Looking for private bedroom for a female PhD student. House near or around Circle Drive. Common space should be available for use, with working dishwasher. Want to be on lease. Ideally the middle bedroom will be good. Cleanliness is a priority. If you have any leads please contact bm32973@umbc.edu or text 419-699-5117.

This is the seventh and final post in our series on the new LER briefs.

Over the past several weeks, we've looked at UMBC's microcredential work through five different lenses — faculty, students, advisors, employers, and the state and federal policy landscape. If you've been following along, thank you. If you're just catching this now, here's the whole series in one place:

• Introducing the series: why one explainer wasn't enough

• Faculty: Your Teaching Already Does This. Let's Make It Count.

• Students: Your Skills, Verified.

• Advisors: Microcredentials and Your Advising Conversations

• Employers: What Your Next Great Hire Can Actually Prove

• Policy: Digital Credentials and Maryland's Workforce Future

Why it took six briefs to say one thing

Here's what stands out looking back across all of them: every audience is describing the same underlying shift, just from where they're standing.

A faculty member sees it as finally having a way to document work they were already doing. A student sees it as proof, not just a claim. An advisor sees it as a new data point in a conversation they already know how to have. An employer sees it as a faster, more trustworthy answer to the question, "Can this person actually do the thing?" And at the state and federal levels, it's a piece of infrastructure that doesn't fully exist yet; one that Maryland, and UMBC specifically, is well positioned to help build.

None of those framings contradict each other. They're the same credential, doing the same job, just showing up differently depending on what you need from it.

Where this goes next

This series covered where things stand today, but the work itself keeps moving. UMBC's Microcredential Advisory Committee is standing up new subcommittees this year focused on design quality, earner experience, and employer engagement: three areas that map almost exactly onto the audiences we covered in this series. And nationally, the LER Accelerator cohort work, Workforce Pell, and the MATCH Act conversation are all still very much in motion.

If any of the six briefs raised a question we didn't answer, or if you want to get more directly involved — proposing a microcredential, joining the MAC or the MRB, connecting us with an employer partner, or just understanding what's on your own advisee's transcript — the door's open.

Thanks for reading along.

Questions? Submit a support ticket or reach out to the DCI team directly.

On August 18, 2026, incoming Chemical Engineering PhD student Sydney Braithwaite (Blaney) was invited to speak on behalf of new graduate students at UMBC's Fall Opening Meeting, held at the Retriever Activities Center. Introduced by the University President and addressing a room of several hundred faculty and staff, Sydney shared her inspiring journey to UMBC.

Sydney spoke about her first research experience as a participant in the BeMore REU program, publishing her first paper, and earning an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to study the transformation of contaminants in drinking water systems. She credited her mentor, Dr. Blaney, with believing in her before she believed in herself. We are proud that Sydney was invited to represent CBEE at this event and look forward to watching her thrive as a researcher.

UMBC Cybersecurity MS student Atharv Kulkarni was featured as the Career Center's Intern of the Week. He interned as an AI Security Engineer at Baltimore-based Ardent Privacy, where he designed and shipped full-stack features to operationalize complex regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and DPDPA. His work involved building adaptive compliance workflows, evidence-collection pipelines, and security guardrails governing how AI systems handle sensitive data. Bridging the gap between law and engineering, he handled everything from threat modeling and legal research to owning compliance features, from regulatory intent through production deployment. Read more here

To all chip users,

The downtime for the chip cluster scheduled for August 25th has been successfully completed, and the cluster is now back online and accessible. We appreciate your patience while we installed security patches and performed upgrades on RRStor.

Note that some cluster nodes are still draining for a reboot. Any nodes marked as “draining” or “drng” will reboot once their running jobs have finished.

Notable changes

In order to reduce confusion regarding job terminations upon preemption, there will now be a notification message written to the Slurm error file of a preempted job. If a job is preempted, the associated Slurm error file will see a message like “[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION] Job XYZ was PREEMPTED by Slurm.” along with a timestamp and other information.

We will add more reports such as this that will help users figure out what resources were used by their jobs. 

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If you encounter any issues, please submit a support ticket here: https://rtforms.umbc.edu/rt_authenticated/doit/DoIT-support.php?auto=Research%20Computing

For additional information, you can check our documentation at: https://umbc.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/faq/pages/1082589207/UMBC+HPCF+-+chip

Thank you,
Gregory Ballantine
HPC Specialist

On November 3, voters across the country will participate in the 2026 general election. In Maryland, we will choose our representatives in Congress, as well as state officials, including the next Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, and members of the Maryland General Assembly. Depending on where you’re registered to vote, your ballot will also include local races and ballot questions, which will give you an opportunity to weigh in on the people and policies that will directly affect your community. 

Over the next few months, the Center for Democracy and Civic Life will host opportunities to help navigate the election process, from registering and understanding how and when to vote, to finding reliable information and considering the different ways you can make an impact beyond voting. 

You can find more information about how to participate in the election by visiting the election resource pages on our website. Here are some dates to put on your calendar:

• September 15: National Voter Registration Day

• October 5–9: National Voter Education Week

• October 13: Maryland's deadline to register in advance of the election

• October 22–29: Early voting in Maryland

• October 30: Last day to request a Maryland mail-in ballot online

• November 3: Election Day

(Out-of-state voters should consult their home state election websites. Find your's here.)

