Retriever Leadership Institute is a 5-week leadership workshop series sponsored by Campus Life, SGA, Off Campus Student Services, the Honors College, and Residential Life.  The Retriever Leadership Institute participants meet for 1.5 hours per week to hone leadership skills such as working effectively in teams, managing conflict, and your values as a leader.  RLI’s many activities will keep you engaged, and you'll emerge feeling confident, inspired and connected.

There there are four tracks to choose from (you must fall into one of these four cohorts to participate).  RLI trainings start the week of October 1st and finish the week of October 29th.  To participate, you must be available to attend all of the sessions of the Retriever Leadership Institute.  The weekly track meeting times are listed below:

●      Commuter Retrievers: Mondays from 4:30-6:00pm (Oct. 1 - Oct. 29) in Harbor Hall MPR

●      Transfer Retrievers: Mondays from 2:30-4:00pm (Oct. 1 - Oct. 29) in Harbor Hall MPR

●      Honors College Retrievers: Fridays from 2:00-3:30pm (Oct. 5 - Nov. 2) in Harbor Hall MPR

●      Residential Retrievers: Tuesdays from 6:00-7:30pm (Oct. 2 - Oct. 30) in Harbor Hall MPR

To learn more about The Retriever Leadership Institute and complete the application, go here!

The application is due by Sunday, September 23rd at 11:59 p.m.

If you have any questions, contact Candace Martinez-Doane at cmartinez@umbc.edu

It's Save A Swipe Time!

Save a Swipe is UMBC's unique meal sharing program! 

This year you have two meal-donation options:

1. Donate 5 meals between October 1- November 4

1. Donate 10 meals between October 1- December 9

You have until SEPTEMBER 21 to signup online to donate through your option of choice. More details on the donation process are found on the google form.

Over the past two decades, UMBC and the National Security Agency (NSA) have developed a strong relationship, which has led to research, internship, and career opportunities for faculty, students, and alumni. UMBC is the first institution to be highlighted in NSA’s Featured School Series, which launched on September 4.

“UMBC’s long-standing partnership with NSA has provided valuable experiences for our students, faculty, and alumni to pursue internships, careers, and collaborative research opportunities,” said President Freeman Hrabowski. “Through this work we are helping to address the need for well-trained cyber professionals by creating a network of talented people to protect the state, nation, and world.”

More than 1100 NSA employees are UMBC alumni, including Darniet Jennings ‘98, M.S. ‘99, Ph.D. ‘03, information systems management. Jennings continued his dissertation research when he took a job at NSA, where he developed a system to manage big data effectively, which was patented in 2010.

The opportunities at NSA include careers in a broad range of disciplines including cybersecurity, engineering, computer science, language, and biological and chemical sciences. Regina Hambleton ‘87, mathematics, has held a number of positions at NSA and is currently the Agency’s deputy director of Engagement and Policy. She began working at NSA while she was a student at UMBC, and participated in a program that allowed her to spend a semester at UMBC taking courses followed by a semester working at NSA.

The partnership between NSA and UMBC also helps prepare an increasing number of graduates for careers in cybersecurity-related fields, to protect the nation from cyber threats.

Charles Nicholas, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, is also highlighted in the Featured School Series campaign. He has spent two sabbaticals at NSA during his time at UMBC, and has mentored students who completed NSA internships, in addition to students who went on to pursue careers at NSA. Nicholas is interested in the intersection of cybersecurity and data science, and the tools that are used to compare malware specimens.

“There are so many opportunities in the intelligence community, including at NSA,” Nicholas says. “It is important for students interested in those careers to develop technical ability, as well as critical and creative thinking, and I enjoy the chance to help them grow those skills.”

For more information about the partnership, and a few UMBC alumni who work at NSA, visit the UMBC page on the NSA website.

Banner image by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.