Alumnus Bryan Kelly ’92, economics, won reelection as Chair of the Harford Community College Board of Trustees, according to local news website The Dagger.

Kelly, who is also managing partner and owner of The Kelly Group, has served on the board since 2005 and is also co-chair of the Board of Directors of the UMBC Economics Visitors Council. Other current positions include President of the Maryland Association of Community Colleges; the chairman of the board of the Academy of Finance, Harford County Public Schools; and membership of the Harford Leadership Academy Alumni Association at Harford Community College.

He was named the 2007 UMBC Economics Alumnus of the Year, as well as being named a member of the 2010 Leadership Maryland Class, among other achievements. He was also an alumni committee member throughout UMBC’s Exceptional by Example giving campaign, which ended last year.

This story originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

Alumnus Bryan Kelly ’92, economics, won reelection as Chair of the Harford Community College Board of Trustees, according to local news website The Dagger.

Kelly, who is also managing partner and owner of The Kelly Group, has served on the board since 2005 and is also co-chair of the Board of Directors of the UMBC Economics Visitors Council. Other current positions include President of the Maryland Association of Community Colleges; the chairman of the board of the Academy of Finance, Harford County Public Schools; and membership of the Harford Leadership Academy Alumni Association at Harford Community College.

He was named the 2007 UMBC Economics Alumnus of the Year, as well as being named a member of the 2010 Leadership Maryland Class, among other achievements. He was also an alumni committee member throughout UMBC’s Exceptional by Example giving campaign, which ended last year.

This story originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

Labor We Love

UMBC is a major research university, but one of its successes is that it still retains the personal touch of a much smaller institution. 

One reason that UMBC has managed to be so welcoming is the university’s dedicated faculty and staff – many of whom go the extra mile to ensure students’ success, create environments for exceptional teaching and research, or keep the campus looking attractive and inviting.

That UMBC’s faculty and staff enjoy their work is also part of this reputation. The Chronicle of Higher Education confirms that in its 2012 survey of “Great Colleges to Work For.” UMBC was again named to the “Honor Roll” in the Chronicle’s annual survey because its own faculty and staff ranked it highly in seven of the 12 areas canvassed by the newspaper.

 “We are a ‘Great College’ because of the people here,” says President Freeman Hrabowski. “This honor yet again affirms what we all know: UMBC is a place that supports people, values collaboration, and fosters trust, respect, and enthusiasm for educating our students.”

UMBC’s faculty and staff said the university was particularly strong when it came to:

• Collaborative governance
• Professional and career development
• Work/life balance
• Confidence in senior leadership
• Supervisor/department chair relationship
• Respect and appreciation
• Tenure clarity and process

“The upper administration understands that working with the faculty is an effective way to move the university forward,” says Tim Topoleski, a professor of mechanical engineering and former president of the Faculty Senate. “Because the faculty are directly involved with UMBC’s primary mission, listening to their ideas – everything from increasing campus efficiency to innovative ways to deliver the curriculum – is hugely beneficial to the university.”

Staff, too, are encouraged to play a major role in moving UMBC forward. Carrie Sauter, an assistant director in the interdisciplinary studies program and president of the Professional staff Senate, says she’s thrilled to help shape the university she graduated from.

“I feel so lucky to be able to return to the campus that provided so much to me as a student, and to serve in a role that helps students to achieve their goals,” Sauter says.

Terry Aylsworth, executive administrative assistant in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and president of the Non-exempt Staff Senate, draws energy from her co-workers and especially the students.

“I have always felt that it was a privilege to work at UMBC, and after 16 years, I still feel the same,” she says. “I have had wonderful, brilliant bosses and smart and generous co-workers.  I still get a thrill walking across campus and feeling the energy radiating from the students.”

To read the full survey results, visit The Chronicle.

(8/6/12)

Colossians 3:5-10 (NIV)

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Reflection:

As flowers start to bloom and windows are opened for the first time to chirping birds outside, many of us undergo an annual tradition of spring cleaning. This is when the newness of the nature outside is enough to finally inspire us to throw out the old and useless things that have accumulated along the way during the past year. As citizens of heaven, we also have been made completely new again. The old ways and habits of our earthly nature used to control us, but now they have no place in our lives. We are living by the Spirit of God and it’s time to get rid of the junk. Out with the old!

Responding to the Transmission:

Let’s thank God for the new lives in Christ that we now live and the incredible freedom from sin that we have. Let’s pray that God would show us the old ways of living that are so out of place in our lives now so that we can get rid of these things. May we continue to put on the new self, the redeemed self, as we are being renewed in the knowledge in the image of our Creator.

Associate professor Alan Kreizenbeck, theatre, attended the 2012 Summer Freeman Institute Workshop in Japan Studies, which was held at Tokai International College in Honolulu, Hawaii from May 20 to June 10.

The workshop was sponsored by the Japan Studies Association, and involved Kreizenbeck and thirteen other scholars from across the United States. The scholars attended lectures covering a breadth of material, covering Japanese history, religion, literature, visual arts, music, theatre, social policy and international relations. The workshops also afforded Kreizenbeck and his colleagues an opportunity to strengthen their knowledge of the Japanese language through interactions with young native Japanese speakers.

“I would recommend applying to this workshop to anyone interested in learning about Japan,” Kreizenbeck says. “The information I gathered during the three weeks will be of immense help in planning a course in Japanese cultural performance that I plan to offer for the Asian Studies Program in the spring of 2013.”

Alumnus Bryan Kelly ’92, economics, won reelection as Chair of the Harford Community College Board of Trustees, according to local news website The Dagger.

Kelly, who is also managing partner and owner of The Kelly Group, has served on the board since 2005 and is also co-chair of the Board of Directors of the UMBC Economics Visitors Council. Other current positions include President of the Maryland Association of Community Colleges; the chairman of the board of the Academy of Finance, Harford County Public Schools; and membership of the Harford Leadership Academy Alumni Association at Harford Community College.

He was named the 2007 UMBC Economics Alumnus of the Year, as well as being named a member of the 2010 Leadership Maryland Class, among other achievements.

ASB trips are student-run, week long service engagement trips designed to challenge students and combat civic issues underlying larger societal concerns such as homelessness, intellectual disabilities, animal welfare, health care and the environment.  The tentative ASB Trips for Spring 2013 are the following: