It may be too late to meet with Edgar Allen Poe, H.L. Mencken or F. Scott Fitzgerald, but citizens of Baltimore still have a chance to meet with the latest and greatest literary minds in the area. The 13th annual CityLit festival, held April 15-16, featured writers from all across Maryland, many of whom hosted workshops, attended readings and signed autographs for young fans. After a new partnership with the University of Baltimore and their greatest number of featured authors to date, the CityLit Project boasted a much better turnout than their 2015 event.

Held in the aftermath of the unrest last April, the 2015 CityLit Festival was far more political than previous years and emphasized a correlation between art and social justice. However, the event drew in half of what was expected. According to CityLit Project Director Gregg Wilhelm, there was – in spite of poor attendance – a strong sense of camaraderie between the writers and the attendants. The decision to add social justice to the theme of the event had been a last minute one and event organizers decided to play up this aspect for this year’s festival from the very beginning.

The enthusiasm of the volunteers and writers was palpable. National award winning poet and playwright Claudia Rankine was the guest of honor for this year’s festival, making numerous appearances between the Maryland Institute College of Art and the Enoch Pratt Free Library, just near the epicenter of last years riots. Numerous writers, including Rankine, brought forth works that focused on social injustice, merging art with societal critique in complex and interesting ways.

Wilhelm founded the festival in 2004 in the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel, which quite literally washed that year’s Baltimore Book Festival away. Unwilling to let go of all of the work and organizing that had gone into the event, Wilhelm and a few others worked together to move the event to the spring, where it has been held ever since. In the years following, it has been hailed as a “must-attend” by newspapers and magazines across the Mid-Atlantic and has drawn in up-and-coming authors such as Junot Diaz.

The festival covered a wide variety of subjects, ranging from politics and social justice to music in literature and pop culture in poetry. Literary magazines from around Maryland, including The Baltimore Review, The Loch Raven Review and The Light Ekphrastic, made an appearance. They showed off some of their greatest pieces, read aloud by the authors, with events such as book signings, dancing lessons, poetry slams and workshops for aspiring writers.

With panels focusing on modern writers such as Paul Lisicky and E. Ethelbert Miller and other panels about the classics, like John Keats and Jane Austin, the festival covered a wide range. For lovers of poetry, there were constant poetry events to attend and for those more interested in the technical aspects of publication, there were informative events and even some workshops that allowed attendees to bind their own books. With attendance up significantly from 2015, there’s plenty of promise for what the 2017 CityLit Festival may hold.

The post CityLit Festival shifts focus to social justice appeared first on The Retriever.

Portugal

Last week, appellate courts in Portugal turned down the appeal of a former undercover US Central Intelligence Agency operative who sought to contest her extradition to Italy. The operative, Sabrina De Sousa, was convicted in 2003 in Italy for taking part in the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in an extralegal rendition ordered by the George W. Bush administration.

De Sousa, who lives in Portugal, was sentenced to extradition by the courts in January, but the order was stayed pending appeal. Following last week’s denial of her appeal, De Sousa’s Italian lawyer said publicly that she would be extradited some time after May 4.

De Sousa holds American and Portuguese citizenship and has denied involvement in the alleged kidnapping, which occurred when she was working undercover for the CIA as a diplomat in Milan. De Sousa resigned from the CIA in 2009 and quickly left Europe, where she was convicted in absentia that same year.

The former operative traveled to Portugal to be closer to her family and was subsequently detained by Portuguese authorities. De Sousa has exhausted her appeals in the Italian courts, one of the Italian prosecutors who helped convict De Sousa said that she would be sent straight to prison.

Cameroon

The motorcade carrying the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, accidentally struck and killed a seven-year-old Cameroonian boy in the northern part of the country.

The young boy ran out into the road when he was struck by one of the armored vehicles in the motorcade — the child was reportedly distracted by the helicopter flying closely over the vehicles.

Ambassador Power confirmed that the boy died shortly after being hit. “We visited with the boy’s family to offer our profound condolences and to express our grief and heartbreak with what the family is going through,” said Ambassador Power.

