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We want our graduate students to have the best educational experience possible while supporting their personal and professional development. This is why we have partnered with Etio and the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley, to administer the gradSERU (Graduate Student Experience in the Research University) with the support of our president and provost. Your feedback is critical as we strive to make improvements to our curriculum, climate, and campus. Please consider taking some time to complete the survey today.
Students have multiple chances to be entered into a drawing to win one $500 award in Retriever Dollars over the course of the survey administration. The earlier you respond, the more times you will be entered into drawings. Four winners will be selected by March 28th. Retriever Dollars can be used across campus to pay for tuition, purchase textbooks, postage, event tickets, UMBC apparel, and much more. A listing of off-campus merchants that will accept Retriever Dollars as payment can be found here.
Your responses are confidential. The survey takes about 30 minutes to complete, and can be completed in more than one sitting. Your responses will help improve the graduate education experience for all.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to reflect on your experiences and help us strengthen graduate education at UMBC!
Publishing your work is considered one of the primary pillars of a research project, graduate students are often hunted by policies and recommendations to publish several papers as part of their graduate experience, some use their publications as part of their thesis or dissertation and some programs even require students to be a first author in order to be considered for graduation from a PhD program.
How do you even start the process of writing a publication? What are impact factors and how do you decide if your data is impactful enough to be submitted to a particular publication or journal? We have invited a panel of productive and avid publishing faculty at UMBC from our CAHSS college to talk about these and other topics, the intention of this event is to demystify the publishing hardship, learn how to overcome perfectionism (when is my paper ready to be submitted for publication?), learn how to process criticism, how to manage your time to be more productive (when am I supposed to find the time to sit down and write?), how to overcome writers block, and more.
Join for a discussion with our panelists:
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The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) at UMBC is committed to providing access to cutting-edge technologies that enhance productivity, teaching, learning, research, and work. We are excited to announce the expanded availability of powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for the UMBC community.
Google Gemini: All UMBC accounts now have access to the free version of Google Gemini. Gemini offers a wide range of AI-powered features that can assist with writing, brainstorming, and information-gathering tasks. There are paid licenses for Gemini Advanced that grant further integration within the Google Workspace suite (Gmail, Docs, Slides, etc); please send us a ticket if you’d like to inquire further about Gemini Advanced. Additionally, Google has made three new AI services free for ALL licensed users.
NotebookLM - notebooklm.google.com. This tool is great for building simple AI RAG documents and answering questions.
Deep Research - a tool for doing a deep dive on a topic and generating a customized research plan very quickly.
Google Gems are now available for all accounts.
Microsoft Copilot: Similarly, all UMBC accounts now have default access to the free version of Microsoft Copilot. Copilot provides a model for brainstorming, email generation, and more. There are paid licenses for Copilot Pro that grant integration with the Microsoft 365 suite (Word, Excel, Teams, etc); please send us a ticket if you’d like to inquire further about Copilot Pro.
UMBC's Instance of Amplify: In addition to these widely used platforms, UMBC provides access to Amplify, an innovative AI tool developed by Vanderbilt University. Amplify provides access to commercial AI models hosted within UMBC's secure cloud environment, including from OpenAI, such as GPT-4o or o1 series, Meta Llama, or Anthropic Claude models. Access to UMBC's instance of Amplify is available to employees (faculty and staff) upon submission of an access request.
UMBC has access to several GenAI tools that have been verified as safe to use on UMBC Level 1 and FERPA data, which is intended to keep the information internal to UMBC. Details about what information can be shared on AI tools can be found at GenAI Tools at UMBC. We recommend using the UMBC-approved services first. Services that have not been verified should only be used with public information. Public material is something you would publish on a website for the Internet to see.
DoIT is committed to supporting the UMBC community in effectively using these AI tools. We encourage you to explore the resources available on the DoIT AI website.
Guides and tutorials on how to use Gemini, Copilot, and Amplify
Information on best practices for using AI ethically and responsibly
FAQs and troubleshooting tips
Contact information for support assistance
DoIT will continue to evaluate and expand our AI tools offerings to meet the evolving needs of the UMBC community. We are excited about the potential of AI to transform our campus and look forward to seeing how you utilize these powerful resources.
If you have any questions or support inquiries about AI tools at UMBC, please visit the DoIT AI support page or contact the Technology Support Center (TSC).
The first draft of the above announcement was generated using AI and edited by the Division of Information Technology Communications and IT teams.
