About the Presenter:

Joshua Le (He/Him/His) is a Junior Public Health major on the Health Administration track at UMBC. Outside of UMBC, he enjoys playing video games with friends, listening to music, and sometimes writing poetry. Joshua believes that no leaders are born, but made; leadership plays an important role in Joshua’s identity. His goals as a Leadership Peer Facilitator is to guide others to find self-authorship and understand their values. Aside from being a Leadership Peer Facilitator, Joshua takes part in the Student Government Association  as a Senator, and is a Grit Guide within the Undergraduate Admissions Office.

About the Leadershop:

Who Do You Think You Are?:Don't know who you are? Let's find the leader in you! This workshop focuses on social identity, values, and how they come together to build YOU as an individual and as a leader.

Ice-Breaker: Favorite animal?

My favorite animal has to be the elephant or the snake… or the dragon… but most definitely the elephant. I love elephants because they represent wisdom, and it was also my great-grandmother’s favorite animal as well :D! 

Dear Community,

We hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing spring break. Our subcommittee co-chairs have been facilitating some very thoughtful sessions and discussions. We also want to recognize the tremendous work from the staff behind the scenes making these sessions run smoothly. 

As we head toward the conclusion of our UMBC Bold Campus Conversations, we are working on our next steps. Subcommittee chairs will compile summaries and reports from their sessions, which they will share with us and President Sheares Ashby. Subcommittee chairs have already been talking with us about emerging themes including UMBC’s strengths, incredible future potential, and the work it will take to realize our bold aspirations. 

We hope to see you at one of this week’s sessions, which include discussions on community engagement, the alumni community, graduate academic experience, the student experience, undergraduate academics, the research enterprise, and staff as empowered stakeholders. You can sign up for sessions and view the full schedule of conversations on our website. 

All are welcome at any session, whether you have previously attended or if you are new to the process. Remember that you can also share your feedback using this form. Thank you for your participation. 

Vandana Janeja, Chair and Professor of Information Systems

Michelle R. Scott, Professor of History

Greg Simmons, M.P.P. ’04, Vice President for Institutional Advancement

UMBC Bold Committee Chairs

Name:  DarcieAdams

Internship, Co-op, or Research Site:  Maryland Department of Disabilities

Position Title:  Youth Employment Policy Intern

Major or Program: Gender, Women's + Sexuality Studies and Political Science

Current Class Level:  Senior

Work Term:   Spring 2023

Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities. 

Much of my day-to-day work involves doing preliminary research to inform the larger project my supervisor and I are working on together.  We are seeking to create a network of disabled students in higher education in order to connect students to the resources the Department of Disabilities has available for students, but also for the Department to be able to connect with students to inform their policy and project directions for the future.  Higher education students with disabilities is currently an untapped, almost inaccessible group of people for our government at the moment, as there is no governmental-educational support network for these students in the same way there are for k-12 students.  For this semester, we are seeking to develop and host a conference for university students with disabilities that will focus on disability policy and advocacy and employment resources MDOD can offer. 

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application? 

I came to this role in a pretty unusual way!  Last semester I took a fantastic Political Science topics class focused on mass juvenile incarceration that is taught by two members of the local Baltimore community, one of whom is the former Secretary of Juvenile Services, Sam Abed.  When I was starting the process of seeking an internship for this semester, my advisor Dr. Forestiere suggested I ask him if he knew of any opportunities related to disability, and he connected me to Secretary Beatty with the Department of Disabilities.  When I spoke to Secretary Beatty and discussed my career interests, she recognized that I had a lot of experience and interest in areas that Jade Gingerich, the Director of Employment, has been working in, and she then connected me to Jade.  Jade actually created this internship role specifically for me, so it's a great opportunity to work essentially in a tailor-made role that is helping me develop the exact skills and connections to the local community that I was seeking. 

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience? 

 Faculty Connections

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?  

 I have been connected to some really fantastic non-profits and organizations working in Maryland, and I really value the new connections I have to the people doing the work to make change for the disabled community.  I have also really enjoyed getting to understand how state government functions from the inside, and it's been really beneficial for me to be able to connect what I've learned in the classroom to a tangible experience.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I believe my work will produce substantial benefit for college students with disabilities down the line, as the network I am helping to create and the relationships we are trying to build with Maryland's Universities will help students have better awareness and access to MDOD's resources.  On the very local front, I will be leading by example, and working with my undergraduate student org the Disability Advocate Union to connect students to resources as my understanding and knowledge of them grows.  

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience? 

We all have connections at UMBC just by virtue of being students here!  If you don't have a big or strong professional network, reach out to your professors - many of them are connected to work happening outside of UMBC.  You never know who they know, and it never hurts to ask if they have anyone to connect you to for new opportunities. 

Please provide a short reflection or quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / working with the Career Center.

I love getting to meet the people working on the ground to support the disabled people of Maryland, and I appreciate the opportunity to earn internship credit for my Political Science degree in the process! 

