This event will feature a keynote presentation from Jessica Gulick, CEO and Founder of Katzcy and Commissioner of the U.S. Cyber Team. Jessica will discuss how the U.S. Cyber Games is advancing cybersecurity awareness, skills development, and cyber career preparation on a global scale. The keynote will also spotlight opportunities for Maryland-based individuals and organizations to engage with and support the initiatives of the U.S. Cyber Team.

In addition, our expert panel on building a robust cybersecurity workforce will discuss topics such as the critical skills and competencies needed to succeed in today's cybersecurity landscape, the accessibility of cybersecurity education, and what workforce challenges critical infrastructure owners and operators may face in the future. This panel will be followed by a networking lunch, generously provided by the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation on behalf of Montgomery County.

View the agenda.

Registration closes tomorrow, January 7.  

Register Now!

Repost from the USM Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation: 

Dear Colleagues,

The USM Digital Accessibility Spring Cleaning is almost here! Join us Thursday, January 8, and Friday, January 9, to make your digital content accessible.

Let's take some time to assess and remediate your course materials and workplace documents. Whether you're a faculty member preparing courses or a staff member managing shared resources, Spring Cleaning offers the perfect opportunity to ensure your digital content is accessible to everyone.

What We're Offering:

•  System-wide webinars via Zoom—open to all Maryland faculty and staff
•  Campus-specific workshops tailored to your institution's tools
•  Drop-in office hours for personalized support both days
•  Self-paced resources available anytime
•  Celebration session to share successes and stay motivated
  
  

System-wide Events Schedule:

 Thursday, January 8

10:00-10:45 AM ET: Let's Get Cleaning! (Welcome & Overview) | Register

11:00 AM-12:00 PM ET: Digital Accessibility 101 | Register

11:00 AM-2:00 PM ET: Drop-In Zoom Office Hours (no registration required) | Join Here

3:00-4:00 PM ET: Digital Accessibility in STEM: Practical Fixes for Spring  | Register

3:00-4:00 PM ET: Digital Accessibility in Arts & Music: Practical Fixes for Spring  | Register

4:15-5:00 PM ET: Rethinking PDFs: The Accessibility Shortcut You Need | Register

 Friday, January 9

9:00-10:00 AM ET: Accessibility Audit & Action Planning | Register

10:30-11:30 AM ET: Document Remediation Lab | Register

12:00-1:30 PM ET: Sparkle On: Celebrating Our Wins & Next Steps | Register

1:30-3:30 PM ET: Drop-In Zoom Office Hours (no registration required) | Join Here

Plus: Campus-specific virtual and in-person workshops—View the complete schedule with campus events.

Can't Attend Live?

Access our self-paced Spring Cleaning guide with step-by-step resources for remediating your content on your own timeline.

Beyond Course Content:

This event isn't just for course materials! Whether you're in an academic department, student affairs, admin and finance, a student organization, or another part of campus, you can apply accessibility principles to presentations, shared drives, templates, reports, and any other digital materials you create or share.

Let's work together to create a more accessible university system—one document, one slide, one course at a time.

Questions? Contact cai@usmd.edu

Brought to you by:

USM Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation (KCAI) | USM Council for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) | USM Digital Accessibility Work Group (DAWG)

We look forward to engaging with you at Spring Cleaning!

In January, UMBC faculty and students will experience a redesigned course navigation in Ultra that makes key areas easier to access and understand. The updated layout brings a full-width header with clearer course branding and improved use of screen space on desktop and mobile. 

The new course navigation provides an update header, modernized banner layout, and Home button that returns users to the Blackboard landing page (rather than the courses page). You'll still have access to your Courses by using the snazzy Course Switcher, which provides shortcuts to the four most recently accessed courses, or you can choose View All to return to the Courses page again. Learn more about these improvements in our overview article. 

Image 1: The refreshed user interface in courses includes full-screen course pages and improvements to enhance the amount of screen space for users to engage with their course.

Image 3: True/false questions now include additional options.

Additional updates for January include:

• The default number of multiple choice answer options is now four (instead of three), helping speed up question creation.
• Instructors can now limit how many answer choices students can select for a multiple choice question, ideal for “select all that apply” formats.
• Ultra has significantly improved test loading times. For example, a 200-question test now loads in about 5 seconds (down from ~25), making large-format assessments more manageable.
• Instructors now have access to an automation activity log, which tracks when each automation was triggered, which student it applied to, and which content item was involved, providing transparency and accountability for automated course messaging.

When you can expect the update

Faculty should see the latest updates in their Ultra courses around January 8-9, 2026. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on January 13, 2026. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra. Join our What's New in Ultra for Teaching & Learning on January 13, 2026, to catch up on the latest updates.