DoIT is now providing NVivo, a qualitative research software package equivalent to SPSS, Stata, SAS, or R. This software is available to all faculty, staff, and graduate students. It allows the user to import, code, and arrange data for methodologically rigorous and scalable analyses. This acquisition aligns with efforts to support UMBC's strategic plan, including the objective to "vigorously promote a campus culture of multidisciplinary collaboration and multidisciplinary research, scholarship, and creative activity."

Professor Anne Brodsky of the Department of Psychology, who also serves as Interim Director, Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR) and Special Assistant for Social Science Research with the CAHSS Dean's Office, has been conducting qualitative research since arriving at UMBC 20 years ago. She believes this procurement is "great news for UMBC researchers and students" and access to NVivo "will further promote the excellent qualitative and mixed methods scholarship being done across the Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, and STEM fields at UMBC as we work to further our understanding into some of the most important and exciting questions of our time."

If you are considering qualitative or mixed-methods research, or you are currently gathering qualitative data, this might be just the tool you're looking for to systematize your analytic strategy.

NVivo can be downloaded at https://wiki.umbc.edu/display/faq/Software

From time to time, UMBC Magazine will highlight interesting research being done by Undergraduate Research Award (URA)-winning students. Today, we hear from Jolee Cohen, a Linehan Artists Scholar pursuing a BFA in Acting, who will graduate this spring. Her research involved participating in a Summer Shakespearean Study in London, England.

This post originally appeared on the URA myUMBC page.

“When you open a school, you close a prison,” is a quote by Victor Hugo, and the favorite of Gabriel Acevero, a 2011 UMBC alumnus, co-founder of the Political Science Student Association, and candidate state delegate in Maryland’s thirty-ninth district. Acevero’s campaign is focused on progression in healthcare, education and reforming the justice system.

After receiving his associate’s degree in international relations at Montgomery Community College, Acevero transferred to UMBC as a junior in 2009, and later graduated in 2011 with a degree in Political Science and Public Policy.

Acevero was greatly influenced by the life and story of President Freeman Hrabowski, and cites his professor Arthur T. Johnson as a “fair but firm man, who expected excellence from all his students.” Johnson gave guidance and advice to Acevero throughout his undergraduate career,  and inspiring growth and challenging his thoughts during classes.

“Dr. Hrabowski also came from a working poor background, and the segregated south; then pursuing academia, pursuing higher education, and committing himself to molding the minds and the character of the next generation. I found that very influencing, and that certainly influenced the work I did at the time, and the work I do now,” said Acevero.

“UMBC not only offered me the education, but the space to be civically engaged, as well as the resources to mobilize students on issues important to our generation,” said Acevero. While on campus, his student organization PSSA, still active today, rallied behind issues of their time, advocating for paid sick leave, ruling against the death penalty and for passing gay marriage laws. In Maryland, paid sick leave was not passed until 2017.

Acevero today works as a labor organizer for United Food and Commercial Workers International Local 1994, representing workplace issues and advocating for legislation that impacts working class families, where he represents the majority of government employees from Montgomery County.

Some of his first direct involvement in local politics was working as an organizer for the Dream Act of 2011, a bill that gives financial relief to undocumented students, or those who fall under the Dreamer status. He also started work with Justice Reinvestment Act in 2012 that passed two years ago in 2016, which allocates funding to schools rather than incarceration.

Both of these pieces of legislation influence his campaign today. Of his many priorities, Acevero emphasizes the importance of protecting immigrant families and lowering incarceration rates through funding schools and promoting education.

“I think it’s very important for us to have a welcoming community, and protect immigrant families that may be living in fear,” commented Acevero, referencing the rhetoric against immigrants from the White House administration.

Maryland’s thirty-ninth district encompasses Montgomery County, a sanctuary county since 2005, and also includes non-municipal Gaithersburg, parts of Germantown and Clarksburg, and the town of Washington Grove. Montgomery County is the most diverse district in the United States. Acevero is an immigrant himself; he moved from Trinidad and Tobago in 2009.

From a young age, Acevero has been civically and politically engaged, attending a picket line protest with his mother, a public employee and union organizer who was fighting for better working conditions. He described his home as political debates filling every room, an important focus among members and a foundation to his career.

Throughout his campaign he has received many endorsements, including Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and Council Vice President Nancy Navarro.

“I am proud to have endorsement of committed public servants,” Acevero said.

The historical potential is not lost on Acevero or his supporters; were he to be voted in as state delegate, he would be the first Afro-Latino voted in the office.

The Democratic closed primary for the delegate race is on Tuesday, June 26. Only voters that are registered as a Democrat or Republican can vote in each party’s respective primary to determine which candidate will move on to the general election, which will be on Nov. 6.

UMBC Student Life hosted “Luvapalooza” on Wednesday, Feb. 7. The event brought together several campus organizations, including the University Health Services, Women’s Center, Bedsiders, the Mosaic and Commonvision, to promote healthy relationship skills, including communication and consent. The focus of this year’s Luvapalooza was on the importance of self-love in creating healthy relationships.

UHS Assistant Director for Health Promotion Samantha Smith said, “Luvapalooza takes on different themes every year. So, this year we wanted to focus on positive images of yourself and positive love for yourself. If you don’t have love for yourself, how much can you give to others?”

