In an effort to better support the mental health and well being of our graduate student population, the Graduate School CARE team (Concern, Assessment, Referral and Education) was created to identify, monitor, and support graduate students facing significant obstacles to progress that do not rise to the level of the campus behavioral crisis team (BRACT). Members of the CARE team directly advise and support graduate students, advocate for them and liaise with their program/dept as requested, and refer/connect them to resources on campus that can assist them. As necessary, the CARE team triages with other campus units including BRACT, ISS/CGS, legal, OEI, and RIH. 

As trends arise, the CARE team can make recommendations for changes in practice and policy (to the Graduate School, to the Colleges, etc.) that improve student mental health, success and sense of belonging.

To learn more about the CARE team, visit their web page: https://gradschool.umbc.edu/resources/care-team/

Dear UMBC Community,

I write to you today to communicate about some significant changes at the leadership level of the university. I felt it was important to share this information with you, as well as our plans for navigating the changes, both in the short term and the long term. 

Director of Athletics

Very soon, we will launch a national search for a new director of athletics, as Brian Barrio is no longer serving in the role. I have met with the Athletics Department staff—both administrative staff and coaches—and many student-athletes to discuss this transition and assure them of my continued support. As a search gets under way, I have asked two members of the administrative team to take on temporary co-leadership of the department. Whitney Ames, associate athletic director for compliance, and Rich Franchak, senior associate athletic director for business and finance, will be serving in this capacity. Thank you, Whitney and Rich, for your dedication and leadership.

Vice President for Government Relations and Community Affairs

Candace Dodson-Reed has resigned from her role leading government relations and community affairs. Yaakov “Jake” Weissmann ’06, who has been serving as associate vice president for government and community affairs, is stepping in to lead the office. A veteran of Maryland state politics, Jake served as chief of staff for two state senate presidents and as assistant chief administrative officer for Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich before joining UMBC last year. He has already proven to be an outstanding and expert colleague and advisor, and I am grateful for his service to UMBC. 

Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Greg Simmons is departing from his role leading advancement for UMBC. We will move quickly to conduct a national search, and we will update you on that process soon. In the near term, we are grateful to Stanyell Odom, director of alumni engagement, and Kim Robinson, director of major gifts, who have agreed to provide temporary management and leadership of the division and its operations. We know this is a busy time of year for our advancement colleagues, so we felt it was critical to designate key leaders who could serve as point people for their colleagues in the division and who would have a direct line of communication to me and others in senior leadership. Thank you, Stanyell and Kim, for serving in these roles. 

Office of the General Counsel  

Our search for a general counsel, following last year’s retirement of David Gleason, is under way, and I expect to name a new chief legal advisor for the university in the near future. Bobbie Hoye, who had been serving as the point of contact for the Office of the General Counsel, has left her role as senior associate general counsel.

These transitions are significant, and they follow other changes in our senior leadership personnel and structure since I arrived at UMBC in August 2022. I understand some may worry that such transitions will be destabilizing for UMBC, and I know the impact of these transitions is in many cases felt personally, not just operationally or institutionally. I assure you that we will work to move UMBC as swiftly as possible through this period while attending thoughtfully to stability, continuity, and care for the community. 

Universities, many of them centuries old, have a remarkable capacity to endure and evolve through all manner of demands, challenges, and opportunities. UMBC may be younger than many of its peers, but it is no less remarkable in its ability to grow, adapt, renew, and rise to any challenge. In the weeks and months ahead, we will celebrate our graduates who make us so proud, and we will welcome the newest members of Retriever Nation from around the state and around the world. They have placed their trust, and their futures, in UMBC because they recognize that we are a dynamic public research university that is dedicated to inclusive excellence in everything we do. I have every confidence we are worthy of their trust and will exceed their ambitious expectations.

The mission and values of this institution are strong and sure. I believe in UMBC and in all of you, and I am as dedicated as ever to the work of creating UMBC’s future. 

Sincerely,

President Valerie Sheares Ashby

The Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA) is seeking an mature, organized, responsible clerical worker to work part-time in our very small organization. In this position, you will perform a variety of administrative and clerical tasks. Organizational and customer service skills are a must.