Ambassador Power’s week-long visit to Cameroon focused on the country’s war with the militant terrorist group Boko Haram. Ambassador Power visited a refugee camp where she met with children were directly affected by the conflict, including a girl was forced to marry a Boko Haram fighter.

The tragic accident with the motorcade came at a time when Ambassador Power and her delegation sought to bring attention to the horrible violence Cameroonian children faced from Boko Haram.

Latvia

Latvia has banned the Islamic full-face veil, known as a niqab, in public.

Officials say that the new measure is necessary in order to protect and preserve Latvian culture, as well as to prevent possible terrorists and attackers from concealing weapons under veils and other similar garments.

Latvia’s Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnacs said the legislation, which is expected to come into place by 2017, has more to do with ensuring that prospective immigrants respect the country’s values than the actual number of women in Latvia wearing the niqab.

“A legislator’s task is to adopt preventative measures,” said Rasnacs to the New York Times. “We do not only openly protect Latvian cultural-historical values, but the cultural-historic values of Europe.”

Latvia, which has an approximate population of two million and about 1,000 practicing Muslims, agreed to accept 776 refugees from Syria and the Middle East over the next two years as part of the European Union’s efforts to resettle refugees fleeing from war.

The post Former CIA operative extradited from Portugal, Young boy killed by UN motorcade, Latvia bans full-face Islamic veil appeared first on The Retriever.

Explain your main platform and how you will implement it.

Emily: “I would say the overarching point of our platform is institutional change and how we plan to accomplish long term change would be through our umbrella topics of accountability, sustainability, and inclusivity and empowerment.”

Isabel: “I think, in the past, the SGA has focused on programmatic events because they are easier to plan and are quantifiable. By doing this, they can account for specific events without implementing institutional change. We look at problems and policies. For example, we look at mental health at UMBC and see high rates of depression, anxiety, and  reports of stress. We want to look at policies about mental health on campus that fail to support students with these experiences. We see the programmatic approach as the realm of SEB and campus orgs while SGA should support these events, it should also work to advance student goals and respond to student needs.”

Explain why I should vote for your ticket in particular.

Emily: “Our platform speaks for itself in that most students will agree that issues of sexual assault, mental health, and sustainability are important and require attention. Isabel and I value those things, but we also recognize that SGA represents students, right? A unified SGA that is representative of the student body is our approach.”

Isabel: “Students at UMBC have… made it clear that they want people as President/EVP who have the experience, drive, and qualifications to make those changes. Emily and I fulfill all of those tenets. For example, Emily led ProveIt! with a team of 3 people and little support from the SGA. As a result, we now have solar panels on campus and are working on other ambitious projects. She has also led two STRiVE leadership retreats and is a resident assistant.

“I founded a mentorship research program for young Baltimore women who are interested in STEM during my freshman year [REACH]. Now I manage about thirty people and have established partnerships with public schools and corporate sponsors. I was also assistant director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs within our SGA last year. Obviously, we have demonstrated that we have the ability to follow through on projects.”

How do you plan to campaign?

Emily: “We are doing a very relations-based campaign. People joke that it’s grassroots, which maybe it is! Isabel and I are both introverted and we realize that we are going to have to talk to strangers. However, we started by talking to people who are close to us and asking them to talk to people who are close to them. The following got a lot larger from there, and now we have a team of people ready to engage the campus in this needed conversation about SGA.”

Isabel: “Our primary concern is building real connections to the students we are talking to. Our main concern, if elected, is to have continuous dialogue with students. We want to prove that through our communication strategies in the way we campaign now.”

If you don’t get elected, how do you plan to help improve the campus?

Emily: “I would imagine that we will still find ourselves in roles that support students and student growth. I’m involved in a lab on campus and I might apply to be a TA or something like that. I still love UMBC so I’ll still be here.”

Isabel: “I’m not going to stop directing REACH because it’s my baby. We’ll have 20 high schoolers and 20 mentors next year!”

If you were forced to drop out of the SGA race, what candidate would you support?

Isabel: “I feel like we don’t know enough about the other candidates yet to answer that. So far, they have not released their platforms.” [Editor’s note: campaign interviews were conducted individually over several weeks; other platforms have since been released.]

What do you think is the primary function of our SGA?

