Dear UMBC Community,

We continue to witness a dramatic increase in discrimination, xenophobia, hate speech, and hate crimes affecting Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. This is happening across the nation but also in Maryland and our local communities. 

We stand with our AAPI community members, including students, faculty, and staff. The climate in the United States has grown far more hostile, frightening, and alienating for the AAPI community, and we must all speak out against violence, discrimination, and injustice. We know that these events can cause undue mental hardship to our community members who are already struggling during the pandemic, and our thoughts are with them and their families. 

We believe it is important to both affirm our commitment to our shared values of equity and diversity and to build a safe and inclusive community. It is our practice to offer resources to those affected or any community member who is struggling. If you feel you have been affected by racism or discrimination, please know that the Office of Equity and Inclusion is available to support all of our students, faculty, and staff. Students in need of emotional support can contact the Counseling Center at their after hours support line at 410-455-3230.  Employees can access support through the Employee Assistance Program. We are grateful to the Asian and Asian American Faculty and Staff Council for developing this list of resources and for supporting community members. We are also sharing this statement of support from Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (i3b). 

We know that we must continue to address social injustice, and in particular racial equity work. The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on communities of color means this work is more critical than ever. We remain committed to supporting our AAPI community members through these difficult times.

President Freeman Hrabowski and Provost Philip Rous

The Career Center works very hard to ensure that job postings in UMBCworks are legitimate positions, however, scammers are becoming more and more creative, especially in these difficult economic times. A recent scam that has been brought to our attention may be reviewed below. 

You have been offered a Spring 2021 Internship opportunity at the convenience of your home or, Which serve as a gateway to pay all expenses incurred during this pandemic. This opportunity should be done at leisure taking at most 1hr/day, 2-3 times a week.  

Please send your resume to;

Email: bartonm078@gmail.com  for the job description.

Career Services

UMBC.

Here are some things we would like to point in regards to the fraudulent job offer above:

1. Look at the email domain of the person requesting your resume: (bartonm78@gmail.com). Be CAUTIOUS if the domain does not match the domain of a reputable company. 

2. BE CAUTIOUS of an employer whose posting includes grammatical errors or does not seem to be written professionally. Valid employers will not do this.

3. The scammer asks the candidate to “email their resume in order to receive a full job description” to proceed. BE CAUTIOUS of an employer who asks for anything out of the ordinary or who is not operating by normal hiring procedures, such as sending personal information or hiring you without interviewing you.

If you have received a scam or fraudulent email:

DoIT Security Team investigates any email scam that we send to them, however, the original emailmust be sent from the recipient of the email scam.  In order to assist the DoIT Security Team's investigation, recipients of the email should send security@umbc.edu a notification including the full header set of the message. These headers are not normally displayed but can be easily accessed. For more instruction on how to send the full header set of the message, please refer to: https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970 

More information on scams and attacks on the website may be found here: https://itsecurity.umbc.edu

 The Career Center is here to support you. If you encounter a position that you fear may be fraudulent, don’t hesitate to reach out to us careers@umbc.edu

 Please see the attachment for more information on fraudulent jobs and phishing scams. 

Dear UMBC Community,

For many reasons, spring is a time of hope. On our campus, this is especially true as we plan for commencement and prepare to celebrate our graduating class. We know that the experience of the Class of 2021 has been unlike that of any other class in the history of our institution. We are excited to celebrate the perseverance and commitment of our graduating students.

As we prepare for UMBC’s May commencement, we are aware that the current health situation continues to make a large community gathering impossible. We will host our commencement ceremonies online on May 20 and 21 for graduate and undergraduate students, respectively. Both ceremonies will stream at 10 a.m. EST. We hope that all of our graduating students, their families, and the larger UMBC community will join us online for the ceremonies. Recordings will also be available after the ceremony.

We hope to introduce a limited in-person photography opportunity for local students who wish to have photos taken on campus, as well as other participation opportunities for all students. We will share more information directly with graduates in the coming weeks. As has been the case all year, the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, and community members will guide all of our decisions. 

We share in the disappointment of many of our graduates and their families that we cannot celebrate in person and look forward to the day when it is safe to do so. We are inspired by the words of Amanda Gorman, the National Youth Poet Laureate: 

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light,

If only we're brave enough to see it

If only we're brave enough to be it

Thank you for helping us celebrate the Class of 2021. Questions can be sent to commencement@umbc.edu

President Freeman Hrabowski and Provost Philip Rous

College students are facing academic demands as well as the physical and mental demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Especially during this time, focus on what you can control, such as maintaining healthy eating habits. Eating balanced, nutritious meals is associated with improved academic performance, strengthened immune system, and increased energy.

Here are some easy and budget-friendly tips to prioritize healthy nutrition at UMBC and help you get that A!

• Make healthy substitutions on- and off-campus.
• You may have noticed that True Grits and several other campus restaurants give students the option of choosing fresh fruit instead of fries or chips to eat with their main course.
• Off-campus restaurants also provide side salads, cooked vegetables, and fresh fruit. So skip the waffles fries and go for that red, shiny apple (or sour green one) instead.
• Eat the rainbow. Think of creative ways to include a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables in your diet. Throw a handful of spinach in your breakfast smoothie. Choose a plant-based meal at True Grits. Get festive with bright spring favorites like lemons, strawberries, and asparagus.
• Control your portions. The buffet style dining experience at dining halls or the unbalanced portions served at many restaurants may tempt students to eat more than necessary, but listen to your stomach. Try eating half...your future self will thank you. If you’re snacking, avoid eating straight from the snack’s original container and put one serving on a small plate instead.
• Prepare several meals ahead of time if you’re living off-campus. Do you find yourself stopping at a fast food restaurant because you’re running short on time? While fast food restaurants may have some balanced options, we are more likely to eat balanced and affordable meals when we prepare them at home. So skip the Happy Meal occasionally and try your hand at a home cooked meal. Try making large portions of a couple meals on the weekend and separate the larger portions into smaller portions to eat during the week.
• Manage “stress snacking”with planned snacks and meals throughout your day. Aim to limit yourself to 1-2 snacks a day. If you find yourself reaching for processed snacks such as chips and baked goods frequently, try substituting them with a handful of mixed nuts, a cup of yogurt, or a piece of fruit. Eating a couple snacks each day can provide a boost of sustainable energy to get you to your next meal and keep you from falling asleep during your virtual lectures.

For more tips on prioritizing healthy nutrition or to schedule a virtual appointment with our campus dietitian, visit https://dineoncampus.com/UMBC/meet-your-dietitian.

The Career Center, in partnership with the Office of Alumni Engagement, invites you to join this new and exciting networking community, specifically for UMBC students and alumni. The platform will connect you with alumni who want to share career advice and assistance and could provide an inside look into internship and career opportunities as well.

When you join as a student, you will be able to:

• Access a broad network and support system of alumni

• Connect directly with alumni through email and video chat by region, organization, or industry

• Learn about career options in your field and gain knowledge of the work environment

• Ask alumni about their graduate or professional school experiences

• Get feedback on your resume and interviewing skills

• Explore career resources and participate in discussions

• Join industry related communities (coming soon!)

• Apply to short-term projects (coming soon!)

Register now, get connected, and join the conversation. It's quick and easy to join (just a couple of minutes with your UMBC ID or your LinkedIn profile).