Join the Career Center staff on October 1st for a trip to The Idealist Grad School Fair hosted by American University and taking place at the Washington Convention Center!

Can you believe this Thursday is the first day of October already? That means it’s another month into the semester, and another month closer to application deadlines. Believe me…they creep up before you know it. Finding the right school and program for graduate school can be overwhelming and stressful, but the good news is the Career Center has plenty of options to help you through the decision process.

On October 1st from 5:00pm to 8:00pm, the Career Center staff will be providing transportation for the Idealist Grad School Fair. They will leave from UMBC by 3:30, so if you cannot leave with the UMBC students feel free to get there by different transportation. There will be 249 different programs from schools including Harvard, Yale, Duke, Columbia, and NYU will be there to help you get more information. If you go to this link http://www.idealist.org/explore/JxbbgDCPnw8d/exhibitors you can look at all of the different programs and requirements for them. I recommend doing a little research on the ones you’re interested in before you attend so you have a better idea of what questions to ask once you’re there. If you’re sure you can go, register ASAP! You can register for the Fair here at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/washington-dc-idealist-grad-fair-tickets-17309432980 and rsvp for the bus is through UMBCworks.

If you can’t make this trip or if you feel way too unprepared to start looking at programs, it’s no problem! The Career Center has plenty of opportunities to help you figure out what you want to study. If you don’t have a clue where to start in picking a program, let alone deciding what to do with your life, I highly suggest you take the self-assessment tests on our website at http://careers.umbc.edu/students/discover/self/.   The FOCUS2 and the WooFound Compass assessments not only have really cool names, they also help you identify your interests, talents, and values and provide a customized report of jobs and career fields that match your personality! Once you complete them you can set up an appointment with a Career Specialist to talk about your results.

 Once you have a better idea of what you want to do, it makes it easier to start researching schools that have the program you’re interested in. The Career Center’s website contains important questions to consider when picking a program as well as links to additional webpages that provide information on different programs. You can check it out at http://careers.umbc.edu/students/gradschool/selecting/

If you can’t make the Idealist Grad School Fair next week, keep checking the Career Center calendar for more events and opportunities that can help you through the search process! On Wednesday, October 21st at 4:30 pm there is a Grad School 101 Conference where you can have dinner and connect with other students who are also trying to plan their future. The conference will have presentations that cover navigating the application process, writing a strong personal statement that grabs attention, and advice from graduate students and alumni to help with the entire process! Buffet, students to connect with, and helpful advice, what could be better? Check it out on the calendar at http://careers2.umbc.edu/calendar/workshops/gradschool101.php and register today!

UMBC Women Who Rock is a blog series I’ve been writing since last year and it has become one of my favorite things to think and write about for the Women’s Center blog. In my role as Women’s Center director, I have some of the best opportunities to become acquainted with some of UMBC’s best and brightest women on campus. I admire the ways they live authentic lives unapologetically that challenge the stereotypes and assumptions that are often assigned to women. By debunking these stereotypes and forcing us to check our assumptions, they allow us to expand our notion of what a woman is and can be.

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UMBC Women Who Rock!
The Staff of Color Network Co-Chairs

“In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful, white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can’t seem to get there no how. I can’t seem to get over that line.”
That was Harriet Tubman in the 1800s. And let me tell you something, the only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity.”
– Viola Davis, Emmy Award Speech on September 20, 2015

The Staff of Color Network co-chairs =Women who ROCK!
L-R: Lisa Gray, Donna-Lee Mahabeer. Mickey Irizarry, & Alexis Melville

What a powerful counternarrative. How unapologetic and courageous. As I’ve watched Viola Davis’ acceptance speech several times this week and seen the gif-ed articles on all the ways Black women were each other’s biggest fans at the Emmy’s, the women behind of the Staff of Color Network (SCN) at UMBC keep coming to my mind. Donna-Lee, Lisa, Mickey, and Alexis are women of color on campus who are challenging that line and finding ways to create opportunities for themselves and others on campus as people of color. While Davis calls for more roles to be written for Women of Color in Hollywood, these UMBC women are creating safe and validating spaces for themselves and other people of color on campus. They’re asking important questions about lack of visibility, calling out (and in) racial microaggressions, and being each other’s allies and advocates. This has taken raw courage and bravery as they challenge the institutional and systemic white narrative and experience. Indeed, they are UMBC Women Who Rock.

