Dear UMBC Community,

It is hard to believe that we are more than halfway through April and a little more than a month away from spring Commencement! I know that everyone has been hard at work inside and outside the classroom, on campus and off, and I see in so many ways the fruits of your labor. 

One recent example was the outstanding news that four UMBC students have been named Barry Goldwater Scholars. Any institution would be thrilled to have one Goldwater Scholar in a given year—as this is one of the most prestigious national scholarships for undergraduates in natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics—but UMBC is celebrating FOUR award winners in one year. Congratulations to Phoenix Bryant, Deeya Mistry, Jessica Slaughter, and Amir Walton-Irvin! We are thrilled that you have received this well-deserved recognition and so excited to see you continue to soar. 

The Goldwater Scholarships honor the achievement and promise of individual undergraduate researchers. For UMBC, they also are a reminder of the importance of our core value of inclusive excellence and our ongoing strategic focus on student success and research excellence. These aims propel our work every day, and they were central in our advocacy in Annapolis during the legislative session that has now concluded. 

Maryland General Assembly Session 

I hope you all have seen the session summary that Paul Monteiro shared with the campus community. I am grateful for Paul’s expertise and his ability to hit the ground running in his first session as UMBC’s vice president for government relations and community affairs. In general, this was a very successful legislative season, and it provided multiple opportunities for UMBC to shine brightly. 

Among those opportunities were the many ways our student legislative interns distinguished themselves in their work, as is the case every year. Another occasion centered around celebrating and honoring Adrienne Jones ’76, who stepped down as speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates after six years at the helm, capping an extraordinary and historic career of service. I am deeply appreciative to Speaker Jones for her steadfast support of UMBC and the collaborative relationship we have enjoyed. I am additionally grateful for the early, enthusiastic support we have felt from Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyynk, who picked up the gavel as Speaker of the House. Our new speaker visited UMBC’s campus just a few weeks before being elected to the leadership role, so she had already gotten a chance to get to know UMBC firsthand—and was impressed!  

Paul’s message about the session offers a comprehensive summary of actions taken by the General Assembly that affect (whether directly or indirectly) UMBC. I would highlight a few outcomes that may be of particular interest. 

I know the budget is of primary concern to many, but first I want to note a couple of measures that go beyond state appropriations. One piece of legislation established the Maryland Artificial Intelligence Partnership in the University System of Maryland (USM), which aims to coordinate and strengthen statewide collaboration in AI research, workforce development, and innovation. We look forward to the development of this partnership and working closely with system leadership and our peers in the USM to realize its promise. 

Another item of significance was legislation passed that would grant collective-bargaining rights to nontenure-track faculty at Maryland’s public higher education institutions, effective July 1, 2026, and, separately, that would grant collective-bargaining rights to graduate assistants at UMBC and University of Maryland, College Park, effective July 1, 2028. To be clear, the legislation does not create new unions; it extends to specific nontenure-track faculty and graduate students the right to organize, should they choose. 

Budget

As for the budget: As a public institution, about a third of UMBC’s budget revenue comes from state appropriations, which is why, as I have said previously, the state’s budget challenges are challenges for us as well—and these are not one-time, one-year pressures. The state’s final budget of $70.8 billion maintains funding for the University System of Maryland at essentially the same level as last year. In practice, that means we will continue operating at our current funding level, while managing the increased costs associated with compensation and other ongoing commitments. Even as we are grateful that no additional cuts were made in the FY27 budget, the current funding level reflects the reduction implemented in FY26.

The challenges before us remain significant as we continue to work through the impact of last year’s reductions. I appreciate all that you have done and continue to do to navigate these changes.

Even in these constrained budget times, I am encouraged by the State of Maryland’s continued commitment to public higher education and to UMBC in particular. We benefit from the strong support of leaders across the political spectrum who understand the role UMBC plays in advancing opportunity and serving the public good—and who see the impact of our work across the state.

In addition to operational funding, that commitment is reflected in the state’s continued capital investments in UMBC. State support remains in place for the completion of Sherman Hall, for the planning and design of a new student services building, and for the future renovation of Sondheim Hall.

Strategic Planning

The realities before us require thoughtful prioritization and intentional investment of our resources. Our strategic planning work comes at the right time, positioning us to make clear choices about where to focus and how to move forward in support of our students; our teaching, research, and service; and our commitment to inclusive excellence. 

I am energized by the progress we have made in recent months. Thank you to our Strategic Plan Steering Committee and to all who have shared in this important work so far, including by participating in the recent strategic plan survey.

Being Accountable to Our Community 

As we move toward a renewed vision for UMBC’s future, we will do so with an inclusive excellence framework and a commitment to living our shared values. Our work toward these aspirations continues every day, sometimes in ways that are visible, and very often in ways that are not. 

