The Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT, http://www.umbc.edu/cwit) at UMBC is pleased to announce that the CWIT Student Council, a recognized student organization at UMBC, was recently awarded a $500 seed fund grant from The National Center for Women & Information Technology’s (NCWIT, http://www.ncwit.com ) Academic Alliance and ReturnPath (http://www.returnpath.net).  The purpose of the grant to student organizations is to promote an increased presence of women in computing and IT programs on Academic Alliance member campuses.

The CWIT Student Council is using the funds to co-host the first annual Women in Technology: Spring into Leadership event on Tuesday, April 5, from 6:30-8:00 pm in the University Ballroom. The program is focused on the importance of building relationships and developing one’s inner leader. Ms. Myra Norton, CEO of Community Analytics (http://www.communityanalytics.com) and a member of the College of Engineering and Information Technology’s Advisory Board, will be the featured speaker and facilitator.

This event is a collaboration between the CWIT Student Council, UMBC Student Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the IS Council of Majors (ISCOM) and the Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT). All undergraduate and graduate women enrolled in engineering and IT majors at UMBC are invited to attend. All students are welcome. The event is free but registration is required by March 30^th at Spring into Leadership Event Registration Form. For more information about the event, contact Dr. Susan Martin, Associate Director, CWIT, at 410.455.3109 or by email, susan@umbc.edu.

STARS is an ever-evolving system which provides colleges and universities with a tool to track their progress toward sustainability and provides the public the opportunity to see what is happening in higher education with regard to sustainability. Built into STARS is a process for ongoing development so that the program is current and best meets the needs of STARS Participants and the public. Seventy Technical Advisors provide input and make recommendations for continuous improvement. These Technical Advisors, professionals from higher education institutions, businesses, and non-profit organizations, are organized into nineteen work groups, each work group having responsibility for one of the STARS subcategories, such as Curriculum, Energy, and Investment. These work groups provide input to the STARS staff and make recommendations for the STARS Steering Committee’s consideration and approval.

There are three levels of periodic changes in the STARS development process: Administrative Updates, Minor Substantive Changes, and Major Revisions. Administrative Updates are made no more often than quarterly and include changes such as making clarifications to credits and correcting typographical errors. Minor Substantive Changes are made no more often than once a year, and these may include changes to criteria and reporting fields which do not change the scoring of credits. STARS 1.1 was released in February 2011 and is the first set of Minor Substantive Changes made to STARS. Major Revisions are made no more often than once every two years, and these may include adding or removing credits, restructuring STARS, and changing scoring of credits. The STARS staff and Technical Advisors are currently developing STARS 2.0, which will be the first set of Major Revisions and will be released sometime after mid-2012.

Some of the priorities the STARS Steering Committee has identified for the development of STARS 2.0 include redefining “institutional boundary,” credit reallocation and point weighting, and making the Education and Research category more robust. The STARS technical development policy provides for a public comment period for Major Revisions. A public comment period on proposed changes for STARS 2.0 is planned for fall 2011.

Below is the third installment of a four-blog mini-series, reposted from the Sustainability Education blog of Living Routes Director Daniel Greenberg. Stay tuned for the final installment next week.

Behind every student studying abroad, there are dedicated staff from his or her home institution assisting with everything from program applications, financial aid, credit transfer, visas, medical preparations, cultural orientations, packing lists, and even (occasionally) luggage tags. So, when we consider ways to make education abroad more sustainable, let’s remember those who stay behind to help create these life-changing opportunities.

In this third installment of a four-part blog series, I will focus on sustainability standards for staff training and office management that were developed by a subcommittee of The Forum on Education Abroad and offered as revisions to their Standards of Good Practice and Code of Ethics documents.

The general question we tried to answer was:

How [can a study abroad] organization create and maintain policies and relationships that support environmentally responsible office and on-site program management?

We came up with three general suggestions and lots of ideas.

1. Maintain clear environmental standards (e.g. recycling, purchasing, travel, energy conservation and efficiency) and conduct regular staff trainings in order to monitor and best implement these standards.

