Tell us a little about yourself… 

 I'm a Junior Computer Engineering Major, Creative Writing Minor. I like listening to podcasts, doing community theater, and writing.

Tell us about how you are involved on campus. 

On campus, I do a lot of playwriting/acting/directing for theaterCOM club, and I'm a TA for CMPE 212. 

How and why did you get involved in being a tutor? 

A friend of mine convinced me to become a tutor because I'm very good at explaining concepts, and he thought I should be paid for helping him and other students with their classes.

What is your favorite thing about being a tutor? 

I tutor for challenging math and tech-based courses, so my favorite thing is seeing when a subject finally clicks for the person I'm tutoring and they really understand it. 

Why should students utilize the tutoring? 

I always tell people to use the LRC because it's a totally free resource that gives students and chance for more focused help. I think anyone can pass all their classes, but it's easy to get left behind, especially when the class is large or the professor isn't good at communicating. If you wait to get help until you're failing, it'll be hard to pull up your grade, but if you get help early and often you'll be able to keep up easily.

What advice would you give students about how to prepare for a tutoring session? 

Always come to a tutoring knowing what topics you want to go over, and coming with specific questions or with practice problems (not homework problems) to work on is always helpful. 

When and where can someone work with you through the Learning Resources Center? 

I have walk-in hours Mon 12-1, Tues 1-2, and Wed 11-12 and 3-4 in either Sherman 335 or Sherman 340.  You can download the StudyTree app on your phone to book an appointment.

Last Friday, Chief of Police Paul Dillon released the 2018 UMBC Clery Report, detailing crime and other incidents that have taken place throughout the 2017-2018 academic year. The Clery Report is a location-based report, meaning that the crimes and incidents it counts occur either “on-campus, in off-campus university buildings, in property owned or controlled by the university, or on public property immediately adjacent to the campus.” Conversely, Title IX practices affiliation-based reporting and covers incidents including UMBC students even off-campus.

In the midst of the recent allegations that UMBC has mishandled sexual assault cases, the Clery Report provides a quantifiable glimpse into the on-campus incidents reported over the past year. Along with crime statistics, the Clery Act requires universities to publish a fire log. Additionally, beginning Oct. 1, the state of Maryland will require all public institutions of higher education to send out notifications alerting campus of hate-bias incidents through House Bill 511.

The UMBC report, along with the eleven other University of Maryland schools, also includes statistics for the Universities at Shady Grove.

What is the Clery Act?

Jeanne Clery was a 19-year old student at Lehigh University in 1986 when she was raped and subsequently murdered in her residence hall by a fellow student. Her parents, who believed they were not adequately warned of the dangers their daughter might face in college, campaigned for four years after Clery’s death for policy changes that would require universities to report crime statistics.

Finally, in 1990, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or the Clery Act, was signed. It requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose records of location-based crime by Oct. 1 of each year.

The Clery Report breaks down instances of crime into different categories, so if a crime does not fall under one of the 20 categories, it does not have to be represented within the Clery Report. In addition to combing through their own data software, the police department meets with the UMBC Title IX office quarterly to compile data for the Clery Report. The Title IX office also has their own daily incident log which is updated regularly. It also reports all instances of unfounded crimes, which can be given that title by all police departments, including both the UMBC police department and the Baltimore County Police Department. The UMBC police keep an updated daily crime log where all campus police-reported incidents are cataloged.

Along with the Clery Report, police departments are required to send out Clery Timely Warnings, or security alerts, notifying students of potential threats on campus and offering instructions on how to keep themselves safe. While the Clery Act does not define what is timely, Police Chief Paul Dillon, who has been at the university for eight years, tries to reach students as soon as possible, describing UMBC’s text alert system as the “backbone” of this notification requirement. Emails, Twitter and Facebook updates are also used.

On keeping the campus notified of incidents occurring on campus, Dillon acknowledges that his department has failed in finding ways to meet with students amidst all of their other academic responsibilities. “Students are busy – but that’s not an excuse. We need to find ways to reach out to students,” he said.

UMBC Crime Statistics

Violations of liquor laws, including both underage drinking and open carry, among others, remain the highest reported crime on the UMBC campus, with 163 liquor law referrals given out last academic year. There were 11 reported burglaries and six reported cases of rape. No crimes were unfounded by the Baltimore County Police Department in 2017.

Some other counts:

• Dating Violence — six
• Stalking — five
• Motor Vehicle Theft — two

Since the decriminalization of marijuana, the Clery statistics counting drug law referrals have drastically fallen. In 2015, there were 37 cases resulting in drug law referrals, but in 2016 and 2017 there were only nine and five, respectively.

Correction: An earlier version of this post asserted that only the Baltimore County Police Department can mark cases as unfounded. However, all police departments can mark cases as unfounded.

As senior lecturer and undergraduate program director in the Department of Chemical, Biochemical, & Environmental Engineering, Dr. Mariajosé Castellanos’ reach extends far beyond the classroom. From core undergraduate to advanced graduate coursework, Castellanos serves as “a doorway into our department,” and “doorway from our department into the world,” according to UMBC professor and department chair Dr. Mark Marten.

Castellanos will receive the Outstanding Faculty Award at the UMBC Alumni Awards ceremony on October 4.

Notably, Castellanos transformed Thermodynamics, a challenging departmental core class, from a traditional lecture style course to a flipped-learning and team-based class in an effort to improve student outcome. She applied the same principles to revamp the senior level capstone design class, again implementing a team-based learning approach incorporating soft skills rarely learned in the classroom yet critical to success beyond graduation.

A 2013 Hrabowski Innovation Fund seed grant recipient, Castellanos has advised 24 undergraduate independent study projects, participates in the Faculty Development Center and professional conferences focused on pedagogy and college-level teaching, and contributes to numerous campus committees and initiatives outside of her department.

Yet Castellanos’ most compelling endorsements come from her students, whose feedback helped Castellanos earn the department’s only exceptional instructor rating from a recent ABET evaluation. For many former students, Castellanos – or Dr. C as she is best known – is more than just a professor. With over 30 former students providing feedback in support of Castellanos’ outstanding faculty award nomination, many cited Castellanos’ support and innovative teaching in a highly challenging course of study as influential.

“Dr. C was the first professor who truly showed me the value in working a problem that I wasn’t sure how to proceed with,” notes nominator Jeremy Drew ’17, chemical engineering. Adds former student Marc Scimonelli ’13, chemical engineering, “Dr. C helped me develop non-technical skills that have helped me work in diverse multidisciplinary groups, build relationships, and consider the whole picture.”

According to Cody Kendig ’17, chemical engineering, “Dr. C cares about the well-being of her students, and adapts to each of their individual needs in order to bring them the most comprehensive education possible.”

— Amy Dalrymple

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REGISTER TODAY: Join us Thursday, October 4, to celebrate these individuals at the Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall.

See the full list of 2018 Alumni Award honorees here.

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