Please join us for a Lunch and Learn information session on Thursday October 20 from noon-1pm about the National Science Foundation’s Build and Broaden program, featuring three UMBC researchers with current Build & Broaden awards.

The Build & Broaden program “supports cutting-edge research, training opportunities and new research infrastructure in the social, behavioral and economic sciences at minority-serving institutions.” 

During the info session, presenters will provide an overview of the program and discuss their ongoing projects, with Q&A to follow.

Presenters:

Christine Mallinson is PI (with Anne H. Charity Hudley, Co-PI, Stanford University) of “Linguistic Production, Perception, and Identity in the Career Mobility of Black Faculty in Linguistics and the Language Sciences” (Awards #2126414 and #2126405). Mallinson is the Director of UMBC’s Center for Social Science Scholarship, Special Assistant for Research & Creative Achievement and APLU-CoR Fellow in the Office for Research & Creative Achievement, Professor in the Language, Literacy & Culture Program, and Affiliate Professor in the Department of Gender, Women’s + Sexuality Studies. 

Morgan Henderson is PI and Morgane Mouslim is Co-PI of “Provider Pricing Behavior and Health Policy” (Award #2222433). Henderson is Principal Data Scientist with UMBC’s Hilltop Institute and Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics. Mouslim is a Policy Analyst with UMBC’s Hilltop Institute. 

Based on a national survey of undergraduates and IT, 18% of UMBC respondents stated a preference for courses that are mostly to fully online (compared to 33% nationally). That preference for online learning is up from approximately 6% pre-pandemic.  Additionally, 53% of UMBC students (compared with 41% nationally) indicated a preference for all or mostly face-to-face(F2F) instruction. By contrast, in 2018 and 2019 versions of the same survey, an average of 69% of UMBC respondents preferred all or mostly F2F instruction.

More than 800 students from a nationally representative sample responded to the 2022 “Undergraduates and IT” survey, which was  administered by the Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) in collaboration with Ipsos KnowledgePanel. UMBC has participated every year since 2006. ECAR data have been beneficial to inform decision making, particularly amidst the pandemic. Additionally, our involvement has provided critical insights for benchmarking trends such as the increasing ubiquity of smart devices, which has, in turn, allowed for advancements such as the adoption of phone-based responseware.

Interestingly, the ECAR  findings echo those of DoIT’s spring 2022 faculty survey, which indicated a shift in pre/post-pandemic teaching preference away from traditional face-to-face models. Additionally, based on their experiences with online and blended courses, 72% of students indicated they were just as or more likely to take a course with a similar modality again in the future.

Technology limitations, including network reliability and device access were principal themes highlighted by EDUCAUSE for their national responses, as was a general shift in instructional modality preference away from mostly face-to-face.

The ECAR results show two thirds of UMBC respondents with adequate internet connectivity either always or very often, while 23% only had adequate access sometimes. The majority of users (86%) struggled at least occasionally to find an internet connection, and half of respondents indicated that at some point their primary device lost connectivity to the internet during class, an exam, or another synchronous activity. Student connectivity can also impact other related domains, such as academic integrity, accommodations, and testing, as highlighted by a recent faculty survey.

Only 1% of survey respondents did not own a computer. The primary device for two thirds of users was a laptop, while another 19% use a desktop. Although half of those surveyed indicated using a smartphone as their secondary device, none use one as their primary solution. Only one in five respondents indicated encountering difficulties running required software on their device due to compatibility, memory, or other issues. Notably, nearly half of the students self-resolved the IT difficulties they encountered with their own knowledge and personal troubleshooting abilities, which is almost twice the rate of our institutional peer group. This outcome may be attributable to UMBC’s use of on-demand support FAQs along with show-and-tell screencasting.

As in years past, a 25% sample of the university’s undergraduate student population was conducted, and the survey was deployed toward the end of the Spring 2022 term using direct messaging through myUMBC. Response rates were lower this year than in past deployments, perhaps indicating a general survey fatigue associated with pandemic-related data gathering. Nonetheless, response rates were sufficient for reliable and valid conclusions, while our data aligned with and generally reflect those of our peer institutions.

~By Tom Penniston
Image by Freepik

Dear UMBC Community,

UMBC is experiencing a problem with our High Temperature Hot Water System. A portion of the system has had to be turned off while repairs are made. The Administration Building, Retriever Activity Center, University Center, Engineering Building, Information Technology/Engineering Building, Math/Psychology Building, Sondheim Hall, and Sherman Hall are affected by this shutdown.

All efforts are being made to restore the system as soon as possible, but the outage may extend into early next week and all affected buildings will see cooler temperatures than normal until the system is back in operation. Hot water will not be available in the affected buildings. Bathrooms will remain functional with cold water available. Our environmental health and safety team has verified that handwashing with soap remains effective in cold water. Dining locations in the University Center and Administration Building will be open as follows through the weekend:

• The Admin Coffee Shop and Starbucks will be open as usual tomorrow, 10/14/22.
• Chick-fil-A will be open tomorrow, 10/14/22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Starbucks will be open as usual on Sunday, 10/16/22.

We will update the community as soon as we know when hot water will be restored to these buildings. In the meantime, we encourage supervisors in affected buildings to be flexible with staff regarding remote work options.

Thank you for your patience. Thank you to our facilities management team who will be working throughout the weekend to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.

Kathy L. Dettloff, Vice President for Administration and Finance
Lenn Caron, Associate Vice President, Facilities Management

Spring 2023 Registration - Advising Appointment Information for Current Students:

All undergraduate students must receiving advising clearance in order to have their advising hold lifted and register for Spring 2023 courses.

Spring Registration for undergraduate students will begin in November.

The date/ time of registration eligibility for each student is based on the number of earned credit.

Pre-Majors and all first semester transfer students should schedule an advising appointment with a COEIT advisor here. New appointments times are being added on a regular basis.

All students who have passed their gateway, are not first semester transfer students, and have been updated to the full major will be advised by faculty in the department.

All Computer Science and Computer Engineering students who have passed the gateway, been enrolled at UMBC for at least one semester, and have been moved to full major should consult myUMBC (Profile - Degree) to see the name of their faculty.

Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering students should have their faculty advisor's name emailed to them by the end of the week.

More information about advising for students who are full majors, including how to find the name of your faculty advisor, can found here.

Faculty advisors may wait until the schedule of classes is posted on October 24 to meet with students.

Information Systems and Business Technology Administration majors (or students intending to change to one of these majors) are advised in the Information Systems Department. Please go here for more information.

If you are changing your major to a major outside the College of Engineering and Information Technology, please contact the respective department of your new major for advising appointment instructions. Please remember to complete a Declaration of Major form for your new major.

Winter 2023 Session

Winter session registration will begin October 17. Students do not need to meet with an advisor prior to registering for winter courses unless they have questions or concerns. If you intend to take a course off-campus during the summer, a Verification of  Transferability Form is required in advance of taking the winter course.

New Students Admitted for the Spring Semester:

Newly admitted students for the Spring semester may not register for courses until Winter Orientation. Please sign up for Orientation here.

Questions?

Please contact an advisor for additional information.