February 2026 Newsletter

Come celebrate spring with the Japanese American Student Association at our first ever Spring Festival! We'll have a night full of festival games, crafts, live music, vendors, and fun activities inspired by Japanese festivals.

Try games like ring toss, Taiko no Tatsujin, shateki (target shooting), and daruma otoshi. Stop by the craft station to write your name in calligraphy and decorate a paper fan. Check out booths from independent artists, small businesses and some other UMBC clubs. You can also take part in festival challenges, a stamp rally, and raffles for the chance to win prizes.

We'll also have free Japanese snacks and drinks, and plenty of opportunities to learn a little more about Japanese culture and traditions along the way.

Food & drinks, crafts, and prizes are available while supplies last. Come early to grab some! Festival games, music, and vendors will be open to everyone all night. Bring your friends, hang out, play some games, and celebrate spring with us!

To all chip users,

The DoIT Research Computing & Data (RCD) Team is continuing to monitor the performance issues affecting users across the HPCF. Please see this posting from last Friday, February 20 for a recap. 

There have been no significant updates to the storage system in the last week. The RCD Team has received and deployed suggestions from a support vendor that have not yet made a significant impact on the measurable performance. The RCD Team are are continuing to escalate the issue with the support vendor and other community support services. We apologize for this continued impact to productivity and want users to know that we are working to resolve the issue.

The team will give weekly updates and give substantive updates as they develop. 

Thanks for reading,

Roy Prouty

Assistant Director for Research Computing

UMBC DoIT

Prof. Chan will be offering her ASIA330/ART 355: The Dao of Intermedia, next Fall, upon returning from her Fulbright Fellowship in Romania!

Commuters, this is your VIP moment!

Join us on February 28, 2026 at the Chesapeake Employer Insurance Arena for an afternoon packed with food, fun, and basketball energy!

1:00 PM – Pre-Game Mixer (FREE FOOD!)
Come early and enjoy a complimentary buffet featuring delicious favorites like Caesar salad, Chicken Piccata, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, fresh bread, and more. This is your chance to relax, connect with other commuters, and fuel up before tip-off!

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM – Basketball Game
Let's show up loud and proud and bring that commuter spirit to the arena!

Exclusive Giveaway!
We'll also have an exclusive commuter giveaway for the first 100 attendees at the mixer, so make sure you arrive early to secure yours.

Bring your family and friends because they get the deal too!
Use code COMMUTER26 to unlock exclusive discounted group-rate tickets. This special pricing is just for our commuter community, so grab your squad and save!

Free food.
Plush giveaways.
Discounted tickets for family.
Game-day vibes.

There's really no excuse to miss this one, let's pack the arena and make Commuter Day unforgettable!


This event 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.

Please join WiCyS for our Careers in Cybersecurity event on Wednesday, March 4th, from 12 PM to 1 PM in ILSB 233. We will be discussing various cybersecurity roles and going over what they are about, the education, certifications, and skills required to pursue these careers, what they bring in terms of career advancement, and much more! The careers to be explored include the following:

• Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC)
• Security Automation/DevSecOps
• Digital Forensics Analyst
• SOC Analyst
• Ethical Hacker/Penetration Tester
• Incident Response Analyst

Whether you are an expert or just getting started, this is a great opportunity to learn more about what cybersecurity has to offer! All are welcome!

Snacks will be provided ✨

See you there!

Inclusive excellence has long been a cultural touchstone at UMBC. Before now, we haven't had a definition or any other shared language to describe what we mean. This is your chance to inform our definition. Leaders in the Division of Institutional Equity have drafted a framework for inclusive excellence, and we want your input! 

The framework aims to articulate our community's shared commitments in a way that can communicate our values, guide action, inspire new collaboration, and support the development and implementation of UMBC's next strategic plan.

Join The Centers for Social Justice Dialogue and Democracy and Civic Life for UMBC Talks, which are 90-minute, co-facilitated dialogues designed to support your engagement with the framework. Each UMBC Talk will be the same, so please sign up for the one that best suits your schedule. We hope to see you there. Come and leave your mark on this important moment in UMBC's history. 

Spring Semester Open Forums

Friday, April 10, 2:30 - 4:30 p.m., UC 312 -Foregrounding faculty and staff experiences but open to everyone, with opportunities for all participants to be in conversation with people with similar UMBC affiliations.

Wednesday, April 15, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., UC 312 - Open to everyone. Conversations will be held in mixed groups.

Friday, April 24, 10:00 a.m. - noon, UC 312 -Foregrounding graduate student experiences but open to everyone, with opportunities for all participants to be in conversation with people with similar UMBC affiliations.

Friday, April 24, 2:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., UC 312 -Foregrounding undergraduate student experiences but open to everyone, with opportunities for all participants to be in conversation with people with similar UMBC affiliations.

Tuesday, April 28, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., Virtual - Open to everyone. Conversations will be held in mixed groups.

Stay tuned for potential additional dates! Download the attached flyer to post or share.

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UMBC Talks is a collaborative initiative that aims to enhance the sense of community, vibrancy, and well-being at UMBC through guided community conversations that reestablish our commitment to inclusive excellence and foster a sense of pride for what it truly
means to be a UMBC Retriever. Using this framework offers a dialogic process for gathering community input on shared values.

If you have any questions about this feedback process, please feel free to reach out to Drs. Ciara Christian and David Hoffman at culture@umbc.edu.

These events are 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.