The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) seeks an enthusiastic and experienced Museum Security Officer to play a critical role in the safety and security of the museum environment. The ideal candidate will have impeccable communication and customer service skills and will be comfortable managing multiple priorities while working in a fast-paced, team-based environment.

Ever want to see how EMTs and Paramedics train in an ambulance? Interested in Emergencies and Disasters and how you can be a part of the solution? Now you can. 

Come visit the EDHS simulation laboratory (We have a working ambulance simulator!) Interact with faculty, staff, and students. We love meeting new people! 

Come join us for the EDHS Open House
Wednesday, August 26th
11:30am - 1:00 pm
Sherman Hall, room 344

All are welcome.

*Light refreshments provided. Please RSVP if you plan to attend*

Affected Service: DocuSign

Time Identified: 10:00 AM | July 16, 2026

Please be advised that DocuSign is currently experiencing a temporary service outage.

• The Impact: Users may be unable to log in, send, or sign electronic documents at this time.

• Our Action: The Division of Information Technology is actively working to resolve the issue and restore full services as swiftly as possible. We are monitoring the situation closely and will provide status updates as soon as more information is available.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

The UMBC Career Center is looking for CAHSS and CNMS graduate students to provide feedback on the Career Center website.

The goal is to ensure the website’s content and user experience are tailored to the unique needs of graduate students. The Career Center is hosting in-person focus groups on the Catonsville campus to gather your input on usability and resources.

Focus Group Details:

• When: To be announced, seats going fast, sign up!

• CNMS : 7/22 2:30 pm

• Time Commitment: 60–90 minutes

• Where: In-person.

• Perks: Food and beverages will be provided, and all participants will be entered into a raffle for a $75 UMBC Bookstore gift card!

If you are a graduate student in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) or the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS), we want to hear from you.

Sign up here!

If you have any questions about this project, please reach out to kelseyj2@umbc.edu or Dr. Rowena Winkler at rbwinkler@umbc.edu.

Sincerely,

UMBC Career Center

GSA is sharing this announcement on behalf of the UMBC Career Center

Blackboard course shells for Fall 2026 were created on July 15, 2026.

All Fall 2026 courses listed in the UMBC Schedule of Classes (SOC), regardless of designation as lecture, lab, etc, or instructor assignment, now have a Blackboard presence. RT requests are no longer needed for research, independent study, or practicum courses. As new course sections are added to the SOC by Department Scheduling Coordinators, corresponding Bb shells are automatically generated overnight. 

• If you are an instructor and your name is not associated with the course you are teaching in the SOC, please contact your Departmental Scheduling Coordinator to resolve the issue. Once you are listed in the SOC, your access to the Bb course shell will be updated automatically.

• If you and your Department Scheduling Coordinator believe you are correctly assigned as the instructor of record in the SOC and you do not have access to your course shell in Blackboard, please submit a Request Tracker (RT) ticket via my.umbc.edu/help.

Course Merge Request Process

As announced by DoIT in April 2025, instructors teaching multiple sections of the same course will find a separate Blackboard course shell for each section or course component. Instructors planning to use separate shells will no longer need to submit an RT request. Cross-listed and combined courses will be merged automatically. Courses with multiple components will not be merged by default.

Course shells may be merged or removed upon request using the new Blackboard Course Merge or Removal form (UMBC login required), which we recommend submitting at least one week before the semester starts, if not as soon as courses are created in Blackboard.

NOTE: Course content should be designed in the parent shell for a merge. Please request your merge before adding course content. Courses should not be merged or split after student grade data and engagement activity is recorded, since it will be purged as part of the separation process. 

Create an Inclusive & Accessible Course Environment

Plan your accessibility and Universal Design for Learning strategy before students begin working with course materials. Ally, an accessibility tool, is enabled in all course shells. Ally automatically scans uploaded and created course content, then performs a series of steps to make that content more accessible. Please review the Ally FAQs for more information about the accessibility indicators on course content and alternative formats, or attend an upcoming training session.

UMBC instructors are invited to "enroll" in the self-paced, online Course Roadmap to Equity (CoRE) Foundations training, which provides practical tools to achieve the ‘Strive for 85’ digital accessibility goal -- an overall Ally course score of 85% or better by the end of 2026. 

