On September 19, 1966, UMBC opened its doors to students for the first day of classes in the institution’s history. Mimi Dietrich ’70, American studies, was among those “pioneer” students, encouraged by faculty and administrators to take advantage of a campus where everything was both new and possible.

“So many of them were inspiring because they were joining us in this new university,” says Dietrich, who has in her decades as an alumna continued to show her passion for UMBC in a variety of ways.

Dietrich will receive the UMBC Alumni Award for Distinguished Service at a ceremony on October 4.

The pioneering spirit has continued to carry Dietrich to pursue her passion in quilting. After teaching middle school and pre-school for 6 years, Dietrich shifted her focus to teach needlework and quilting. For 50 years, Dietrich has traveled across the United States to teach at guilds, festivals, state conferences, cruises, and an American studies course at UMBC. Dietrich was inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame in 2015 and was named Professional Quilt Teacher of the Year by the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals in 2013. The author of 17 books and countless publications, Dietrich now teaches a year-long class focused on Baltimore Album Quilts. A founding member of The Village Quilters in Catonsville and the Baltimore Applique Society, Dietrich is preparing for an exhibit of her quilts in 2019.

Alongside her professional successes, Dietrich hasn’t strayed far from UMBC in the decades following graduation. A founding member of the Fab Four, an alumni group comprised of graduates of UMBC’s first four graduating classes, Dietrich took on a pivotal volunteer role engaging the earliest alumni heading into UMBC’s milestone 25th and 50th anniversaries. During UMBC’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2016, The Fab Four hosted several events, and continues to plan initiatives aimed at connecting UMBC’s early alumni with the university.

Dietrich credits her husband and fellow alumnus Robert “Bob” Dietrich ’70, biological science, for keeping her connected to UMBC, where he worked for 40 years. A former member of UMBC’s Alumni Association Board of Directors, Dietrich was named UMBC Volunteer of the Year in 1997, an honor she shared with husband Bob. Together, they’ve raised two sons, Jon and Ryan, who have grown up to be wonderful dads to their three grandchildren.

– 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.

Natural Sciences Professoriate-Track Faculty Research Fellowship, 2019-2021(apply.interfolio.com/53007) 

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) invites applications for the Natural Sciences Professoriate-Track Faculty Research Fellowship.  The purpose of the Program is to support promising scholars interested in a potential tenure track faculty appointment at UMBC and who are committed to diversity and inclusiveness.  The Department welcomes applications from candidates with research and teaching interests in all areas of Chemistry or Biochemistry, and with diverse experiences, including candidates from industry, academia, or government laboratories.  We are particularly interested in receiving applications from individuals who are members of groups that historically have been underrepresented in the STEM professoriate.

UMBC is a national model for diversity and inclusive excellence in STEM through its Meyerhoff Scholars (http://meyerhoff.umbc.edu/) and Graduate Fellows programs (http://meyerhoffgrad.umbc.edu/), two of the most innovative and successful programs in promoting diversity and preparing students from underrepresented groups for careers in STEM. With many of the Meyerhoff scholars pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry, our faculty play a leading role in mentoring and developing the next generation of diverse professional workforce in STEM.  The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is a premier research-intensive department with thriving graduate and undergraduate programs (http://chemistry.umbc.edu/). Our faculty are engaged in innovative research at the molecular level, which attracts major federal, state, and private funding.

The fellow will be appointed as a Professoriate-Track Research Fellow for a two-year term beginning July 1, 2019, with the ultimate goal of preparing candidates to be competitive for tenure-track academic faculty positions. The fellow will receive a starting stipend commensurate with experience, health benefits, $5,000 for conference travel and preparation of scholarly work, up to $5,000 in instrument services, up to $10,000 for supplies /consumables, lab space, office space with computer, library access, and other privileges at the university.  During the two-year term of appointment, most the fellow’s time will be devoted to pursuing research. In addition, the fellow will teach one course per year. Highly experienced research and teaching mentors will meet with the fellow regularly to provide guidance on developing a pedagogically sound teaching philosophy and plan, and improving the skills needed to pursue an academic research career at a research intensive university, including proposal and manuscript writing, and technical presentation skills. The fellow will also benefit from professional development opportunities across the campus.

