Hiring Students for Summer Text Mining Project

A new, interdisciplinary research project offers a total of five positions to graduate or undergraduate students from multiple disciplines who exhibit the right combination of initiative, skills and reliability. The project investigates undergraduate teaching at UMBC, and is led by the combined expertise of the Shriver Center, Interdisciplinary Studies Program and the Honors College. The students will work as an integrated, interdisciplinary team, and may expect to expand their own knowledge, skills and experience as a result. UMBC graduate students and exceptionally qualified undergraduate students will be considered.

A group of Academic and Student Affairs Division faculty and staff are working to better track, assess, strengthen and increase, and recognize and reward applied learning experiences across the UMBC Campus. In FY15, this group’s work has focused on creating a plan for assessing the impact of applied learning experiences (broadly defined) on students’ affective development.

Each position offers partial summer support funded by a Hrabowski Fund for Innovation: Implementation and Research grant.

80 hours (may span across 4-8 weeks depending on availability-no more than 20 hrs/week)

Stipend of $1150

The five graduate students we seek will have a background in the following skills/disciplines: Information Systems; Computer Science; Human Centered Computing; Instructional Systems Design; Applied Mathematics; Statistics; Human Services Psychology; Applied Sociology; Education; Language, Literacy & Culture; and Public Policy.

The project aims to continue for a minimum of three years, expanding subject to further successful funding. Students who perform well may be invited to extend their role.

One goal is to explore, through written student feedback, how diverse courses have contributed to their perception of growth in key attributes.  This first summer of the project will look at pilot data, exploratory analysis of scrappy, inconsistent, self-reported text, in order to figure out how to collect better, more uniform data in the Fall semester. One of the skill sets we wish for in the team would be a computer scientist able to mine text to seek the suggestion of themes, patterns or clues to what we would need to ask to get such patterns more clearly in the future.

All interested candidates should send a letter of interest, resume with references, and a statement with general summer weekly availability (e.g., Monday, Wednesdays & Fridays from 9am – 2pm) to Michele Wolff at Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. by Wednesday, June 24.  Exceptionally qualified undergraduate students will also be considered.

Hiring Students for Summer Text Mining Project

A new, interdisciplinary research project offers a total of five positions to graduate or undergraduate students from multiple disciplines who exhibit the right combination of initiative, skills and reliability. The project investigates undergraduate teaching at UMBC, and is led by the combined expertise of the Shriver Center, Interdisciplinary Studies Program and the Honors College. The students will work as an integrated, interdisciplinary team, and may expect to expand their own knowledge, skills and experience as a result. UMBC graduate students and exceptionally qualified undergraduate students will be considered.

A group of Academic and Student Affairs Division faculty and staff are working to better track, assess, strengthen and increase, and recognize and reward applied learning experiences across the UMBC Campus. In FY15, this group’s work has focused on creating a plan for assessing the impact of applied learning experiences (broadly defined) on students’ affective development.

Each position offers partial summer support funded by a Hrabowski Fund for Innovation: Implementation and Research grant.

80 hours (may span across 4-8 weeks depending on availability-no more than 20 hrs/week)

Stipend of $1150

The five graduate students we seek will have a background in the following skills/disciplines: Information Systems; Computer Science; Human Centered Computing; Instructional Systems Design; Applied Mathematics; Statistics; Human Services Psychology; Applied Sociology; Education; Language, Literacy & Culture; and Public Policy.

The project aims to continue for a minimum of three years, expanding subject to further successful funding. Students who perform well may be invited to extend their role.

One goal is to explore, through written student feedback, how diverse courses have contributed to their perception of growth in key attributes.  This first summer of the project will look at pilot data, exploratory analysis of scrappy, inconsistent, self-reported text, in order to figure out how to collect better, more uniform data in the Fall semester. One of the skill sets we wish for in the team would be a computer scientist able to mine text to seek the suggestion of themes, patterns or clues to what we would need to ask to get such patterns more clearly in the future.

All interested candidates should send a letter of interest, resume with references, and a statement with general summer weekly availability (e.g., Monday, Wednesdays & Fridays from 9am – 2pm) to Michele Wolff at Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. by Wednesday, June 24.  Exceptionally qualified undergraduate students will also be considered.

Walk In Advising Hours June 15th-19th

Monday, June 15th
None- Advising offices are closed

Tuesday, June 16th
1:30pm-3pm

Wednesday, June 17th
None- Advising offices are closed

Thursday, June 18th
None- Advising offices are closed

Friday, June 19th
10am-11:30am

Advisors are also available by appointment. Our advising offices are located in ITE 202-206. Email and telephone contact information is available here.