Emily: “The primary function of SGA is to serve as a unifying space for students and mobilize our voices.”

What is one policy you would like to enact on campus?

Emily: “There’s so many important things. Maybe this isn’t a policy change, but there could be opt-in mentoring for students to support each other. It could look like a sign up at the beginning of one’s college career, and would be available to every student.”

Isabel: “We’re talking about sexual assault, mental health. Personally, I am very proud of the sexual assault piece of our platform and I’m excited to share it with the student body.”

What is your stance on the recent budget proposed by the Jankoski administration?

Isabel: “By reducing the SGA budget, it decreases the power of the SGA to UMBC’s administration. There’s better ways to decrease student tuition without decreasing SGA’s budget. This issue is a critical part of our platform.”

Emily: “I would like to add that one of the reasons SGA is so powerful and can have such a great impact, and has been so impactful in the past, is partly because of its massive budget. SGA’s $1,000,000 has very strong bargaining power and can accomplish great things if students were given the opportunity to take advantage of it.”

The executive branch has had many “ghost departments” this year, in that they appointed numerous individuals to lead various executive departments without posting an open application. Positions were essentially given to friends. Upon examination, these departments have been unproductive and/or completely stagnant. When it comes to appointing department heads and overseeing the various executive departments, how would you make sure the mistakes made this year don’t happen under your administration in the future?

Isabel: “Let me tell you, man. We would entirely revamp the structure of the executive department under our leadership.

“First, we would take applications and resumes of our potential leaders so we have the best suited on our team. Secondly, we have redesigned the structure entirely so all of the offices are held more accountable. We have shifted from a departmental, bureaucratic structure to an interdisciplinary, initiative-focused structure. And there’s so many things I could say about our structure, but it’s a big revamp. We have a diagram on our site showing this.”

Emily: “There’s currently a senate-led stipend review committee that is in the process of being approved, and we support it.”

The post SGA candidates Emily and Isabel: mental health and sexual assault appeared first on The Retriever.

Explain your main platform and how you will implement it.

Arkie: “Our main idea is that we want to improve student life. Our big idea is going to tackle things like stress anxiety because UMBC is a rigorously academic school, and we know that that’s one of the main issues that college campuses across the nation are facing. Things that can cause stress anxiety like grades, not being as involved, not knowing what is going on with the administration. Specifically, we want to tackle the registrar policy because we think right now there might not be a deadline for when professors need to submit grades. We want to look into that.”

Explain why I should vote for your ticket in particular.

Calvin: “Overall we are pretty involved individuals and we’ve held leadership positions in multiple organizations. We involve ourselves well on campus but we always keep academics first, so we have great time management skills.”

Why do you believe you are the most qualified to be the leaders of SGA?

Calvin: “Within the past two years, I’ve held the position of RA. That’s taught me to be really open to students, hear every angle, listen to every perspective, and I think that translates well with SGA. I want to represent myself and Arkie obviously, but the student body as well.”

How do you plan to campaign?

Arkie: “Calvin and I are definitely going for the face to face campaigning. We don’t want to be in people’s faces, we just want to talk to people and see what they want and then cater to them.”

If you don’t get elected, how do you plan to help improve the campus?

Arkie: “I think for sure we’d like to stay involved. I know other student athlete candidates are running, such as Pandora Wilson, but I want to make sure our body is being represented. It’s a pretty big group on campus and to have us constantly involved is important.”

What are some other clubs and organizations that you have assisted?

Calvin: “I’ve been a resident assistant for the past years on campus and am the current president of the Viet Nam Medical Assistance Program.”

Arkie: “I am a member of the UMBC Woman’s Lacrosse team, and I’m a member of the UMBC Student Advisory Committee.”

If you were forced to drop out of the SGA race, what candidate would you support?

Calvin and Arkie: “We would answer that, but we don’t know any of the other candidates’ platforms right now.”

What do you think is the primary function of our SGA?

Calvin: “The power of the people’s voice. A lot of the administration thinks there are changes that should be made to the university. Let’s say they can’t necessarily bring it up, but they’ve heard students talking about it. Students need to gather and collectively say they want a change and work with the administration rather than against the administration.”