Clerical Duties and Responsibilities

Some have dark wood and cozy corners, some have bright, natural light and textured walls—but each of Lane Harlan’s establishments can be looked at like a love letter to the people of Baltimore, thoughtfully decorated with hand-chosen, local pieces and, in some cases, even the decor from her own living room. 

The different vibes, each sumptuous in their own ways, are transporting for patrons. Harlan says that’s intentional. “I want them to feel like they’re elsewhere. They’re not in Baltimore, they’re somewhere else. I think it’s important if you can feel like you’re on an adventure.”

To say Harlan ’21, political science—the highly-accomplished restaurateur who opened W.C. Harlan, Clavel Mescaleria, Fadensonnen, the Coral Wig, and more—is well-known throughout Baltimore would be an understatement. Her acclaim continues to grow after the recent announcement that Clavel is a finalist for a coveted James Beard Award for “Outstanding Bar” (one step and one sip inside the unique taqueria and within a second, you’ll understand why). But while we all know of her success, it may come as a surprise that just like many students, she hit some academic roadblocks along the way. 

The first course

When Harlan joined UMBC as a political science major in 2005, she was already a little different than your average first-year student. Growing up in a military family, she spent her childhood often moving. After graduating high school early, Harlan took her own version of a gap year, traveling to Spain to start her informal education in the hospitality industry. Upon return to Baltimore, she decided to set down roots at UMBC and experience life as an independent adult living in the city. 

Brian Grodsky, political science chair, was one of the professors who helped Harlan connect with her major, especially in his classes about international justice.

“That class made me want to go to school forever. I felt like it was so fascinating and challenging at the same time,” says Harlan. 

Reflecting back on the student he taught nearly 15 years prior, Grodsky remembers Harlan as “one of those students for whom class didn’t just stop when she went home—she was always grappling with issues long after we walked out of the classroom.” 

But if her childhood taught her anything, Harlan knew she still had a lot of the world to explore. “Studying abroad was one of the most important things I did in college. And if I hadn’t gone to UMBC, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity,” says Harlan. 

Harlan spent a year studying abroad in France, learning the restaurant and bar business from the ground up. While she excelled academically in her upper-level courses through UMBC, she struggled with her math requirement. And so, when the opportunity to return to France through a teaching assistantship arose, she jumped at the chance and eventually decided to leave her formal education at UMBC behind. 

Recipe for success

Over the next several years, Harlan worked with partners to build her growing restaurant dynasty, starting with W.C. Harlan, a foreclosed upon former dive bar turned accidental speakeasy. But she harkened back to lessons she learned at UMBC to help her during the exhaustive process. 

“I used my sense of political science in that I was walking around with the petition to the neighbors, getting people to sign, saying that they supported the reopening of the bar, as well as taking it to the neighborhood associations and speaking with the council people,” she says. 

After all this success, how is it that Harlan found herself back in the (virtual) UMBC classroom? In short—COVID. 

“In the pandemic, businesses had to close, restaurants became carry-out operations, and suddenly there was more time in my life,” says Harlan. “I started to think about my time at UMBC, and I felt like I didn’t have closure from that period.” 

Through UMBC’s Finish Line Program, Harlan re-enrolled and found herself again coming face to face with her one-time nemesis—the math requirement. She hired a tutor to come to Clavel once a week to help her study and go over homework. And though she admits it was difficult getting back into the swing of academia after so many years away, she persisted and completed her degree. 

“I texted a photo of my diploma to my parents, and I said, ‘Dad, hang it on your wall! Be proud of me,’” she jokes. “But really, the reason I wanted to finish also was because everyone in life, you have many chapters, and I might want to have another chapter. And I knew I couldn’t do that without my undergraduate degree.” 

While Harlan spends her free time traveling the world and even expanding her business ventures globally, she’s not going anywhere any time soon. “I love Baltimore. I can’t imagine my restaurants anywhere else, actually. I think Baltimore is filled with artists and opportunities and people who do things and they own them.”