Fields: Applications in any area of Chemistry or Biochemistry are welcome.

Eligibility: Candidates who will hold PhD degrees in Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related fields at the time of appointment are eligible to apply. Degrees must be conferred before the time of appointment.  Candidates with PhD degrees, with or without postdoctoral experience, are also eligible to apply.

Application Instructions: Applications must be submitted at http://apply.interfolio.com/53007

Deadline: Review of completed applications will begin on October 15, 2018 and continue until filled.  For best consideration, submit application materials by October 15, 2018.  Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
A complete submission will consist of:

1)      Cover Letter

2)      Curriculum Vitae

3)      Three Letters of Reference, which will be requested by the applicant and submitted by the referees through Interfolio

4)      Statement of Proposed Research Plan (3-6 pages)

5)      Personal Statement of your demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusive excellence in higher education (1-3 Pages)

6)      Teaching Statement (1-2 pages)

Inquiries about the program may be addressed to: Chemfellowshipsearch@umbc.edu

UMBC is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

What is the Spanish Tutoring Lab?

The Spanish Lab is a drop-in tutoring center designed to support the Spanish 101, 102, 103 and 201 courses at UMBC. Students are welcome to visit the lab anytime during operating hours and to stay as long they would like.

When? Fridays 2pm to 4pm

Where? First floor of the A.O.K. Library, behind the reference desk, in the Math and Science Tutoring Center space

Why? Students who go to tutoring tell us that they better understand course concepts and are able to apply new techniques they learn in tutoring later on their own. 

Tutoring is an appointment you make with yourself to study and practice at least once a week.  

In order to make the most of your tutoring session, prepare for it by bringing concepts and problems you want your tutor to work on with you.

All Learning Resources Center tutoring is free, provided by trained peers.

Students can also make an appointment for Spanish tutoring at other times using the StudyTree app.  

myUMBC’s interface has been revamped and streamlined for modern devices. The student portal, which was first introduced in 2009, began the updating process earlier in August.  The previous iteration of myUMBC preceded the influx of smartphone technology, leading to a less-than-stellar mobile experience.

Portal architect Collier Jones noted the age of the previous platform. “[myUMBC’s previous interface] was pretty old. I think about three or four years after we launched that … we started getting ideas about how things needed to evolve moving forward.”

The Department of Information Technology wanted to modernize the user experience for modern platforms and to accommodate the needs of modern students. Much of the user interface has been streamlined, with an emphasis on fewer and more meaningful clicks.

This included tailoring the experience of mobile platforms. “30 percent of our traffic was on mobile last week for the first week of classes. Which is pretty high, normally we’ve been sitting around 10 percent for the past few years, but it’s been going up steadily and that’s a huge thing.”

Jones said, “We started making changes last January. We made an updated profile, showing degree requirement visualizations. This fall we replaced the starter page, the guide, and [made] a new events section.”

One of the biggest features implemented is what Jones referred to as the “profile donut.” This uses a donut graph to display the number of completed and current credits and a “student at a glance” overview. Additionally, links to other pages such as financial aid, billing, registration and grades are displayed below respective information such as payments owed and GPA.

An additional revision came to the events function of the site. Jones said, “The old myUMBC had a feed model. For some people it was really, really busy; for others, it was really, really dead. So it was really inconsistent as to the experience that people got when they logged in.”

But there are further updates planned. In the proceeding years, updates to sections such as student organizations are planned. Jones said, “Next fall we’ll be launching the [interface of the] new groups and bring everything from old myUMBC into the new myUMBC. There’s been a lot of planning, a lot of conversation about what to do to move forward.”

The process has, however, had its fair share of difficulties. “Changing everything at once was just a monumental development task because of how big the old system had gotten.”  Additionally, the unified experience of managing both mobile and desktop platforms was one of their main challenges.

But Jones is optimistic about the future of the platform. He said, “We’re not done making changes and we’re really interested in feedback, both good and bad. We’re always happy to hear what people like about the stuff that we’re doing, and hearing what they don’t like.”

Students begin their first week at college reviewing the syllabus in each class and returning home with little to do. By the time the second week starts, projects, club events and part-time work start to accumulate. Students have no idea how to fit all of their classes and activities into their schedule. As the semester goes by, their grades plummet.