What is one policy you would like to enact on campus?

Calvin: “Our Registrar Policy. Semester after semester we hear almost everyone complain about how they haven’t got their grades yet, it’s after Christmas or it’s a month into summer and they don’t know if they’ve passed a class. We want to implement a policy with the administration that requires teachers to have their grades in two weeks or so after exams are done.”

What is your stance on the recent budget proposed by the Jankoski administration?

Calvin: “It’s hard to say for me personally because I haven’t seen the numbers, just the percentages.”

Final question: The executive branch has had many “ghost departments” this year, in that they appointed numerous individuals to lead various executive departments without posting an open application. Positions were essentially given to friends. Upon examination, these departments have been unproductive and/or completely stagnant. When it comes to appointing department heads and overseeing the various executive departments, how would you make sure the mistakes made this year don’t happen under your administration in the future?

Calvin: “We would avoid this by doing what we are doing currently. Talking to other student leaders on campus, officers in other organizations and trying to see who fits the position best.”

The post SGA candidates Calvin & Arkie: school stressors appeared first on The Retriever.

Explain your main platform and how you will implement it.

Mona: Our platform is based off the three C’s: campus health, campus communication and campus space. The first one is related to mental health, which is something we really need to educate the community on. We want to unify all the mental health groups to create a mental health week, because they all have the same goal and if we can get them all working together it can make a bigger difference. For communication, we want to tell students about the benefits and opportunities of getting involved in SGA.”

Bentley: “For campus space, we want to open up the library for 24 hours as opposed to the hours that are currently in place, and that means opening it up to outside just the RLC. The RLC is a great space, but it’s not enough space for everyone who wants to study.

Explain why I should vote for your ticket in particular.

Bentley: “I think what sets us apart is our passion, character and dedication to changing this organization to be the powerhouse that it is supposed to be and meant to be.”

Why do you believe you are the most qualified to be the leaders of SGA?

Mona: “We’re really well-rounded and open-minded. We will talk to everyone. Literally everyone. I think people aren’t afraid to talk to us; we’re approachable people. I think you need someone like that who people are willing to talk to if they have a problem or proposal.”

How do you plan to campaign?

Bentley: “It’s really hard to even come up with a strategy to campaign because this campus hasn’t seen an election like this in years, at this scale. There are 6 tickets running and it’s really interesting to think about places like late night [True Grit’s], one of the prominent campaign hubs, and knowing that with just three teams there it seems overwhelming. Now it’s going to be six, which is insane.”

If you don’t get elected, how do you plan to help improve the campus?

Mona: “I’d still continue if there are positions open in SGA afterward. I wouldn’t mind getting involved just because I’ve learned a lot about SGA and really want to make a difference, no matter where it’s going to be in SGA.

If you were forced to drop out of the SGA race, what candidate would you support?

Bentley: “From what I have seen from our candidates, I think I’ve seen the most passion and effort from the Em & Isa campaign. I really really love their ideas of inclusion with SGA.”

What do you think is the primary function of our SGA?

Bentley: “The primary purpose is to empower students to really find the inner leader in themselves, and to use that to help change the community and leave a legacy at UMBC. Also, to find a home away from home. SGA can be that place.”

What is one policy you would like to enact on campus but don’t think is feasible?

Bentley: “I’m passionate about first year students. Their entire first year is where they either fall in love with UMBC or they build up all these misconceptions because they don’t have the resources and opportunities to make UMBC your home. So something that I want to do is implement some type of mentor system, where we could get 1500 students or so to sign up for the program and be a mentor/mentee. for a first year student or transfer student.”

What is your stance on the recent budget proposed by the Jankoski administration?

Bentley: “What I’m really curious about is what was so wrong with the budget that’s been in place for the past decade or so. The budget has been pretty much the same. Of course there are fluctuations, but they haven’t been this drastic before. I just wonder what was going so wrong that these changes needed to be made. I definitely did not support the budget.”

Final question: The executive branch has had many “ghost departments” this year, in that they appointed numerous individuals to lead various executive departments without posting an open application. Positions were essentially given to friends. Upon examination, these departments have been unproductive and/or completely stagnant. When it comes to appointing department heads and overseeing the various executive departments, how would you make sure the mistakes made this year don’t happen under your administration in the future?

