Suicidal thoughts are more common than people realize, with suicide being the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.  Suicide rates have also been on the rise since 2021 and student mental health needs have been steadily increasing. In order to support the campus community, Retriever Integrated Health is offering a new 1-hour training option for supporting our students who experience suicidal thoughts.

The Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Training is an evidence-based program that will help you learn the signs that someone might be thinking about suicide, how to talk to them about their mental health, and how to refer them to a mental health professional to get help and support. With these skills, YOU have the power to help save a life.

You can join our virtual QPR sessions by RSVPing via myUMBC:

The PSS Work-Life Balance (WLB) Committee developed a Work-Life Balance Reflection guide last year. The WLB Committee believes that work-life balance should be an ongoing conversation! Whether you look at this in preparation for your PMP, or just a normal catch up with your supervisor, we hope this guide can help initiate a conversation. 

Green Dot is UMBC's bystander intervention program. The goal is to reduce power-based personal violence by giving bystanders the skills to intervene safely and effectively to prevent sexual assault, stalking, and relationship violence. The number of reports of sexual violence happening on and near campus are high. What if we could reduce the number of incidents by 50% or more?

Our next Green Dot training is scheduled for this Friday, March 31 from 1:00-5:00 PM in The Center for Well-Being, Room 118.
Click here to register.

The Green Dot training is highly interactive--you will not be bored and you will leave the training with skills you can use right away to keep others safe.

If you attend the Green Dot training and complete a few steps afterwards, you can earn a Green Dot badge! Electronic badges are credentials that you can attach to LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook to show others your commitment to reducing power-based personal violence. And our training has snacks! We hope you will consider registering for the Green Dot Bystander Intervention training. 

The UMBC Office of Sustainability is hosting a free workshop for faculty and staff who are interested in Eco/Climate Anxiety! 

This workshop is geared toward supporting students and other young people as they live with climate anxiety. Outcomes include understanding the relationship between mental health, mindset, and climate change. Learn how to respond to climate anxiety and create spaces that promote student well-being. Leave equipped to help students tackle their feelings of frustration, anger, and anxiety about the climate crisis into solutions.

The workshop is virtual and will take place on Thursday, April 13th from 9 - 10 AM. There are limited spots, so please sign up in advance here. 

Follow Sustainability Matters on myUMBC! 

Please RSVP here for the meeting link.

Happy March from the UMBC Workplace Learning, OD & Wellness team! The signs of spring are already showing up in our natural environment! (Spring Equinox=March 20th)

In March,  many of our learning experiences focus on building and maintaining professional relationships.  We offer curated sessions on team building, relationship building and mentoring, as well as our own session on the Performance Management Process for Supervisors. 

See the attached PDF for all of the March Training Opportunities with links to register on myUMBC.

A few events of particular note in our March calendar are: 

Follow UMBC Training on myUMBC for more information.

Given the continuing, and traumatic, incidents of shootings on college campuses, we understand that you may be concerned about how to react in the moment if such an event were to happen at UMBC. John Schaible, UMBC's Emergency Manager, will present a training session on what to do should this happen here, in our UMBC community. 

This session is open to everyone in our UMBC community. There will be two sessions, March 6 and March 15. Please register for ONE session only. We realize that this type of training is sought after and that many wish to attend. When these sessions fill, we will do our best to open more sessions as schedules allow. 

Active Assailant Preparedness Training - Monday, March 6, 1 - 2 PM

Active Assailant Preparedness Training - Wednesday, March 15, 1 - 2 PM

UMBC Bold: Campus Conversations begin this week and are scheduled through March. The full schedule of conversations can be found here. 

The schedule for conversations focused on University Governance and Engagement and Staff as Empowered Stakeholders is listed below - RSVP today and start thinking about the guiding questions indicated in each conversation.

March 7, 2023, 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM, Online

March 8, 2023, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Library and Gallery, Albin O. Kuhn 7th Floor

March 9, 2023, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM, Online

March 31, 2023, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Performing Arts & Humanities Building 132

The USM Learning and Talent Development Committee is hosting a Performance Review Prep Mini-Conference on March 2, 2023. Please see the flyer attached for more information and click here to register. 

Workshops include:

The PMP cycle is coming to a close and this conference can help both supervisors and their staff to prepare for a fruitful conversation. The mini conference is FREE to all USM supervisors and employees!

Every Thursday (volunteers needed this Thu 2/23)

AOK Library Loading Dock

1:45 to 3:30 PM

Mondays through Thursdays (volunteers needed next week)

Meet at True Grits

1:50 to 3:10 PM

1-2 Fridays per month (starting this Friday 2/24)

9:00 to 10:00 AM

Online: https://umbc.webex.com/meet/lsannel1

Interest Form (optional; we will add you to the invite if you fill it out)

Volunteer weekly and get credit on your transcript

Thursdays 1:45-3:30 or Fridays 1-3

Email Lydia Sannella for more info

We hope to see you soon!

- The Retriever Essentials Team