In this UMBC Women Who Rock post, I veer from the reflective narrative I tend to write in and opted for a Q&A format instead. I hope to feature all of these badass women in their own UMBC Women Who Rock post one day, so stay tuned!

What is the Staff of Color Network (SCN)?

Donna-Lee: “The Staff of Color Network is a group for staff and graduate assistants that self-identify as persons of color within the Division of Student Affairs. It is our goal to uplift, support and cultivate the staff of color community through the efforts of our network.”

Why was SCN created? What is the networks goals? Can you share a little bit more of the creation story?

Donna-Lee, The Commons Program & Services Coordinator, tells her story during the Women’s Center’s Telling Our Stories Project.

Donna-Lee: “SCN was created because there was a need not being met on campus. UMBC not only has less representation when it comes to staff of color, but it the perception of many that we seem to do a poor job recruiting and retaining staff of color. The culture among the persons of color I interacted with came across as discontented, stifled and invisible. In creating the Staff of Color Network, our goal is to alleviate those feelings of inadequacy. We are to be more than visible. We are to be seen wholly in our racial identities and acknowledged as such. My goal for SCN is to create a feeling of community among professionals of color at UMBC so that no one feels alone and ostracized when they show up as their authentic selves on campus. In building this community, people hopefully will feel a greater sense of safety and belonging, which in turn hopefully leads to retention and recruitment for both faculty and staff of color.”

How did each of you decide to be in (or get called into) a leadership role for SCN?

Mickey: “… A couple of years ago I was a part of the Division’s Brave Spaces group – we were a mixed group of Student Affairs staff that met once a month and talked about race, privilege, and inequalities. And, even though I enjoyed my time in the group and learned a lot, I still felt like there was something missing – a safe space where persons of color could talk freely among each other and not feel judged, or a space where we would be able to share stories find commonalities between one another in many areas of life – personal and professional. I spoke with Donna-Lee about the Brave Spaces group and she told me about how at some other universities they have coalitions and university-wide and university-recognized groups for staff and/or faculty of color and that it would be really great to have one at UMBC too. From there the formation of the SCN began and I’m so happy to see the energy, support and acceptance behind it so far.”

Alexis: “I feel that it is important to have spaces where staff of color can be free to self-express when triggered at work. I was fortunate to find Donna-Lee, Mickey, and Lisa as well as people in my own department who I would go to so that I could process certain feelings and perceptions that I may have. As my tenure at UMBC continued, I noticed that not a lot of staff of color had that opportunity or safe space to process. Given the importance self-expression and self-care and how tied it is to mental health and work performance, I felt that partnering with other individuals to help provide a space where people can feel supported is paramount to a healthy work environment.”

The UMBC Women Who Rock series aims to tell the stories of women on campus living their authentic lives apologetically. What ways do you feel you live an authentic life at UMBC? What do you need from the UMBC community to more readily live an authentic life as a Woman of Color at UMBC?

Lisa: “I live an authentic life at UMBC in several ways that include showing up with the intention of supporting others and letting other people see the different sides of myself. I’m a mom, single but partnered. I love salsa dancing. It’s important for me to share my off-campus life with others while I’m on campus. With that being said, what I need to live an even more authentic life as a woman of color at UMBC is more visible signs that we matter. I want to see more work of women of color highlighted so we don’t feel as invisible to ourselves and others. I would also like to see an expanded narrative of who women of color are – we are not just Black women. We need to open up and move beyond a black and white dichotomy.”

Mickey, UHS’s  Assistant Director of Health Education, shares her I’m Not as part of the Telling Our Stories Project

Mickey: “…Life is stressful enough as it is to constantly be thinking about how I should act today or what image I should project for a specific group/location. I live my authentic self by valuing keeping an open mind in all situations and standing up/speaking out for what I believe in. But I also make sure to be aware of checking my privileges as a multi-ethnic, passing woman with the educational and professional background that I have, and to understand that not everyone has the ability to be able to live authentically all of the time, which is extremely disheartening to me and something that I hope will shift in the future.”

The UMBC Women Who Rock series also addresses stereotypes and assumptions that are often assigned to women. What role do you see SCN playing at UMBC in debunking stereotypes about Women of Color or encouraging white community members to check their assumptions?