Bentley: “First off, there would be a very open application to be a part of the executive branch. That would go out hopefully even before the school year ends. I also want to utilize a lot of different people to make the decisions on who would actually get the position because I think it’s great to have an entire process. I really want to get everyone’s opinions on who will be good for the position.”

The post SGA candidates Bentley & Mona: org outreach and study spaces appeared first on The Retriever.

This page provides resources that faculty can use to learn more about diversity in STEM, and tools that shape the PROMISE AGEP. The PROMISE AGEP was established to increase the numbers and diversity of Ph.D.s in STEM fields, with the purpose of preparing diverse graduate students and postdoctoral scholars for the STEM professoriate.

In September 2015, STEM faculty from UMB, UMBC, and UMCP were recognized as “PROMISE Mentors” after receiving nominations from graduate students and administrators. The 12 faculty members participated in a workshop on broadening participation in STEM, along with deans from the schools around the University System of Maryland. The article detailing the event can be found here: http://news.umbc.edu/workshop-examines-diversity-in-stem-graduate-education/

The Mentors are as follows:

UMB:
Dr. Joseph Stains – physiology
Dr. Eileen Barry – microbiology and immunology
Dr. Denise Orwig – epidemiology
Dr. Jacques Ravel – genomics

UM College Park:
Dr. Jeffrey Herrmann – mechanical engineering
Dr. Hugh Bruck – mechanical engineering
Dr. Jeffrey Klauda – chemical and biomolecular engineering
Dr. Sreeramurthy Ankem – materials science and engineering

UMBC:
Dr. Kathleen Hoffman – mathematics
Dr. Stephen Miller – biological sciences
Dr. Ravi Kuber – information systems
Dr. Carlos Romero-Talamas – mechanical engineering

Additional faculty who have engaged in work on diversity and were also invited to be recognized and contribute to the conversation included:
Dr. Michael Summers (biochemistry, UMBC)
Dr. Tim Oates (computer science and electrical engineering, UMBC)
Dr. Shawn Bediako (psychology, UMBC)
Dr. David Tilley (environmental sciences and technology, UMCP)
Dr. Siddhartha Das (mechanical engineering, UMCP)
Dr. Bret Hassel (microbiology & immunology, UMB)
Dr. Eduardo Davila (microbiology & immunology, UMB)
Dr. Greg Carey (microbiology & immunology, UMB).

Dr. Daryl E. Chubin, keynote speaker for the workshop, presented on the topic: Making Good on the PROMISE: Academic Interventions for STEM Ph.D.s. Dr. Daryl E. Chubin, who served in leadership positions at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the White House, serves on the External Advisory Board for PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), sponsored by the National Science Foundation. His training materials can be found below, and can be accessed by clicking the images.

1. SLIDES: Making Good on the PROMISE: Academic Interventions for STEM Ph.D.s.

PROMISE-AGEP External Advisory Board Meeting and Workshop on Enhancing Faculty Understanding of Diversity Issues in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education

By Daryl E. Chubin

September 11, 2015

Abstract:

This slide presentation tells a story of current challenges to STEM PhD-granting institutions, departments, and educators. It draws on the presenter’s federal and nonprofit policy experience, as Center Director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and as a consultant to university clients.

National data and perspectives are offered as inputs for local actions that prepare doctoral students for an uncertain academic job market. The presentation should provoke discussion of variations by discipline, race/ethnicity, and gender, and the tailoring of strategies to anticipate legal, financial, and workplace biases. All of these affect career prospects.

The presentation concludes with suggestions for guiding interventions that are practical and effective. These will be subsequently be discussed in small groups and the slides will be available.

