Blackboard course shells for WT/SP2025 were created on November 22, 2024. All courses now use Ultra per our earlier announcement. 

Course Materials Publisher Integration Updates in December

Blackboard integrations for VitalSource, Cengage, Pearson, and Macmillan publisher tools will be updated on December 19, 2024. Please do not link any VitalSource, Cengage, Pearson, or Macmillan resources in your Winter 2025 or Spring 2025 courses until December 20th. 

Training & Support for Ultra

• Attend an upcoming January training to prepare for the fall semester.
• Request a consult from our staff Ultra “office hours”or download our 8-step migration guide.
• Explore our Panopto folder for a wide variety of recorded webinars on various instructional technologies available at UMBC.
• Have a question about Ultra? Ask an Ultra Ambassador!

Create an Inclusive & Accessible Course Environment

Plan your accessibility and Universal Design for Learning strategy before students begin working with course materials. Ally, an accessibility tool, is enabled in all course shells. Ally automatically scans uploaded and created course content, then performs a series of steps to make that content more accessible. Please review the Ally FAQs for more information about the  accessibility indicators on course content and alternative formats. Use Ally’s new AI alt-text generator to add alt text to course images. Training will be offered on January 24, 2025.

Instructional Technology also offers resources for creating accessible content including three webinar recordings:

• Digital Accessibility Guidelines Checklist
• Creating Accessible Documents (44:51)
• Creating Accessible Presentations (31:24) 
• Creating Accessible Instructional Videos (45:19)

About Course Creation

Bb shells for WT/SP2025 are available for all courses (designated as lecture, lab, field or discussion) listed in the UMBC Schedule of Classes (SOC), provided that there is an instructor of record listed. As new course sections and/or instructors are added to the SOC by Department Scheduling Coordinators, corresponding Bb shells are automatically generated overnight. 

• If you are an instructor, and your name is not associated with the course you are teaching in the SOC, please see your Departmental Scheduling Coordinator to resolve the issue. Once you are listed in the SOC, your Bb course shell will be created automatically. 
• If you and your Department Scheduling Coordinator believe you are correctly assigned as the instructor of record in the SOC and you do not see your course shell in Blackboard, please submit a Request Tracker (RT) ticket via my.umbc.edu/help.
• If you need a Bb shell for a research or independent study course, please submit a new course request.

Instructors who teach multiple sections of the same course will find those enrollments merged into one Bb course shell. These sections may be split upon request by an RT ticket, which we recommend submitting at least one week before the semester starts, if not as soon as courses are created in Blackboard. NOTE:Courses should not be split after student grade data and engagement activity is recorded since it will be purged as part of the separation process.

Student enrollment in Bb mirrors the official registration in SA and updates hourly. However, courses are not accessible to students by default until the instructor of record makes them available.

Connect with Instructional Technology

As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:

• Check our extensive FAQ collection 
• What's new in Ultra? | Known Issues 
• Open a ticket via RT
• Follow the Instructional Technology & DoIT myUMBC groups
• Request a consult with instructional technology staff
• PIVOT | Academic Continuity | Keep On Teaching | Student Technology Resources

It’s tempting to think that with Thanksgiving almost here the fall semester is over, but campus still has some events to keep you warm and cozy throughout the rest of the year. As you work on your final projects, we’ve lined up the perfect list of comforting activities to keep your mind relaxed!

Fuel your studies

You may be full of knowledge but we know you still have room for a snack! Come by The Commons Mainstreet at noon on Wednesday, December 4, to check out the Student Events Board (seb)’s boba bar! Connect with some friends over treats before you dive back into your books. 

Fold your worries away

The Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (i3b) have been hosting hands-on origami workshops, and you can catch the last session of the semester.

Take a break from the semester’s stresses to create some snowflakes or any seasonal design. Origami Art Night is a peaceful space for you to relax, focus, and leave with a sense of accomplishment (and maybe a few paper masterpieces!) Stop by the Center for Well-Being, room 122, from 4 to 6 p.m. on December 4. 

Monologues and moments

A chance to experience the complexities of love and heartbreak? You don’t wanna miss this! Step into the Black Box Theatre for an evening of raw talent and emotion. The UMBC Theatre Department is presenting Down With Love: An Actor Showcase, directed by Joseph W. Ritsch. To witness powerful monologues and heartfelt scenes, grab your tickets now for December 6-8 (make sure to find the two free performances for students)!

Distract yourself with dance

It’s a shame you can’t dance your troubles away, but you can watch others use their talents! Come and see the amazing work of students as they showcase their skills and talents! Prepare to be wowed by these delightful dancers on December 7 in the Proscenium Theater located in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building. 

