2025-2026 Year-End Update: Building a Neuroinclusive UMBC

We’d like to thank our members and allies for gathering this week for a wonderful discussion and to revisit the mission and values of our community. We also took time to recognize and thank our interim co-chairs Dr. Karen Chen (faculty) and Dr. Tory Williams (staff) – without them, this group would not have been possible. 

Our “wins” this year included:

• Physical Accessibility and Neuroinclusivity: We partnered with Facilities Management on the Gathering Space Annex renovations and coordinated with The Commons to paint stairwell handrails in contrasting colors for better navigational safety.

• Sensory Mapping: We collaborated with the Neurodivergent Student Club to begin drafting a sensory map of The Commons.

• Virtual Support: We held virtual body doubling sessions on Friday afternoons

• Campus Presence: We represented our community at New Faculty/Staff events, the Faculty Senate, HR’s “Thriving Thursdays” and in other areas.

We’ve expanded the Neurodiversity section of the Women's, Gender & Equity Center library. Visit to borrow:

• A Practical Guide to Teaching Neurodivergent College Students

• The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work

• Neurodiversity at Work: Embracing the Strengths of Diverse Minds: Strategies for Inclusive Workplaces and Unlocking the Potential of Neurodiverse Talent

• Designing Neuroinclusive Workplaces: Advancing Sensory Processing and Cognitive Well-Being in the Built Environment

We are officially members of the College Autism Network (CAN). This gives our community access to monthly virtual research sessions, specialized newsletters, and higher-ed resources.

SAVE THE DATE: The 2026 College Autism Summit will be held November 8-11 in Baltimore. The call for proposals ends May 29, 2026.

Finally, we’d like to thank the Women’s Gender & Equity Center for being such gracious hosts to our community. 

Thank you for a great year! If you have any suggestions or would like to join our planning meetings, please reach out to the new co-chairs, Dr. Tiffany Banks (Faculty) and Gina Hoagland (Staff). 

Kaleb Cave’s story is unique among almost all collegiate swimming and diving athletes: When he started college, he was not a strong swimmer.

He is, however, the youngest person ever to perform a standing double backflip. His athletic prowess had also earned him a spot on the USA Gymnastics national team in the Senior Elite Trampoline and Tumbling division.

So how did this mechanical engineering major and gymnast end up on the swimming and diving team? It started on Instagram: Cave’s account (@lub.lub), where he chronicles his athletic feats, has over 140,000 followers.

Junior computer science major Andy Vines, a member of the diving team, messaged Cave when he saw the tumbler was a fellow Retriever. “My mom always told me to find a way to get involved at UMBC, and I thought this might be it,” Cave says. “After reaching out to head dive coach Jeff Fisher, a few months later, I was on the team and in the water.”

From setback to success

While diving and tumbling have many similarities, the transition was anything but smooth water for Cave. 

“Learning how to dive was more of a mental than a physical battle for me. With my gymnastics background, the flipping and twisting came naturally. However, I struggled —and still struggle—with my approach and entries into the water,” Cave says. “Landing on my head was definitely weird to get used to, especially when I’ve been landing on my feet all my life. My aerial awareness is pretty good, though. As a gymnast, I’m used to doubles and triples, so when I have to dial it down, my body doesn’t quite understand.”

Cave officially joined the UMBC swimming and diving team as a sophomore. He had a solid rookie campaign, qualifying for the finals in both the one- and three-meter board events at the America East Championships. However, less than a month later, his diving journey suffered a big setback.

In March 2025, he ruptured his Achilles tendon at a tumbling national team camp. He had surgery five days later and started physical therapy eight weeks post-operation. 

“My physical therapist did an amazing job getting me back to where I need to be, and he is still helping me become stronger,” Cave says. “In the beginning, physical therapy frustrated me—seeing how weak I was and how long it was taking to gain back little bits of strength was taxing on my mental health.”

However, he persisted with rehab and returned to competition in October 2025, just under seven months after the injury—much faster than anyone expected. 

“It felt great,” said Cave. “My return didn’t feel rushed at all, just natural and smooth.”

Two for the team

In January 2026, Cave broke a 14-year-old school record en route to winning the three-meter competition at the Towson Diving Invitational. He qualified for NCAA Zones, the preliminary event for the NCAA Diving Championships, in the one- and three-meter events.

