(reposting from DOIT, MIIC, and UCI)

We're excited to invite Maryland high school and higher education students to participate in the first annual Maryland Capture the Flag (CTF)—a virtual cybersecurity competition hosted by UMBC on March 28, 2026.

The Maryland CTF is a team-based competition, with teams consisting of 2–6 students. Schools are encouraged to register multiple teams, giving more students the opportunity to compete and represent their institution.

Designed for all experience levels, the competition will feature hands-on cybersecurity challenges across areas such as cryptography, web security, reverse engineering, forensics, and more. Whether your team is new to CTFs or has prior competition experience, this event offers a valuable opportunity to build technical skills, collaborate with peers, and engage with Maryland's growing cybersecurity community.

The competition will be fully virtual, allowing teams to participate from anywhere. Additional details—including rules, schedule, scoring, and platform access—will be shared with registered teams closer to the event date.

https://mailchi.mp/c7e7712f84d7/register-now-for-the-maryland-capture-the-flag-competition?e=72727a7077

Is your student organization looking to invite an employer to speak/network with your group? Has your student organization already invited a company representative/alumni to network or speak on a career-focused topic?

Let's Get the Conversation Going!

The Career Center is here to help you make a great impression and build lasting relationships with employers and alumni in your field. We aim to support all employer and alumni interactions on campus and provide the resources needed to foster strong, long-lasting connections with the UMBC community.

We'd love to collaborate with your organization! By completing the Student Org Guest Speaker Request Form, you can benefit from:

• Expert guidance on inviting employers and alumni to campus

• A thoughtful speaker gift for your guests

• Complimentary parking codes and directions for your visitors

• Event advertising through Handshake and the Career Center's myUMBC group events calendar

• Networking tips tailored for your student organization

We look forward to supporting your events and helping you connect with professionals in your field!

UMBC will host three Fix Your Course Content Days, dedicated to improving the accessibility of digital course materials in Blackboard. During these three individual sprints, faculty, staff, and instructional designers can review Ally accessibility reports, make fixes to Blackboard course content, and strengthen our commitment to inclusive teaching. 

When

Work individually or in your departments, or join one of our collaborative sessions to update the accessibility of your course content.

• Wednesday, February 25 (11 AM - 2 PM)
• Friday, March 27 (11 AM - 2 PM)
• Wednesday, April 11 (11 AM - 2 PM)

Why Fix Content?

• Every fix, big or small, helps. Whether it's adding alt text to an image, adding meaningful link text, correcting heading structure, or improving document formatting, each step makes content more usable for a student using a screen reader, assistive device, or alternate format.
• You already have insights. The Ally tool in Blackboard surfaces course accessibility reports and flags problematic files (scanned documents, missing image description, contrast issues, etc.). Use this as your guide.
• It's about more than one day. Fix Your Content Day is not just a one-off event. It's a focused moment for action -- and a reminder that digital accessibility is an ongoing responsibility in course design.

What to Do on a Fix Your Content Day

Here's a simple roadmap with four easy steps you can follow:

1. Review your Ally report.
Log into your course. Go to Books & Tools from the right navigation menu to access your Ally accessibility report. Note your starting score. Prioritize files you use most (syllabus, major readings, assignment sheets, handouts, etc.) or where you have inaccessible images that impact meaningful content.

2. Make at least 3 targeted fixes.
Use the Ally "repair" workflow (built into Blackboard) to take action:

• Add or improve alt text for images -- Ally's AI Alt Text Assistant can be a helpful tool
• Fix heading structure (use proper heading levels rather than visual formatting)
• Add descriptive link text (avoid "click here")
• Ensure sufficient color contrast in slides or documents
• Replace scanned PDFs (if possible) with accessible ones or OCR them
  
• Verify captions & transcripts for audio & video in YuJa

3. Strive for 85.
As you make your fixes, aim for an Ally score of 85 percent or higher in your courses. This benchmark represents solid progress toward accessible, student-ready materials. Focus on content with Severe (red) or Major (orange) issues.

