The UMBC Career Center is excited to offer virtual training sessions specifically for UMBC faculty and staff responsible for posting on-campus student jobs in Handshake.

These trainings are designed to walk hiring managers and departmental staff through:

• How to create an employer account in Handshake

• How to post and manage on-campus student jobs in Handshake

• Tips for reaching and engaging UMBC student talent

• Common troubleshooting questions

Whether you're new to Handshake or looking for a refresher, these sessions will help streamline your student hiring process and ensure your opportunities are visible to students.

Training Dates: 

• Tuesday, July 28 at 2pm

• Wednesday, August 19 at 10am

Sign up for training today!  Calendar invites will be sent out after you register.

Before the training, check out our resources for posting on-campus jobs.

For questions or special requests, please contact Annie Byrd, Assistant Director in the Career Center at anniebyrd@umbc.edu.

iHARP is collecting project proposals for the next cohort of Data Science & AI Scholars. If you're interested in mentoring a student in the upcoming Fall 2026 semester, please fill out the project proposal form by this Friday, July 24, 2026. The information you provide will help us identify suitable projects and match students with mentors for the upcoming program. Thank you for your time and support!

In order to facilitate a PeopleSoft Campus Solutions upgrade, Campus Solutions will be unavailable beginning 5:00 PM on Friday, July 24, 2026. While the upgrade is expected to wrap up by Saturday afternoon, the system may remain unavailable until Sunday, July 26, at 5:00 PM if unforeseen issues arise.

During this period, you will not be able to access information or perform transactions in Campus Solutions. Please note that other functions and applications in myUMBC will remain unaffected.

The American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) and the Veterinatry Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) are hosting a virtual Q&A session about the application process today, Wednesday, July 22nd at 12pm EST. The event will be recorded, and registrants will receive access to the recording after the event. Register here.

As summer continues, here's a reminder of our dining hours through August 19. 

Monday – Friday

• Commons Market: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Starbucks: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
• Admin Coffee Shop: 7:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
• Yella's: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Open on select dates only (11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.):

• Wild Greens
• Piccola

Select Dates: July 28th

True Grit's Dining Hall (Monday – Sunday)

• Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
• Lunch: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
• Dinner: 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Visit dineoncampus.com/umbc for the latest dining hours, menus, and updates.

This is the second post in our series on the new LER briefs. Catch the intro post here if you missed it.

In January, six faculty members spent two days in UMBC's first Microcredential Mapping Bootcamp, a hands-on workshop for turning existing course learning outcomes into proposal-ready microcredentials. All six left either having submitted a proposal or actively planning one. Here's some of what they said afterward:

"I am very excited about some of the possibilities for what we can do with [microcredentials across my] program going forward."

"There was a lot covered that I did not anticipate but really appreciated... I plan to put provided language into the syllabus for this semester."

The overall sentiment: the experience felt energizing and practical, not bureaucratic. The most common request wasn't for less content; it was for more hands-on drafting time.

That reaction gets at something worth sitting with: faculty aren't being asked to do something new. If you write learning outcomes and design assessments, you're already doing the work a microcredential recognizes. The proposal process is really just about presenting that work in a format that travels with a student beyond a gradebook. For example, a student who demonstrates proficiency in data visualization, community engagement, or laboratory techniques can carry evidence of that learning beyond the course itself. 

Why this is picking up momentum

UMBC's microcredential ecosystem has been building since 2015, but the landscape around it has shifted fast in the past year. Employers are increasingly hiring on demonstrated skills rather than degree alone, a practice now used by a large majority of employers globally. Congress held a hearing this past December specifically on Learning and Employment Records, and new federal legislation introduced this spring aims to build state-level infrastructure around verified credentials. UMBC's decade of groundwork here is now shaping how other University System of Maryland institutions, and institutions across the country, approach the same problem.

None of that means faculty need to become workforce development experts. It just means the moment is good for making visible what your students can already do by the end of your course, not just what grade they earned.

A few ways to get involved, at whatever level makes sense for you:

• Learn — Get familiar with how the program works. DCI offers consultations and an asynchronous, online microcredential design course launching soon.

• Create — If your course has clear, measurable learning outcomes, you likely already have the foundation for a proposal. DCI supports the whole process, start to finish. Keep an eye out on this myUMBC group for more information about opportunities.

• Advocate — Faculty who've been through the process are the most effective messengers to colleagues.

• Review — The Microcredential Review Board is seeking faculty reviewers across disciplines, a role similar in spirit to serving as an editor or reviewer for a journal, conference, or grant panel.

Want the fuller picture? Read the full faculty brief here.

Questions in the meantime? Submit a support ticket or reach out to the DCI team directly.

Pam Offutt ’82, computer science, and Jay Offutt ’82, computer science, recently established the Pam and Jay Offutt Graduate Student Endowment with a transformational $1,040,000 gift to expand the Center for Women in Technology model at the graduate level. 

The program-changing gift was developed through a close, year-long collaboration with Jeanne van Briesen, dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology; Carolyn Seaman, director of CWIT, and Kim Robinson director of major gifts in the Office of Institutional Advancement. 

“We are tremendously grateful for Pam and Jay’s vision, which supports our commitment to inclusive excellence,” says van Briesen. “The endowment will help strengthen the pipeline of talent prepared for leadership in computing and technology careers.” 

Beyond providing Offutt Scholars with crucial financial aid, this investment funds the dedicated staffing, leadership programming, and mentorship needed to build a vibrant, connected community spanning undergraduates, graduate students, and professional mentors. 

Click here to read more about Pam and Jay and their motivations for establishing this endowment.

Making an Immediate Impact

With an endowment gift of $1,000,000, and a bridge gift of $40,000, the Pam and Jay Offutt Graduate Student Endowment is positioned to make an immediate impact with the first group of Offutt Scholars in the fall 2026 semester.

“We are excited that we were able to structure the gift this way,” said Robinson. “The $40,000 bridge gift allows us to start right away, while the $1,000,000 endowment ensures support for the program in perpetuity. Hopefully, this becomes a model for future philanthropic giving.”

Looking Ahead

True to UMBC’s mission, this endowment reminds us that access is only the first step. Real success requires dedicated community support, personal connections, and a culture where our graduates look back and lift up others.

Please join us in extending our deepest gratitude to Pam and Jay Offutt for their visionary generosity and unwavering dedication to the next generation of tech leaders.

Shriver Hall Concert Series (SHCS), “Baltimore’s premiere importer of classical music talent” (The Baltimore Sun), seeks applications for the position of Box Office & Development Assistant. Reporting to the Executive Director, this position provides outstanding customer service, supports the efficient and professional operation of SHCS’s office, and assists with the successful execution of its fundraising, marketing, and strategic planning goals.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

To all chip users,

This is a reminder that on Tuesday July 28th, the chip cluster will be inaccessible from 0800ET - 1800ET for storage optimization and module system updates.

Please refer to the original announcement for more details: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/hpcf/posts/160868 

Remember to submit any issues you have here: https://rtforms.umbc.edu/rt_authenticated/doit/DoIT-support.php?auto=Research%20Computing

and check out our documentation here: https://umbc.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/faq/pages/1082589207/UMBC+HPCF+-+chip

Gregory Ballantine
HPC Specialist

There will be no Line Dance with Jane, today, July 21, 2026 at 5 p.m. Join Elijah at 6 p.m. for Yoga.