The UMBC Student Events Board (SEB) is currently seeking a dynamic and highly motivated graduate student to fill a Graduate Assistantship position for the upcoming academic year. This role offers a unique opportunity for a graduate student to gain hands-on experience in student affairs, programming, and leadership development while contributing meaningfully to campus life.

Position Highlights:

• Title: Graduate Assistant for the Student Events Board (Please let me know if this link doesn't work)

• Hours: 20 hours per week

• Compensation: Tuition remission for 9 credits (Fall and Spring) and a stipend (in accordance with UMBC GA policies)

• Start Date: As soon as possible

• Duration: 12 month appointment (includes summer work)

We are pleased to confirm that the planned High Temperature Hot Water (HTHW) system shutdown has been successfully completed. The shutdown involved extensive coordination across multiple departments and contractors, affecting key academic and administrative buildings throughout campus. We did encounter some expected issues, and our team worked through this past weekend and a couple of late nights this week to complete the work as quickly as possible. Following system refill and venting, the boilers were brought back online, and the system is now fully up to temperature and pressure.

Key upgrades included valve replacements, heat exchanger installations, and system-wide inspections to enhance the long-term performance and maintainability of our heating infrastructure. While the core work has been completed and the system is back in service, a few remaining items—such as pipe insulation and minor closeout tasks—will be addressed in the coming days. These follow-up activities will not impact the operation of the system.

Dehumidifiers used during the shutdown will be removed later today.

We deeply appreciate the dedication and responsiveness of all teams involved—including Central Plant, Steamfitters, HVAC, Plumbing, ESH, Siemens, Emjay, and supporting contractors. This effort also benefited greatly from the collaboration with Design & Construction Services (DCS), Environmental Safety and Health (ESH), and our Building Managers, whose coordination and communication ensured smooth transitions throughout the shutdown.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Anna Ortiz ’25, social work, has shown true resilience during her college journey, and she’s not done yet. Anna’s path to earn a bachelor’s degree from UMBC-Shady Grove has been longer than many, but she’s continuously been driven forward by the desire to set an example for her children. Her professors describe her as insightful, passionate, and as someone who will make “good trouble” in the tradition of social work. She credits her mentors for seeing something greater in her, encouraging her to keep going, and for being a listening ear when she has needed one most.

Q: What was your path to UMBC-Shady Grove?

A: I began my journey in 2013 at Montgomery College, and I am super proud to be able to say that I am finally done with my bachelor’s of social work. When I first found out I was pregnant with my daughter in 2012, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was having a kid with no stable career. I decided I couldn’t repeat that cycle and chose to go back to school once I had her.

I didn’t know specifically what I wanted to do but I knew I had a passion for helping people. I did private duty certified nursing assistant work before, and by that time I was doing billing. So I knew I liked the healthcare dynamic and that type of workplace. So I went to Montgomery College hoping that they would point me in the right direction.

Since I was working and taking care of my kid, I was there longer than most people. I was there for three or four years since I was taking a class here and there. I did my associates in general studies. My advisor said that would allow me to go into whatever I wanted to do. After that I transferred to UMBC-Shady Grove. It was a bigger campus but quite similar when it came down to the class sizes and the environment.

Q: From that point, how did you decide to pursue social work?

A: After that I was still working at a clinical forensics office under a doctor named Dr. Ronald Weiner, who was really well known. He started mentoring me and giving me insight into what he does, and I grew more of an interest in the work. He told me, “You know you could do this. You could become a clinical social worker and be my protégé. I see that you have the mind to think outside the box, and you pick up things immediately.”

He told me that I should go back to school and become a social worker. At the time, I was just doing billing and coding, and I was okay with it. But he pushed me to keep going and try to do something better. Hearing what he saw in me inspired me.

That experience made me remember a time in fourth grade when my counselor took me under her wing. She would take me to schools where she worked with kids with disabilities, and I really liked helping her. So I thought maybe Dr. Weiner is right. I went back to school and now here I am with my BSW, and I plan to continue my education to earn a master’s in social work and become a clinical social worker.

Q: What are your plans after graduation?

A: After grad school my end goal is to open my own practice one day and to mentor and inspire others the way that Dr. Weiner did for me.

I have young kids and recently became a single mom. I had to make the hard decision to defer grad school for a year or two because I don’t want to go into grad school not being able to get what I need out of it. So I will continue working and test the waters to see what I specifically want to study in grad school.

Right now, I’m working as a registered behavioral technician, analyzing the behaviors of autistic kids. I like it so far, but I’m planning to continue exploring my options. 

Q: How do you plan to use the skills you’ve learned in UMBC-Shady Grove’s social work program in your life and future career?

A: All of the fundamentals I learned from the program have really helped me in my life. I think I’ve grown a lot in this year alone with everything I’ve learned, especially about family structures. That part really intrigued me because it hit my heart and soul. Learning that the way that me and my sisters were raised was dysfunctional allowed me to apply those lessons to raising my kids in a different way. I’ve learned better mechanisms and techniques to cope with uncertainty, handle the curveballs life throws at you, and not be reactionary or go into crisis mode.

I also apply a lot of those things in my field, in my work, especially now working with autistic kids. I implement a lot of what I’ve learned from fundamental theories and treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy. Thank goodness I learned these things in the program because they have made my transition from being a student into the workforce much easier.

Q: What advice do you have for other students who may be facing challenges when it comes to earning their bachelor’s degree?

A: Don’t sit there and look at all of the negatives. Life is going to be life—it comes in waves—so you just have to keep looking forward. Don’t procrastinate because if you don’t take your life seriously, then nobody’s going to take you seriously.

But it’s definitely a challenge. I believe that nothing in this world is easy. It’s going to be challenging, and that’s just how you grow. So for sure, go and pursue your degree.

