October 24th Weekly RSA Update! from UMBC_RSA on Vimeo.

 Dr. Antonio R. Moreira, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, visited the Senate. He discussed the Retriever Learning Center, the 24/7 learning center which should be ready by August 2011. The Retriever Learning Center will be located inside the library. In order to maintain a safe and secure area, there will be video camera surveillance and a swipe key access in order to enter the room. In order to make the room interactive and fun, he is also considering the idea of walls you can write on. He aims to make the study room very cozy and comfortable, just like if one was to study at home. The idea of security for students walking from dorms or from parking lots at night to this learning center was also discussed. Construction of the place is planned to begin in December. Please state your idea(s) regarding the design of the room or what you hope the room to be like, in the comment box below. He is really trying to get student input and feedback in the design of this room, as this room is for students. His goal is to make a cozy, safe, secure, and active learning place where students will actually go in order to study.

Contact:
Anthony Lane
Communications Manager: Science, Technology and Environment
(410) 455-5793
alane@umbc.edu

Andrew Sears, professor and chair in the Department of Information Systems, and Constellation Professor of Information Technology and Engineering, has been named a Distinguished Scientist by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

Each year, ACM, an international organization for computing professionals, recognizes select members who have made distinguished contributions as educators, engineers or scientists. These distinguished members must have had at least 15 years of professional experience.

Sears’ research focuses on human-centered computing and information technology accessibility. He is editor-in-chief of ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, a quarterly journal that publishes scholarly articles examining the impact of computing on the lives of people with disabilities, and he serves in an editorial role for four other scholarly journals.