Charlotte W. Newcombe Scholarship for Mature Women

Are you eligible for the Charlotte Newcombe Scholarship and the UMBC Scholarship for returning students? You must answer YES to the following questions to be eligible.

·         Are you a student 25 years old or older?

·         Are you working toward your first undergraduate degree?

·         Are you enrolled for fall and/or spring classes?

·         Have you earned at least 60 credits?

·         Do you have at least a 2.5 GPA?

·         Are you in financial need?

·         Are you willing to attend group meetings and/or contact meetings that are designed to help support you as a mature women?

If so... feel free to download an application. This application is only for the Spring 2013 semester and only for those who are currently not Newcombe Scholars. For questions, feel free to contact Jess in the Women's Center or at jessm@umbc.edu.

Deadline: Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Entering its seventh year, the Amgen-UROP Scholars Program invites undergraduates to participate in faculty-mentored summer research at MIT in the science and biotechnology areas.

Students admitted to this program (known as “Amgen Scholars”) will have opportunities to conduct research, analyze data, present research results, network with other undergraduates with similar research interests, and develop working relationships with MIT faculty mentors and other research staff.

Participation has many benefits. Amgen Scholars learn how to collaborate effectively in research settings while investigating areas of research interest within a specific discipline and gaining practical skills and knowledge for both graduate study and post-graduation careers. Participants become fully integrated in MIT’s summer research community, interacting with faculty mentors and fellow undergraduates while participating in research seminars and other networking events. Most importantly, Amgen Scholars become involved in exciting research and contribute to the advancement of science in an area of interest.

The Program also offers a competitive compensation package. Amgen Scholars working 40 hours per week for the nine week period will earn $4,600, based on an hourly wage of $12.78. Housing in a designated MIT residence hall and a $800 food allowance will also be provided.

Space in the the Amgen-UROP Scholars Program is limited; up to 25 undergraduates will be admitted for Summer 2013.

Recruiters ARE Using Social Media (But Not Like You Think)

By now, you know recruiters and hiring managers are checking you out on social media.

However, most job seekers seem to think we’re only looking for keg-stand pics or some other arbitrary reason not to hire you; bad-mouthing your old boss, for example.

And they would be wrong.

When recruiters – some of whom have these social media reference checks down to a science – look into your social media, they are looking at much more than just your character (and some of it is just downright scary)…

Culture Fit

After the requisite search for the underwear-on-your-head pics, the next step for the recruiter is determining your fit within their company – and the position.

Do you use a high-percentage of swear words? Are you overly confrontational? Are you hyper-adamant in your political beliefs? Are you sensitive when it comes to diversity issues like race, religion and sexual orientation? Even the slightest miscue, like innocently calling a best friend a name considered insensitive in some circles, puts your candidacy at risk.

On the other hand, do you display a sense of humor? How do you handle negative comments from others? Are you happy for others as they achieve? However they define it personally, recruiters like to hire those they like and/or respect… because it sure helps if team members like and respect each other.

Are you likeable?

Personal Branding Inconsistencies

The next step in the social media scan: a look at your character and  integrity. Are you who you say you are?

The warning signs during this critical stage are 99.9% self-inflicted. For instance, and in the most obvious case, you list “work ethic” as a marketable soft skill – yet consistently tweet, “Gawd, will this day ever end!!!” Or, in one very real case, talk about how you passionately support Special Olympics, yet refer to your friends in casual posts as “retards”.

Being consistent in your online branding and social media isn’t difficult – for the honest and genuine.

Are you authentic?

Written Communication Skills

Here’s what recruiters know (even though most job seekers fail in this area): you have all the time in the world, and almost anyone can get the right kind of help, to write a good cover letter, resume and LinkedIn profile.

Social media, however, is often spontaneous. You don’t always take the to time to spell-check, enter full words and sentences or engage the filters required to keep you from posting something stupid, or poorly written. In other words, what you write in social media is the “real” you – the version who will be representing their company – often in spontaneous, pressure filled situations.

Are you a communicator?

Trending Health Issues

This may be the least known factor of a recruiter’s check of your social media…

Do you often complain that you aren’t feeling well? Does the whole world know when you have a bad headache? How often do you call in sick? If, through your social media interactions, the recruiter gets the idea that you’re a whiner, a hypochondriac or dependent on the sympathy of others… they’ll assume that is how you’ll be in the workplace. And on Facebook, they can go back months and months to spot trends.

For a creepy look at how far this aspect of tracking your social media could go, take a look at this post from HR Capitalist.

