Sarah Bloom Raskin, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, visited UMBC on April 29 to make her first official policy address.

This is the third in a series of articles on the four focus areas that are part of UMBC’s strategic planning process.

The primary goal of the Innovative Curriculum and Pedagogy strategy group is to develop strategies and goals that will enable UMBC to continue its leadership in innovative curricula and academic programs that support and enhance undergraduate and graduate student success; prepare students for meaningful careers, lifelong learning, and engaged citizenship; and thereby maintain and enhance UMBC’s position as a national leader in undergraduate and graduate education.

Jeff Leips, associate professor, biological sciences, and Carole McCann, professor and chair, gender and women’s studies, bring significant experience in building programs at UMBC to their roles as co-chairs. Leips has helped implement major curriculum and program changes in UMBC’s undergraduate biological sciences, including new interdisciplinary minors. McCann has spent her career building the emerging scholarly area of gender and women’s studies, and also was part of the workgroup that developed the new global studies program.

The Innovative Curriculum and Pedagogy strategy group is examining the current profile of faculty, students and mix of programs; lessons learned from studies of retention and graduate rates at UMBC and elsewhere, as well as additional measurements for success; best practices at peer institutions and nationally for supporting curricular innovation; how best to balance existing and new programs and instructional duties of faculty; enhancement of classroom infrastructure, technology and faculty development; and best practices in faculty rewards and recognition. (A complete list of the Innovative Curriculum and Pedagogy strategy group research questions is available here.)

McCann says that one of the challenges that comes with studying curriculum and pedagogy is anticipating the changes that inevitably come with each new generation of students. “Classes aren’t static. Faculty have to reinvent classroom strategies and need the support to develop new approaches to student learning. At the same time, UMBC’s commitment to diversity takes continued thinking and planning.”

Leips adds, “It’s hard to predict anything except that change will happen, and whatever we develop, we know that will eventually change as well. So we look for ways to help keep the classroom flexible. For example, the “clicker” technology we’ve used in recent years to engage students in biological sciences is already changing. We have to keep up with technology and integrate changes, using them effectively for the benefit of our students.”

The group also will need to look at graduation and retention rates at UMBC and other institutions. “These are very important factors in our strategic planning. It’s one way of getting a sense of whether we are meeting students’ needs,” explains McCann. “But then we have to go beyond the stats and think about how we can measure our effectiveness in terms of what kinds of professional and public lives our students go on to. There’s also a balance in what programs we offer with regard to traditional liberal arts education; it’s not just about the latest fad in classroom techniques.”

“Any university has to facilitate our ability to respond quickly to change, both in the classroom and in the world,” says Leips. “We also need to think creatively about infrastructure and faculty support.”

Leips said he and McCann are thinking about creating subcommittees within the group to do research into teaching and learning at UMBC, and also what peers are doing. “We’re committed to doing the research to address the questions, not assume we already know the answers, as we engage with the group and the campus,” he shared. They also will engage with focus groups, meet with stakeholders, and attend faculty meetings.

“It’s an important moment for UMBC,” McCann reflects. “We’re used to relying on a simple organizational structure, and our work is now more complex and diverse. How do we build a process so we can support our planning, what to do, when to do it, and for what purpose? We can’t do everything at once, but we can plan.”

On April 12, 2014 over one hundred graduate students, faculty, staff, and community partners gathered in UMBC’s Performing Arts and Humanities Building for the Rethinking Intellectual Activism graduate student conference. Presenters represented UMBC’s Language, Literacy and Culture (LLC) Doctoral Program and the departments of Geography and Environmental Systems, Public Policy, Psychology, and Sociology, as well as universities across the country, such as UCLA, MICA, George Mason, and the University of Louisville, and the world, such as University of Oxford, England, Sabancı University, Turkey and North South University, Bangladesh.

Presenters and attendees discussed a variety of topics connected to the notion of Intellectual Activism. They included: Social Justice Through Critical Participatory Action Research; Politics of Race, Ethnicity, Religion, and Gender; New Critical Perspectives on Service Learning and Community Engagement; Researching Political Action, Discourse, and Organizations; and Politics of Art and Art as Activism.

Dr. Kaye Whitehead, Assistant Professor of Communication at Loyola University and a graduate of the Language, Literacy and Culture Doctoral Program at UMBC, delivered the keynote speech, titled In Search of Your Magis: Taking a Moment to ReThink, ReEvaluate, and ReDiscover Intellectual Activism. In her speech grounded on the central question, “What kind of a scholar do you want to be?” and interwoven with episodes from her own inspiring life story, Dr. Whitehead talked about the importance of scholars finding their own paths to be/come intellectual activists or activist intellectuals who fight for social justice and make a difference in both others’ and their own lives through their knowledge practices.

Thanks to all the co-sponsoring academic departments, programs, and offices across the campus, whose support made this conference possible: LLC Doctoral Program; Office of the Vice President for Research; Department of Gender and Women’s Studies; LLC Graduate Student Organization; Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication; Department of American Studies; Department of Sociology and Anthropology; Department of English, and B’PAR Graduate Student Organization. Thanks also to the campus community of students, faculty members, and staff members, without whom this conference would remain as a dream. Next year’s LLC Graduate Student Conference is expected to add to the critical dialogues stimulated in this year’s conference.

Name: Robert Curland

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Sheppard Pratt

Major(s)/Minor(s): Psychology

Expected Graduation Year: 2015

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

I spent time on three units, Psychotic Disorders, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Crisis Stabilization. On each unit I would talk with patients, help in therapeutic groups, assist on staff-escorted walks, sit in on rounds, and other things that involved patient interactions. I was also fortunate enough to have one on one time with multiple psychiatrists that would show me how they spent each day as well as recommend me some literature to read regarding mental illness.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I have enjoyed the sheer amount of opportunities Sheppard Pratt has given me. I was fortunate enough to sit in on electroconvulsive therapy(ECT), talk to patients from all walks of life, and get to know staff that truly care about their patients and enjoy what they do. Many individuals have a stigma towards people with mental illness, however spending time with patients each week shows you that some people that could come into the hospital with a mental illness that you wouldn't even expect.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I have gained connections to a wonderful group of people that could not be found anywhere else. Sheppard Pratt has also been ranked one of the best mental health programs in the nation, giving me the opportunity to see some of the best at work.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

I would recommend to keep trying until you find something you like. Make plenty of phone calls, set up as many interviews as you can, and don't be afraid to start as a volunteer to get your foot in the door.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

This experience was meaningful as it let me realize that working with mental illness is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I learned how to interact with patients, how much effort goes into the day-to-day running of a unit, and what it takes to work in a psychiatric hospital. During my time at Sheppard Pratt I was lucky enough to meet multiple psychiatrist that were kind enough to spend time talking with me about psychology and their work instead of just dismissing me as a lowly student.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

Getting to know the patients and hearing what brought them in, and seeing them recover and be given a second chance was what I liked most about internship.