Creating environmental office standards is not unique to study abroad and there are many excellent resources available. A good place to start is the World Resources Institute’s Working 9 to 5 on Climate Change: An Office Guide. In addition, while more focused on entire campuses, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) developed by AASHE also has a lot of great ideas. Two other resources of note are an Australian guide to buying and using environmentally friendly office equipment and the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainable Development’s Green Office Guide. For a broader view on these issues, check out Wikipedia’s entry on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). I have yet to come across specific examples of environmental standards or staff trainings within study abroad offices, so please let me know if you find any (or are now inspired to create some!) and I will include them in a future blog entry.

2. Collaborate with sustainability initiatives (on- or off-campus) when appropriate.

According to AASHE’s just released 2010 Higher Education Sustainability Staffing Survey, there has been “an exponential growth of campus sustainability in recent years.” While this is wonderful news, it should be noted that most initiatives focus on campus facilities and operations. Off-campus student travel is largely off-the-map when it comes to greening colleges and universities. Collaborating with your school’s Sustainability Office or Coordinator (if there is one) helps fill a gap many didn’t even know exists and connects you to a local network of resources and support. Perhaps there are grant or carbon offsetting opportunities that would apply to students going abroad. If your school doesn’t have a Sustainability Office or Coordinator, reach out to eco-minded faculty or campus groups. Ask your students if you don’t know of any.

Thinking more broadly, I invite you to join the Sustainability Abroad Listserv, which currently has 431 subscribers who support each other in this nexus between sustainability and education abroad. I also encourage you to subscribe to the Global Editions of the AASHE Bulletin and the Chronicle of Higher Education. And of course, subscribing to this blog couldn’t hurt (hint, hint).

3. Work towards minimizing the environmental, economic and social impacts of office activities.

Many common suggestions (e.g. recycle, carpool, use CFLs and low-flow faucets) can be found in the above resources, but here are a few that are more unique or relevant:

• Form an office committee to research, lead and monitor your sustainable practices.

• Pose weekly or monthly “Green Challenges” to staff (and students abroad!) encouraging them to climb stairs instead of riding elevators, eat locally-produced food, or bring reusable rather than disposable containers to work.

• Communicate electronically when possible. For example, at Living Routes, the study abroad organization I direct, we encourage students to apply for programs and read PDFs of handbooks online.

• If you want to go even further, consider using a non-printable PDF format developed by World Wildlife Fund. We considered this at Living Routes, but there was concern that it would annoy students. I’d be interested in hearing experiences of others who have tried using this format.

• Solicit returning students to host talks or discussions on interesting environmental topics.

• Keep a donated bicycle at the office as alternative transportation.

• Set up staff volunteer days toward conservation activities, such as trail building or weed removal. For example, staff at Living Routes recently enjoyed helping develop a permaculture garden at UMass-Amherst.

Sustainability in study abroad is still a very young field, so new resources and ideas are showing up almost daily. Please add your thoughts, questions and any resources or practices you are aware of in the comments so we can continue to learn together.

Hillary Clinton said recently that the Arab news network “Al Jazeera” beats American news in that it’s “real news.”

In this spirit we thought we would bring you some news fresh from the middle east. Al Jazeera reported today that Quaddafi is clinging to his last breath of power (which is what our headline says, roughly translated). The article reports the dictator has no intentions of stepping down and will fight to the end.

Even though Tripoli is collapsing, Qaddafi still has the financial and logistical support to continue his fight against the rebels. In an address to Libya he warned “If the Americans or the West invade Libya, they must know that it will be hell, and more bloodbath like Iraq.”

The real power, or last bastion, in Libya is not Tripoli, the capitol, but Sabah. The city is still under Qaddafi’s control. It is a strategic location because from there Qaddafi can recruit mercenaries from Chad and Nigeria. Also, should the war not go his way, the dictator could easily flee to either of these countries.

Libya’s diplomat to the west said that Qaddafi and his sons would not surrender even if they were forced out of exile, adding that the only solution is the eradication of Qaddafi.

This article was taken from aljazeera.net, which is broadcast in Arabic, however, similar articles can be found on Al Jazeera English.

