Cyber Winners

UMBC’s Cyber Defense Team took first place at the 2017 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition held in San Antonio, Texas in April, defeating nine other regional winners from across the country in a contest to protect their networks from cyber attacks and threats efficiently and effectively.

“We are as excited about the national cyber defense competition as we are about an NCAA athletic competition,” says UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski. “UMBC is developing brainpower to protect our nation and build the economy in the Baltimore region… Our campus is an ecosystem for cybersecurity talent development.”

Cyber Dawgs’ faculty advisor Charles Nicholas, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, explains that the competition puts the team in a realistic attack scenario, requiring them to use resources and work together to keep their network accessible and make sure systems are not brought down by hacks or cyber attacks.

“We are absolutely ecstatic with our win at Nationals. We have worked very hard to be the first team from the Mid-Atlantic region to win nationals,” said Christian Beam ’18, computer science.

In early April, the Cyber Dawgs beat teams from Towson University, the University of Maryland, College Park, and Drexel University to place first in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, solidifying their spot in nationals.

— Megan Hanks

Read more at UMBC News.

Celebrating UMBC Legends

In May, the UMBC Chapter of Black and Latino Alumni (CBLA) gathered for what has become a highly anticipated event – the Legends of Excellence Award Brunch. Held once every five years, the event acknowledges the extraordinary contributions of faculty and staff who have made an impact in the lives of UMBC’s African American and Latino students during their tenure at the university.

The 2017 awardees are:

• Earnestine Baker, Former Executive Director, Meyerhoff Scholars Program
• Willie Lamousé-Smith, Professor Emeritus and Former Department Chair, Africana Studies
• Simmona Simmons ’74, American studies, Service and Special Projects Librarian
• Jamie Washington, Former Assistant Vice President, Student Affairs

“This was an outstanding slate of award winners, and it is fitting that they are being honored during UMBC’s 50th anniversary year,” said Stanyell Odom, director of alumni relations, who  helped CBLA with planning the event. “They represent grit and greatness, and it was wonderful to have so many alumni come back to campus to recognize the extraordinary impact they’ve made in the lives of hundreds and thousands of fellow Retrievers.”

Through this event and others, the CBLA supports the Second Generation Scholarship and the Esperanza Scholarship. Both scholarships provide support to students who meet minimum GPA standards, are involved in community service, and have demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of minorities.

Read more about Simmons in this issue of UMBC Magazine.

50th Anniversary and Beyond

As the 50th anniversary year comes to a close, UMBC continues to have much to celebrate – including record numbers of alumni and campus community participation in events and giving all year long.

During last fall’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend, September 16-19, more than 3,300 people attended a range of special events on campus, including a Roots of Greatness Luncheon, GRIT-X talks, Stoop Stories featuring our earliest graduates, a fireworks show with the UMBC Symphony, a celebration of Founders Day, and more. In the months preceding that, hundreds of alumni also attended special events at Light City Baltimore, a Fab Four Reunion, and elsewhere, a dramatic increase over past years.

Linda Dunn ’71, history, who travelled from Delaware to take part, said she enjoyed a number of events throughout the weekend, including the Fab Four dinner.

“At the end of the dinner, they had various people give little vignettes about what they remembered about UMBC, and it was very touching and well-thought-out,” she said. “It served as a wonderful memory to hear all about the things you hadn’t thought about in a long time. It made me smile.”

The “Grit & Greatness” of the 50th also sparked an increase in giving, with a 40% increase in alumni giving at the end of calendar year 2016 over the previous year. Longtime donor and former Alumni Association board of directors member Brian Cuthie ’84, M.S. ’94, computer science, says it just makes sense to support his alma mater.

“I really feel like I owe UMBC a lot. Whenever I’ve been involved in the campus, I’ve felt like everybody is so generous. That, to me, is a sense of obligation,” he said.

In a video released after the Celebration Weekend, President Freeman A. Hrabowski thanked the entire UMBC community for its support and participation, saying, “We’ve laid the foundation… and now we’re ready to begin the next 50 years.”

— Jenny O’Grady

Serving Her Country

Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, Ph.D. ’06, public policy, has been named acting Surgeon General following the resignation of former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. The April appointment is the latest step in a career focused on improving access to care for poor and underserved communities. Prior to her role as Deputy Surgeon General, she served as Chief Nurse Officer of the U.S. Public Health Service (2013-2016), and before that held positions in the Department of Health and Human Services, the HIV/AIDS Bureau, and the Commissioned Corps of the USPHS. She also served as a nurse officer in the U.S. Army.