Academic counselors advise students that time management is necessary for a successful college career. Without it, students may have difficulty balancing work, academics and extracurricular activities.The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences published time management tips on their academic advising page, which states that students should, “set priorities, set time limits, eliminate distractions and get enough sleep.”

Learning Resources Center’s Assistant Director Delana Gregg speaks about how high school students transition to college. “I think they already have a good idea about how to go to seven classes every day, do homework for all of them and complete extracurriculars,” Gregg says. “I think the change that students are unprepared for when coming to college is that difference between being in class every day, to being in class perhaps once a week.”

“Getting up earlier, being up later and doing more things wasn’t something I was used to,” biology junior Skylar Stewart says. “It was a transition, but it was also a learning experience, and because of that, I learned to adapt and stay focused.”

The time management section of the LRC website recommends that students should spend two to three hours studying for every class hour. This means that if a student is taking 15 credits, then they should spend 30 to 45 hours per week outside of class studying. “It’s so funny because my chem professors don’t go by that,” Stewart says. “They say, ‘for every class hour you spend in [my] class, you should spend five hours studying.'”

Gregg explains how a student can use that rule of thumb in a beneficial way. “To learn a new subject, you have to read, take notes and do practice problems, which may take an hour,” she says. “But going back and reviewing to make sure you understand the material is where that extra hour comes from. Doing that extra reviewing and engaging with the material is what helps students learn.”

What if a student does not need all the extra time to study? “It’s not about [how much] time you spend, but what you are doing in that time,” Stewart says. “I think that [studying two to three hours for every hour of class] is a little bit archaic, but the idea behind it is you’re supposed to be putting more time outside of class because that’s where a lot of the learning happens.”

Each student learns at their own pace. Some might take several hours to learn a new subject while some might absorb it during a lecture. “With practice, you can learn what your work schedule is and what your daily routine can be because it’s going to be different for everyone,” Stewart says. “Some people do everything at once, some need to get ahead of things. It’s just about finding what works for you.”

“From the whole process beginning to end it was just me making all of the decisions,” said English major and Spanish minor Ashley Ruano-Hurtarte as she spoke about her college application process. Ruano-Hurtarte is one of many students at UMBC who is the first in her family to attend college.

English major Ashley Bonilla echoed Ruano-Hurtarte’s words. She recalls that while her parents love learning — her dad avidly reads psychology textbooks — they are also immigrants from El Salvador without a college education and could only offer limited time and guidance during college applications.

“When I visited college campuses I would get emotional because I was there [by myself] on school field trips but everyone else went with their parents,” said Bonilla.

Ultimately both Bonilla and Ruano-Hurtarte found mentorship. For Bonilla it was her AP English class, where she received feedback on her college essays. Ruano-Hurtarte entered Adelante La Latina, a program where she received tutoring and mentorship.

This program ultimately directed her to UMBC: “My tutor at Adelante La Latina used to teach here… When I mentioned that I like UMBC he really helped me get to know if I wanted to come here,” Ruano-Hurtarte says.

Nonetheless, she still felt challenged by a slew of foreign decisions. This experience is common according to Corris Davis, the Director of the UMBC Office of Academic Opportunity Programs. “There is a lot of jargon in higher education,” Davis wrote in an email correspondence. “Students don’t know what some terms mean, where to go for what, who to contact, etc.”

The Office of Academic Opportunity and Shriver Center strive to reach first-generation students by exposing Baltimore City youth to educational opportunities before college. Once at UMBC, they can receive specialized advice for first-generation students from UMBC Advising and Orientation or additional preparation for college-level courses in First Year Experience programs supported by the Academic Engagement & Transition Program.

However, issues still plague first-generation students. A poll taken by the Brown Daily Herald in March 2015 reports that first-generation college students are almost twice as likely to feel academically inadequate. Moreover, the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness reports that 56 percent of first-generation students are food insecure.

Many UMBC departments are collaborating to address these ongoing problems. Davis writes, “among our early plans are additional focus groups and listening sessions, student representation on the workgroup and activities for the 2018 National First-Generation College Celebration during the first week of November.” In the face of persisting inequality, the effort to mitigate the challenges faced by first-generation students is underway.