More information can be found here
Enroll in this course here

More information can be found here
Enroll in this course here

In keeping with our commitment to developing programs that promote the well-being and success of our Professional Development Schools’ (PDS) P-12 students, the UMBC Education Department is pleased to announce its first Summer Enrichment Experience (SEE) Scholars program.

With their principal and mentor teacher’s endorsement, UMBC teacher candidates have nominated students from their internship classrooms to attend the summer learning camps at UMBC – free of charge. 

A total of seven students from UMBC PDS schools have been selected as SEE Scholars. Four students from Violetville Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore City will attend Measuring Up! What’s in a Number, an innovative math camp designed and taught by Dr. Christopher Rakes, assistant professor and secondary math educator in the education department. Two student scholars from Laurel Woods Elementary School, a Title I school in Howard County, will attend Science and Engineering: Experimenting with Basic Concepts. One student from Patapsco Middle School in Howard County will attend Sounding Off: The Art of Foley Sound in Media.

For more information on the SEE programs, click here.

One hundred teams, including 30 international teams from eight countries, gathered at Budds Creek Motocross Race Track for the action-packed Baja SAE Maryland 2015 competition, hosted May 7-10 by UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology and Department of Mechanical Engineering. The energy and excitement of the event were clear from the moment registration opened. Participant spots for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) competition were filled in just four minutes.

The UMBC Baja design, engineering, and racing team has become nationally recognized for exceptional performance over the past decade. This reputation led to SAE inviting UMBC to host this year’s Midwest event, one of three annual SAE competitions nationwide.

Most organizing universities have three years to prepare, but a last-minute location change to find the ideal track challenged UMBC’s organizing team to pull off the race with only six months to plan. The organizing committee, headed by Steven Storck ’08, ’09 M.S., ’14 Ph.D., mechanical engineering, brought together UMBC Baja alumni with representatives from University of Maryland, College Park and Johns Hopkins University to plan the event, with guidance from Neil Rothman, mechanical engineering graduate program director.

With their past competition experiences in mind, the organizing committee focused on what mattered most to participants: the race track and spectators. “Being a former Baja competitor, our main goal was to provide an exciting event that was focused around the engineering efforts of the student,” Storck shared.

The committee took an engineer’s approach to designing the race course to avoid potential scoring anomalies from tight turns and difficult obstacles. They also thought carefully about the race order, spending hours rearranging events and schedules to maximize the time competitors could display their hard work.

The committee also recognized that student participants want to share this experience, and the products of their work, with family and friends. They designed the race course so spectators could easily view the competing teams from one central location. Organizers also set up a high quality live webcast of the event to broaden the race’s audience. The livestream reached over 27,000 viewers in 124 countries. Videos of the entire first day and the Endurance Race are still available to view online.

During the competition, student teams presented their off-road race cars to engineering and business professionals, underwent strict technical inspections, and competed solo and wheel-to-wheel to prove their engineering skills. The organizers’ efforts paid off as events moved forward seamlessly. The wildly successful race garnered an unheard of 98% approval rating in a satisfaction survey following the event.

Sam Barill, head manager of SAE’s collegiate design series, praised the event, saying, “The Baja SAE competition recently held in Maryland and hosted by UMBC [demonstrated] top-notch organizing by Steven Storck and his group…and emphasized just how important these events are to the education and hands-on learning of future engineers.”

Neil Rothman, UMBC Baja team advisor, is enthusiastic about the skills students learn through participating in competitions like Baja SAE Maryland. “It is clear that engineering students benefit from experiential learning…hands-on activities where they can put engineering principles into practice,” he says.

“Baja is experiential learning on steroids,” Rothman explains. “This is ‘real engineering’ at its finest and the students who participate in Baja will stand out as those who understand how things should be designed and built. These are the skills companies are looking for.”

Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback from SAE, race participants, and families, UMBC has already started to explore hosting a future Baja race.

In the days surrounding the official launch of Martin O’Malley’s presidential campaign last month, Donald Norris, director of the School of Public Policy, was interviewed by several local and national news outlets to provide context and analysis for O’Malley’s bid for the White House.

In The Guardian, Norris discussed O’Malley’s chances for capturing the Democratic nomination. “He’s very smart. He’s very hard working. And he knows how to campaign,” said Norris. “And those three characteristics can overcome a lot of deficits.” He added: “I think he thinks that there is a shot. What that shot is, he’s got to understand, is a very, very long shot, and depends, really, on Hillary Clinton making mistakes, and making enough mistakes or a big enough mistake that it derails her.”

