Hey Retrievers!
The Bookstore will have special hours for Move-In Weekend:
Saturday, August 23: 10 AM – 5 PM
Sunday, August 24: 11 AM – 4 PM, 7 PM - 11 PM
Stop by to grab all the essentials you need and kick off the semester right!
]]>Wednesday, September 17, 2025
3 PM - 5 PM
The Commons Sportzone
María Célleri, Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies, will serve as our Acting Associate Director for the Fall 2025 semester.
“I’m delighted to join the Dresher Center as Interim Associate Director this semester. In a moment when the value of the humanities is being questioned in many spaces, I’m proud to support the Center’s work championing humanistic inquiry, creativity, and critical thinking. I'm most excited to continue the important work Earl Brooks has begun with Humanities Retrievers, assisting in planning scholarly and professional development programs for our humanities undergrads! Fall 2025, here we go.”
]]>Remember a few months ago when Daniela from Acquia (formerly Monsido) sent that dramatic email to the entire University about renewing our license? Well, plot twist: we're not renewing. We're leaving Monsido for greener pastures.
After four years with a product that had four different owners (Monsido, Optimere, Civic Plus, and now Acquia), limited customization options, no meaningful grouping capabilities for large organizations like ours, and essentially no product development beyond year one, we've decided enough is enough.
We're transitioning to a new product called Silktide starting the week of August 26, 2025. Silktide might sound familiar if you've been using accessibility extensions in Chrome to find and fix errors or scan websites, and we're happy to say that their software offers the customizations and organizational features we've been asking for, plus they very graciously matched our current Monsido pricing with a substantial discount.
Week of August 26:
September 2025:
More details coming in September once we've actually gotten into the new system.
Bryan
P.S. No one from Silktide has emailed the entire University yet, so we're already ahead of the game.
P.P.S.
Anyone want a table style? How about some new blocks to play with? Stay tuned we've got a few fun things to add to your site coming this week.
If you absolutely must save something from Monsido, do it before August 26. But honestly, Silktide's reporting will pick up right where it left off, so don't stress about it.
Dear Faculty,
Welcome to a new academic year! As we begin this journey together, I want to extend my sincere gratitude for your continued dedication to inclusive excellence and student success. Whether you are returning to campus or joining us for the first time, your passion and expertise are the foundation of UMBC.
As faculty, you play a central role in supporting our students. This is particularly important while our students continue to face a complex mix of academic, personal, and societal challenges. Your engagement, empathy, and mentorship can have a profound impact. In addition to supporting our students, I urge you to be proactive in recognizing when they may need support and to refer them to appropriate campus resources when necessary.
While lifting up our students is critical, I also know we need to support you in the classroom. At UMBC, we are committed to assisting you on your professional journey and helping you thrive in the classroom. I encourage you to explore the resources available through the Faculty Development Center, which provides services and resources to aid you in teaching at UMBC.
I also want to remind you that starting this year, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is officially part of the holiday break. That means there will be one fewer Wednesday class session in the fall 2025 semester, something to keep in mind if you teach that day.
At UMBC, we are poised to transform higher education. This coming year we will do so in a variety of ways, but for now I want to highlight one in particular: Artificial Intelligence. AI is enabling universities to make transformational changes, and generative AI tools in particular are becoming increasingly integrated into academic work and student learning.
The faculty senate produced a report that surveyed faculty on the use of AI last semester. I have heard directly from that group, and have tapped Vice Provost Anupam Joshi, a leader in the field of artificial intelligence, to lead UMBC’s AI strategy. Anupam will head a taskforce this fall that will explore the use and integration of AI across university operations, including academics.
As that taskforce deliberates, we are moving forward. Based on the report from the Faculty Senate, we will support efforts spearheaded by Professor John Schumacher to deliver consistent, high quality faculty professional development experiences on generative AI. This will include direct instruction on using generative AI tools in teaching, and seminars with internal and external speakers who have expertise on this topic. We will also invite proposals from faculty to support graduate and undergraduate students as fellows to support their research in AI-related areas.
Additional news and details concerning this effort will be shared in the coming weeks and months.
I hope to see you at the campus events this month, including the Fall Opening Meeting on Thursday and Convocation on August 26. Following the Convocation ceremony, we will gather as a community for a cookout on The Quad. This is an opportunity to meet new students and catch up with colleagues. Please bring your campus ID.
Thank you for the work you do every day to inspire curiosity, foster critical thinking, and prepare our students to go out in the world and make a meaningful difference and be the best version of themselves. I look forward to a rewarding and successful academic year ahead.
Warm regards,
