In this USM OnTrack virtual workshop, UMGC professionals from course development, curriculum design, academic integrity, writing instruction, and educational technology will share strategies to enhance the student experience and motivate students to work with greater integrity in the online environment. The team will use participant examples to demonstrate adaptation of face-to-face learning activities into high-quality online experiences.

UMGC Presenters:

• Kate Cardin, PhD, PMP, Senior Director, CBE & Curriculum Design
• Rob Coyle, Assistant Vice President for Course Development
• Brandie Shatto, EdD, Program Director, Educational Technology
• Jen Simonds, Ph.D., Assistant Vice President for Academic Integrity & Accountability
• Jeanine Williams, Ph.D., Program Director, Writing Across the Curriculum

On May 25, 2020 George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis at the hands of the police, and the event reignited both a national conversation and one at UMBC, about police brutality, the over-incarceration of African-Americans, and the denial of equality and opportunity in the workplace, housing, politics, healthcare, and in particular, education. 

The staff of Undergraduate Research and Prestigious Scholarships wants to affirm our support for and solidarity with our Black students, faculty, and staff at UMBC and beyond. We condemn the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmad Arbery, and Freddie Gray, along with the countless other Black lives that have been taken. We stand in opposition to systemic racism and consciously work to be inclusive of black, brown, queer, women, first-generation, immigrants, disabled, and other underrepresented communities in our programs and opportunities. Those of us who benefit from white privilege commit to doing the work to practice anti-racism and foster inclusivity and diversity in our researchers, speakers, recruitment and outreach, and our language. We will continue to work on these issues with faculty who mentor students, and provide resources to ensure the equal treatment of students of color in our research and scholarship programs. 

We will work to promote a culture of inclusivity in our department. We will be critically engaged with the campus community as we move forward to create real change in this moment and beyond. We are grateful for Dr. Hrabowski and his leadership during these transformative times. We stand by the statement issued by USM leadership and Dr. Hrabowski and take these values as our own. Black Lives Matter. 

YOU ARE (UR) Undergraduate Research!

ur.umbc.edu

The Department of Procurement & Strategic Sourcing is pleased to announce that the University has established a contract for office supplies with RGH Enterprises, Inc.  RGH is a minority-owned HUBZone small business enterprise headquartered in Baltimore City and has been in business for 28 years.  Almost 20 years ago, RGH partnered with Staples through an Advantage Diversity Alliance to provide their customers with a full range of office supplies products and reliable delivery.  Since January, the Procurement Department has been working with RGH to customize their program to allow for consistent product selection, online ordering through Paw, and fast and free delivery. 

Starting on Monday, July 20^th, RGH’s punchout will be located within the general category area as shown below:

We are excited to enable RGH as an additional office supplies provider for the campus.  For any additional questions related to RGH, please contact Donna Von Paris: dvonparis@umbc.edu

Changes allowed under these new rules for State Program Participants

Employees may make the following Health & Dependent Care FSA changes:

Instructions & Required Forms:

Extension of the Deadline for Incurring Eligible FSA Expenses

Dear Community Partners,
Please consider donating reusable tote bags to help Retriever Essentials in its mission to serve the food insecure members of the UMBC community. We are looking for medium- and large-sized durable bags. We use the tote bags to pack a week’s supply of essential grocery items (as shown in the picture below).

You can drop your donations at the Campus Police Office or OCA Mocha (5410 East Drive, Arbutus, MD 21227). Please visit OCA Mocha’s website to check the up-to-date operation hours. When you arrive at the Campus Police Station or OCA Mocha, you can use these Retriever Essentials donation boxes to drop-off your donations (see pictures below). 

For your and the staff safety, we request you to adhere to the COVID-19 regulations as specified by the state.

Thank you for your continued support!

The Retriever Essentials Team

President Freeman Hrabowski’s powerful personal story is well known in the UMBC community. At the age of 12, seeking equal access to a quality education, he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his home state of Alabama. He and other Black children were then jailed for five days. He has held steadfast to commitment to educational equity in the years since. 

Under President Hrabowski’s leadership for nearly three decades, UMBC has grown into a national and global leader in undergraduate and graduate education, innovation, and social impact. He has also fostered UMBC’s unique campus culture of shared, collaborative leadership and community support.

On July 10, President Hrabowski was awarded a 2020 UCSF Medal, the University of California San Francisco’s highest honor. He was one of three national leaders recognized for a career advancing diversity and inclusion, specifically through mentorship programs that support underrepresented people in the sciences. For example, UMBC now produces more Black students who go on to complete M.D.-Ph.D. degrees than any other institution in the country, and UMBC is one of the top institutions for producing Black students who go on to complete Ph.D. degrees in any STEM fields.

“What we’ve been doing for decades now,” Hrabowski shares, “is identifying students from a range of backgrounds, of every race and different income levels, and saying, ‘We want to work with you to help you reach your goals, and reaching your goals should not be about simply surviving.’”

Thank you for all you do for the UMBC community, President Hrabowski! Congratulations.

*****

Header image: President Hrabowski celebrates the Meyerhoff Scholars Program’s 30th anniversary with philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff in May 2019. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.