Select Topics Examined in the Slides:

• Context
• Faculty Demographics & PhD Completion Disaggregated
• Gender & Discipline
• Legal Matters
• Debt & Support
• The Academic Market & Workplace
• Interventions: What You Can Do
• Other Resources

Excerpt from page 33:

Assessing Student Preparation for the Professoriate

Each STEM graduate program should collect and maintain quantitative and qualitative data for students focusing on activities related to preparation for the professoriate, leading to demonstrated competence in:

• Writing papers for peer-reviewed journals and preparing patent applications,
including understanding how journal articles and patent applications are
reviewed.
• Grant writing and management.
• Teaching and learning, including: understanding research on teaching and
learning; how to develop curriculum and student assessments; use of student
centered teaching strategies; use of technology for classroom management and
teaching; and issues of adult learning and cognition.
• STEM student career counseling and advising, including advising and mentoring
across cultural and sex lines and mentoring students with disabilities.
• Managing a research laboratory and teams, including understanding research
ethics.
• University citizenship, including: understanding types of universities;
requirements for promotion and tenure; navigating departmental politics; and
time management skills for balancing time for teaching, research, service—and
life (italics added).
source: Measuring Diversity: An Evaluation guide for STEM Graduate School Leaders, 2011, http://www.nsfagep.org/

2. ARTICLE: Talking to foreign-born STEM faculty about diversity

The article, Talking to foreign-born STEM faculty about diversity, is located here on the AAAS website.

3. VIDEO: Dr. Daryl E. Chubin, Sept. 15, 2015

Dr. Chubin’s talk: “Making Good on the PROMISE: Academic Interventions for STEM Ph.D.s” is featured here. The introduction is presented by Dr. Janet C. Rutledge, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School at UMBC.

More about Dr. Chubin:

Daryl E. Chubin – Leading the Way – Mythbuster (WEPAN – Women in Engineering ProActive Network article.)

Dr. Daryl E. Chubin – BioSketch/Profile

Dr. Daryl E. Chubin’s 110+ Publications

4. Resources and Statistics from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)

a. Supplement to the DIMAC Study

Okahana, H.,  Allum, J.,  Felder, P. P.,  and Tull, R. G. (2016). Data Sources PLUS: Implications for Practice and Research from Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion. The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS Online Publication: http://cgsnet.org/data-sources-plus-implications-practice-and-research-doctoral-initiative-minority-attrition-and).

b. Case study showcasing 10 “Lessons Learned: Shepherding Doctoral Students to Degree Completion,”  made possible with support from the (CGS)/Peterson’s Award for Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Community, and a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) program.

 The University as Mentor – Council of Graduate Schools’ Publication

5. Resources from the PROMISE Director (R.G. Tull):

a. The Mentor Mirror

The Mentor Mirror is a “reverse” individual development plan (IDP) for the advisors of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The traditional IDP is focused on the actions of the student/mentee. This document allows the professor/advisor/mentor to reflect upon her/his goals for the mentee’s success. The full explanation can be found here: https://renettatull.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/the-mentor-mirror-a-reverse-idp-for-mentors-srebdocschomotempowered-thinkbigdiversity/.

The Mentor Mirror (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283517238_The_Mentor_Mirror

b. Engineering PhDs & Diversity in the U.S. – Disparity by the Numbers: 129 out of 3,926 #THINKBIGDIVERSITY

Blog post by Renetta Tull: https://renettatull.wordpress.com/2015/10/07/engineering-phds-diversity-in-the-u-s-disparity-by-the-numbers-129-out-of-3926-thinkbigdiversity/

6. The PROMISE Papers and Critical Publications that Shape PROMISE

a. Publications list (comprehensive)

https://promiseagep.wordpress.com/publications/

b. The PROMISE Paper

Tull, R. G., Rutledge, J.C., Warnick, J. W., & Carter, F. D.　(2012).　PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate Enhances Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Minority Graduate Students.　Academic Medicine, 87(11), p. 1562-1569.

c. The Jessica Effect

Tull, R.G., Ordóñez, F. C., Zayas, Z., Byars-Winston, A., & Cortes-Rodriguez, M. (2014). The Jessica effect: valuing cultural and familial connections to broaden success in academe. AAC&U Peer Review, 16, 13.

d. The importance of involving students from all disciplines in STEM support programs

Tull, R. G., Williams, A. Y., & Hester, S. (2015). An NSF AGEP Program’s Unintended Effect on Broadening Participation: Transforming “Non-STEM” Graduate Students into Engineering Education Faculty, Researchers, K-12 Educators, and Advocates.　Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Education(ASEE): 122nd ASEE Annual Conference Exposition, Seattle, WA: American Society for Engineering Education.

e. The PROMISE Professional Development Book can be purchased on Amazon, PROMISE AGEP: Professional Development Workshops for Graduate Students Summer Success Institute (SSI)

Corey Carter ’08, biological sciences, ’10 M.A.T., has been selected as 2016 Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) Teacher of the Year. The recognition was announced during an April 20th ceremony at George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson.