Materials about the emotional, communicative and sexual aspects of relationships were available to students.

Peer health educator Alexandra Nguyen spoke about developing the skills to build healthy relationships: “I think [these skills are] really important. It’s something that we should emphasize more, a lot of people don’t pay attention. It’s good to be reminded of them.”

Other activities included boards where students placed sticky notes about self-care activities and characteristics of healthy relationships. Students could also have buttons made. Designs included a Star Wars-themed Valentine’s Day pin based off of BB-8 with the phrase “BB Mine” written on it.

Event staff urged students to learn the relationship skills discussed at Luvapalooza to help prevent abusive behavior. Women’s Center staff member Sophia Woodruff said, “when you enroll in UMBC, there’s a program that helps you recognize relationship abuse. That training is really important in order to help change the views we have around relationships.” Navigating relationships is often part of the college experience, and the organizers of Luvapalooza believe many students can benefit from education on healthy and loving connections.

In the wake of shifting attitudes towards relationships and how they are conducted, the overall mood of the event was optimistic.

“Healthy relationships incorporate communication, boundary setting, trust, honesty. Those are not just romantic interactions, those are also our friendships,” said Smith. “We want to be able to be our own advocates when we’re talking to our friends … [These skills] transition to different situations, [and] they’re so vital for right now and the future.”

UHS Assistant Director for Health Promotion Samantha Smith said, “Luvapalooza takes on different themes every year. So, this year we wanted to focus on positive images of yourself and positive love for yourself. If you don’t have love for yourself, how much can you give to others?”

Materials about the emotional, communicative and sexual aspects of relationships were available to students.

Peer health educator Alexandra Nguyen spoke about developing the skills to build healthy relationships: “I think [these skills are] really important. It’s something that we should emphasize more, a lot of people don’t pay attention. It’s good to be reminded of them.”

Other activities included boards where students placed sticky notes about self-care activities and characteristics of healthy relationships. Students could also have buttons made. Designs included a Star Wars-themed Valentine’s Day pin based off of BB-8 with the phrase “BB Mine” written on it.

Event staff urged students to learn the relationship skills discussed at Luvapalooza to help prevent abusive behavior. Women’s Center staff member Sophia Woodruff said, “when you enroll in UMBC, there’s a program that helps you recognize relationship abuse. That training is really important in order to help change the views we have around relationships.” Navigating relationships is often part of the college experience, and the organizers of Luvapalooza believe many students can benefit from education on healthy and loving connections.

These skills are now being taught in the wake of shifting attitudes towards relationships and how they are conducted. The overall mood of the event, however, was optimistic.

“Healthy relationships incorporate communication, boundary setting, trust, honesty. Those are not just romantic interactions, those are also our friendships,” said Smith. “We want to be able to be our own advocates when we’re talking to our friends … [These skills] transition to different situations, [and] they’re so vital for right now and the future.”

UMBC celebrated the opening of the new Event Center with food, dancing, and music on Wednesday, Jan. 31 by hosting an open house for students and faculty to explore the newly constructed stadium.

Students and staff ventured to the building, which sits at the end Commons Drive, to tour the newest addition to the campus. Members of the campus community could complete a self-guided tour by following informational markers throughout the building. This building was one of several construction projects that were recently worked on.

The open house allowed for the campus to explore the stadium before it officially opens with the UMBC vs. Vermont men’s basketball game on Saturday Feb. 3.

Not only will the Event Center house the 17 athletic departments on campus, but school officials hope that it will ignite a sense of pride on the UMBC campus.

“The building leaves a lasting impression,” said Tim Hall, the athletic director for UMBC. “It’s tangible proof that we love all of our sports.”

The idea of a stadium being built on campus began in 2012 with a feasibility study being conducted. Construction of the stadium itself began in February of 2016. The stadium was scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2017 but, due to delays, was completed in the spring of 2018.

This multi-purpose, 5,000 seat, four-story Event Center which cost about $85 million will be used for many sporting events and house the university’s basketball team. UMBC is a Division I school that now has a facility to show for it.

The Event Center will not only host athletic events but other on-campus activities. The Event Center will host speakers, concerts, and banquets, both for the student body and open to the outside community. A Day to Remember along with Papa Roach will play at the stadium on March 13. The Event Center will also host the Harlem Globetrotters, a world-famous exhibition basketball team, March 15.

The stadium will also bring commencement back to campus. For years, UMBC held their undergraduate commencement at the Royal Farms Arena in downtown Baltimore; with the construction of the new stadium, however, students will receive their degrees in the same place they earned them: on campus. Undergraduate commencement is scheduled for May 24.

The Events Center will also bring a great amount of revenue to the UMBC campus. With its creation, it has opened up numerous job opportunities for students and professionals to pursue.

“Students in the media and communications department, for example, will have a chance to work with ESPN in the Event Center,” said Jessica Hammond-Graf, the Senior Woman Administrator/Senior Associate AD for Student-Athlete Well-Being.

While many consider UMBC to focus its pride on academics, this new addition with also put athletics in the spotlight.

“The Event Center is going to help with the identity of the university,” said Hall. With the Event Center having an impact on almost every student on campus, it has created a sense of pride and excitement on campus.

“This isn’t just for the athletics on campus; it’s for everyone,” said Hammond-Graf. “We’re excited! It’s like a shiny new package on Christmas morning!”