Are you dependable?

Lifestyle Changes

A recruiter hires for today’s version of the long-term. They want to know that for at least two to three years, you will remain the person they hired you for – and that you’ll be able make this job your highest priority.

They do that by looking for red flags in your social media. For instance, you may talk about how you can’t wait to move back home (and the physical location of this job is not in the same city as home). You may have a post about your impeding marriage next spring, and how you can’t wait to start a family. They might even see how upset you are that your parents are getting a divorce, or that you need to spend a great deal of time with your ailing grandmother with Alzheimer’s.

Any indication that your focus will be elsewhere – as seen through your posts on social media sites – may cost you an interview.

Are you focused?

Yes, recruiters do use social media – for a lot more than you think, at a deeper level than most imagine. This screening occurs well before their first conversation with you; very seldom are you given the opportunity to explain, clarify or retract. In most cases, you won’t even know they, at one time, considered you a strong candidate.

With the recruiter’s perspective in mind, take a look at your online presence. Now determine: what do your social media accounts tell recruiters, about you?

The UMBC Cyberdawgs triumphed at the Maryland Cyber Challenge & Conference (MDC3) yesterday. The team placed second at the MDC3 finals, held Wednesday at the Baltimore Convention Center. This is the first year that UMBC’s Cyberdawgs have placed in MDC3. In its second year, it is already the state’s biggest Cybersecurity battle.  

The UMBC winners include team captain Rob Waters, Brad Isbell, Christopher Moy, Jennifer Olk, Kevin Yu, and Patrick Ly. The win comes with a $2,000 cash prize for each student to be used to further their education and training in field of Cybersecurity.

First place went to the University of Maryland, College Park. “Throughout most of the day, UMBC and UMCP wrestled neck-in-neck for first place, and it was very, very close,” wrote Dr. Richard Forno, UMBC’s Cybersecurity graduate program director, in an e-mail announcement. “In a nutshell, UMBC entered 5 teams in the competition, 4 of them qualified for the finals, and 1 ‘took the silver’”.

The final challenge tasked teams with securing a number of systems on their own network while also attempting to gain (and keep) control of other “targets” that were provided as the day progressed. Points were earned by how well teams defended both their systems and those they gained control over.

UMBC is partnering with the Northrop Grumman Foundation to launch the UMBC Cyber Scholars Program. Funded by a generous $1 million grant from the Northrop Grumman Foundation, and facilitated by the new UMBC Center for Cybersecurity and the UMBC Center for Women in Technology, the scholarship program is slated to launch this January, according to this morning's press release.

The scholarship program will support 15 to 20 scholars each year, with a focus on women and underrepresented minorities. Along with financial support, scholars will have the opportunity to do advanced research, internships, and take both management-oriented and technical courses.

To learn more about the new UMBC Cyber Scholars Program, read Northrop Grumman and UMBC's joint press release.
To learn more about the new UMBC Center for Cybersecurity, click here.

Northrop Grumman Foundation announced $1 million grant to launch the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Cyber Scholars program. Pictured from left are Freeman Hrabowski, president of UMBC; Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation; Alex Markowski, UMBC CWIT Scholar; Alec Pulianas, UMBC CWIT Scholar; and Anupam Joshi, director of UMBC’s Cybersecurity Center and head of the Cyber Scholars program.

This morning, UMBC President Dr. Freeman Hrabowski announced the creation of the new UMBC Center for Cybersecurity.

The aim of the center is to provide both Maryland and the nation with academic and research leadership, collaboration, innovation, and outreach in this critical discipline by streamlining UMBC's academic, research, workforce development, and technology incubation activities to advance the University's position as a leading research university in cybersecurity-related disciplines.

CSEE Professor Dr. Anupam Joshi will be the new center's director. Dr. Richard Forno, director of UMBC's Cybersecurity graduate programs, will serve as Assistant Director.

The center is made up of UMBC faculty across many disciplines, including Computer Science, Information Systems, Public Policy, Mathematics and Statistics, and Physics. It will expand upon UMBC's pre-existing Cybersersecurity efforts like the Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA), and the Cync Program run by the Cyber Incubator@bwtech.

In partnership with UMBC's Center for Women in Technology, the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity will also facilitate a new scholarship program called the UMBC Cyber Scholars program. Set to launch this January, the scholarship program is funded by a generous $1 million grant from the Northrop Grumman Foundation.

To learn more about the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity, visit: cybersecurity.umbc.edu and follow the center on Facebook and Twitter.