Launching Arts+UMBC Initiative
Dear UMBC Community,
I am excited to announce the launch of Arts+UMBC, an ongoing, collaborative, multidisciplinary effort that will celebrate the arts at UMBC through the expansion of programming. On-campus, community, and national artists will be featured in unique and innovative ways that highlight and grow the UMBC art scene and the connection with the broader community.
Committees made up of faculty, staff, and students representing a range of arts disciplines worked diligently throughout the past year to plan and support an inspired calendar of arts programming that will highlight the creativity of our community. We will explore cross-disciplinary programming themes, including Trailblazers, the Harlem Renaissance, Artful Stories, and Space, Place, and Justice. We look forward to inviting the surrounding community to join us in celebrating what makes UMBC arts unique.
I’d like to thank the many people who have worked on this initiative to date, including the committee members listed below. I look forward to sharing more in the early fall around how we will celebrate the arts at UMBC in new and wonderful ways.
Sincerely,
Manfred H. M. van Dulmen
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
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Our Vision
UMBC will be recognized in the region and beyond as a transformative, inviting arts destination where creative interdisciplinary research and public-facing programming challenge, enrich, and inspire both on and off campus. By embracing UMBC's position as a leading voice in the arts and celebrating the breadth and depth of work and research among our community in the visual and performing arts disciplines, we will look to the arts initiative as a catalyst for evolving our campus arts culture into an interconnected and innovative network that will prepare our students for their creative futures.
Our Goals
- Celebrate the talent and excellence of the arts at UMBC and the ways we engage our surrounding communities.
- Fortify our reputation in the region and beyond as a comprehensive research university, in which the arts are integral.
- Develop engaged regional audiences of all ages who visit UMBC as active participants in the arts.
- Broaden our fundraising efforts in the arts in order to support and amplify the impact of the arts in the lives of our students and alumni, and by extension the communities in which they practice and perform.
- Establish a foundation for interdisciplinary connections between academic departments and centers.
Committee Members
- Becky Bosstick, Acting Director, Special Events, Institutional Advancement
- Ann Sofie Clemmensen, Director, Linehan Artist Scholars Program; Associate Professor, Dance
- Manfred H. M. van Dulmen, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Linda Dusman, Special Assistant to the Dean for Education and Arts Partnerships; Professor, Music
- Emma Hagen ’14, Assistant Director, Creative Services, Student Affairs
- Sara Lerma Jones, Director, Donor Relations, Institutional Advancement
- Kimberly R. Moffitt, Dean, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Professor, Language, Literacy, and Culture
- Tom Moore, Director, Arts and Culture, University Communications and Marketing
- Stanyell Bruce, Director, Alumni Engagement, Institutional Advancement
- Jenny O'Grady, Assistant Vice President, Strategic Content, University Communications and Marketing
- Mary Ann Richmond ’93, Director, Community Affairs, Government Relations and Community Affairs
- Kim Robinson, Director, Major Gifts, Institutional Advancement
- Rebecca Uchill, Director, Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture
- Yaakov “Jake” Weissmann ’06, Vice President, Government Relations and Community Affairs
- Brigid Zuknick ’09, Dance, Alumni Association Board of Directors
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Dear UMBC Community, I am excited to announce the launch of Arts+UMBC, an ongoing, collaborative, multidisciplinary effort that will celebrate the arts at UMBC through the expansion of...
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Thu, 15 May 2025 12:05:16 -0400
Leadership Announcement
Welcoming a new vice president for institutional advancement
Dear UMBC Community,
I am delighted to announce the appointment of Patrick Roche to the role of vice president for institutional advancement. Patrick will begin in the role July 1.
Patrick joins UMBC from the University of Minnesota Foundation, where he is currently vice president for principal gifts and interdisciplinary initiatives. The foundation is a separate nonprofit organization from the University of Minnesota that serves as the central development office for the university. Prior to assuming his current role in 2024, Patrick served for three years as associate vice president for central programs.
At the foundation, Patrick’s role as a member of the senior leadership team has focused on developing strategies for the university’s next comprehensive campaign, cultivating transformational philanthropic relationships with the university’s most prominent donors, and developing university-wide plans for interdisciplinary initiatives. He has led the foundation’s planned giving, international fundraising, regional development program, and leadership annual giving program in raising $130 million in Fiscal Year 2024, up from the $100 million the teams raised in FY 2023 and $70 million raised in FY 2022.
