Dear Community Members,

Our community’s active and creative engagement with this kind of teaching, learning, and problem-solving can help to illuminate a future in which all of us can participate fully and with confidence, having earned each other’s trust – a future in which democracy feels less like a twilight struggle and more like a dance. Our actions and interactions within our campus community matter a great deal, in part because so many leaders across Maryland and the U.S. are paying attention to what happens here, looking for ideas and techniques they can adapt to their own settings. By engaging in the daily work of building an inclusive, collaborative community on campus and in all of our everyday activities, we can contribute directly to the longer-term project, reflected in UMBC’s vision statement, of advancing knowledge, prosperity, and justice for all.

We also encourage all students, faculty and staff to take good care of yourselves and each other, and reach out to family, friends, and communities for support. Students can access peer-to-peer digital support any time by registering with Togetherall, or by making an appointment with Retriever Integrated Health by calling 410-455-2472. Faculty and staff counseling resources are available through the Employee Assistance Program.

The Peer Health Education Program is an unpaid internship offered through the Career Center. Students are able to earn PRAC Internship credit and a nationally recognized peer educator certification. This internship is a one-year minimum commitment. As a peer health educator, you will have the opportunity to

• Develop health and well-being events and initiatives for the UMBC community
• Use health communication strategies to raise awareness of relevant health and wellbeing topics pertinent to college students
• Develop and sharpen your public speaking, interpersonal communication, and leadership skills
• Facilitate health workshops and
• Serve as a resource for your peers

This internship experience has supported peer health educators in their post-graduate careers. Specifically, past peer health educators used this experience to support their graduate school applications and secure positions in and outside of the public health and health care industry.

If you are interested in being a peer health educator for the 2022-2023 academic year, please submit your application by July 10, 2022. Undergraduate and graduate students from any academic background attending UMBC’s main campus are welcome to apply.

 

The Obama Foundation is seeking applications for the Voyager Scholarship, also known as the Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service. The Voyager Scholarship is a two-year program for students in their junior year at U.S. colleges and universities who are interested in pursuing careers involving public service and community engagement. Voyager Scholarship recipients gain experience and support from a strong network of fellow scholars and experienced leaders, including through invitation to an annual public service summit.

 

Voyager Scholarship recipients will receive up to $25,000 per year in financial aid during their junior and senior years in college. The program includes a $10,000 stipend and free Airbnb housing to support a work-travel experience between recipients’ junior and senior years of college, as well as a $2,000 travel credit every year for ten years ($20,000 total). Upon graduation, recipients become members of the Obama Foundation’s global community, which connects them with resources and programming for further engagement.

 

To be eligible to apply, students must plan to enroll full-time during the fall 2022 semester in their junior year of study at an accredited four-year college or university in the U.S. (such as UMBC). Students must have demonstrated a commitment to public service and plan to pursue a career in public service upon graduation.

 

Applications are due by June 14, 2022 at 3 p.m. CDT (4 p.m. EDT). Selected recipients will be notified of their acceptance in August 2022, and the program will start in September 2022.

 

Click here more information about the Voyager Scholarship as well as a link to the application.

Here is the May 2022 edition of Community Matters, the Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s newsletter.

 

For an alt text version of the May 2022 edition, visit here.

The National College Health Assessment (NCHA) is an assessment tool that asks students about their health and well-being behaviors. This information is used across campus to inform health and well-being strategies and programmatic needs. 

This year, UMBC’s NCHA Survey is accepting responses until Saturday, April 30. If you have been invited to participate in the survey, you can find the link in an email sent to you from ncha-web@acha.org. 

All students who complete the UMBC NCHA Survey will be entered into a drawing. 200 students will win $10 in Retriever Dollars. Students will also be entered into a drawing to win either a JBL Portable Speaker or a pair of Beats Wireless Headphones. 

Retriever Integrated Health is partnering with NCHA on this survey. For questions, email rih@umbc.edu.