— Jenny O’Grady

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Wish You Were Here!

More than 60 alumni wrote 1,400 personalized notes to admitted students in April, giving a new crop of potential first-year students a true Retriever welcome. Top: On-campus alumni gathered to write postcards together. Middle: “As an alumna, I was overjoyed to participate in such a warm and welcoming endeavor,” said volunteer postcard writer Catrice Greer ’13, English. Bottom: Current students from the Center for Women in Technology also mailed notes to potential CWIT Scholars.

“We want to make sure these facilities are suitable for faculty and students…”

“It is important that all three offices are engaged in these projects.”

“We must develop more of these types of facilities... ”

By: Lily Zhang via The Muse

Congratulations—you’ve graduated! (Or, well, are about to.)

If you haven’t quite landed a job yet, you might be wondering if your resume should look different now that you’re officially a graduate. Does your education section move down to the bottom of your resume ? Should you really include relevant courses? What’s the difference between applying for entry-level jobs and applying to part-time jobs and internships?

Rest easy: Here’s a step-by-step guide to what your resume should look like when you're fresh out of school.

Education

Unless you have significant relevant work experience outside of school—a couple solid semester-long internships , for example—then your “Education” section should stay at the top of your resume. As a new graduate, this is still your greatest qualification . Not to mention, all the companies that have opportunities specifically intended for new graduates will be looking for this info front and center.

Right beneath your university, you may currently have a line labeled “Relevant Coursework.” Only keep that subheading if the classes you list are, in fact, relevant or send a message to the recruiter. If, for example, you take the compilers class as MIT, most technical recruiters will know that’s an exceptionally difficult (and very relevant) class. Or, if you’ve taken classes outside of your major that relate to your field of choice, this section can be helpful.

Same goes for “Awards.” If the honors you’ve earned mainly serve to illustrate that you did well in school, you don’t really need this section. But if you have awards that showcase your leadership abilities or other professionally relevant skills—for example, a distinguished fellowship like the Rhodes or the Marshall —go ahead and keep it.

Experience

College is a time to explore your interests, so it’s unlikely that all of your internship, work-study, or research experience is relevant to your current post-graduate interests. So, what should that look like on your resume ?

The solution: Keep your most relevant experiences at the top of your resume (under your “Education” section) by creating a section titled “Relevant Experience” and another section beneath it titled “Additional Experience.” Better yet, title the first section based on your field of interest: “Marketing Experience,” “Business Development Experience,” or “Editorial Experience,” for example.

Breaking out your most important experiences from everything else allows you to still follow the standard reverse chronological order expected on resumes, while making it easier for recruiters to see what you’ve done that qualifies you for positions you’re interested in.

Extracurriculars

Extracurricular experiences are a big part of any college experience—not to mention, they often help you develop skills that companies want. With this in mind, try branding your extracurriculars in a way that is appealing to your future employer . For example, if you’re going into a field that requires taking initiative with limited supervision, labeling your extracurricular experiences section, “Leadership” is a good way to go. On the other hand, if your position requires more teamwork and community building, consider “Community Involvement.”

In terms of format, it’s a good idea to format your extracurriculars in exactly the same way you’ve organized your work experience: the organization name, your role (president, VP, social chair, sophomore representative), the dates you were involved, and bullet points detailing your accomplishments. You want to send the message that you took your work for student organizations just as seriously as your internships—and that they should be considered as such.

Skills and Interests

This section of your resume will likely be on the bottom. Think hard skillsfor this section—Photoshop, SEO, wet lab skills, carpentry—not soft skills like communication or organization. You can also consider adding relevant interests. (Though, emphasis on relevant —if you’re applying for a social media job, photography makes sense. Waterskiing does not.)

One big exception to keeping this section at the bottom of your resume is ifyour previous experience doesn’t really show that you can do the job. For example, say you’re a political science and computer science double major and are a solid programmer, but you spent all your summers during college on Capitol Hill assisting with various campaigns and not coding. In that case, it would be a good idea to push your “Skills” section up above your “Experience” section.

Resumes, like cover letters , should really be tailored to the position you’re applying for. Think about what facets of your background are most impressive to the hiring manager, and make sure your resume tells that story. Then, get it out there!

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Photo of student in library courtesy of Shutterstock .