Mickey: “I hope that as a result of SCN, the campus will more readily recognize women of color as leaders on our campus and that they keep that in mind when they are thinking about hiring, promoting or re-classing staff and faculty. I would like UMBC to be much more intentional about getting our staff to reflect the diversity in our student body so that we can truly say UMBC is a diverse school without being misleading.”

Donna-Lee: “SCN has already charged ahead in taking the initiative to meet with those in positional power at UMBC in order to provide them with an understanding of what our cause is about and how they can help. SCN is working to eliminate the preconceived notion of the “angry” person of color. We are simply looking for equity and equality and we plan on doing it in a direct way as opposed to taking a more passive direction.”

How do you practice self-care?

Alexis: “I practice self-care through watching movies, mediation, and spending time with friends. I find spaces where I can be my authentic self which includes spaces where I can be a mix of peaceful, goofy, and intellectual all at the same time. I think self-care is integral in how I keep myself grounded.”

Lisa, Assistant Director of Student Life, Cultural and Spiritual Diversity, let’s campus know who she isn’t in the Telling Our Stories project.

Lisa: “Four things I do to practice self-care. Deep breathing. Doing something I love that has nothing to do with work (dancing!). Prayer and silent reflection. Venting with people I love and who love me.”

Any words of wisdom you’d like to share to other Women of Color on campus?

Alexis: “Find spaces where you can express yourself fully. The media, society, friend, family, etc. have a way of trying to dictate who women of color ought to be, how we should look, and how we should act. There are times in which we might get caught up in their views of us and we forget to define ourselves for ourselves. Be sure to take time out of your many roles, demands, and pressures to find your authentic voice. To echo the great Audre Lourde:

“If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.”

Mickey: “Don’t be afraid to meet new people and find allies/advocates. Building a support system of people you can talk to openly and trust on campus is so important.”

Lisa: “No title or accomplishment is worth losing yourself for or being asked to be someone you’re not.”

Donna-Lee: “Please don’t ever feel like you have to apologize for who you are and how you show up. Be willing to educate, but also be more than willing to advocate if not for yourself, then for those who will surely come after you.”

Who are the UMBC women in your life that inspire you to think outside your expectations and assumptions? What are the counter narrative stories they’re sharing with us allowing UMBC and our greater community to be more of exactly who we want to be? Comment below and maybe you’ll just find them featured in a future UMBC Women Who Rock post.

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• For more information on the Staff of Color Network, contact anyone of these fabulous co-chairs via their UMBC email address.
• To celebrate and support the achievements and ambitions of women of color in the UMBC community, join the Women’s of Color Coalition’s 3rd Annual Women of Color Reception on Tuesday, September 29th from 5-7pm.
• To learn more about the Women’s Center and Women of Color Coalition’s Telling Our Stories project, visit our website.

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Check out other UMBC Women Who Rock:

Amanda Knapp (featured August 2014)
Susan Dumont (featured October 2014)
Jahia Knobloch (featured January 2015)
A Reflection on Encouragement and Accountability (February 2015)
Amelia Meman (March 2015)
Ashley Sweet (May 2015)
Rehana Shafi (August 2015)

A blog reflection written by Women’s Center Staff Member Meagé Clements

“You’re in a sorority? You don’t look like a sorority girl!”

Since becoming a member of Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority Inc., this has become something I’ve grown quite used
to hearing. Intrinsically, I politely answer with, “Yes, I am in a sorority” and disregard the latter microaggressive statement, while thinking to myself what does a sorority girl look like?

With such encounters occurring more frequently as I approach my one-year anniversary of being in a sorority, I’ve begun to think more about “what a sorority girl looks like.” Specifically, I’ve begun to think about what it means to be a woman of color in what seems to be a predominantly white subculture.

A lot of TV shows and movies portray only one side of Greek life and I suppose this is where a lot of these stereotypes are perpetuated; of course, it also doesn’t help that 99% of the images found on a Google image search of for “sorority girl”
are white blondes and brunettes “sorority-squatting” behind their letters. Oh, and don’t get me started on that viral “recruitment” video a sorority at the University of Alabama thought it was a good idea to share.

Students join Greek life for many different reasons but in my experience most people don’t bother to ask about our motivations for joining a Greek organization and instead just make assumptions. We often see people’s experiences in Greek life being boiled down to only negative media attention rather than also seeing their service projects or community involvement. Needless to say, this limited representation does not reflect the true of the diversity of sorority women, and it especially is not representative of the number of women of color who also happen to have gone Greek.

