Exciting research news!

UMBC has been selected to participate in the pilot cohort of the All of Us Data Training and Engagement for Academic Libraries Program presented by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the All of Us Research Program. Representing UMBC in this cohort will be Brianna Hughes, Jasmine Shumaker and Semhar Yohannes.

Acknowledging the contributions of libraries to scientific research teams, this Program is designed to build and strengthen the research capacity of libraries at institutions with a significant percentage of students from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical workforce, such as ours. The Program will encourage our academic librarians to learn about the All of Us Researcher Workbench dataset and enhance their skills in biomedical and public health data and our Library's research capacity through engagement in an exciting community-learning cohort.

Data-driven research continues to be a priority for academic institutions as it contributes to providing information about diseases, risk factors, and public health, and can increase academic publication rates and grant awards. Participation in this program will help raise our research profile, expand publications, and assist our students and researchers by providing access to one of the largest, richest, most diverse biomedical datasets of its kind.

The All of Us Research Program dataset offers access to a diverse, longitudinal dataset that can be used by student and faculty who may not have access to other datasets. The NIH has worked with research communities and community members to ensure a robust research protocol that respects participants and the needs of the research community. This dataset includes biological and social determinants of health data on a large, inclusive scale, that follows participants as they move, age, and grow. It is beneficial for students and researchers in social sciences as well as biomedical and public health programs.

To address Program objectives and facilitate an institutional infrastructure and capacity-building, participation in the Program makes us eligible for an infrastructure award of up to $43,000.

We hope you are as excited as we are to have been selected for such a wonderful opportunity. We will continue to update you on our progress throughout the program.

Brianna Hughes, Jasmine Shumaker and Semhar Yohannes.

Dear UMBC Community,

I write today to share with you the news that Dean Keith J. Bowman, who has led the College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT) since 2017, will be on leave during the upcoming academic year to pursue key academic and professional projects. Oros Family Professor Anupam Joshi, chair of the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (CSEE) and director of UMBC's Center for Cybersecurity, will serve as acting dean of COEIT, effective July 1.

During his leave, Keith will be working to stay updated on fast-moving advancements in his field, serving on review teams for federal research agencies, and partnering with colleagues who are focused on STEM education and STEM equity research in the Department of Experiential Engineering Education at Rowan University. Part of that work will include a focus on those marginalized due to LGBTQIA+ identity, disability, or socioeconomic status. Upon his return to UMBC in the 2024 - 25 academic year, Keith plans to resume his role as Constellation Professor of Information Technology and Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

I am deeply appreciative of Keith's outstanding leadership of COEIT and his service as a member of the university's senior leadership team. During his tenure as dean, the college has greatly increased the number of undergraduate and graduate students -- from 4,800 to more than 6,000 students -- as well as the diversity of the student body represented in the college's increasingly innovative and expanded portfolio of academic programs. This includes the expansion of COEIT's computer science and mechanical engineering programs to the UMBC-Shady Grove campus and the introduction of a new professional master's degree in software engineering. Even before his important role as a founding co-chair of UMBC's Inclusion Council, Keith co-led efforts to make UMBC more welcoming to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Keith's focus on student success has improved student outcomes within the college, significantly increasing first-year and transfer student retention and graduation rates each by more than 10 percentage points. He has overseen the recruitment and support of the college's exceptional and increasingly diverse faculty -- a third of whom have joined UMBC since 2017 -- and supported and expanded the college's research portfolio, as well as its national reputation and ranking as among the best engineering, computer science, and IT schools in the nation. The college's significant increase in research productivity was a key component of UMBC's recent Carnegie designation as an R1 institution.

Keith also serves and will continue to serve in important roles beyond UMBC, through leadership work with ABET, the accrediting body for postsecondary education programs in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering, and engineering technology; the American Ceramic Society and broader materials science community; and the American Society for Engineering Education.

I am pleased to express my thanks to Anupam for agreeing to serve as acting dean of COEIT in the year ahead. As chair of CSEE, he leads one of UMBC's largest departments and has overseen a near-tripling of student enrollment at the graduate level and a 50 percent increase at the undergraduate level. Not only has the number of majors increased, but they are also more diverse. He led the creation of new programs, including the MPS in Data Science and the minor in Computing. The department's research output has grown, as has alumni support. As the director of the Center for Cybersecurity, Anupam was a key part of the group that convinced the state to provide $3 million in baseline funding to the center and to create the Maryland Institute of Advanced Computing at UMBC. He served this year as an American Council on Education Fellow, spending the intensive mentorship program shadowing USM Chancellor Jay A. Perman and Bruce E. Jarrell, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Anupam was one of 46 fellows selected across the U.S., and I know that his participation in the program will serve UMBC well as he guides the college during the year ahead.

Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to express my personal gratitude and appreciation to Dean Bowman for his support and counsel as we have worked together over the past six years, and for his commitment to our students and to our shared value of inclusive excellence.

Sincerely,

Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Philip Rous