Dear Graduate Students,

The PROMISE AGEP co-sponsors monthly professional development seminars for graduate students, and one of the increasingly popular workshops is called, “When Faculty Say ‘X’ … Understanding Faculty Expectations, Unwritten Rules.” This seminar, held annually at UMBC, features a panel of faculty members who answer questions that students post (often anonymously) on the PROMISE website. Sometimes, faculty do not have a chance to answer all of the questions since the seminar has time limits. In addition, if students ask individual or small group questions following the seminar, the general audience does not have the benefit of hearing the answer. To address these additional questions, graduate students in PROMISE asked if I would take some time to provide some answers. The result is a short video series called “Moments To Mentor” which answers all of the questions that were not addressed in the seminar.

These “Moments to Mentor” will be posted throughout the rest of the Spring 2015 semester. We invite you to visit the PROMISE YouTube Channel for other videos that showcase seminars on topics such as financial education, and advanced statistics.

Best wishes as you pursue your degree and career goals.

Kind regards,

Renetta G. Tull, Ph.D.

Director, PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP

President Hrabowski gave the keynote address at Maryland Arts Day last week. Maryland Arts Day is an annual event hosted by Maryland Citizens for the Arts, a statewide arts advocacy organization.

In his address, Dr. Hrabowski examined the role of the arts in finding our value as human beings. “The way we think about ourselves as a society, the language that we use in discussing who we are, the values that we hold will shape who we are,” he said. “I posit to you that the arts intersect with our very souls.”

Dr. Hrabowski also spoke about the importance of the arts, drawing on his childhood experiences of balancing his love of mathematics with piano lessons. He said, “I didn’t understand that one could love math and love music. Because too often still today, we teach kids that they’re one thing or the other and the whole point of the arts is that it is to create whole citizens who understand you can do many things. I want every child to know and feel and embrace the artist within herself.”

Click here to find our more information about Maryland Arts Day and to watch a video of Dr. Hrabowski’s remarks.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Laboratory held its annual awards ceremony on February 13, 2015.  JCET faculty members William Olson and Ali Tokay were recognized during the ceremony. Dr. Tokay received the Code 612 Contractor Award for Best Paper - “An experimental study of spatial variability of rainfall” published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology. Dr. Olson was honored with the Code 612 Contractor Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement with this citation: "For outstanding scientific contributions and leadership for developing the GPM Combined Radar/Radiometer Algorithm.”

In the event of heavy snow or other emergency when classes cannot meet, UMBC faculty can choose from several tools and technologies to support teaching and learning. Online delivery methods offer many good alternative for supporting missed classroom time. 

Blackboard Learn supports three core components: 

• With Content Management, faculty can upload course materials & handouts; post presentations, share links & resources. Faculty can also embed YouTube videos or record with a webcam to embed video anywhere in the course.
• Faculty can also support Communication, Collaboration and other Student Engagement. Continue course discussions in Blackboard, send email, post announcements, or manage small group activities.
• With Assessment and Grade Management tools, faculty can distribute & collect assignments, grade electronically, deliver tests, and maintain a gradebook -- all in one central location.

Faculty may wish to use more than just Blackboard on a snow day. Other tools available include: 

Editor’s Note: UMBC has a long and storied history, and it all began in 1966 with Albin O. Kuhn, UMBC’s first chancellor. So we sat down with Albin’s granddaughter, Julie Kuhn Sanchez ’10, to learn more about this founding father.

Most of you know that UMBC’s library is called the Albin O. Kuhn library, but fewer of you probably know that it was named after UMBC’s first chancellor, Albin Owings Kuhn, who mapped out the present Hilltop Circle by riding around in circles on a tractor. If you want to know more about how UMBC came to be what it is today, just ask Julie Kuhn Sanchez ‘10, Media & Communication Studies and Visual Arts, Albin’s granddaughter. She lives to tell the legacy her beloved grandfather left behind.

We had the chance to sit down with Julie and hear about Albin’s novel-like life. She told a story from the ’60s when a student came into Albin’s office and addresses a man he thinks is the chancellor. This man, however, tells the student he is mistaken and points outside to another man on a lawnmower. Albin was the only chancellor to mow his own lawn, Julie shares with a smile. Stories like these make a person memorable – and Albin had many of them.

Remembered for more than just his memorable stories, Albin was admired by many for his work ethic, gentle demeanor, and humble spirit. He has had a lasting impact on all who knew him and even those who did not. Julie says her grandfather had a rule that he stuck to: Always hire someone who is better than you. People often find themselves intimidated by those who are better at certain tasks; but not Albin. He made sure to hire those more adept than him in different areas so as to build a strong, diverse team. Albin knew that if he was unable to solve a problem, there was someone on his team who could.

Always connected to and surrounded by good people, Albin’s influence has carried into UMBC today. He made sure that his staff members were good, down-to-earth, and hard-working people. And UMBC is still filled with these sorts of people.

Julie commented that she admires the values Albin instilled in UMBC. “It’s like a family,” says Julie. “It always has been.” She shares a story of when UMBC was opening for the first-ever freshmen class. Always looking to get his hands dirty, no job was too small for Albin. The bathrooms still needed to be cleaned before the new students came and so Albin, his wife, teachers, and other staff scrubbed the bathrooms until they were pristine.  The family-like mentality of UMBC is part of what makes this campus special.

With an education from and several years spent working as Admissions Counselor at UMBC, Julie has experienced the family-like mentality that is a part of this university. Though she no longer studies or works at UMBC, she still feels a connection. After her grandfather passed away, she enjoyed walking around campus and seeing her grandfather’s handiwork. She would see the library all lit up at night and immediately think, Grandpa. Reminiscent of those times, she remembers his presence always being there. There’s a sense of pride attached to being the granddaughter of someone so great, she explains.

Toward the end of Albin’s life, he went completely blind. Even without vision, Albin lived a full and joyous life, always thinking of others and ways he could help. He would ask his granddaughter often, “Julie, are you happy?” She would reply, “Yes, Grandpa, I am,” and he would always say,  “Good. It’s good to be happy.”

–By Jessie Orsburn ’14

UNITED Calendar of Events

Monday Prayer [Every Monday at 8:30am in Front of the Admin Building]- A time of corporate prayer for our campus. Questions? Contact our prayer coordinator Michelle Czarnecki at mczarne1@umbc.edu

Meet & Greet [Wednesday, March 4^th & April 1^st   @ 12pm in PHYS 201] - Come fellowship and get to meet fellow members in the body of Christ

Worship Night [Thursday, April 9^th @ 7:30pm-10:30pm in LH5/ENGR 027]- A time of corporate worship and the Word.

Bible Survey Class [Starting Tuesday, February 17^th; Every Tuesday @ 7pm in PUP 105]- Led by Professor Bill Smith from UMBC’s engineering department, this class covers the structure, setup, and timeline of the Bible in a biblical & historical perspective.

Real Talk [Starting Tuesday, February 17^th @ 8pm in Commons 331 (Held monthly)]-  A space where tough topics in our world (race, gender, sexuality, slavery) intersect with Jesus. Jesus did not avoid tough topics but delved into them. Join us as we follow in his footsteps.