Check out this post on our social media platforms!

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram andLinkedIn 

#UMBCintern 

Dear Colleagues,

I am so pleased to announce the recipients of our Presidential Faculty and Staff awards, as well as the UMBC faculty who have been selected for University System of Maryland Board of Regents Awards. These faculty and staff are examples of the strength of our community and the excellent work that you do to advance our mission. 

Presidential Teaching and Research Professors, named annually to three-year appointments, are nominated by administrative and academic departments. They are honored for their professional accomplishments, dedication to the university's mission, and service to the university. The Presidential Distinguished Staff Awards recognize both exempt (professional) staff and non-exempt staff members for exceptional performance and service. Recipients are nominated by their colleagues across campus and selected by UMBC's Staff Awards Committee.

Please join me in congratulating the winners of the Presidential Distinguished Staff and Faculty Awards:

2023-2026 Presidential Teaching Professor

Kyung-Eun Yoon, Senior Lecturer, Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication

2023-2026 Presidential Research Professor

Matthew Pelton, Professor, Physics

2023-2024 Presidential Distinguished Professional Staff

Trisha Wells, Assistant Vice Provost, Division of Professional Studies

2023-2024 Presidential Distinguished Non-Exempt Staff

Shannon Mize, Business Services Specialist, Graduate School

Additionally, we are thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of two of our colleagues who have been selected to receive awards granted by the University System of Maryland Board of Regents. The Regents' Faculty Award is the highest honor presented by the Board of Regents to exemplary faculty members. Awardees are selected by the Council of University System Faculty and submitted to the Board of Regents for approval. The awards honor faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in teaching; scholarship, research, or creative activity; public service; mentoring; or innovation. 

Please join me in congratulating our outstanding faculty recipients:

2023 University System of Maryland Board of Regents' Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship or Research

Charissa Cheah, Professor, Psychology

2023 University System of Maryland Board of Regents' Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship or Research

Anupam Joshi, Oros Family Professor and Chair, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

I look forward to celebrating their accomplishments at our Presidential Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, April 5.Please join us for a community lunch beginning at 11:30 a.m., followed by the awards ceremony at noon. We also will honor the recipients of other distinguished university awards. You can learn more about our awardees and the ceremony below. An official invitation to the event will follow.

Thank you for all that you do for UMBC. I wish you all a restful and happy spring break!

President Valerie Sheares Ashby

Dear UMBC Community, 

Following our recent announcement of the members of two key leadership search committees, I am pleased to share additional information about those search processes and opportunities for the UMBC community to engage in them. For your reference, here are the committees for the searches for the roles of Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Vice President for Student Affairs (VPSA). 

Both of these will be national searches conducted at the highest level of industry standards, in partnership with Isaacson, Miller, a global leader in executive search across the civic sector, particularly in higher education, and the firm that served UMBC in its presidential search. 

We will provide multiple opportunities for the UMBC community to share their thoughts and input on these roles. We will host two open sessions for each of the searches, which will be held virtually via WebEx at the following times: 

Provost search: 

March 28: 4-5 p.m.

March 29: 10-11 a.m.

VPSA search:

March 28: 2-3 p.m.

March 30: 4-5 p.m.

Additionally, we invite you to share your thoughts through surveys for each of the searches:

Provost Survey 

VPSA Survey 

In keeping with current industry standards for such searches–and heeding the recommendations from our search consultant for building robust and diverse talent pools–we will hold confidential the identities of candidates for these roles. This is in service of our endeavor to attract the very best candidates, and it is in service of those candidates themselves, whose ability and willingness to pursue career opportunities often depend significantly upon their sense of security in doing so. 

I want to extend my thanks again to all who have agreed to serve on the search committees and invite the community to take part in these important search processes. I look forward to keeping you informed as the searches progress, and I thank you for your continued dedication to UMBC. 

Sincerely,

President Valerie Sheares Ashby

Dear UMBC Community, 

The power outage we experienced on Tuesday was disruptive in myriad ways and to the entirety of our campus. As Vice President for Administration and Finance Kathy Dettloff and I expressed in our message to the community that day, we share your frustration with another power outage. We are committed to doing all we can to minimize the number and mitigate the impact of any service interruptions, both by working to improve resiliency of our own systems and working with BGE to take immediate action and continue to implement long-term strategies for reliability. 

I have spoken with BGE President and CEO Carim Khouzami, and he has responded with the letter I share with you here, which includes information about work BGE is undertaking now–this week–to address the issue. He also has committed to bringing BGE officials to campus to hear directly from members of our community about the impact of these disruptions and to share more about the planned response. We are in the process of scheduling that meeting with some key stakeholders.

I understand that this is an issue that goes back several years and affects not only our entire campus community, but our neighboring communities as well. Please know that I take this issue seriously. I will continue to be in contact with BGE leadership and see that we move forward in meaningful ways toward our shared goal of improved reliability of our electric service. 

Sincerely,

President Valerie Sheares Ashby