Two weeks later, Cave won bronze in both the one- and three-meter events at the America East Championships, helping lead the men’s swimming and diving team to its 15th title.

Cave’s two medals “contributed to the team winning that title, which means more to me than if I had felt like I didn’t contribute to it. Those were also my first diving-related medals ever, which is special to me,” he adds.

With two full seasons of diving under his belt, Cave feels ready to level up. “Next year, I definitely think I can start pushing the difficulty, now that I’ve cleaned up my form a bit since my very first season.”

Being a student athlete is time-consuming, especially when learning a new sport and alongside a technical major like mechanical engineering, but Cave says UMBC has allowed him to succeed.

“UMBC provides so much support for student-athletes, whether it be a quiet place for us to study or one-on-one tutoring sessions. Teachers are always here to provide help when needed and guide you through the course content.” It seems that Cave has landed on his feet after all. 

By Zachary Seidel ’12, M.S. ’15

Hello all!

The time has come to elect new leadership for the LGBTQ FSA. If you have not heard, I have accepted a new position at another university and will be leaving UMBC. While this is bittersweet, I trust the work of the LGBTQ FSA will continue to shine and grow. Any questions about elections should be directed to Keith Bowman and Tim Phin as they will be carrying the torch until we have elected new leadership. 

There are TWO positions available, President and Staff Co-Chair. Keith Bowman will remain as Faculty Co-Chair for another year as leadership positions are on a two-year appointment. There is a small amount of funding available for leadership to account for the additional workload. This does change year to year and as the budget is not decided for 2026-2027, but leadership positions often receive ~$1500-$3000 as a stipend or professional development funds (tbd on amount and method). 

Nominations are available NOW through May 15th. Please use this Google form to nominate someone (or yourself!) for a leadership position. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtDJqwiPn-LmiyU57YslGdciG_JfZBN_sxHya9gpHyAraPiw/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Elections will begin 5/23 once nominations are collected. To vote, make sure to request to join the LGBTQ FSA Member Group. 

All the best,

Gavin

The Chesapeake Section of the American Water Works Association's (CSAWWA) 2026 Spring Meeting took place on May 7, 2026, in Baltimore, MD, and two CBEE students were among the three winners of the student poster competition. 

Marylia Duarte Batista (PhD student, Lee Blaney) took first place with her poster: Hybrid anion-exchange resins improve the uptake and selectivity for (ultra)short-chain PFAS in drinking water

Maaike Swaters (BS student, Lee Blaney) took third place with her poster: Optimizing membrane selection to decrease ion pair effects on nutrient recovery by Donnan dialysis

Jacob Craft, (BS student, Lee Blaney) also attended the event and presented his poster. 

Congrats, Marylia and Maaike! More information about the event can be found here: https://www.csawwa.org/spring-meeting.html. 

☀️ Summer is almost here!
Get ready to move, sweat, and feel your best 💪🔥

Our Summer Session Group Fitness Schedule kicks off May 26 — and we can’t wait to train with you!

Join us for energizing workouts all summer long. 🌴🏋️‍♀️

Find the full schedule here

Temporary Private room available for Summer 2026 in a 2BHK townhouse for a male at Westland Gardens for a 3-month move-in. 


Perfect for interns, students living on campus whose apartments will be closed, or anyone looking for temporary housing.

Fully furnished 2BHK townhouse:

What you get:

• Spacious living room with sofa + TV. 
• Fully equipped kitchen (Oven, Microwave, Fridge, Dishwasher). 
  In-unit Washer & Dryer.
• Central heating & cooling. 
• Just a 1-minute walk to the UMBC bus stop. 
• Only 10 minutes walk to campus.
• Availability: May 25th - Aug 15th. 
• Rent is just 600$ only. 

DM for more information: +1-202-937-5716 or email me at IO95979@umbc.edu

Hi everyone!

We hope you're doing well in this last stretch of the semester! As we wrap up, we'd love for you to spend 2 minutes on our Spring 2026 survey. It's anonymous, and your input matters to us. 

Best of luck with finals, and we hope to see you in The Mosaic soon!!

Are you thinking about starting a business now or someday in the future? Do you have ideas that you'd like to pursue?

Our entrepreneurship courses cover the bases and help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset so they can be effective problem solvers who think outside the box!

