On behalf of the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the students researchers, their mentors, and the guests who participated in URCAD Online this year. 

A special thanks goes out to Michael Mower, UAA’s IT Web, and Graphic Design Specialist, and to our partners in the Division of Information Technology for helping to transition URCAD online using the VoiceThread platform. Thank you also to our Alumni Keynote Speaker, Dr. Keisha John, for her inspiring words of wisdom in these challenging times. I would also like to acknowledge the URCAD Selection Committee and its chair, Dr. Stephen Miller, for all their work in making selections and giving students feedback on their abstracts, and Dr. Raimi Quiton and Dr. Timothy Phin for helping prepare the students to present. And thank you to Provost Philip Rous and Dean Katharine Cole for their continued support of the event.

You will still be able to view the presentations until September 4, 2020, although some students may choose to turn off their comment function. To view student projects, see the URCAD presenter listing and click on any VT icon. Projects are also viewable by department. 

URCAD.umbc.edu

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for URCAD 2021, which will be held next year on Wednesday, April 21, 2021! Stay safe, and we hope to see you next year on campus for URCAD XXV!

Dr. April Householder
Director of Undergraduate Research and Prestigious Scholarships

The following announcement from the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) contains information from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Dear Colleagues:

You are invited to participate in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Electronic Research Administration (ERA) Forum Webinar on May 14, 2020 from 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern Time. To participate in this forum, please Register Now.

The topics for this Forum webinar will cover:

• the new requirement beginning June 1, 2020, to use an NSF-approved format for the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support sections of NSF proposals;
• the new Award Notice; and
• a Research.gov Demo of Separately Submitted Collaborative Proposals from Multiple Organizations.

On April 1, 2020, NSF announced the availability of both NSF-approved formats for the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support sections of NSF proposals. NSF conducted a Webinar to discuss the policy and system implications for this new requirement. As a reminder we encourage you to send questions ahead of the May 14, 2020 ERA Forum webinar to nsferaforum@nsf.gov.

For more information about the NSF ERA Forum Webinar, please visit our website at https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/era_forum.jsp.

Please share this information with your colleagues. They can also subscribe to our ERA Forum listserv to receive future ERA Forum notifications by simply sending a blank email to NSF-ERA-FORUM-subscribe-request@listserv.nsf.gov to be automatically enrolled.

Best regards,
NSF ERA Forum Team
National Science Foundation
nsferaforum@nsf.gov

For more information, visit the post from OSP or contact OSP directly.

We sat down with UMBC’s Masters of Art in Education program director, Jerri Frick, to learn more about this unique program and how it’s helping certified teachers gain more success in their careers. 

What is the value of a Masters of Art in Education degree?

Currently, in industry, we know that computer science mathematics, and STEM are highly sought after careers. And there are a lot of job opportunities in those areas right now. Our program helps prepare our students, professionals who are already certified teachers, to teach these content areas to students in pre-K through 12th grade.

Our MAE program is training and educating certified teachers so that they can properly educate their K-12 grade students in these ever-changing content areas. We stay on top of current technology and best teaching practices, so we can help certified teachers make the best choices in their classroom.

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The Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration and Policy (SAHAP) is excited to announce their name has officially been changed to THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND PUBLIC HEALTH (SAPH). The new name reflects the evolving nature of our department faculty composition and academic program emphases in the social dimension of health (we now have an undergraduate certificate across our three majors as well as a post-baccalaureate certificate in the Social Dimensions of Health).

Public Health is a recognized discipline that has been targeted for workforce capacity building by the U.S. Department of health and Human Services. Healthy People 2020 notes the need for public health infrastructure and the workforce demands in this area recommends that 4-year colleges and universities increase offerings in public health or related majors and/or minors. Our department has responded to this recommendation by weaving public health concern throughout each of our majors and scholarship/research. The Public Health track of the Department's Health Administration and Policy Program consistently is the most popular area of focus among our majors. The current pandemic we now face makes clear the importance of public health to population health globally.