All aboard the holiday express

The magic of the wintertime is now just a bus ride away! Join (seb) on December 8 for a trip to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor Christmas Village. From 12 to 7 p.m., enjoy live festive music and browse handcrafted gifts with the waterfront as your backdrop. Bundle up, bring some spending money, and get ready to be immersed into the holiday season.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

The winter semester may be ending soon but the fun doesn’t stop. Enjoy free hot chocolate, snacks, crafts, and create memories frozen in time. Join (seb) on the North Lawn of The Commons for a Winter Wonderland on December 10. Bundle up and bring your friends! 

There’s snow place like UMBC to enjoy the rest of the semester! Whether you’re crafting in Commons or adventuring into Baltimore, these events will make this chilly season feel a little warmer.

By Mashaal Awan ’25 and JJ Gee ’25, UCM interns

In the fall of 1977, Jimmy Carter was president. NASA launched the Voyager I fly-by mission past Jupiter and Saturn. “The Mary Tyler Moore” show earned an Emmy for outstanding comedy, and the Atari 2600 gaming system went on the market. The Emotions’ “The Best of My Love” hit number one on the pop charts.

It was also the year Baltimore native Teresa Kearney entered UMBC as a dance major. But her route to a dance degree has been circuitous. She anticipates graduating in 2025.

From the classroom to the dance floor

At Walbrook High School in West Baltimore, Kearney danced under the direction of Beverly Marshall Johnson, who she still keeps in touch with today. As a young dancer, she performed regularly on TV channel 45’s “Soul City” (later renamed “Moonman Connection”)—a teen-dance show akin to the beloved “Soul Train” and “American Bandstand.” Kearney was accepted to UMBC with scholarships but, after two years, she heeded the call of Hollywood and decided to take a chance on professional dance opportunities on the West Coast.  

 By 1979, Kearney and her dance partner were regulars on the competitive social dance circuit. “We were getting really popular, my dance partner and I,” she says. “We got a chance to go to Hollywood and be on ‘Dance Fever’ and compete from state to state, city to city. We made our living in dance for a long time.” 

Kearney held onto the goal of a UMBC degree for decades as life intervened. In between, she took on acting roles, was an instructor for LaBlast Fitness under Louis van Amstel of “Dancing with the Stars,” graduated from the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland for air talent for radio and TV, including an FCC license, sold insurance and real estate, and helped put her nephew through medical school, to name a few of her jobs and activities. “Then my mother, Lillie Kearney, passed away three years ago. She was also a dancer, and I thought this is the time for me to go back to college,” she says. “It was on my bucket list.”   

Keeping the standard

As a long-time professional dancer—who never actually retired—Kearney continues to challenge herself by learning new techniques and styles. And she’s worked hard to re-train her body after decades dancing in heels on Latin and social dance circuits. “I’m still learning,” she says. “There’s a contemporary African dance class required now for all dance majors. For a two-and-a-half-hour class, it’s very energetic. And even though I’m 65, we all have challenges in that class,” she notes of her younger classmates.

Ballet instructor Alison Crosby could see Kearney was working hard, and says, “Teresa made it easy for me to keep the standard of the course, because she asked for no changes, asked for nothing to be different.” Plus, by showing up on time, preparing her body with gentle stretches to warm up her muscles and feet, and finding her place at the barre, Kearney modeled the appropriate dancer’s discipline that is expected in professional classes and rehearsals. 

“Her experience in dance is wide and professional,” Crosby adds, “and she modeled the discipline and respect for coming to ballet class.” As an instructor, Crosby noticed how easily Kearney connected with her much younger classmates. “Teresa was involved with even the first-years. They all saw Teresa with great respect.”

In fact, Kearney shares that her classmates in the dance program often seek her out for advice or just a listening ear. She’s noticed that these students face far more self-doubt and pressures than she did when she was a student in the 1970s.

“Last semester, I was talking with a group of students,” Kearney recalls. “We were overwhelmed with classes and how hard it is. I said, ‘Wait a minute. We’re here getting a degree….We’re here to learn even when it’s hard.’” 

“Once in a while,” Crosby says, “I’ll ask a student to show something as a positive model for the rest of the class. I asked Teresa…she just was dancing and using her eyes and her head so beautifully—everything she’d learned through her dance life. It’s still in her—that artistry through all the years and her different careers—her artistry has just stayed with her.”

By Lisa Traiger

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Please join us at our winter Commencement ceremonies!

Wednesday, December 18, at 10 a.m.- Graduate School Ceremony

Thursday, December 19, at 10 a.m. - Undergraduate Ceremony

Community members who wish to march in the procession should register here. Please place your regalia order before November 23 to avoid expedited shipping fees. Those who wish to participate as event staff can register here. 

For more information and updates, please visit the commencement website or email commencement@umbc.edu. 

Sincerely,
The Commencement Planning Team