Part I of an Introduction to Generative AI in Teaching Series.

This session introduces UMBC faculty to the basics of generative AI and its implications for teaching and learning. It focuses on AI literacy by examining what these tools are, what they can and cannot do, basic prompting, ethical and responsible use, and how they may impact classroom practice. Faculty will see short demos of ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Faculty can get more information and register here.

This is a repost from the Division of Student Affairs Assessment myUMBC group. Please refer to the original post for the latest information.

Please share with students!

Calling all undergraduate and graduate students! The Division of Student Affairs (DoSA) Strategic Plan Steering Committee is developing its strategic plan for the next three years and we need your input! On Monday, April 20 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. stop by Lower Flat Tuesdays in The Commons for free breakfast snacks, beverages, and to offer your feedback about the student experience and how DoSA can better support you. Commuters, we will also have a table at Good Morning Commuters on April 21. 

If you can't stop by, please check out our survey between now and April 24 to provide your thoughts. We want to understand how you define student success, your experience as a student, how our division can do better, and to see if our anticipated strategic plan priority areas meet your needs.

Attached is a document with more info about the departments that make up our division, our draft strategic priority areas, and the questions we want to know more about. We look forward to your insights!

To all chip users,
The RRStor filesystem has been restored. We thank you for you patience while we worked on this issue. 
If you notice any further complications, please send an RT ticket to https://rtforms.umbc.edu/rt_authenticated/doit/DoIT-support.php?auto=Research%20Computing
Max BreitmeyerHPC Specialist, UMBC DoIT

To all chip users,

We are working with the vendor to pin down the issue that is preventing users from accessing chip and utilizing the RRStor network storage.

We will provide more updates as we have them.

Max Breitmeyer

Hi everyone!

We're back with our weekly Free Farmer's Market 2-2:45pm in the Apartment Community Center. See you soon!  

Happing Now!

Stop by OGSL (Commons 308) right now for free breakfast, in collaboration with the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery.

See you soon.

The Election Board recently received an election complaint pertaining to alleged active campaigning in a residential hall by Finance Board candidate Ishan Gomber. The complaint connected to a potential violation of the following election rule:

Rule 18: “Campaigning in the residence community is restricted by Residential Life policies, which are designed to ensure a comfortable living environment for residential students, in addition to the following instructions. Door-to-door solicitation, including knocking on residents’ doors, is prohibited. … Furthermore, active campaigning is not permitted in residential facilities and True Grit’s; only passive campaigning is allowed in these locations.”

Within election rule 5, campaigning is defined as “advertising one’s candidacy,” with active campaigning involving “direct physical, verbal engagement with people.”

The complaint alleged that Ishan “had been campaigning for SGA in the dorms” and included as evidence a screen shot from Ishan’s Instagram campaign video. After careful review of the complaint and 2026 Election Rules, the Election Board voted to open an investigation of this complaint.

Election Board ascertained that the evidence provided with this complaint was a screenshot from Ishan’s campaign video that had been posted on SGA’s Instagram account for 24 hours starting on Thursday, April 9th. The individual who submitted the complaint confirmed that they first became aware of this concern “last week.”

Per election rule 2, “Complaints must be filed by 48 hours after an alleged violation is discovered.” Since the complainant became aware of the issue on or about Friday, April 10th and did not submit a complaint until the evening of Monday, April 13th, the statute of limitations had expired. As a result, the Election Board closed their investigation without issuing sanctions.

The Election Board wants to reiterate that any student who believes that they have witnessed an Election Rules violation should report a complaint to the Election Board, remembering that complaints must be filed by 48 hours after an alleged violation is discovered OR by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 19th-- whichever is earliest.

The Election Board recently received an election complaint about a post on Finance Board candidate Darrel Jean-Louis’ social media.

The complaint connects to a potential violation of Election Rule 8: “Any campaign method is allowed provided it does not violate any of these rules, any law, or any UMBC policy…”

As a part of the University Systems of Maryland (USM), UMBC is a public university funded through the state of Maryland and, as such, subject to “the laws of the State of Maryland, as well as the rules and regulations of UMBC and the University System of Maryland” (Constitution of the Student Government Association of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Article 1.4.A). Codified into Maryland’s Constitution in Article 1, Section 6 is a prohibition against offering “to give, directly or indirectly, any bribe, present or reward, or any promise, or any security … to procure a vote for any candidate or person proposed… for any office of profit or trust…”

This Maryland state law against bribing or rewarding an individual in return for their vote is one that Election Board adheres to for SGA elections.

The complaint alleged that Darrel “promis[ed] items in exchange for votes.” After careful review of the complaint and 2026 Election Rules/SGA Constitution/Maryland law, the Election Board voted to open an investigation of this complaint.

