Hi everyone,
I’ll be graduating this December from UMBC and I’m hoping to find a few extra graduation tickets. I’d love for my parents, siblings, and grandma who's traveling from overseas to all be present for this special moment.
If anyone has any extra tickets they don’t plan to use, I’d deeply appreciate it if you could please message me. It would truly mean the world to me and my family. I’m also willing to offer a small payment if needed.
You can reach me by text or call at 240-477-2540 or by email at kethyak1@umbc.edu
Thank you so much and congratulations to all December graduates!
Warmly,
Kethya
]]>UMBC Arts+ Film and Animation Showcase
Friday, Dec 5th in PHAB 132 @8pm
More details listed here. The screening will last approximately 1 hour.
Film Program
Maryland Crabs - Tory Van Dine, Animation
Graphic One - McCoy Chance, IMDA
Ian Yaider - Ian Yaider, Animation
Think About It - Kane Anderson - Visual and Media Arts
The Beast and the Lady of Light - Meer Masri, Animation
Boba Shop - Sarah Meyers, Animation
The Librarian - Jonathan Veale, Cinematic Arts
The Dreaming World - Alexi Scheiber, IMDA
Dad's Knight Out - Kelly Hom, Steph Patrizio, Talia Trunk, Vivian Yeh, Animation
How to be a GOD at Art - Jenny Claudet, Animation
Sepia - Kyle Goodman, Graphic Design
The Little Protector - Ben Schaffer, Animation
The Neo Animatos - Sonya Falkenstein, Cinematic Arts
Loser Pizza - Josh Conn, Animation/IMDA
Music and Motion - Catherine Frizzell, Animation
Willow - Ezra Pailer, Animation
Stuffed - Jenny Thomas, Animation
The Man with Arms - Chris Muse, Animation
Total Running time: 63 min
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Join Economics Council, SABAS, NAMI @ UMBC, and Psi Chi for our End of the Semester Event. Take a break before finals and join us for a cozy afternoon of fun and relaxation! Come meet new people, play games, and enjoy a chill painting session. Food and drinks are provided!
When: Wednesday, December 3rd
Time: 11am–1pm
Where: Flat Tuesdays
Let's wrap up the semester without getting tied up in stress!
]]>What if your discussion assignments could set clear expectations up front? Could your students benefit if your course could respond to their questions before you checked your inbox?
The December Ultra update closes out the year with enhancements that bring clarity, efficiency, and a touch of automation to your teaching. From AI-powered responses to customizable release conditions and upgraded discussion tools, these features help faculty support learners more effectively without adding to their workload.
To help set clearer expectations for student interaction, instructors can now add participation requirements to discussions. You can specify the number of posts and/or replies required, in addition to setting due dates. These requirements are visible to students and encourage more intentional and timely engagement. This is especially helpful in courses where discussions are graded or tied to reflection, collaboration, or community-building goals, and it allows students to better understand what “participation” looks like in your course.
Image 1: Instructors set participation requirements in discussion settings.
Image 2: AVA responding to a student’s message.
Ultra’s Learning Module Table of Contents is now available to instructors, providing a collapsible navigation panel that mirrors the student experience. You can quickly jump between content items and preview materials that are not yet released -- without switching to Student Preview or changing availability settings. This consistent view across roles improves usability during course design and review, making it easier to check flow, spot gaps, or make edits while keeping future content hidden from students.
Image 3: Instructor view of a Learning Module with the Table of Contents panel open.
Ultra now supports improved audio and video feedback directly within the feedback editor. Whether you’re working in Flexible Grading or providing overall feedback on an assignment, you can record your audio, video, and desktop, generate captions and transcripts, and use simple editing tools to polish your message. This upgrade makes it easier to deliver accessible, personalized feedback in multimedia format, enhancing your teaching presence and giving students a richer understanding of your comments. Note: Feedback videos are associated to the student's assessment and stay archived with the course.
Image 4: Video Studio recording embedded in the instructor feedback panel.
Finally, Instructors can now set release conditions based on whether a student has simply opened a previous item. This lightweight prerequisite option -- "Unopened" or "Opened or Started" -- lets you guide students through your course in a structured sequence without requiring them to complete a graded task. It's especially useful in module-based courses where students need to engage with foundational materials before progressing to more advanced topics, activities, or discussions.
Additional updates for December include:
Originality Reporting option has been removed from the settings panel for AI Conversations because the activity involves interaction with an AI persona and does not generate a meaningful report.
Blackboard updated the grade pill display for the Complete/Incomplete grade schema to improve clarity for instructors and students. Grade pills for incomplete items now appear in gray, making them visually distinct from graded submissions.
MathJax support in the Content Editor now includes additional LaTeX delimiters (e.g., \(...\) for inline and display equations) for rendering mathematical formulas to improve compatibility with standard STEM workflows and simplify uploading exam content without changing source files. These options are in addition to the existing $ delimiters.
When you can expect the update
Faculty should see the latest updates in their Ultra courses around December 4-5, 2025. The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on December 9, 2025; release notes are posted to the What's New in Ultra that same week. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra.