2 Chronicles 26:1-23 (NIV)

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. 6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.
9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. 10 He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
11 Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12 The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. 15 In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.”
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him.
21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house —leprous, and banned from the temple of the LORD. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
22 The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in a cemetery that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.

Isaiah 6:1 (NIV)

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Reflection:

“In the year King Uzziah died” - What did the death of King Uzziah mean to Isaiah? To Israel? 2 Chronicles shows King Uzziah started as one of the great kings of Israel – one who was favored by God. But his pride led to his downfall. The year King Uzziah died was a bitter and confusing time for Isaiah and for Israel. God had obviously blessed King Uzziah, and the people put their trust in him. But the one who had lived in obedience to God in his earlier years came to a miserable end. King Uzziah’s death was a painful reminder to Isaiah of Israel’s own hopelessness.

Responding to the Transmission:

What do we do when those we trust fail us and we become disillusioned? For Isaiah, he saw the Lord. Rather than leading to discouragement or despair, may these moments be opportunities for a shift in our life. May we see that we, and those we have trusted, are merely human and instead shift our eyes to the Lord.
What disappointment or disillusionment are we struggling with today? Let’s spend some time praying that we would go from merely seeing the world in its weakness and failures to seeing the Lord.

A number of news outlets have noted that UMBC again made The Chronicle of Higher Education’s list of “Great Colleges to Work For.” This marks the third time in a row UMBC has made the annual list, the latest of which was published August 6.

Here’s a sampling of the coverage:

ABC-2 News – “UMBC among best colleges to work for”

Baltimore Business Journal – “Four Maryland colleges among best places to work”

Arbutus Patch – “UMBC Named ‘Great College to Work For'” 

The Huffington Post – “The Best Colleges to Work For: Chronicle of Higher Education List 2012”

Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, offered his expertise on e-government in the Baltimore Sun‘s August 8 article “State launches online voter registration.” The program’s supporters hope the move will increase the number of eligible voters on the rolls and make registration errors less common, but Norris has his doubts.

“There have been all kinds of attempts to tweak the voting system to increase voter registration,” Norris said. “Nothing seems to work.” He argued that online registration won’t boost turnout in the coming election, and that ultimately voter enthusiasm for candidates is what matters the most.

DoIT and the Faculty Development Center will be offering the Hybrid Course Redesign Workshop on January 18, 2013 from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm in ENGR 023 on UMBC's Main Campus. In the morning participants will learn the principles of good course design, including designing assignments and assessments that help students achieve the goals for their learning. Lunch will be provided and participants will hear from a panel of faculty experienced in teaching hybrid courses. In the afternoon faculty will apply the principles of good course design from the morning session to planning a hybrid course (part-online, part face-to face), and gain hands-on experience with some of the technology tools that are effective in online teaching. This workshop is open to all full or part time UMBC faculty and is limited to 14 participants. To register, please go to this event on the myUMBC Training site.

The workshop will also help meet the requirements for a one-time course-redesign stipend through the Alternate Delivery program (ADP), which is sponsored by both the Office of the Provost, and the Office of Summer, Winter and Special Programs (OSWSP).

How often does an international conference that you’ve always wanted to attend come to your very own back yard? Luckily for me, this was the case with the 2012 International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) Symposium in Eugene, Oregon this summer. With the theme “The Power of Partnerships,” the event focused on the importance of expanding sustainability initiatives beyond traditional campus boundaries to incorporate local and regional efforts.

ISCN itself exemplifies the importance of partnering:

• The initiative is supported and directed by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), while its Secretariat is managed by Sustainserv.
• ISCN strives to build on and complement initiatives at local, national, and multi-national levels such as the work of EAUC and AASHE.
• “Members” comprise nearly 40 signatory institutions (all of which are leading research universities) to a sustainable campus charter. Signatories commit to setting targets toward three shared charter principles, and to regularly and transparently report on their progress.
• ISCN provides a “global forum” in which signatories exchange information, ideas, and best practices for achieving sustainable campus operations and integrating sustainability in research and teaching.

The 6th annual ISCN symposium – the first in North America - demonstrated this global forum in action as well as the “partnerships” theme. The event was co-hosted by the University of Oregon, held in UO’s impressive LEED Silver Lillis Business Complex. With approximately 100 participants, there was an intimate atmosphere even in plenary sessions. Among the many highlights for me were:

• Keynotes by David Orr and Jason McLennan (Living Building Institute)
• Plenary speakers Leith Sharp, Mark Orlowski, and others from around the world.
  (Note: most of the plenary talks are posted on the symposium website, along with the conference agenda, speaker bios, and an attendee list.)
• Dinner and an awards ceremony in a sustainability-oriented winery, complete with a bicycle-powered band.
• Working groups that met several times throughout the conference to advance three topics: “building performance,” “campus-wide planning and target-setting,” and “integration of research, teaching, and facilities.” See the website for reports from each working group.
• Delicious, locally sourced meals (including lunch in the patio of Lillis Business Complex)
• A luncheon plenary talk in a special suite atop UO’s Autzen Stadium, with pedicab transportation available to and from the Stadium for those who desired
• Many great opportunities for me to connect with AASHE members and others from around the globe, and learn about their initiatives, successes, and challenges

During dinner at a sustainability-oriented brewery, I was honored to speak to the group about AASHE and its growing international outreach and partnerships. I mentioned events happening that same week at the Rio+20 Summit where AASHE and more than a dozen international partners:

• Organized an official U.N. side event: Aiming Higher: Unlocking Higher Education’s Potential for Sustainable Development.
• Promoted and endorsed the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative
• Prepared and endorsed the People’s Sustainability Treaty on Higher Education

I’m still processing everything that I learned from this symposium. It was, as one participant put it, like a “mini-AASHE conference,” from the buzz of excitement to the lively workshops, to the inspiring awards (be sure to read the winning entries on the website).

Despite being presented with the chilling facts of our civilizational crisis and the insufficient societal response to date (“glacial” would be too fast to describe the pace of change), a clear sense of hope pervaded the meeting. From David Orr’s Oberlin Project and U Oregon’s Sustainable City Year Program to the growing number of living buildings rising on college campuses and elsewhere, to China’s and India’s admirable efforts at (re)developing campuses in sustainable ways, the conference was largely about finding solutions by working in partnership. I came away with a list of collaborative ideas for AASHE, iSCN, and our international partners, and look forward to following up in coming months.

Many thanks to Bernd Kasemir, ISCN’s program manager, as well as Debra Shepard and Matthew Gardner at Sustainserv/ISCN Secretariat, for the excellent work they do in organizing these annual symposiums (and for the complimentary registration extended to AASHE). My highest compliments also to Steve Mital and other staff at U Oregon who took care of our every need, and made us all want to come back soon to their lovely, emerald campus.