Carter currently teaches science and co-founded the My Brother’s Keeper Mentoring program at Old Court Middle School in Pikesville. He previously taught for three years at Rayner Brown Elementary Middle School in Baltimore.

“Corey Carter sets a wonderful example of what teaching in Baltimore County looks like,” BCPS Superintendent Dallas Dance said in a news release announcing the award. “He concentrates on the whole child and fosters relationships with each and every student who comes through his door. Not only that, but he gives students the tools and confidence they need to be in charge of their own learning, and places an emphasis on critical thinking.”

“Every day, teachers must blend life lessons, content, assessments, feedback, and a sprinkling of high-fives all in pursuit of impacting a young life. But the true impact of educating others is as much about sharing knowledge as it is learning from them,” Carter said in the news release. “In fact, teaching has been most rewarding when showing others what they have taught me. My students push me to listen more, celebrate more, and to show them why I love what I do.”

At UMBC, Carter was a Sherman Scholar and is an active alumnus and member of the Sherman Program Alumni Advisory Board. As BCPS Teacher of the Year, he will compete for the honor of Maryland State Teacher of the Year.

“Corey’s journey is a wonderful example of why the support provided by the Sherman Scholars Program, both during a student’s time at UMBC and during their first few years teaching, is so important,” explained Rehana Shafi, director of the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program.

For more information, read “Baltimore County names Teacher of the Year” in The Baltimore Sun.

Earlier this month, Shalonda Holt ’07 biological sciences, teaching certificate in education, was named the 2016 Washington Post Teacher of the Year and Howard County Teacher of the Year.

Update: Carter was featured in an Education Post article on June 6, 2016. Read the full article “Here’s a Baltimore teacher who champions students inside and outside of the classroom.”  

Sayre Posey
B.A., History, Education Certificate
Magna Cum Laude
Hometown: Myersville, Maryland
Plans: 9th grade U.S. history teacher in Baltimore City

I am passionate about eliminating inequalities in low-income communities and opening students’ eyes to the amazing world of possibilities available to them, like going to college. UMBC has provided me with ample opportunities to both mentor students in Baltimore and study the achievement gap in high-needs school districts.

Sayre Posey is a Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar and Honors College member graduating with an exceptional academic record and big plans to serve Baltimore City as a history teacher.

Posey has received numerous honors and awards, including the 2016 Joseph Reese Best Essay Prize from the history department; Samson, Rosetta A., and Saddie Feldman Award for demonstrating citizenship through community service; and 2016 Maryland Teacher of Promise award from the Maryland State Department of Education.

A freshman year volunteer experience with The Choice Program at Augusta Fells Savage Institute in Harlem Park helped Posey realized “the only career I wanted…was teaching.” Since then she has served in a several afterschool and summer programs designed to provide enrichment and support for Baltimore students. She has mentored at-risk high school girls with The Choice Program, tutored Burmese students through Refugee Youth Project, spent a year teaching reading and mathematics to elementary and middle school students at the Y of Central Maryland’s College Gardens Youth Program, and worked at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth.

“Volunteering at after-school programs in Baltimore was a central part of my UMBC experience, and I can credit the myriad of service opportunities through The Shriver Center for sparking my passion for teaching,” says Posey.

This spring Posey completes her student teaching internship at Patapsco Middle School, teaching 8th grade U.S. history. She has accepted a placement to teach 9th grade U.S. history in the fall at Edmondson-Westside High School, a Baltimore City public school.

Images: Sayre Posey with her students at the College Gardens Youth Program before the annual Turkey Trot around the Irvington/Beechfield neighborhood; photo courtesy Sayre Posey. Portrait by Marlayna Demond ‘11 for UMBC.