When I talk to my young kids, I always tell them: Do something that you want to do, that you’re going to be happy doing, that you’re going to wake up wanting to do—because that’s your life. And then you’re doing a benefit to the community and yourself. 

Q: Was there anything that surprised you about the UMBC-Shady Grove community or your time as a student here?

A: What was really inspiring was how helpful my advisor was. Dr. Katie Morris [Ph.D. ’21, language, literacy, and culture] was behind me all the time. I loved her for that because I needed that. The social work faculty was there for me, listening to my problems this whole year, especially my field coordinator, Natalie Sanchez. Wow, I love Natalie. She’s been a great liaison on my behalf, holding me accountable and keeping me on my toes. 

The two professors I will remember for sure are Dr. M. Nicole Belfiore and Professor Jeanette Hoover, the best teachers ever. They were very understanding, even though at first I wasn’t sure if they were going to be nice enough. Come to find out, they’re the nicest people I’ve ever dealt with. Professor Hoover has been very understanding, very accommodating to me with everything I’ve gone through in this past year alone, especially with the two losses of my brother and my mom. It was a lot. When you go to school, you think, ‘Oh, these people don’t care about me.’ No, they do. And they definitely will keep you going. And that right there, that was actually really beautiful to see that I had support in that way.

Q: What was your best experience as an undergrad at UMBC-Shady Grove?

A: My best experience was my field placement with La Clínica del Pueblo – Mi Refugio because I gained the experience of working at a school-based mental health clinic. It was a great opportunity to guide the kids into their senior year of high school, help them with school navigation, and of course to be a listening ear to them during these hard times.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with the community about your story?

A: Finances can make things really difficult, and it would have been easy to give up and not to graduate. But I kept going. One of my biggest inspirations was my kids. I realized that I can’t hold them accountable for going to school and becoming somebody later if they know that I didn’t do it. So I had to lead by example, and that’s always been my head-on-goal—to show them that it can be done.

By Evie Hoff ’18, senior marketing coordinator, Division of Professional Studies

Read more Commencement 2025 stories.

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE DESCRIPTION BEFORE CONTACTING! Looking for FEMALE STUDENTS to rent bedrooms in our home around August 23, 2025, or earlier (can be ready by June 14th and after) for furnished bedrooms including linens in a Maiden Choice/Arbutus area private single-family home. The house will be shared with two female UMBC/UMB students/professionals and the landlord couple. We're looking for a kind person that respects diversity that are either a UMBC/UMB Ph.D., Graduate, or Junior/Senior Undergraduate student that are a non-smoker within the home, non-drug user, pet-free, and a tidy person to share a large open concept renovated 4 bedroom and 3.5 bathrooms on a dead-end quiet street. If you have a medical support animal; no cats or shedding animals are allowed due to allergies, and you will need your updated documents from your physician and veterinarian. All medical and support animals must remain in the tenant’s bedroom and crate when not home or in their room, and you are responsible for cleaning up after your pet. You will have to submit proof of renter’s insurance. Other than medical support animals, absolutely no other animals are allowed. We currently have a non-shedding older friendly labradoodle that will not be cratered, will not run away if the door is left open, and the sole responsibility of the landlord.  

Our house is less than 2 miles from the UMBC campus and close to two shopping centers with shuttle stops to both sites and walking distance to our house. Only 5 minutes or less by personal vehicle to campus. The UMBC Shuttle and public transportation bus stop is located a short walk over to the next block. The UMBC Transit runs buses almost every 15 minutes from the Paradise-Purple Line during the week from 7am-12am. The first pickup at Leeds and Beechfield Avenues bus stop is roughly around 7:25am during the week, again around 7:45am, and so on. The UMBC transit adds a third bus during the week around 10am. You can monitor the buses on the Transit Predictions (goswift.ly). The Purple-Paradise line is the most reliable of all the UMBC transit schedules. 

The rooms to choose from are two upstairs bedrooms that share a bathroom with large closets and include hangers. There's a full or queen bed, matching long dresser with mirror, tall dresser, two nightstands or a shelf headboard, desk with office chair, smart TV with streaming cable services and Wi-Fi, two sets of bedroom linens and plenty of bath towel sets and a hamper. All bedrooms have their own key locks. You will have your own large kitchen cupboard, locking locker cubby with your own key in the laundry room, and the shared bathroom has a locking cabinet (there will only be two people sharing the bathroom). You have access to a spacious open concept kitchen with everything you need to prepare meals including meal prep gadgets, ice maker, dishwasher and garbage disposal, laundry room, large front covered porch, living and dining rooms. All the bedrooms and living/sitting/dining/kitchen areas have Wi-Fi with streaming cable services. All utilities are included, water, gas, electric, and again the Wi-Fi with streaming cable services. We supply trashbags, dish detergants, and cleaning supplies. The landlord is responsible for cutting the grass and landscaping. We are still doing renovations to the outside landscaping, sidewalks, and foundation border. There is street parking where we ask our tenants and their guests to be respectful to our neighbors and park directly in front of our house only. We have lease restrictions for overnight guests and shared cleaning responsibilities. The bedrooms will be available starting around August 23, 2025, or earlier and ending around May 23, 2026, that includes holidays, weekends, Spring and Winter Breaks and/or vacations. The monthly rent is $1,000 FIRM per room for only one person with a $500 deposit.  We prefer a 9 month or a month-to-month lease but will consider longer leases and dates to move-in and out. We’re a private home and NOT an Airbnb, hotel, campus apartment or dorm. All you need to do is bring your personal belongings, toiletries with bathroom products, food, laptop, and books! If interested, call 410-999-4668, Monday-Friday, 6pm to 8pm, to discuss further and a time to show you the house.