As important as his fundraising success are Patrick’s leadership abilities, his strategic mindset, and his dedication to the mission of higher education. He is incredibly thoughtful about the purpose of philanthropy in advancing mission and vision and the critical role of alumni in moving an institution forward. I know he is inspired by UMBC’s vision and its identity as a public research institution that sees inclusive excellence as its core defining value.
Before returning home to his native Minnesota to serve in leadership with the foundation, Patrick held numerous roles in advancement in California and New York. Most recently, he was vice president of development for Goodwill of Southern California, where he secured the organization’s largest single gift in 2020, grew and developed the staff, and implemented a strategic plan and new methodologies for fundraising programs and collaboration across the organization.
His advancement career in higher education includes four years as vice president of development and alumni relations at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY, where he achieved three consecutive years of record growth in fundraising, as well as several leadership roles at Claremont McKenna College and annual and major gift fundraising roles at the California Institute of Technology. Patrick, who earned a bachelor’s degree in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, began his career in business development and sales management in the technology sector.
We are delighted that Patrick has accepted our offer to lead the OIA team and serve in this pivotal role as a partner to our senior leadership team and me. My sincere thanks to Kevin Yang ’07, president of the UMBC Alumni Association Board of Directors, and Karl Steiner, vice president for research and creative achievement, for their leadership of the search committee, as well as to all the members of the committee for their service.
I am deeply grateful to Stanyell Bruce, director of alumni engagement, and Kim Robinson, director of major gifts, who have served admirably in temporary co-leadership of OIA. Thank you, Stanyell and Kim, and welcome, Patrick!
Sincerely,
President Valerie Sheares Ashby
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Dear UMBC Community, I am delighted to announce the appointment of Patrick Roche to the role of vice president for institutional advancement. Patrick will begin in the role July 1. ...
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Mon, 12 May 2025 15:18:56 -0400
Additional Updates Regarding Federal Actions and Orders
Dear UMBC Community,
As we continue to monitor and respond to actions and executive orders from the federal government, we are meeting regularly with campus groups, including shared governance leaders, and with individuals who have been impacted by recent changes. Today, we write to share with you a comprehensive update on several areas of activity.
Advocating for UMBC and for higher education
First, we want you to know that in addition to our work on campus, we are coordinating and collaborating closely with the University System of Maryland (USM) and the state, including the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, seeking guidance and opportunities to advocate for UMBC and its community members and for the values that are core to our mission and to higher education.
Among the proposals we are watching closely is the
draft legislation advanced by the U.S. House of Representatives recently that would mean massive changes to the federal student financial aid system, restricting access to aid for parents and students, ending the grad PLUS loan program for graduate students, and more. We are speaking directly to our representatives in Congress about supporting our students and affordability and access to higher education.
We also are standing up for higher education with fellow university leaders. As you may know, the university recently joined hundreds of institutions and associations in signing on to a
statement issued by the American Association of Colleges and Universities that speaks out against the “unprecedented overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” Nearly 600 university presidents, chancellors, and other leaders have added their voices to this call for constructive engagement.
You may also be aware that the USM recently joined 85 other institutions and associations in an
amicus brief filed by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration in
AAUP v. Rubio, a federal lawsuit challenging the administration’s revocation of visas and detentions of noncitizen students and scholars. USM is a member institution of the President’s Alliance, and we are grateful for the system’s leadership in supporting our community members.
International students and scholars, travel, and immigration
We have a few updates related to our international community and international travel. First, in a
campus message last month, we shared that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had taken action within the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) to terminate the F-1 immigration records of four members of our campus community. Neither the affected students nor UMBC officials were ever notified or given justification by DHS regarding these terminations.
Today, we are pleased to share that the immigration records for the affected UMBC international graduate students have been reactivated by DHS, and all four remain in the U.S. Staff members in UMBC’s Center for Global Engagement will continue to conduct daily audits of immigration records in SEVIS.
Second, we understand that many members of our campus community are planning international travel this summer. We want to remind you of the information and resources shared in an
earlier communication as you make your plans.
