My research explores the community-driven efforts of historical preservation, environmental revitalization, and social justice in Turner Station, Dundalk. Once a hub of industrial activity and a landmark of African American and civil rights history, Turner Station provides a powerful framework for examining the impact of grassroots, community-led initiatives in education and revitalization, as well as the vital role of public libraries as hubs for hosting organizations and public programs that serve to preserve local history.

– Stephanie Patrizio

Campus Life Student Engagement and the SGA Student Organization Support Team (SOST) are inviting student organization leaders to participate in Student Org Digital Tools Focus Groups to help us better understand how student orgs use technology to manage their operations. Your feedback will help inform us on what works and where there are opportunities to better support student organizations at UMBC.

About the Focus Groups:

• Format: 

• Virtual (via Webex)

• Duration: 

• About 75-90 minutes

• Who Should Attend: 

• Executive/Board Members from Undergraduate Student Organizations

• Purpose: 

• To share your experiences using tools like myUMBC Groups, 25Live, Qualtrics, and other digital platforms for communication, event management, and record-keeping.

• Dates/Times:

• Friday, November 14, 2025: 1 - 2:30 p.m.

• Monday, November 17, 2025: 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, December 2, 2025: 2 - 3:30 p.m.

• Thursday, December 4, 2025: Noon - 1:30 p.m.

• Monday, December 8, 2025: 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Interested: Students can sign up using this online signup form!

To thank organizations for participating, all orgs represented in a focus group will be entered into a raffle for $500 to be transferred to their carryover account. 

We are pleased to announce the Undergraduate Data Science and AI Scholars program for supporting students in Spring 2026. The Data Science and AI Scholars program welcomes undergraduate scholars from multiple disciplines, including non-STEM majors, who will examine all aspects of data and its impact on society. This year, scholars will have the opportunity to be teaching fellowsor research fellows. Scholars will be able to work on research projects in Climate Science, Deepfake detection, and other data science-related projects. 

Students selected through this effort will be part of the Data Science and AI Scholars program, which will be run in partnership withthe Center for Women in Technology (CWIT), the Information Systems Department (IS), and the Center for Social Science Scholarship (CS3). 

Selected scholars will be assigned to respective affiliations (CWIT/IS or CS3) depending on the student's major, and the scholars' expectations per affiliation are as follows:

Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) Responsibilities:

Research Fellows

• Scholars who will work as research fellows will work on a supervised research project and be mentored by faculty. Scholars will be paid $20.00/hour for specific tasks, for 5 - 10 hours per week.

• Scholars will attend at least two events in Spring 2026 and/or participate in research initiatives and professional development for their leadership growth and mentoring. Mentors will coordinate this at CWIT. 

• Scholars will need to register as CWIT Affiliates to participate in the 2 required events.

• Scholars will be required to enroll in a Zero-credit Practicum course on research experience (PRAC 98C) through the UMBC Career Center.

Teaching Fellows 

• Scholars will work as teaching fellows and peer mentors for undergraduate students in IS 296 - Foundations of Data Science, and support students throughout the course.. The scholars will devote time to mentoring and leadership development efforts for their advancement. The cohort of scholars will meet as a group under the supervision of the IS 296 instructor. Scholars will be paid $20.00/hour for specific tasks, for 5 - 10 hours per week during Spring 2026.

• Scholars who will work as teaching fellows will be expected to be available to assist with classes and also present during lectures. Spring 2026 class schedule is as follows: Mondays 4:30 - 7:00 pm (Instructor: Dr. Karen Chen), Mondays 7:10 - 9:40 pm (Instructor: Zehra Zaidi), and Tuesdays 4:30 - 7:00 pm (Instructor: Dr. Neha Singh)

• Scholars will be required to attend one mentoring meeting per month with the coordinator

• Scholars will be required to enroll in a Zero-credit Practicum course on research experience (PRAC 98C) through the UMBC Career Center.

Center for Social Science Scholarship (CS3) Responsibilities:

Research Fellows

• Scholars who will work as research fellows will work on a supervised research project and be mentored by faculty. Scholars will be paid $20.00/hour for specific tasks, for 5 - 10 hours per week.

• Scholars will attend at least two events in Spring 2026 and/or participate in research initiatives and professional development for their leadership growth and mentoring. Mentors will coordinate this at CS3. 

• Scholars will also be expected to attend one mentoring meeting with the faculty.

• Scholars will be required to enroll in a Zero-credit Practicum course on research experience (PRAC 98C) through the UMBC Career Center.

Background and Skills:

ALL applicants should have knowledge in AT LEAST ONE of the following:

• Analysis of social, behavioral, economic, or geographic data

• Python or one of the data science tools and/or languages (such as R, Rapid Miner, Weka, Orange, Knime, ML on cloud computing)

• Jupyter Notebooks with Python or taken IS 296 in a prior semester.

Application Form:

Interested students should complete the Google Submission Form,OR access the form using the following link: https://forms.gle/FFUAa5RpDNMGYvTY9  by Friday, November 21, 2025.

Questions:

For questions, please email our team at DataScienceAIScholars@umbc.edu

To learn more about potential projects, please check out the following websites: 

• https://www.umces.edu/chesapeake-global-collaboratory 

• https://iharp.umbc.edu

• https://mdata.umbc.edu/deep-fake-detection/

• https://socialscience.umbc.edu/ 

The use of payment requests to pay for a variety of goods and services has grown significantly beyond the system's indeed purpose.  We have observed many instances where Payment Requests are being submitted as an alternative to following established procurement procedures for the acquisition of goods and services.

Effective immediately, adherence to the policy below is mandatory.  Business Services and Procurement & Strategic Sourcing will strictly enforce these guidelines to ensure proper fiscal control.

• Invoices less than $600 that are non-recurring
• Miscellaneous reimbursements (out of pocket expenses that are NOT Travel)
• R*Stars Payments
• Honorariums - Details
• Stipends – Details
• Refunds of Revenue
• Memberships/Registrations (when the P-card can't be used)
• Student Cultural Events

• Invoices over $600 (a PO is required)
• Recurring invoices/payments of any amount (a PO or contract is required)
• Travel Expenses (e.g., when using accounts 7040100, 7040300, 7040330, etc.)
• Subaward payments (there is a separate form for these payments)

When a request is submitted that does not meet one of the stated allowable uses, the Payment Request will be returned to the requester with instructions on the correct process. In most cases, this will necessitate:

1. Submitting a requisition for a Purchase Order (PO).
2. Creating a formal contract that can then be invoiced against.