The Division will be tabling at GMC, come connect with us over breakfast and learn more about our programs, resources and support for our campus community.
Join the Office of Accessibility and Disability Services for a guided tour of UMBC's "Campus on a Hill" on February 11 & 23. Accessibility is everyone's responsibility, and this is a great opportunity to learn about campus accessibility features, challenges, and how you can be an effective Accessibility Ally! Registration and additional information about the tours can be found here: [February 11] [February 23].
These virtual training sessions will cover topics such as an overview of the Office of Equity and Civil Rights (ECR); what constitutes prohibited conduct under university policy; responding to a disclosure; procedures for reporting and resolving reports of prohibited conduct; trauma-informed care; confidentiality; and other applicable policies and procedures. Each training session will last approximately 50 minutes, and the Webex link will be sent to registrants within 24 hours of the training time. Please use the links below to register: [February 6] [February 9].
Join us for our first Circles for Beloved Community—facilitated spaces for faculty and staff to gather and build trust and understanding. These circles offer an opportunity to slow down, connect across roles and experiences, and practice being in community together. Register here: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events/149920
February is Black History Month! Engage with our 'Read, Watch, Listen & Participate' post.
Join us for Critical Social Justice Week, a multifaceted and interdisciplinary programming initiative that explores social justice in both theory and practice from academic, activist, and artistic perspectives. Click here to learn about past Critical Social Justice themes. The WGEC and CSJD have the following lineup of events for our campus community to engage with for the week.
Join the Women's, Gender, and Equity Center this month for weekly discussion group meetings! Connect, share, and grow through spaces such as Grad Connect, We Believe You, Rebuilding Manhood, Spectrum, Women of Color Collective, Women and Gender Minorities in STEM, Returning Adult Learners, Athletics Group, Between Femmes, and Head Space. Visit https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/womenscenter/events?mode=upcoming&page=1 for more information and schedules for each group.
UMBC is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of the campus community and is committed to maintaining a campus environment free from sex discrimination, including sexual and gender-based harassment and violence. To help meet these goals, UMBC requires all students to complete an online educational program covering topics such as consent, bystander intervention, sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating violence, stalking, and related issues. All students are required to complete this training at the start of each academic year. The online training can be accessed through UMBC's Vector Solutions login page. For questions, please see the Student Training FAQ page or email ecrtraining@umbc.edu.
Note: All programs, events, and opportunities are open to full participation by all individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and University nondiscrimination policies.
Student Affairs Assessment Leaders recently recognized Abhinav Varma Vathadi, current graduate student in the Masters of Professional Studies in Data Science program (graduating in spring 2026) and data scientist graduate assistant in the Division of Student Affairs as the recipient of the Outstanding Student Contributions to Assessment Award. This is an individual award for a full-time graduate or undergraduate student for their contributions to assessment at their institution and in the assessment community.
Award nominator Dr. Mary Ellen Wade, director of assessment and planning, stated, "Abhinav's work exemplifies curiosity, responsibility, and collaboration, and has significantly strengthened the division's capacity for data-informed decision-making. Abhinav has contributed to a culture of shared learning across Student Affairs by developing presentations and guides to help staff confidently interpret and use data. His work reflects a commitment to student success and institutional storytelling."
Dr. Wade nominated Abhinav for this award for the ways he has used his data science background to partner with Retriever Integrated Health, Student Engagement, and other student affairs departments to assist with assessment, particularly for his expertise with Tableau dashboards.
Student Affairs Assessment Leaders is an international volunteer-led community of practice dedicated to advancing equity-centered, high-quality assessment within higher education student affairs divisions. It serves as a professional network for educators to share, learn, and collaborate on measuring student learning, co-curricular success, and program effectiveness.
These financial webinars are open to all Faculty and Staff, regardless of your retirement plan or vendor.
Register for TIAA’s live webinars to get financial information, news and tips from their experts.
Reserve your spot by clicking the registration links below. These webinars are a part of your retirement plan benefits.
Thursday, February 12, 12pm to 1pm: Yours, Mine, Ours: Finances for Blended Families
Blended families come in many forms and bring unique financial dynamics. Whether you're merging incomes, planning for children from different relationships, or managing different priorities, this webinar will offer practical tools to help your family thrive
In this webinar, they will discuss:
Tuesday, February 24, 11am to 12pm: Managing your finances during and after a divorce
Divorce can bring significant financial changes. From splitting assets to updating beneficiaries and creating a new financial plan, this webinar provides tools to help take control with clarity and confidence.
In this webinar, they will discuss:
Local governments in the United States face growing cybersecurity threats but often operate with limited resources, inconsistent policy implementation, and varied technical capacities. Despite increasing attention to cybersecurity in the public sector, few empirical studies have examined the underlying relationships that shape cybersecurity management at the local level. This research addresses that gap by using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to identify and validate latent factors that characterize cybersecurity practices among local governments.
Drawing on survey data collected in 2016 and 2022, this study empirically validates a six-factor model encompassing Training, Policies, Actions, Awareness, Support, and Tools. The findings suggest that cybersecurity readiness in local governments is best understood as a multi-dimensional construct driven by governance, including organizational behavior and leadership engagement, rather than by technology alone. Strong factor structures for training, awareness, and support highlight the central role of human-centered factors, while weaker results for the tools factor suggest variability in technical implementation and maturity.
The findings have theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, this research advances the emerging field of local government cybersecurity management by providing a validated model structure. Practically, it identifies specific areas for improvement, including the need for more targeted and recurring training, stronger alignment between specific cybersecurity actions and policy development, more consistent adoption of tools, and greater cross-departmental collaboration. The research also addresses limitations related to sampling, model modifications, and non-longitudinal design, and proposes directions for future research, including structural equation modeling and longitudinal studies, to refine further the theory of cybersecurity management among local governments.
Laura Mateczun is the associate director of Digital Trust and assistant director of the UMBC Cybersecurity Institute at UMBC, where she also serves as a visiting assistant teaching professor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. She is also the director of UMBC's Cybersecurity Clinic, which connects students with opportunities to support public organizations across Maryland in addressing real-world cybersecurity challenges. In 2025, she earned the PhD in public policy at UMBC working under Dr. Lauren Hamilton-Edwards.
Support for this event was provided in part by the National Science Foundation under SFS grants DGE-1753681 and 2438185. The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab meets biweekly Fridays 12-1pm. All meetings are open to the public.
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