The U.S. Department of State has now resumed posting
visa appointment wait time estimates at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. While this information can be useful for trip planning purposes, we continue to advise international travelers who require new visas to return to the U.S. that they confirm their visa appointments prior to departing, as appointment wait times can change dramatically without notice.
Finally: In recent weeks, many members of our campus community have contacted the Center for Global Engagement (CGE) with concerns regarding international travel and immigration enforcement. This outreach has included U.S. citizens seeking assurances that they will not face challenges when seeking to reenter the U.S., as well as inquiries related to the immigration status of family members. Given the specific scope of CGE’s services and limitations on the immigration classifications upon which its staff may advise, namely F-1, J-1, and H-1B, we ask that all other inquiries be directed to UMBC’s
Employee Assistance Program or
private immigration counsel. This will help CGE focus resources effectively and ensure timely support for those who depend on the specialized services the office provides. Thank you for your understanding.
Research impacts
Recent executive orders, combined with decisions from a variety of federal agencies, have led to an increasingly significant impact on UMBC’s research endeavor, as has been the case for nearly every research university across the country. For UMBC, the impact has so far amounted to the termination of more than 30 multi-year grants and awards (some of which had started only recently, and some of which were in their final few months of funding). The numbers change frequently, but to date, the net financial impact of these grant terminations is in the range of $30 million, or about $10 million a year over the next three years. This represents a decrease of about 10 – 12 percent in the amount of annual research funding UMBC has received from the federal government in recent years.
We are working closely with our university counsel and the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, as well as with the
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (Karl Steiner, vice president for research and creative achievement, is a member of the executive committee of APLU’s Council on Research) to understand and mitigate the impact of these terminations.
We also are carefully monitoring the recent release of the president’s federal discretionary budget proposal and the growing list of announcements by federal agencies to cap indirect costs for research, also known as facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, and working with appropriate representatives to address them.
To our research community: Please continue to work with your departments and colleges to pursue external funding opportunities. Our
Office of Research Development (ORD) can provide help in this regard and is actively assisting faculty members who are pursuing alternate funding sources. ORD can share information and guidance on such opportunities and provide grant-writing support.
Please continue to visit our
information and resources website for up-to-date information and for answers to frequently asked questions specific to our research and creative achievement community.
Faculty tenure and promotion
The impacts of federal actions and orders on our research enterprise also stand to disrupt the career trajectories and development of our faculty. To address such potential impact related to research funding, teaching, and service, we are putting in place modifications to the university’s tenure and promotion reviews, beginning in the fall. For more information about these changes, please see the
message sent recently to UMBC faculty.
Accreditation
As you know, UMBC is currently in the final stages of the self-study component of our accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), and we certainly took note of the
executive order issued last month concerning higher education accreditation and the related
Dear Colleague Letter from the Department of Education.
MSCHE has issued a statement in response and indicated they will be in contact with universities with additional information when available. For now, we are staying the course with our accreditation process, and we appreciate the work of everyone involved in this significant effort.
Budget planning
One brief note about our budget planning: The
April 9 campus message noted that with the passage of the state of Maryland’s budget, we had clarity on what our funding from the state would look like—amid the ongoing uncertainty of federal support. As we shared then, the USM directed its institutions to prepare three-year budget projections. Our update today is simply that the USM has extended by a few weeks the timeline for completing those projections (which had been early May). We will share further details about the projections and our budget planning process in the coming weeks.
Care and commitment for UMBC and its values
We cherish the incredible breadth of identities, perspectives, and lived experiences of our community members, and we know that some individuals, including members of our LGBTQIA2+ community, may be feeling especially vulnerable in the current moment. Our collective responsibility is to care for one another and to continue to live UMBC’s value of inclusive excellence, to ensure that we provide an educational environment and workplace that is welcoming, inclusive, and safe for all.
As we near the end of the semester and the celebration of our newest graduates later this month, we reaffirm our commitment to inclusive excellence and to academic freedom—core values that are essential to who we are, to what we do, and to why it matters. We will not waver in our devotion to these fundamentals, and we are grateful for your shared vision and dedication to UMBC.
Sincerely,
President Valerie Sheares Ashby
Manfred H. M. van Dulmen
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
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Dear UMBC Community, As we continue to monitor and respond to actions and executive orders from the federal government, we are meeting regularly with campus groups, including shared...
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