• ENTR 200: Introduction to Entrepreneurship This course cover the basics of what you need to know and where to start!  Class sessions will focus on identifying problems and solutions, customers, and the basics of funding.
  **Starting this fall, ENTR 200 will count as a Social Science GEP!

    Course Sections being offered:

1. In-Person: Monday: 4:30-7 pm
2. In-Person: Tuesday: 4:30-7 pm,
3. Hybrid Section: Wednesday: 4:30-7 pm   This section will meet in-person for the first and last class sections, and online for the remainder of the semester.

• ENTR 201:  The Entrepreneurial Mindset This course focuses on helping students develop the problem solving skills and attributes needed to solve real-world problems.

     Course Sections being offered (both sections are in-person)

1. Monday: 4:30-7 pm
2. Tuesday: 4:30-7 pm

• ENTR 330: Entrepreneurial Finance (offered every Fall semester) This course goes deeper than the basics in a beginning business plan and students learn about how to develop a healthy financial plan for a venture that is sustainable.

1. Wednesday: 4:30-7 pm

Dear Colleagues,

We are sharing the message sent to all students today, which outlines key well-being resources and academic information to support them throughout finals week. We hope this is helpful if you encounter a student in need of guidance or care.

Thank you for your continued dedication to our students and to UMBC.

We wish you a successful end to the semester.

Sincerely,

Carlos Jensen
Vice Provost for Student Success and Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Renique T. Kersh
Vice President for Student Affairs

Christa J. Porter
Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School 

Dear Students,

You are almost there! As you head into finals week, we want you to know that UMBC is here to support both your academic success and your well-being. This can be a stressful time of year, and it is more than okay to ask for help. 

If you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, we encourage you to utilize the many health and wellness resources available to support your well-being. If you are concerned about someone else, don’t know where to begin, or are in need of food or other basic need support, Retriever Care and Essential Needs and Connections are available to help. (Retriever Essentials hours will remain the same through Commencement; updated hours for summer will be posted on myUMBC.) If you just need a break, drop by the Retriever Activities Center.

Finals Week Support and Events 

For support during Study Day on May 13, we encourage you to drop into StudyCon at the library to relax and refuel. From 6 to 7:30 p.m., you can also swing by the Library Plaza for Donut Stress with the vice president for student affairs and Hugs N High Fives for good vibes for finals (plus giveaways!) with UMBC families. Graduate students are invited to participate in the Grad Retriever Breakfast on May 13 and/or the daily Grad Finals Reset space at the Office of Graduate Student Life from May 13 through 19 in The Commons 308. Additionally, if you need research help, the Library's Research Help Desk will be open extended hours May 11 through 19.

Below you will find the final exam schedule, how to view your grades, and official transcript information for spring 2026 graduates.

Final Exam Information

• General final exam schedule 

  • Please confirm dates and times with your instructor. 

  • If the university is closed for any reason (e.g., inclement weather), final exams move to the next available weekday. The first available weekday after finals is Friday, May 22. 

Viewing Your Grades

• Instructors must submit grades by Tuesday, May 26.

  • View your spring semester grades as they are posted on your myUMBC account. 

  • Transcripts will not reflect updated end-of-term summaries (i.e., updated GPA, repeated courses, academic standing, semester honors, etc.) until Friday, June 3.

Transcripts for Spring 2026 Graduates

•  Applicants for spring 2026 graduation

  • Eligible undergraduate students will see their degrees on their official transcripts starting June 19. 

  • Eligible graduate students will see their degrees on their official transcripts starting June 30.

  • For more information, please refer to the Grading Schedule.

To Our Graduating Students

Many of you are also preparing to graduate next week, and we could not be more proud of all you have accomplished during your time at UMBC. Your resilience, hard work, creativity, and determination have helped shape our campus community in meaningful ways, and we are excited to see all that you will do next.

Congratulations on this incredible achievement. As you begin this next chapter, we hope you
will remain connected to UMBC as alumni and know that you will always be part of the Retriever community.

Best of luck on your finals. We hope you take time to rest, recharge, and celebrate all that you have accomplished this semester and throughout the academic year. Whether you are returning in the fall or graduating this month, we are cheering you on every step of the way.

Sincerely,

Carlos Jensen
Vice Provost for Student Success and Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Renique T. Kersh
Vice President for Student Affairs

Christa J. Porter
Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School