The Election Board obtained a screen shot showing that Darrel posted in his social media, “Free suya for whoever votes Darrel js lmk.” As a result of this information, Election Board voted that Darrel had violated Rule 8 and imposed the following sanctions:

• A 24-hour suspension of campaigning on Darrel’s campaign accounts, starting from 12:01am on April 16th until 12:01 on April 17th.
•  The posting of an Election Board-approved public statement acknowledging the violation and recognizing the misconduct by 4pm on Thursday, April 16th.

The Election Board wants to reiterate that any student who believes that they have witnessed an Election Rules violation should report a complaint to the Election Board, remembering that complaints must be filed by 48 hours after an alleged violation is discovered OR by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 19th-- whichever is earliest.

The Election Board recently received an election complaint pertaining to alleged campaigning within the Pre-Law Society’s WhatsApp group by Senate candidate Sofia Cabrera. The complaint connects to a potential violation of the following election rule:

Rule 9: Requests to virtually campaign (emails, group chats, etc.) to student organizations must be sent to only the executive officers. Student organization officers must then submit an endorsement form and receive confirmation from the election chair before proceeding. Student organization officers may then choose how to proceed with endorsements/campaigning which encompasses but is not limited to: announcement of general body meeting to vote regarding endorsement, result of voting on endorsements made via voting of officers only, and campaign pitches led by candidate at general meetings. Executive officers may post your pitch for you in their respective communication channels, no candidate may do it on their own in that channel.

9.1: If a candidate is an officer in an organization, they may not post their campaigning content in the communication channels. Other officers may once an endorsement has been received and approved. As a related note, all candidates received the following reminder via email from the Election Board Chair on Tuesday, April 7th: “Remember that active campaigning concluded [sic] this Saturday at 11:59pm. While you can share the link with students and explain how to vote, you are only allowed to campaign in a passive way for the duration of election week.

After careful review of the complaint and 2026 Election Rules, the Election Board voted to open an investigation of this complaint.

The Election Board obtained a screen shot showing that Sofia posted in the Pre-Law Society WhatsApp, “…I am currently running for senate reelection, I would really appreciate yalls [sic] vote…” Election Board confirmed that the Pre-Law Society had not issued an endorsement for Sofia. As a result of this information, Election Board voted that Sofia had violated Rule 9 and imposed the following sanctions:

• A 24-hour suspension of campaigning on Sofia’s campaign accounts, starting from 12:01am on April 16th until 12:01 on April 17th
• The posting of an Election Board-approved statement acknowledging the violation and recognizing the misconduct.

The Election Board wants to reiterate that any student who believes that they have witnessed an Election Rules violation should report a complaint to the Election Board, remembering that complaints must be filed by 48 hours after an alleged violation is discovered OR by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 19th-- whichever is earliest.

Dear UMBC Community,

I am writing to provide an update on our efforts following UMBC’s 2024 agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to strengthen and expand initiatives for preventing and responding to reports of sexual misconduct and sex discrimination under Title IX. The agreement followed a lengthy investigation by the DOJ that found systemic failures in the university’s Title IX compliance between 2015 and 2020. 

The agreement is in effect through the 2028 – 29 academic year and commits us to taking many steps to bolster our Title IX office and its work, provide specific support for student-athletes and the Athletics Department, expand training for all members of the community, and provide financial relief to certain individuals, as determined and directed by the DOJ. 

The update provided here shares a report of progress since the fall 2025 update. As required by the agreement, UMBC submitted its fourth monitoring report to the DOJ this winter. The university has fully implemented all of the initial provisions of the agreement and remains in the monitoring phase of the agreement. Thus, the work that we continue to do goes above and beyond what is required under the agreement. It is not the agreement that drives our work, but rather our commitment to uphold the highest standards of care, safety, integrity, and accountability for our campus community. 

Our recent work includes:

• Increased engagement with our Coordinated Community Response Team to receive feedback on policies, procedures, programming, coordination, and communication efforts;
• Successful implementation of mandatory Title IX training for students and employees;
• Expansion of specialized education and training efforts to include offerings for those designated as confidential resources;
• Targeted support and resources for student-athletes; and
• Integrated use of restorative practices as an informal resolution method as appropriate.

The Office of Equity and Civil Rights (ECR) in particular bears a significant load of this work.  And, none of this is possible without the dedicated staff who work tirelessly across campus to uphold our commitment. Thanks to the many campus partners who continue to engage and support these efforts.  

Sincerely,

Tanyka M. Barber
Vice President for Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer

To view the original post, please click the link below:
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/announcements/posts/158745