This is a friendly reminder to sign up for 'UMBC Transit Text Alert' if you haven't already signed up: Text “Transit” to 79516

What is Transit Alerts? Alerts provide a way for UMBC Transit to communicate with you - the rider in a way that is more reliable, more personal, and more secure than standard email. 

Alerts are Important When you receive an alert about a detour, inclement weather etc; it usually means that there is something you need to do or know. In some cases, failure to take action on a transit alert may prevent or hinder your transit experience/commute. 

Alerts are Personal You will not receive alerts that do not apply specifically to you. In contrast to email, you can be sure that an alert holds some relevance to you. 

Who to Contact if you have a question about a Transit alert, while reading an alert, click the From to contact the sender. You can also contact UMBC Transit office at 410.455.2454 or transit@umbc.edu.

 Emergency Alerts: UMBC has partnered with Campus Alert to create an emergency alert system using your text messaging or email.

• GAO found that there are nearly 1 million college students at risk of becoming food insecure, marking the first time the federal government has acknowledged food insecurity on campus in a significant way.
• The federal government spends billions of dollars on higher education each year, and this report finds that some students are at risk of dropping out because they cannot eat.
• “[The report] put it very clearly for us that we can see that especially first-time students, first-generation students, students who are raising children, single parents, face increasing obstacles to be able to complete that critical college degree,” Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate’s education committee says.
•  Middle-class students, those who are “too rich for Pell and too poor to afford college,” struggle as well. And they may not be as likely to use things such as the food pantry.
• Murray says that addressing food insecurity is one of her top priorities as Congress negotiates a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the major federal law governing colleges and universities. “Often, we just talk about the tuition costs and dealing with that,” she says. “It has to be broader than that— [it has to be] all of the costs that come to a student as they try to complete college, including food and housing.”
•  Sara Goldrick-Rab, a higher-education professor at Temple University and a leading scholar on campus hunger, put it more bluntly. The report shows “that food insecurity is a college-completion issue,” she says. “We’re undermining our federal investment in financial aid by not paying attention to this. We have to stop pretending like living expenses are not educational expenses.”

Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for how you can help support Retriever Essentials as we begin taking steps toward institutionalization and securing sustainable support for our students years to come.