In the Washington Post, Norris commented on O’Malley’s policy position in recent weeks urging more spending and investment in America’s cities. “The problem is that it is politically unsalable,” Norris said, stating it could face a skeptical audience in a larger general election.

In Washington Jewish Week (subscription required), Norris said that O’Malley has a long road ahead to the nomination. “If you think about the possibilities out there in the Republican and Democratic parties, there just aren’t very many,” he said. “I think O’Malley is positioning himself to be the recipient of a movement away from Hillary from her supporters in case she does stumble.”

Norris was also interviewed by the Baltimore Sun about the impact of the recent unrest in Baltimore on Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s re-election bid. “The word on the street, as they say, is the mayor’s performance during and immediately after the riot in the city has really hurt her and that she is vulnerable should a credible candidate come forward,” he said.

The 2015 Shriver Center Public Service Scholars Programs have all been kicked off within the last several weeks. This year’s programs, The Governor’s Summer Internship Program (GSIP), the Walter Sondheim Jr. Maryland Nonprofit Leadership Program and MDOT Fellows Program have participants from institutions across the state of Maryland. With all of the programs, students are mentored by senior-level officials in government agencies and nonprofits across the state.

The Governor’s Summer Internship Program introduces college students to the unique challenges and rewards of working within Maryland state government. Interns work for ten weeks during the summer in state government agencies doing substantive tasks ranging from drafting speeches and correspondence to researching policy options and assisting with constituent case work. Students develop policy papers on a significant issue facing Maryland and present their findings to the governor at the end of the summer. The program is led by the Shriver Center in partnership with the Office of the Governor.

The Walter Sondheim Jr. Maryland Nonprofit Leadership Program offers summer internship opportunities in the nonprofit sector to college juniors, seniors and graduate students attending Maryland institutions. Interns work for ten weeks during the summer and participate in bi-weekly seminars in non-profit management. The Shriver Center coordinates the program in conjunction with the Office of the Governor.

The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Fellows Program introduces college students to working within Maryland’s integrated transportation system. Interns work in policy development, engineering, planning and financing, neighborhood conservation, and computer networking, among other areas. The Shriver Center leads the program in conjunction with Office of the Secretary of Transportation.

Several UMBC students are participants in this year’s programs. The complete list is below, along with the intern’s mentors. To learn more about the Shriver Center Public Service Scholars Programs, click here.

Governor’s Summer Internship Program

Amy Hoffman
Major: Health Administration/Public Policy, Biology
Mentor: Mona Gahunia
Chief Medical Officer
Secretary
Department of Health & Mental Hygiene

Evan Leiter-Mason
Major: Political Science, Economics
Mentor: Shawn Settles
Director of Administration
Office of Health Care Quality
Department of Health & Mental Hygiene

Jeremy Matthews
Major: Financial Economics, Spanish
Mentor: Seth Shuldiner
Investment Analyst
Maryland Venture Fund
Department of Business and Economic Development

Ellis Zapas
Major: Political Science, Ancient Studies
Mentor: Jon Enriquez
Director of Research and Policy Analysis
Office of Research and Policy Analysis
Maryland Higher Education Commission

Walter Sondheim Jr. Maryland Nonprofit Leadership Program

Emma Chaplin
Major: Social Work
Mentor: Beverly Clarke
Director of Project
The Barker Adoption Foundation

Jennifer Helt 
Major: Asian Studies
Mentor: Aaron Heinsman
Director of Development
Maryland Humanities Council

Nolan O’Toole 
Major: Economics
Mentor: Emily Ranson
Advocacy Coordinator
Bike Maryland

Rosa Rada
Major: Interdisciplinary Studies, Food Policy
Mentor: Laura Flamm
Baltimarket and Food Access Coordinator
Baltimarket, Baltimore City Health Department

Cheyenne Smith 
Major: Biological Sciences
Mentor: Jennifer Pelton
Director of Development
Public Justice Center

MDOT Fellows Program

Rebecca Coates 
Major: Applied Statistics
Mentor: Philip Sullivan
Chief Performance Officer
Maryland Transit Administration

Theophilus Aluko 
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Phillip Sullivan
Chief Performance Officer
Maryland Aviation Administration

Waleed Waris 
Major: Chemical Engineering
Mentor: Michael J. Walk
Director of Service Development
Maryland Transit Administration