Each improvement -- adding alt text, correcting headings, or replacing scanned PDFs -- moves your score closer to 85, or exceeds it, and helps ensure your course is usable for every learner.

4. Reflect and plan next steps.
Think about recurring patterns in your courses (e.g. many scanned articles, many images lacking alt text). Use that insight to inform future course redesign or content creation. Consider sharing your top three fixes with your department to help normalize accessible practices across campus.

If you'd like to be recognized with a microcredential for your portfolio or LinkedIn profile, submit your results using this Google Form. 

A Few Tips to Make It Easier

• Start small. Pick a single course or module to focus on first, or focus on a single type of issue like image descriptions. You also don't need to "fix everything" in one day.
• Schedule your time. Block a 30-60 minute slot on your calendar just for accessibility fixes -- or drop by our open lab in ENGR 102 from 11 AM to 2 PM to work alongside colleagues, share progress, and get help from the Instructional technology team in a relaxed, social space to celebrate the day's improvements.
• Work together. Coordinate a department Fix Your Content Day sprint so instructors can work at a time that fits their schedules and support each other during the hour. Or team up with a colleague who teaches a complementary discipline or course.

On an upcoming Fix Your Content Day, join us in making a measurable impact on our course content. Whether you fix three items or thirty, your work matters. Let's make UMBC's digital learning environment more inclusive together.

Ready to take the first step? Visit UMBC's Digital Accessibility site or run an Ally course report today. Support is also available from Student Disability Services and Instructional Technology.

The UMBC AOK Library invites UMBC students to participate in upcoming student-only, student-focused, in-person sessions to share their thoughts on the use of AI on campus.  Faculty will not be present, and conversations that occur within the space will remain anonymous to protect students' identities. All levels and all majors are welcome! 

There will be free pizza and drinks, and participants can get free swag, in addition to bonus library privileges! 

The scheduled sessions are:

• Session 1: Wednesday, February 25, 12-1 pm (AOK, Room 259)

• Session 2: Wednesday, March 4, 12-1 pm (AOK, Room 259)

These listening sessions are supported by the AOK Library, in partnership with Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, Information Systems, and the Dresher Center.

CARAT, the CAHSS Creative Achievement & Research Administration Team, invites CAHSS faculty to participate in an individual Mini Consultation on Wednesday, February 18 or Thursday, February 19. CARAT's Research Development team will be available to discuss your research/creative achievement project ideas (at all stages). 

Reserve a mini consultation session by February 13: https://forms.gle/SJ83nfWvqyumUfL7A. 

We will confirm with a time and Webex link (if online). Consultations will be scheduled in the order in which they are received, and a waitlist will be available.

You can make a consultation appointment (15 minutes, one person per slot) on either February 18, from 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. (virtual or in person in Public Policy, room 451), or on February 19, from 1:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. (virtual only). Arts faculty should request February 18 only. Humanities and Social Science faculty may request either day.

• February 18: 11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. (Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences) Meeting slots: (1) 11:30-11:45; (2) 11:50-12:05; (3) 12:10-12:25; (4) 12:30-12:45). Indicate a first and second time preference, and whether you would like to meet in person or on Webex.

• February 19: 1:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. (Humanities, Social Sciences) Meeting slots: (1) 1:15-1:30; (2) 1:35-1:50; (3) 1:55-2:10; (4) 2:15-2:30). Indicate a first and second time preference. All sessions will be on Webex.

Questions? Contact Rachel Brubaker, Associate Director for Research Development   rbruba1@umbc.edu

Not available for a mini session? Contact Sara Qureshi, Sr. Specialist for Grants and Research Development, saraq1@umbc.edu or visit our Pre-Award Services page to complete a consultation request form.  

Note: If you have already identified a funding opportunity and would like to begin an application, please complete a proposal development form on the Pre-Award Services page to request pre-award support. We look forward to working with you at all stages of your research and creative achievement process.