Connect with Instructional Technology

As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:

• Check our extensive FAQ collection 
  • What's new in Blackboard? | Known Issues 
• Open a ticket via RT
• Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups
• Request a consult with instructional technology staff
• UMBC Digital Accessibility| Ally FAQs | Ally Demo | Ally Report (VPN required)
• PIVOT | Academic Continuity |Keep On Teaching |Student Technology Resources

Rent: $450/month

Includes: All utilities + WiFi and maintenance with cleaning. Location:
• 5-minute drive to UMBC
• 3 minute walk to the Westland UMBC shuttle stop
• Across from Giant on Maiden Choice Lan

Room & Home Details:

• Private, lockable bedroom (upstairs for added privacy)
• Full shared bathroom
• Shared kitchen, dining room, and living room (1st floor)
• Laundry room in basement
• Designated parking spot behind the house
• Security surveillance installed around the property

Tenant Requirements (Strict):
• Female tenants only
• No couples
• No room sharing
• No drugs, alcohol, smoking, or parties

Preference:
Female UMBC graduate students or undergraduate seniors

Availability:
Available July 2026 

Phone / WhatsApp 
443-813-7954

Selling some bedroom items. Pick up between 7/16/26 - 7/24/26 or after 8/9/24 in the Halethorpe area 

Twin mattress - $100

Twin frame - $50

Corner shelf - $35

Email me at echukwu3@umbc.edu for any questions! Zelle or cash only

📍 Maiden Choice Apartments

📅 Available for immediate move-in
- No deposit required

✨ Great location:
- 🛒 Convenient access to Weis, Giant, CVS, and Walgreens
- 🚌 1–2 minute walk to the UMBC Transit stop
- 🎓 15–20 minute walk to UMBC

💰 Rent: $550

📩 DM/WhatsApp: 667-391-3750

UMBC's Instructional Technology team has been recognized as a winner of a 2026 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Training & Professional Development, honoring the institution's leadership in advancing innovative, impactful, and student-centered educational experiences through technology. 

The Catalyst award recognizes UMBC's Course Roadmap to Equity (CoRE), a phased digital accessibility initiative designed to build lasting faculty competency through a combination of live professional development and a structured, self-paced microcredential. Designed to model the very standards it teaches, CoRE treats accessibility not as a compliance checkbox, but as a genuine equity commitment to student success.

Congratulations to Mariann Hawken, Josh Abrams, Susan Biro, Ada Crutchfield, Ben Amudzi, and Peter Ariev.

The CoRE initiative launched in Summer 2025 with a two-day Digital Accessibility Summer Camp for faculty and staff, followed by a live workshop series in Fall 2025 that reached more than 350 participants. CoRE workshops invited faculty to generate Blackboard Ally accessibility reports for their own courses in real time, creating immediate, personal motivation to act. By mid-Spring 2026, the program expanded to include customized department-level training and a microcredential, CoRE Foundations, with more than 250 faculty enrolled.

"Digital accessibility has to be woven into how we teach and how we build our instructional materials,” says Mariann Hawken, Director of Instructional Technology. “CoRE gives faculty the tools and the time to make that shift, and the data show they're doing exactly that."

The results have been measurable and significant. UMBC's institutional Ally accessibility score rose from 66.5% to 78.7% -- a 12.2-point gain between Spring 2025 and Spring 2026. Faculty use of Ally's feedback tools grew dramatically over the same period. Courses actively making accessibility fixes increased tenfold, and the number of individual fixes made grew from 378 to nearly 7,000. Scanned PDFs decreased by 41%, and images missing descriptions dropped by 36% -- reflecting faculty applying exactly the remediation skills CoRE taught.

CoRE is built in phases, with peer mentoring and a student-facing track still ahead. Phase 4, launching Fall 2026, envisions CoRE Peer Mentors embedded in departments and colleges across campus, an approach that mirrors UMBC's earlier Catalyst Award-winning PIVOT program for pandemic-era faculty development. By Spring 2027, the program envisions extending training to students, recognizing that accessibility is a shared responsibility across the entire university community.