Tanyka Barber, vice president for institutional equity, recently shared an update on progress on UMBC’s voluntary agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding prevention of and response to sexual misconduct under Title IX. Now two years into the agreement, UMBC has fully implemented all initial provisions and is in the monitoring phase of the agreement. We continue to review and improve policies and processes and strengthen coordination and collaboration among the Office of Equity and Civil Rights (ECR) and campus partners. 

The work falls largely on Tanyka and ECR, but it is appropriately and necessarily the work of all of us. Thank you to Tanyka, ECR, and this entire community for your dedication—not just to satisfying the provisions in the DOJ agreement, which we are doing—but to creating a community that is truly safe, welcoming, and inclusive for all its members and to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accountability. 

Here, I want to acknowledge that some of this work has been the subject of public scrutiny in recent weeks, and I have been asked, among other things, whether I am concerned that news reports of actions taken in our Athletics Department would harm our reputation. Let me be clear: my concern, first and foremost, is for the well-being and safety of our students. I noted above how much progress has been made in addressing the terms of the DOJ agreement. We remain in good standing with the DOJ. Many of you know that we began comprehensive work to strengthen our prevention and response efforts long before the agreement—and that our work goes above and beyond it.

Progress is ongoing, and it will be signaled in part by more reporting of incidents, not less, as community members increasingly trust our processes and know they will be protected and supported through them. So, it is my hope and expectation that over time, our community will be even better and stronger, as will our reputation. 

Likewise, there is more for us to do to be the best possible institutional citizen and neighbor, caring for our campus, our community, and the environment. Recent news stories about the Spring Grove site in Catonsville have caused concern, I know, including reports that UMBC had been cited by the state Department of the Environment for numerous violations related to a stream stabilization project. While I am pleased to report that UMBC has addressed all violations and is now in full compliance with state regulations on this project, there is much more to do—long before we even begin to plan for the future of Spring Grove.

It will require much consultation and much engagement—not one conversation, but many—with our campus community, including faculty with relevant expertise, and with our neighbors, to reach the best-case path forward and outcome. This is my intention, and my promise. 

Staying Informed, Looking Ahead

Widening the view to national and international concerns, we continue to monitor closely numerous issues related to executive orders and actions, international conflicts, and more that are affecting higher education broadly and UMBC specifically. I encourage you to stay informed by reading the periodic updates from our core team (including this one from late March) and visiting the Federal Orders and Actions website, where we are maintaining an evolving list of resources and FAQs.

As we do our best to answer your questions and address your concerns, including about how UMBC responds to international incidents and how we would handle immigration enforcement actions on our campus, we also are navigating uncertainties about federal funding, international student recruitment and retention, and more. 

We expect that the increased challenges for international students to study in the U.S., along with the current political climate, will result in a reduction of international students among incoming undergraduate and graduate students. The size of that reduction is not known at this time, but as we approach National College Decision Day on May 1, UMBC faculty and staff across the university are doing all they can to respond to questions and provide support and opportunities for admitted students to connect and learn about UMBC. 

We do know there is much to look forward to with respect to incoming students this fall. At the graduate level, an exciting new initiative, Free Graduate Application Week, spurred more than 2,100 applications to degree-granting master’s and doctoral programs in one week in January, contributing to a 37 percent increase in domestic applications to master’s programs and a 16 percent increase in international applications to master’s programs compared with the same week in January last year. 

A second Free Graduate Application Week is happening later this spring. As part of our commitment to strengthen Maryland and its communities, the Graduate School and Division of Professional Studies have partnered with the Provost’s Office to offer a special $2,000 master’s program scholarship for Marylanders. These are terrific new efforts that I know will yield great results for our graduate programs, and I am grateful to all who have helped make them happen, including faculty, graduate program directors and coordinators, and, of course, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School Christa Porter and her entire team.

In undergraduate enrollment news, our first-year applications grew 2 percent over last year, and the admitted student cohort is academically strong and diverse in every way, including geographically. And we continue to grow in our commitment to serve Baltimore City, with a 20 percent increase in applications from Baltimore City students. 

Hats off to Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Planning Yvette Mozie-Ross ’88 and the Enrollment Management team for their work to attract such outstanding students and serve the state of Maryland. I was delighted to celebrate with them two momentous occasions recently: the opening of the Baltimore Ravens College Track Center—for which we are College Track’s public higher education partner—and our annual Admitted Student Day celebration on April 11. With more than 2,000 newly admitted first-year and transfer students and their families on our campus that day, the energy was palpable, and the optimism and excitement impossible to miss. 

Thank you for all you do for UMBC! I am inspired and honored to be in service with all of you. 

Sincerely,

President Valerie Sheares Ashby