• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends flu vaccines this year and every year. Please take time to familiarize yourself with this CDC guidance on flu prevention and treatment, including this helpful information about who needs a vaccine and when to get it.
  
  
• It is possible to have both COVID-19 and influenza. Getting a flu vaccine helps to protect you, the UMBC community, and our broader community from the spread of seasonal flu.
  
  
• The prevention methods for influenza and COVID-19 are similar and include frequent handwashing, social distancing, and limiting your exposure to others.
  
  
• If you get sick with flu symptoms, stay home and avoid contact with other people except to get medical care. If you are approved to study, live, or work on campus, please report your symptoms on the Daily Symptom Tracking form.
  
  
• If you have been diagnosed with the flu and develop shortness of breath or severe fatigue, call your healthcare provider or go to an emergency room.

• We ask faculty to consider deferring assignments and major examinations or tests currently scheduled for Election Day and the day after, November 4.
  
  
• We ask that student organizations and teams continue to encourage voting and engagement by postponing any meetings and activities now scheduled for Election Day, but unrelated to Election 2020, until after the election.
  
  
• We ask that all offices provide reasonable scheduling flexibility to students and employees involved in the election process.

Please see the latest updates on UMBC’s Retriever Ready website. Questions? Email covid19@umbc.edu.

COVID-19 Health & Safety

• UMBC’s Public Health Dashboard was updated with new data on October 28. The dashboard provides timely data about the prevalence of COVID-19 within our main campus. There was one new positive case during this reporting period.

Take Time for Self-Care

• Between COVID-19; academic stress; and tragedy, trauma, and current events in the world around us, we need to “press pause” and take a break. Check out this program from the JED foundation; the videos are really helpful. Press pause to take care of you!

New Library Pick-Up Location Starting November 1

• Cold weather is coming, and the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery's popular curbside pickup service for books and equipment is moving indoors! Beginning November 1, Library staff will be happy to serve you at the main entrance to the Library building. See this myUMBC post for more information.

Reminder: Open Enrollment for Health Benefits 

• Faculty and Staff: Human Resources will host a final live virtual open enrollment information session on November 10.  During open enrollment, employees can enroll in and/or make changes to their health benefits effective January 1, 2021. Employees choosing to make a healthcare or dependent care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) election for 2021 MUST login to SPS Workday prior to 5 p.m. on November 13.  Employees who are not making an FSA election or other health benefit changes do not need to take action. Employees should visit the HR website for more information and detailed instructions.

UMBC Together

• Faculty and Staff: Receive your Fall UMBC Magazine at home by completing this form by November 2.
• Visit the UMBC Together website for recent social media posts and the UMBC Together myUMBC group for information on upcoming events.

You do not have to be enrolled in classes to enroll in the Monthly Payment Plan! Just estimate your costs and if need be you can make changes once you know your exact costs.

Monthly Payment Plan information

Relationship Violence Awareness Month (RVAM) brings people together to create and generate discussion and skill-building on how to prevent relationship violence in our schools, workplaces, and communities, Since most of our campus remains learning and working remotely, we won’t be able to physically come together this October to do this critical work in person… but it doesn’t mean that learning is cancelled!

The Women’s Center has been creating weekly postings to help guide your self-learning that we’ll share with you each week in October. We’re already at our final week – week 4! Below is a short list of relevant webinars or events, podcasts or blogs, and on and off-campus resources dedicated to cultivating awareness about relationship violence, posting your skills and knowledge around the intersecting issues, and increasing access to important resources.

While some of the learning content we’re sharing is all-encompassing, we’re also narrowing down on  few key themes this year to include: The Covid-Crossings of Relationship Violence, Relationship Violence’s Matrix of Oppression, and Un/Healthy Relationships for Young Adults. Through self-guided learning, you can dig deeper by listening to a podcast, reading a blog, attending a webinar and more. 

We’ll also be sharing this content on social media so let us know what you’re learning or what questions you have in the comments! 

• These images are from Women’s Center Clothesline Project, which occurs twice a year. It is a way for survivors to share their stories and experiences with sexual violence, and as one can see from the images, no survivor experience is the same. You can learn more about the Clothesline project here. Due to the Pandemic the project is not accepting projects, but will be back once the campus is fully open.
• Campuses all over the country are becoming more aware of how domestic violence affects the lives of college students. This article details the experience of a survivor in college, and how college campuses are helping to support survivors despite policy obstacles.
• This vlog was created by the One Love Foundation provides an in-depth view of what an abusive relationship looks like, behind the “couple goals” posts on social media. Please note that this video may be triggering to some as it contains images of violence.
• The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence is an off-campus resource that includes hotlines which can help survivors access shelter, counseling, legal information, and referrals to other services.
• This podcast from “I’m not in an Abusive Relationship” gives Jen’s account of her experience with dating violence at the age of 15. Even though she was still in high-school, and living with her parents.
• Reminder: The Office of Equity and Inclusion’s SafeColleges mandatory training program is due November 1st. UMBC’s Faculty and Staff must complete their training by December 11th.