UMBC is among thirty institutions across eight countries recognized this year, selected from 136 submissions representing 19 countries, one of the most competitive pools in the program's history. Presented annually by Blackboard, the Catalyst Awards celebrate institutions and individuals who use Blackboard solutions to drive meaningful change in teaching, learning, accessibility, engagement, and institutional success. The Training & Professional Development Award specifically recognizes those who use the Blackboard LMS to elevate training for educators and staff, strengthening skills and supporting successful technology adoption.

"We're inspired by the institutions and educators recognized through this year's Catalyst Awards," said Bruce Dahlgren, CEO of Blackboard. "These winners represent the very best of innovation, collaboration, and commitment to learner success."

To learn more about the Catalyst Awards and see the full list of 2026 winners, visit blackboard.com/catalyst-awards.

Budget Templates:

Thinking of preparing or revising your budget and budget justification documents for your grant proposal or award? Below is a list of helpful links to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at UMBC Budget Templates and Resources, which may be used for proposals and for post-award modifications:

a)     Budget Justification/Narrative (Sample):  https://umbc.box.com/s/b3iuquzr8g98ju6mq6c1eqcxg242h2d5

b)     Fellowship Budget Justification Template: https://umbc.app.box.com/embed/s/lv7a4rafzm8k1wcb970kl0y378hr6npd?sortColumn=date&view=list%22%20width=%22500%22%20height=%22400%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%20webkitallowfullscreen%20msallowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E

c)     Revised Budget Template: https://umbc.app.box.com/embed/s/w0u5figiq08gkrl27svtjis6sr0yofei?sortColumn=date&view=list%22%20width=%22500%22%20height=%22400%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%20webkitallowfullscreen%20msallowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E

Additional proposal forms, other forms & templates, Subrecipient Forms and Closeout Forms can be found on the Division of Research & Creative Achievement - ORCA Forms Page at https://research.umbc.edu/forms-for-grants-contracts/.

Other Resources:

These resources will provide up-to-date budget information including UMBC’s Indirect Costs (F&A) Rate, Fringe Rates, Leave Payout Rate, Tuition Rates and OSP Guidance on Costs for Data Storage and Access.

a)     UMBC’s F&A Rate Agreement: https://umbc.app.box.com/embed/s/hluuuv4m61hhr592a0unaij4h9dahzq6?sortColumn=date&view=list%22%20width=%22500%22%20height=%22400%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%20webkitallowfullscreen%20msallowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E

b)     Guidelines for Fringe & Inflation Rates: https://umbc.app.box.com/embed/s/nkyfmatzsxa3983dauq6b4070u5uvu07?sortColumn=date&view=list%22%20width=%22500%22%20height=%22400%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%20webkitallowfullscreen%20msallowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E

c)     Leave Payout Rate Guidance: https://financialservices.umbc.edu/cost-accounting-analysis/leave-payout-rate-guidance/

d)     Tuition Rates: https://sbs.umbc.edu/tuition-info/

e)     OSP Guidance: Costs for Data Storage and Access: https://umbc.app.box.com/file/2025072714669?s=fqgbdztk1167efc87tvaigg4kamhyuvt

Additional Information can be also found on our Proposal Information Page at https://research.umbc.edu/proposal-information/.

What are Allowable Costs?

The Office of Contract & Grant Accounting (OCGA) at UMBC provides helpful information regarding allowable costs. Detailed information about these costs can be found at the OCGA Allowable Cost webpage at: https://cga.umbc.edu/allowable-costs/. Here is a quick summary of this page:

Allowable costs are costs that are permitted under the terms and conditions of a sponsored agreement. The Uniform Guidance (UG) - 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles lists the following four general Tests for Allowability:

1.      Costs must be reasonable.

2.      Costs must be allocable.

3.      Costs must be given consistent treatment, and

4.      Costs must conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in the UG or in the sponsored agreement.

Per Uniform Guidance, examples of normally allowable costs related to a project include:

·       Salaries of technical staff

·       Laboratory supplies

·       Long-distance telephone charges

·       Printing and duplicating reports for the project

·       Animal and animal care costs

·       Travel in support of the project, and

·       Research equipment repair and maintenance costs.

If you have any questions, please also feel free to reach out to our OSP team at ospa@umbc.edu.