Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are having a good start to your semester! I want to share some exciting updates from the Division of Student Affairs as we continue our commitment to ensuring the success and well-being of UMBC’s diverse student body. During my first year as vice president, I have had the privilege of engaging in meaningful conversations with undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff about the needs of students. These conversations have touched on critical areas, including whether students feel a sense of belonging at UMBC and what gaps they see in resources and opportunities. 

I am grateful for the honesty and insights shared with me, which have informed our team’s planning as we explore new ways to enhance our work. We are guided by our mission and vision, with a deep commitment to creating an environment where all students can achieve their full potential. As we look forward, I want to share a few updates related to changes in our organizational structure, student support, and enhancements to the student experience.

In addition to requesting campus feedback and based on best practices, we conducted organizational and space audits for our division. These audits helped us identify gaps, and as a result we created new departments, areas, and resources to redefine and expand services. We added new executive and senior leaders to guide this work including the recent hire of Rae Chresfield, as the assistant vice president for health and well-being, and James Devita, as the assistant vice president for academic partnerships and high-impact experiences. I am also excited to share that Jen Dress is now the acting assistant vice president for student engagement and belonging, overseeing an expansion of Campus Life described below, and Fritzie Charné-Merriwether’s role has shifted to associate vice president for student affairs administration and chief of staff. 

The new Dean of Students office, led by John Fox ’91, the inaugural dean of students, is fostering an ecosystem of support through Retriever Support Services. This includes Retriever Essentials, other basic needs, and off-campus housing resources and Retriever Care, formerly known as BRACT, a resource for students’ emotional support and for faculty and staff concerned about a student’s well-being. The Dean of Students office collaborates with campus partners, including the Graduate School and Academic Success Center, to connect students with key resources. Student Conduct and Community Standards (now including residential student conduct and community well-being) and Residential Life report to the Dean of Students. 

I am excited to share that the work of Campus Life is expanding to include more internal alignment in our efforts to engage students and create a sense of belonging. You will see two new staff leading these efforts, Jennifer Artis and Candace Doane. This department will now include the Mosaic, the Gathering Space, the Pride Center, commuter student programs, and a new graduate student life office that will provide support for the engagement of graduate students and will be the home of the Graduate Student Association. In addition, Amery Thompson will lead a new unit, Student Affairs Success Initiatives, which will report to the assistant vice president for academic partnerships and high impact experiences, along with the Career Center and the Center for Democracy and Civic Life. Lastly, we have several exciting space-related changes this fall including the addition of the veteran and military-affiliated student lounge on the second floor of the University Center and the relocation and renovation of the Pride Center, now on the first floor of the University Center. 

It has been wonderful to meet many of you over the past year, and I am delighted to be part of the UMBC community. Our campus partnerships are critical as we continue to seek new and innovative ways of helping students reach their full potential. Please contact me if you have questions or would like to share ideas for ways we can work together. 

Thank you for all you do for students!

Sincerely, 

Dear UMBC Students,

As the fall semester begins, it has been wonderful to meet new students and their families and talk with our returning students. I want to take a moment to announce some important changes in the Division of Student Affairs to better support and enhance the experience of UMBC’s diverse student body. 

During my first year as vice president, I had the opportunity to listen to undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff in order to identify potential gaps in resources and opportunities in our division and to learn how we can improve all students’ sense of belonging. I greatly appreciate your honesty and insights. I have heard you. Student Affairs leadership and staff have heard you.

Based on your feedback, Student Affairs is taking a new approach to how we are organized, including additional leadership, staff, and programs in areas of need. We look to our new Student Affairs mission and vision—and our commitments to you—as our guide as we commit each day to unlocking potential and transforming lives. 

Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, the Student Affairs team wants you to know that your success and growth is at the center of all we do. Our leadership and staff are committed to supporting your personal and professional development in addition to your academic success. As a division, we will continue to collaborate with you and campus partners to ensure that you feel welcomed and supported—and we will continue to listen. 

I am proud to be part of the UMBC community. Thank you again for your feedback, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have ideas, questions, or concerns. I wish you a successful fall semester. 

Sincerely,

Join us for a virtual seminar by Dr. Jessica Scheick, University of New Hampshire. Her talk is titled "Transforming ICESat-2 Research through Collaboration and Learning." The link to Dr. Scheick's presentation is available here.

Date and Time: Thursday, September 12, 2024 at 11:00am EST

Join us via Teams Meeting

Abstract: 

"Writing code is a given for many modern students; research progress cannot happen without some form of data manipulation, and for those of us in the earth sciences, the data volumes may be large (>= terabyte) and may require specialized software to manipulate. This data volume challenge is a relatively new one, instigated by ever-higher data resolutions and our ability to not only measure but also store and transmit massive amounts of data. However, our need for managing and processing such large data volumes has not kept pace with our tools and expertise, and it's easy to fall back to old habits of downloading data and coding in relative isolation. Despite these challenges, a team of researchers, data scientists, and software engineers - brought together by the ICESat-2 mission - are demonstrating how collaboration and intentional opportunities for learning can transform research and make open science and cloud computing a reality. This talk will highlight two components of this paradigm: the icepyx community and software library and hackweeks. Hackweeks are a short-format training model developed by practitioners at the University of Washington's eScience Institute. The model emphasizes creating a positive learning environment in which to provide interactive tutorials and peer learning through project work. Learners of all levels collaborate to share their expertise while building technical and open science skills. From the first ICESat-2-themed Hackweek emerged icepyx, a community and software library aimed at improving ICESat-2 data access and computational workflows. As a community, icepyx provides opportunities for researchers to practice collaborative development in a beginner-friendly environment, which can increase the likelihood they will contribute their research software to a shared repository. As software, icepyx is used for over 40% of all ICESat-2 data downloads from NASA's NSIDC data archive center and is working to provide cloud-optimized data access for ICESat-2 data products. As part of a broader ecosystem of tools and people, hackweeks and icepyx are part of a collaborative, educational paradigm redefining the ways in which we enable successful scientific research." 

Biography:

Dr. Jessica Scheick is a glaciologist, open-source software developer and maintainer, remote sensing expert, open science advocate, and lifelong lover of snow, winter, and the outdoors. She is currently a Research Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire and Affiliate with the University of Washington's eScience Institute. Her background is in remote sensing, climate science, and glaciology, focusing on glacier dynamics, ice-ocean interactions, and icebergs. Jessica's current work centers on research-enabling, open-source software projects and collaborative development education across the earth sciences. She is the lead developer and maintainer for the icepyx library and community, and a member, contributor, and/or maintainer to multiple other open-source software packages and communities, including Xarray, earthaccess, CryoCloud, and Pangeo. Jessica regularly leads hackweeks with the UW eScience team, working as Community Lead for four ICESat-2-themed events. When she's not working, you can usually find Jessica enjoying the outdoors, skiing, dancing, or working on the foundation of an old building.

For more information on the GESTAR II Seminar Series, click here.

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Congratulations! 

Helena Dahlen

President of NESS

Have you ever wanted to learn CPR, Basic First Aid, or how to use an AED? Are you part of a department or club/student organization and want to feel prepared for any emergency? 

Now is your chance!

The Emergency and Disaster Health Systems (EDHS) and the Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) departments are now offering training in these skills. Participants will complete the coursework online and then attend a one-day hands-on, skills training and testing class.

All are welcome!

*****************

TO REGISTER: 

Follow the link below to our website and choose the correct date and Calendly session

https://edhs.umbc.edu/learn-first-aid-cpr-aed-save-a-life/

Any questions, please contact PACE at 410-455-3584 or by email at ehspace@umbc.edu