL HERE BY AUGUST 31ST: https://forms.gle/VQYtyxv9pyjbdUm77

QUESTIONS? Contact Dr. Yamashita: yamataka@umbc.edu

Attention Staff & Faculty! Please pick-up your regalia for Convocation by Saturday, August 22 at 4:00pm. The Bookstore will be closed on Sunday, August 23.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email bookstore@umbc.edu.

The Dresher Center has formalized the process for requesting co-sponsorship funds. Through this, we seek to support a variety of departments and events across the academic year through co-sponsorships. Faculty and staff may request small discretionary grants (maximum $500) to support opportunities such as visiting speakers, workshops, and conferences held at UMBC.

Applications are accepted from August 1-April 30 of the current academic year.

Please note:

• At least two units or departments must commit to co-sponsorship (which can include financial, administrative, publicity, or other in-kind support) prior to application to the Dresher Center.
• Co-sponsorship funding supplements the support of the lead unit, which is expected to administer funding and the event. The Dresher Center can promote the event through our calendar and website but does not assume additional organizational responsibilities for co-sponsored events.
• The Dresher Center does not co-sponsor events that conflict with other events we are supporting.
• Events with remote speakers are eligible for up to $250.
• The Dresher Center for the Humanities must be acknowledged as a co-sponsor (logos can be provided upon request).
• If you are recording your event, the Dresher Center may be able to host the recording on our YouTube channel. The Dresher Center may have further questions regarding plans and will evaluate YouTube hosting requests on the basis of cost (including time and availability of Dresher Center staff) and on the merits of broadly distributing the event recording through a public platform such as YouTube.

Find the application form on our website!

WELCOME TO COLLEGE BOOTCAMP! Today kicks off the first day of our success playlist and we are jumping right into a cornerstone topic -- STEM study skills! 

College coursework is challenging across the board, but there are some essential skills that can help crack the code for science learning specifically.  In the videos below, you will learn about some easy, actionable, and science-backed study habits that you can implement into your schedule from day one. For example, planning for spaced out, high intensity study sessions can help you master STEM content while harnessing the benefits of diffused thinking and allowing for long-term memory and understanding. Some of the videos below will also reference how the study habits you build in college like active learning will be reflected and reused in your future careers such as in the medical school teaching mantra of "see one, do one, teach one." 

Most importantly, be mindful that your STEM coursework is supposed to be challenging and it is only through taking on the struggle that you will develop effective studying skills. Throughout the semester, reflect on your study successes and setbacks, consider the tips below, make adjustments as needed, and ask for help! 

Academic HIIT: High Intensity Interval Studying w/Emma Barnaby (CNMS Student Success Coach)

TED-ED Talk:3 Tips on How to Study Effectively

The Top Study Habits to Improve Learning w/Dr. Andrew Huberman (Professor of Neurobiology & Ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine)

Join us again tomorrow for another playlist that will cover the importance of hollistic development, core competencies, and a  LIVE Q&A Session "White Coats Start Here" with Mx. Melissa Huselton (PMED/Health Professions Advisor) @ 2PM via Webex.

Stay with us everyday this week to strengthen your skills and power your future. It starts today! 

Scope of the supported project

Dr. Brad Peercy's most recent NSF grant continues his work on representing the movement of clustered cells through a challenging geometric landscape.  In conjunction with experimentalist Dr. Michelle Starz-Gaiano (UMBC Biological Sciences) and former graduate student Dr. Naghmeh Akhavan (U Michigan Mathematics) we use in vivo data and Phase Field modeling to represent the energies and forces in cellular interactions in response to chemical signals represented with reaction diffusion equations.  This hybrid PDE system will then be validated and used to predict migration pathology.

Motivation

During human development and wound healing, cells of the body must migrate to new locations in a coordinated way. Moving cells rely on chemicals in their environment to direct them to the correct places. Often, they are guided by positive cues called chemoattractants in a process termed ‘chemotaxis’. In in vitro systems, cells will move along a gradient of chemical cues, but in vivo it is difficult to predict how gradients form and how cells respond to variations, since the surrounding environment is heterogeneous and likely to alter both the chemical distribution and the response.

Training

This award and related subaward will train graduate students and early career researchers.  The grant will support broader interdisciplinary efforts through CIMBRE.

References

• N Akhavan, A George, M Starz-Gaiano, BE Peercy, Phase-field modeling of border cell cluster migration in Drosophila, PLOS Computational Biology 22 (4), e1014176.
• N Akhavan, A George, M Starz-Gaia,no, BE Peercy, Cell Migration Boundary Motion in Drosophila Egg Chambers: A Combined Phase Field and Chemoattractant Model, arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.01357.
• A George, N Akhavan, BE Peercy, M Starz-Gaiano, Chemotaxis of Drosophila border cells is modulated by tissue geometry through dispersion of chemoattractants, Iscience 28 (3)
• BE Peercy, M Starz-Gaiano, Clustered cell migration: Modeling the model system of Drosophila border cells, Seminars in cell & developmental biology 100, 167-176.

The countdown to the start of the semester is HEERRRE! It's time to gear up and lock in to make sure that you are as successful as possible. To help with this -- CNMS Advising will be releasing short video playlists everyday this week that are curated for CNMS-majors specfically!

To get things started, we will kick things off today with a focus on general STEM study skills. Whether you’re a new, incoming student or even a seasoned upperclassman, we’re sure you’ll be able to find a helpful info session somewhere in our lineup (see attached flier and schedule below).  

Monday 8/17 -- STEM Study Skills

Tuesday 8/18 -- Core Competencies

** Special Guest and LIVE Q&A Session "White Coats Start Here" with Mx. Melissa Huselton (PMED/Health Professions Advisor) @ 2PM via Webex **

Wednesday 8/19 -- BIOL/CHEM Course Support

Thursday 8/20 -- Research/Careers

Friday 8/21 -- Mental Readiness

** LIVE Q&A Session with Ms. Christine Powers (Assistant Director for Student Success and CNMS Advisor) @ 2PM via Webex **

Check your myUMBC email everyday and spend a few minutes reviewing some of the helpful tips/tricks that may make a big difference to your semester readiness and success! We will also host TWO, live and virtual Q & A sessions so feel free to join with any pressing or last minute questions and concerns that you have for CNMS and Health Professions advisors. 

You get to pick what videos are relevant to you so plan your academic bootcamp schedule accordingly! Let's get going!