As a member of a multicultural sorority, I can’t help but notice that the increasing diversity in Greek life is not being reflected in the media. There are countless articles online about less-than-inclusive Greek organizations discriminating against people of color, but little coverage regarding the successes of organizations that embrace women of color and diversity.  And because there are so few representations of women of color in sororities in particular, this stereotyping can be even more detrimental.

Being a member of Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority Inc. means acceptance and knowing that although my sisters come from different backgrounds, they are accepting of me and all women. A large part of what drew me to this sorority were the vlaues of service and social justice, the diversity of the organization, and the fact that ALL women were accepted regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. Although this may sound cliché, my sorority sisters motivate me to be a better me and I’m proud to be part of this community — that’s why I want everyone else to have a chance to see the side of Greek life that I see.  

While I’m not here to convince everyone to go Greek, I’d like people to acknowledge and embrace the diversity of Greek organizations and more of the positive aspects of Greek life.

I am a Black woman, an introvert, a self-proclaimed “awkward Black girl,” and a member of Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority Inc., and this is what a sorority girl looks like.

UMBC Professors Nirmalya Roy (IS), Nilanjan Banerjee (CSEE), and Ryan Robucci (CSEE) have been awarded a $500K National Science Foundation Cyber-physical Systems Grant to develop sensing systems that can automate energy consumption and wastage estimation in low income homes in Baltimore.

Electricity usage of buildings, including offices, malls and residential apartments, represents a significant portion of a nation’s energy expenditure and carbon footprint. Buildings are estimated to consume 72% of the total electricity production in the US. Unfortunately, however, 30% of this energy consumption is wasted. Energy assessment is an approach that can optimize building energy efficiency and minimize waste at a low cost with minimal expert intervention. A virtual energy assessment includes a thorough and near real time analysis of different sources of building energy usage, individualized energy footprints of load appliances and devices, and proactive identification of energy holes.

The three-year project, Low-cost Continuous Virtual Energy Audits in Cyber-Physical Building Envelope, will build a low cost solution that combines the use of non-intrusive single point energy monitoring and low cost sensors to provide continuous energy assessment reports to residential users or landlords. The system will be deployed in low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland, where poor insulation problems are assumed to be a problem and low cost solutions to determining these issues is important for the landlords.

The award was part of a highly competative Breakthrough solicitation from the NSF Cyber-Physical Systems program in which only 5%-8% of the grant proposals were recommended for awards this year.

The Shriver Center's active partnerships continue to grow (some 20+ years to include MS Swim at the Catonsville YMCA, Saint Agnes Hospital, and The Choice Program).  Each year, we receive more requests  from nonprofits and schools to host enthusiastic and talented UMBC students at their organizations.  UMBC students and faculty facilitate some of these new partnerships.  Attached you will find the 096 Community Service & Learning Practicum Syllabus which outlines expectations.  

Several community partners have significant openings - all can be found on the attached our Fall 2015 Service Chart.  When we mention "Monday-Thursday," it means the site operates Monday through Thursday, NOT that you have to volunteer all of those days: 

•    Walden Circle: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

•    The Commodore to College Project:  Monday-Thursday, 1:45-4pm; Friday, 1:30-3:30 pm

•    Paul's Place:  Monday-Thursday, 3-5 pm

•    Young Explorers at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School: Mondays and Wednesdays

•    Esperanza Center: Monday 9:15 am-1 pm (includes travel time) or any other day if do not need transport. 

•    Maryland Food Bank:  Monday-Friday, 9am-12pm or 1-4pm

•    College Gardens: Mondays

Refer to the Fall 2015 Service Chart, which goes into detail about all of the aforementioned sites. Some of these sites have transportation (travel time built in), some do not.  This chart will be updated at http://shrivercenter.umbc.edu/096-community-service-learning-practicum/ .  In some cases, you can contact the program leads directly.

The Fall 2015 096 Prac registration ends THIS Wednesday, September (by @ 10am).  Stop in on Tuesday, 9/29(1^st floor of the Public Policy Building, just past the elevators), 8:30am-5pm, or call (410) 455-2493. We will do our best to accommodate drop ins.