Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) SCIPE program (Enhancing the Transdisciplinary Research Ecosystem for Earth and Environmental Science with Dedicated Cyber Infrastructure Professionals), CGC-SCIPE is a collaborative effort between the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) - iHARP and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences (UMCES). The project aims to strengthen the research capacity in Earth and Environmental Sciences by leveraging High Performance Computing (HPC), Artificial Intelligence, and data-driven modeling, while developing the next generation of Cyber Infrastructure Professionals (CIPs).  This project, as part of the iHARP center and Mdata lab, invites applications for UMBC CIP Graduate Fellows (UM-CIP Fellows).

The UM-CIP Graduate Fellowship supports a senior PhD student whose dissertation research aligns with Earth or Environmental Science and who seeks to incorporate HPC or advanced AI into their work. The Fellows will receive guidance from an HPC mentor to expand their technical and computational expertise. 

● Duration: One Year (Starting Spring 2026)

● Funding: Support for Spring and Fall 2026, including tuition, health insurance, and stipend.  Note that summer will be supported at 20 hours per week.

● Focus Areas: Earth and Environmental Science (Students may come from any department but must have these focus areas for their research).

The wind is blowing, the leaves have turned, and it's almost time for yet another cleanup!

Tomorrow we'll be hitting Narnia, and picking up all the leftover trash from Halloween that's blown its way into the woods.

It'll be chilly, so come wearing long sleeves, longer pants, and don't forget your sneakers!

We'll be meeting at 2:45PM at Commons by the Dunkin, as per usual, and leaving to the cleanup site at 3PM.

Can't meet us there? The map and location is always posted in our GroupMe!

See you then!

- The Eboard

Imagine if you could adjust test points in seconds without regrading everything manually? What if your course could automatically cheer students on when they succeed -- or nudge them when they need support? The November Ultra update introduces new tools to help you work smarter, not harder -- streamlining assessment edits, automating encouragement, and personalizing recognition. Whether you’re wrapping up the semester or refining your course for spring, these features are built to support both your grading workflow and your students’ motivation.

Instructors can now bulk edit question point values within tests, saving time during test setup or revisions. You can select all questions, filter by question type (e.g., all True/False), or select a combination of types and individual questions. This makes it easy to apply consistent scoring rules or adjust point values quickly across an entire assessment. Even after students have opened or submitted a test, you can still change point values, edit question text, give full credit, or revise correct answers -- and all grades will be recalculated automatically. However, certain structural edits (like adding or deleting questions, modifying matching options, or changing fill-in-the-blank structures) remain locked after student access to preserve assessment integrity. These changes offer instructors more flexibility in real-time without compromising fairness or accuracy.

Image 1: Instructors select Bulk edit points.

A new automation feature allows instructors to set up rule-based messages that send automatically when students reach defined performance thresholds. Whether offering encouragement to students who meet a goal or providing gentle support to those who fall short, these messages can be written in advance and delivered at just the right moment. This personalized automation helps instructors build student motivation and maintain a presence in the course without having to manually monitor and respond to every outcome -- especially helpful in large-enrollment or asynchronous courses. Subsequent releases of this feature will offer more customizations.

Image 2: In the Automation trigger, instructors set the conditions that will trigger the message to be sent.

Finally, Instructors can now customize Achievement badges using one of three new image options: upload a custom image, choose from a library of stock visuals via Unsplash, or generate an image using AI. These options give faculty more creative control and allow for more meaningful recognition of student progress. When badges are visually aligned with course themes, goals, or student interests, they can help foster a stronger sense of accomplishment and connection, turning a basic course mechanic into a personalized experience that resonates.

Image 3: Instructors can select or generate an image for the custom achievement.

Additional updates for November include:

• Gradebook Navigation: The column header menu in the Grid View has been streamlined, giving instructors quicker access to submission pages for each item. This improves consistency across item types and simplifies navigation during grading.
• Gradebook Downloads: Instructors now have the option to include or exclude hidden columns when exporting the Gradebook, offering more flexibility when working offline or sharing data with TAs or co-instructors.

When you can expect the update

Faculty should see the latest updates in their Ultra courses around November 6-7, 2025. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on November 11, 2025; release notes are posted to the What's New in Ultra that same week. 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.

• Retriever Integrated Health for a wide range of health needs
• Student Disability Services for academic accommodation - undergrad and grad students
• Employee Accommodations (when leave use and existing policies may not be sufficient)
  

Expanding Awareness Beyond Diabetes

While we honor American Diabetes Month, November also highlights many important causes that intersect with accessibility, inclusion, and health. As we enter a month known for travel, shared meals, and family gatherings, let's make our celebrations more inclusive and disability-friendly with thoughtful approaches to dining and travel.

Inclusive Celebrations and Accessible Cooking

People with disabilities also host fabulous meals and lead the way in accessible cooking:

• • Christine Ha raised expectations by competing on MasterChef
  • Cook with Jessica Weisberg, the accessible chef
  • Visit with Chef Steve and look over accessible kitchen design
  • Aleem Syed's Holy Grill food truck makes feasting portable

Want to bring some disability-friendly ideas into kitchens this season? Check out cooking hacks for chefs with disabilities and Fall recipes from The Accessible Chef to inspire your table.

Accessible Travel and Broader Awareness

Travel is also a highlight of this season—so here's a more inclusive list of tips to ease travel hassles for all kinds of disabilities.

And as we raise awareness this month, we also recognize:

Best, 

UMBC Pre-Med Society Board 

meet.google.com/sfs-mjtq-brc

In this session Dr. Eric Stokan, director of UMBC's Center for Social Science Scholarship, will discuss ways to process and handle unstructured data such as text and images. The session will take place in person at UMBC in Public Policy 438 from 12-1:30pm on Friday, November 7.  

Topics he will cover include:

• Using the R programming language to work with unstructured data like text and images
• Using OpenAI (makers of ChatGPT) to analyze unstructured data through an API
• Comparing LLMs to other AI techniques such as topic models and named entity recognition
• Discussing more effective ways to prompt LLMs