“With or without force” is how the Wisconsin GOP plans to bring AWOL Dems home.

This ain’t Egypt: Libyans say they fear peaceful protests won’t bring down Quaddafi.

The chaste generation?

Building a Culture of Innovation

UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, often says that part of his formula for the success of his campus is engaging his colleagues in questions about education and innovation.

“We are constantly asking questions about important issues. How do we ensure that students from all backgrounds excel? How do we use technology to strengthen teaching and learning?”

It’s this practice that has helped UMBC create an institutional model of inclusive excellence and increase the representation of minority students in science and engineering.

Now, Hrabowski has been recognized for this work with the 2011 TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence. Developed to recognize leadership excellence that reflects both commitment to higher education and contributions to the greater good, the Hesburgh Award is one of the most prestigious and respected awards in the higher education community.

“The achievements this award celebrates are really those of my colleagues and students,” said Hrabowski. “The award says that people around the country are recognizing what we are doing. We believe in the power of education to transform lives.”

The Hesburgh award is named in honor of Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, nationally renowned educator and world humanitarian.

“On behalf of the University System of Maryland, I am very pleased to congratulate Freeman Hrabowski on receiving this prestigious and well-deserved honor, “ said University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan. “As president of UMBC and throughout his career, Freeman has championed academic and research excellence; diversity and inclusion; and access and success for underrepresented students, especially in the STEM fields.”  

“It’s an honor to be in the company of Chancellor Kirwan, who received last year’s Hesburgh award,” said Hrabowski, who became president of UMBC in 1992. “This recognition highlights the strong support that our Governor, legislators and other state officials give to higher education in Maryland.”

In 2008, Hrabowski was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News and World Report, which in both 2009 and 2010 ranked UMBC the #1 “Up-and-Coming” university in the nation. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents.

With Baltimore philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff, Hrabowski co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at UMBC in 1988 for minority students committed to pursuing advanced degrees in science and engineering. Today, UMBC is among the nation’s leading institutions in producing African American graduates who go on to complete STEM Ph.D.s and M.D./Ph.D.s. Hrabowski recently chaired a National Academies committee that has recommended strategies for expanding underrepresented minority participation in science and engineering.

UMBC is committed to providing a distinctive undergraduate experience, providing students with learning communities and hands-on research and creative opportunities throughout the Baltimore-Washington region and beyond. The success of the Meyerhoff program has led to initiatives that provide opportunities for all students to learn in community. For example, the University has redesigned first-year STEM courses, emphasizing group learning and technology, resulting in higher pass rates, and the campus is now part of an NSF-funded program to track student success and enhance STEM retention and graduation rates.

Model undergraduate scholars programs in the humanities, arts and public affairs; living-learning communities in residence halls; and First-Year Seminars and the Introduction to an Honors University course also build on the group-learning model, while at the same time providing connections to faculty from the moment students arrive on campus. Competitive awards in undergraduate research are offered across disciplines, and student work is celebrated during Undergraduate Research & Creative Achievement Day and in two undergraduate journals.

In addition, UMBC’s NSF-funded PROMISE program is providing support and resources for graduate students in order to increase the graduate student population in STEM fields. Also, UMBC’s NSF-supported ADVANCE program has been instrumental in  helping to increase the number of women faculty in science and engineering.

UMBC also is committed to supporting economic development and enhancing the region’s quality of life. Over the past 20 years, UMBC has been a model for developing partnerships focused on technology development and commercialization, supported by bwtech@UMBC, UMBC’s research park and incubator. Two sites house more than 70 biotech, IT/engineering and cybersecurity tenants.

Hrabowski said that innovation within the academy is critical as the nation faces an unprecedented set of challenges.
 “It takes all of us in the academy to build our institutions and prepare the next generation of leaders. Higher education is more important now than ever before for both our nation and humankind. I am honored to accept this award on behalf of my UMBC colleagues and students, and to have our work associated with the example of extraordinary leadership provided by Father Hesburgh.”

Click on www.umbc.edu/aboutumbc/innovation to read more about innovative initiatives at UMBC.

(3/7/11)