Dear Colleagues,

I hope you all are all enjoying a well-deserved break and share my excitement in beginning this new semester. As we prepare for the spring semester, and the countless opportunities it will present for learning, discovery, and community, I want to share with you some news about changes in the UMBC leadership team. These changes reflect our collective commitment to ensuring that UMBC continues to be an exceptional university dedicated to excellence and equity.

General Counsel 

Our longtime General Counsel, David Gleason, will retire at the end of the month. Dave has served our campus community as a constant and reassuring presence for almost 30 years. I am personally grateful for his support throughout my transition to UMBC, and for his many contributions to UMBC's success. I know Dave will stay connected to our community through the many friendships he has developed during his time at UMBC. As of February 1, Associate General Counsel Bobbie Hoye will serve as the point of contact for the Office of the General Counsel.  

Vice President of Government Relations and Community Affairs

I am delighted to report that Candace Dodson-Reed has agreed to take on the new position of Vice President of Government Relations and Community Affairs, where she will continue the work of advancing our goals in the community and deepening partnerships with the State of Maryland and government leaders on a full-time basis. While Candace has filled many roles at UMBC, including Chief of Staff to the President, we agree that UMBC's relationships with community partners and policymakers in Annapolis and Washington, D.C. have never been more important, and now require the full-time attention of an experienced leader with a wide network. I look forward to benefiting from Candace's wise counsel on all matters of public policy and legislative affairs.

Chief of Staff

Kacey Hammel will be the new Chief of Staff to the President. Kacey is new to UMBC, but she is a deeply experienced academic leader and strategist who has worked closely with me at Duke University and the University of North Carolina. Kacey will serve as a strategic partner to me and my senior leadership team. She will be responsible for leading initiatives within my office.     

Vice President of University Communications 

Telling UMBC's story to the world is one of our highest priorities and we will shortly begin a national search for the newly created role of Vice President of University Communications, who will serve as UMBC's chief spokesperson and spearhead our communications and marketing initiatives. In the meantime, beginning on February 6, I am excited to report that Angela Schaeffer will serve as our interim Vice President of University Communications, leading our communications team and the important work they have been doing. Angela has extensive experience leading communications at Trinity College (CT), Williams College, and Johns Hopkins University, and I look forward to her leadership at UMBC.

Title IX Officer 

Finally, we have engaged Jackie Moran of the consulting firm Grand River Solutions to provide interim leadership of our Title IX office during this period of transition while we conduct a nationwide search to identify UMBC's next Title IX Officer. Jackie and her firm have extensive experience advising colleges and universities on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, as well as a long track record of managing Title IX operations and initiatives across a wide range of institutions. 

I could not be more excited about these new additions to our team, nor more grateful for the service and dedication of our longtime leaders who have helped shape UMBC's success. Everyone who reads this message has contributed in some way to that success and I so look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead as we fulfill our vital educational mission.

Sincerely, 

President Valerie Sheares Ashby

The Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (TRAC 2023)

April 27-29, 2023

Exeter

Call for Papers & Posters 

The deadline for the Call for Papers/Posters submissions is February 22nd, 2023. 

The Call for Papers is for the themed sessions and a general session. More information on the themed sessions can be found here. https://trac2023exeter.wordpress.com/sessions/

For the general session, we encourage papers engaging with, but not limited to: 

• New materialities in the digital age 
• (Dis)connectivities in human/environment/object relationships 
• Unboxing dichotomies and other non-binary approaches 
• Broader ideas of change which could be applied to material culture, agency, identities, or even techniques and approaches in archaeology 

Please indicate which theme session you wish to contribute to, or if you are submitting to the general session. Any papers that are not accepted for a themed session will be considered for the general session (organised by the Local Organising Committee). 

• Paper submissions for TRAC sessions should include: 
• Title of the theme session 
• Title of the paper Name(s) of the speaker(s) 
• Affiliation(s) 
• Contact email(s) 
• An abstract of 200 to 250 words 

All submissions should be sent by email ONLY to the TRAC 2023 Exeter Local Organising Committee at trac2023exeter@gmail.com and not to individual session organisers so that paper submissions can undergo blind peer review. Participants will be informed of the decision by 1st March. 

Poster Submissions 

We will be only accepting digital posters. 

Posters must be in a .png or .jpg file format. Use a 16:9 aspect ratio with a minimum width is 1000 px (24.46 cm) and a minimum height is 600 px (15.88 cm). Landscape is preferable to view the full image, but portrait will also be accepted. You can use PowerPoint, Canva, or another third-party application to design and save a 16:9 image. Maximum file size is 3 MB. Do not use a transparent background. 

Poster submissions should include: 

• Title of the poster 
• Name(s) of the author(s)
• Affiliation(s) Contact email(s) 
• An abstract of 200 to 250 words 

All submissions should be sent by email to the TRAC 2023 Exeter Local Organising Committee at trac2023exeter@gmail.com.The proposals will be sent to the Local Organising Committee for review and poster proposers will be informed of the decision by 1st March 2023.

We look forward to having you at Exeter in a hybrid format!

TRAC Local Organising and Standing Committees

Through our graduate programs in Software Engineering, UMBC is helping students enhance their technical experience and take the next step in their professional careers. 

In today’s Industry News, we’re recapping recent innovations in software engineering, from virtual reality to artificial intelligence.