By Janet McGlynn 

Congratulations on making it through another semester with your student. I hope your son or daughter gained new knowledge, experience, and confidence through coursework and other college activities. If your student has not completed pre-registration for the spring semester, important courses are filling up. Ask your son or daughter to register at once. Students still in their first year at UM BC, whether as freshmen or transfer students, would benefit from taking the one-credit course Introduction to an Honors University or a three-credit First-Year Seminar.

Before the break, students will need to get through final exams. New students may need to be reminded that the schedule for finals is not exactly the same as the class schedule. Finals will be held from December 11 to December 17, 2014.

The semester break is a good time for families to talk about education goals and progress. Is your student committed to his or her choice of majors or thinking about changing? Most college students change their major at least once. For insights about future careers for students in various majors, visit What Can I Do With My Major   on the Career Services website.

This is also a good time for students and families to discuss summer jobs (or research experiences that will help students to learn more about potential careers. Those in the sciences, including social sciences, should consider the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship and Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) opportunities offered by the National Science Foundation . Hundreds of such programs at universities and national laboratories around the country provide undergraduate research fellowships as well as stipends for living expenses and housing. Application deadlines vary, with many in early February. Students interested in research can also explore opportunities in their academic departments (http://umbc.edu/undergrad_ed/research/myMajorResearchOUE.html).

Students and parents are invited to attend Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) on Wednesday, April 22, 2015, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom and other locations on campus. More than 200 undergraduates will share results of their research and creative work in areas ranging from Dance to Philosophy and Chemistry to Physics. Watch the URCAD web page for more information.

Best wishes for a wonderful winter break. 

 With this year’s Winter Undergraduate Commencement ceremony quickly approaching, we wanted to share some additional information with the parents of undergraduate students who will be participating in the ceremony.

Undergraduate Commencement is scheduled for Thursday, December 18 in the Retriever Activities Center (RAC). The doors to the RAC will open for ticketed guests at 9 a.m. The procession of students, faculty and staff will begin at 9:40 a.m. and the ceremony will begin at 10 a.m.

Guest Tickets for Undergraduate Commencement Now Available Electronically

Guest tickets to Undergraduate Commencement are now available electronically. Upon receiving their regalia and floor pass, graduates will be issued a unique code on their floor pass used to access their guest tickets online. If you have not yet done so, please visit graduationtickets.umbc.edu to claim your guest tickets.

Due to limited seating at the event—and to ensure all graduates have an opportunity to invite their family, friends or loved ones to attend—guest tickets are limited to four per graduate.

Each ticket issued has a unique barcode that can be used only once. Once scanned, the ticket is no longer valid and will not work for readmission into the event. We cannot guarantee that tickets purchased from others will be valid or originals and not a duplicate. We do not recommend purchasing tickets from third parties.

All individuals with invalid tickets will be denied entrance and directed to overflow seating on campus.

Ordering Regalia

If your student plans to participate in the ceremony but has not yet ordered regalia, he/she should contact the Bookstore at 410-455-3807 as soon as possible. At this time, your student will be charged $25 for expedited shipping.

Live Video Streaming of the UMBC Commencement Ceremonies

We will be livestreaming commencement for friends and family members unable to attend the ceremony on campus. The video feed will be available around 9:30 a.m. To watch our live Webcast of the event, please visit  commencement.umbc.edu/webcast.

Traffic and Parking

Current construction projects may pose particular challenges this year for guests arriving by both car and mass transit. We strongly urge all guests to keep in mind the following recommendations for this winter's ceremony:

●     To avoid construction, try entering campus from Hilltop Rd. or Walker Ave., just off of I-695.

●     Give yourself plenty of extra travel time to arrive on campus and walk to the RAC.

●     All open parking spaces on campus (except for handicapped and service spaces) are available for general parking during commencement (no permit needed); however, some lots will fill up very quickly. Administration Drive Garage will be closed to all parking except handicapped parking.

●     Carpool to minimize road congestion.