• Greg Lane from Unity presenting on Unity Learn
• UMBC Game Developers Club Founder Eric Jordan presenting on Game Industry Careers
• Katie Hirsch from Zenimax Online Studios presenting on Programming and UI in Games
• Arthur Gould from Firaxis presenting on Visual Effects
• Ryan Griffin from Oxide Games presenting on Organic Environments

On behalf of the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the student researchers and artists, their mentors, and the guests who participated in URCAD 25 Online this year.  Over the course of the week, 11,272 people visited and 3,511comments were posted to students' VT presentations. Visitors logged on from all over the world, including Spain, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, Bhutan, Germany, and the U.K.

A special thanks goes out to Michael Mower, UAA’s IT Web, and Graphic Design Specialist, and to our partners in the Division of Information Technology, especially Peter Ariev and Josh Abrams, for helping to host URCAD online using the VoiceThread platform. Thank you also to our Alumni Keynote Speaker, Klaudine Wakasa, for her inspiring words of wisdom in these challenging times. Thanks also goes to Dr. Jodi Kelber-Kaye for moderating the live Q&A with Klaudine. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of URCAD, Diane Lee, Kathy Sutphin, Janet McGlynn, and Elizabeth Pennington recorded a fireside chat about the history of the event- thank you! I would also like to acknowledge the URCAD Selection Committee and its chair, Dr. Stephen Miller, for all their work in making selections and giving students feedback on their abstracts, and Dr. Raimi Quiton and Dr. Timothy Phin for helping prepare the students to present. And thank you to Provost Philip Rous and Dean Katharine Cole for their continued support of the event.

You will still be able to view the presentations throughout the summer, although some students may choose to turn off their comment function. To view student projects, see the URCAD presenter listing and click on any VT icon. Projects are also viewable by department. Be sure to check out the UMBC news story about URCAD which will be out next week. 

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for URCAD 2022, which will be held next year on Wednesday, April 20, 2022! Stay safe, and we hope to see you next year on campus for URCAD XXIV!

April Householder, Director of Undergraduate Research and Prestigious Scholarships, Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Two days left to visit URCAD 25!

URCAD.umbc.edu

Influence of COVID-19 at UMBC: Analyzing Predictors for Undergraduate Students’ Academic Success

Jane Nam, Sarah Turner, Mansha Maheshwari, Jeniffer Khorsandian, Mireille Alcheikh Hanna, Mike Spano, Aysha Nasir, Samantha Galczyk
Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein, Psychology

For the past 11 months, COVID-19 has impacted the quality of life and learning of UMBC students’, which in turn has possibly affected their academic success and engagement. The pandemic has elicited potential financial, medical, and academic strains for students. This study will investigate variables that positively and negatively affect students’ academic success during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are currently collecting data from UMBC undergraduate students, by inquiring them to complete an online survey that includes questionnaires about their motivation, engagement, and self-reported GPA. Additional factors such as family and peer support, institutional support, student home environment, and access to technology are being measured. Potential stressors include lack of financial income, deprecation in mental health, and inadequate access to technology. The descriptive results will demonstrate what the stressors and protective factors are for UMBC undergraduates during COVID-19. Furthermore, regression analyses will show the effects of these two categories of factors on these students’ academic engagement and achievement. We also will conduct analyses to see if various subgroups of students (e.g., first generation students) are differentially affected by the impact of COVID-19 or have independent factors affecting them.

• Jane Nam, Sarah Turner, Mansha Maheshwari, Jeniffer Khorsandian, Mireille Alcheikh Hanna, Mike Spano, Aysha Nasir, Samantha Galczyk | Influence of COVID-19 at UMBC: Analyzing Predictors for Undergraduate Students’ Academic Success | Mentor: Susan Sonnenschein | Psychology 

Join us on Monday, April 26th from 6:15-7:30 pm for “The Writers’ Block,'' a panel discussion spotlighting our communities’ BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ poets and authors. This panel is the first of a two-part series on ‘Community Connections’ in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ Student Union. Check out the LGBTQ+ Student Union’s myUMBC page here to stay up-to-date with their upcoming panel event!