We'll be hosting voter registration and support tables on:  

• September 9, 2026: 10:00 AM–2:00 PM (Commons Breezeway)

• September 15, 2026: 10:00 AM–2:00 PM (Commons Breezeway)

• September 25, 2026: 10:00 AM–2:00 PM (Main Street)

• September 29, 2026: 10:00 AM–2:00 PM (Main Street)

• October 13, 2026: 10:00 AM–2:00 PM (Main Street)

Whether you're voting in Maryland, voting somewhere else, not eligible to vote, or still figuring out how you want to participate in our political process, stop by one of our tables.

We’re here to help! 

Follow the Center for Democracy and Civic Life on myUMBC and visit our website for upcoming events, election information, and opportunities to get involved.

If you have any specific questions about registration, deadlines, or if you’re still figuring out how you want to participate, contact the Center for Democracy and Civic Life at civiclife@umbc.edu or Trentqual Rhone, Coordinator for Political Engagement, at trhone1@umbc.edu.

🚀 Your On-Campus Job Is More Than a Paycheck — Make It Work for Your Future! 

Registration is NOW OPEN for PRAC 102: Professional Development Through On-Campus Employment!

Working on campus this semester? **PRAC 102 can help you turn that job into meaningful professional experience.**

This practicum is especially supportive for first- and second-year students  and students with limited prior work experience who want to build their confidence and professional skills as they begin their employment journey. 

Through PRAC 102, you’ll learn how to:

⭐ Recognize the **career-ready and transferable skills** you're developing on the job
⭐ Connect your campus employment to your future career goals
⭐ Build your résumé and professional brand 
⭐ Learn how to talk about your experience with future employers
⭐ Get more than a paycheck from your campus job—get career preparation!

PRAC 102 is zero-credit, pass/fail, and appears on your transcript.

📲 Ready to Register? 

1. Log in to [Handshake](https://careers.umbc.edu/handshake/) and navigate to Career Center > Experiences.
2. Click “Submit an Experience” and select “Career Center - 3. PRAC 102: Professional Development Through On-Campus Employment” as the Experience Type. Complete the required fields and submit. 

Registration closes September 23! 

You’re already gaining experience. PRAC 102 helps you recognize it, develop it, and learn how to use it.

👉 Don’t just work on campus—make your campus job work for your future!

The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) Application 101 Virtual Information Session is happening on September 9th, 2026, from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. ET (12:00 – 1:30 p.m. PT)! This is a great opportunity for eligible students and recent graduates with disabilities to learn more about the federal WRP and its application process. What is the WRP? It is a federal program that connects students with disabilities to summer internships and permanent jobs.

This information session will cover an overview of the program, the two-step WRP application process, and the documents required to apply to join the talent database. It is hosted by WRP staff from the U.S. Department of Labor alongside the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s USAJOBS team. This session will help your students and recent graduates strengthen their application materials and better understand the WRP and USAJOBS. 

 Reserve your spot today by registering at Workforce Recruitment Program Application 101 Information Session. Registration is required to attend.

ASL interpreters and automated captioning will be provided. To request any additional reasonable accommodations for the information session, please email wrp@dol.gov no later than September 1, 2026.

We look forward to seeing you and your students at this information session! As a reminder, students and recent graduates with disabilities can visit WRP.gov and select Students Register Now! to start their application. Applications are open August 17-October 4. The WRP recommends applicants start early to make sure they can gather their documents in time.

Friends Of Tonga Inc., led by co-founder and president Michael Hassett, Ph.D. '19, was named a finalist in the 2026 .ORG Impact Awards by Public Interest Registry (PIR), the people behind the .ORG domain. The .ORG Impact Awards recognize outstanding mission-driven individuals and organizations from around the world for their positive contributions to society. All finalists will receive donations of $2,500 USD. Friends of Tonga will also be invited to Washington, D.C. for a celebration that includes opportunities to meet with other nonprofit leaders and culminates with the final award ceremony on October 6th. 

Friends of Tonga is one of 35 innovative, mission-driven changemakers selected from over 4,000 applicants across 145 countries.

Congrats to Dr. Hassett and the entire FOT team!

Learn more about the .ORG Impact Awards.

Learn more about Dr. Hassett.

Keep an eye out for more recent alumni profiles - coming soon to our website and our walls in Public Policy Building, 4th Floor.

On Monday, August 31, from 5:30–7:30 p.m. in University Center 312, UMBC’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life is hosting Democracy in the Making, a community art event where we’ll reflect on the kind of democracy we want to live in and what it takes to build it together.

As we kick off a new semester, come meet new people, share stories about the experiences that have shaped us, and imagine what democracy could look like in our communities and everyday lives. Then we’ll put some of those ideas on paper, exploring the hopes, ideas, and possibilities we hold for our collective future.

Write a poem, make a zine, draw, and more.

Whatever art you create will be yours to keep.

RSVP for this event here.

Refreshments and art supplies will be provided. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to email the Center for Democracy and Civic Life at civiclife@umbc.edu. 

This program is open for full participation by all individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the university's nondiscrimination policy.

Democracy in the Making · Center for Democracy and Civic Life · myUMBC