Please see the latest updates on UMBC’s Retriever Ready website. Questions? Email covid19@umbc.edu.
Dear UMBC Community,
Yesterday we received notice from the University System of Maryland that Higher Education employees participating in face-to-face instruction or working on the physical campus are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under Phase 1B and Phase 1C of Maryland’s COVID-19 vaccination plan. Currently this applies to faculty, staff, and frontline contractual workers, not students. Students may be eligible for other groups based on age or if they work in healthcare settings.
Unfortunately, this eligibility does not mean you will automatically be able to receive a vaccine, as different counties have different levels of availability and distribution timelines. Vaccine supply remains very limited despite more Marylanders becoming eligible.
We encourage all community members to sign up for the vaccine registry created by their local county health department. Any UMBC employee may also register with theBaltimore County Health Department, even if they do not live in Baltimore County. Please indicate that you are a higher education professional. Individuals who sign up should receive a scheduling notice from their health department when a vaccine is available.
We also wish to clarify that, at this time, it is vital that individuals who have received either one or both doses of a vaccine and are approved to be on campus comply with current UMBC testing, symptom tracking, and other requirements. This is based on federal and state recommendations designed to limit virus transmission. More information about the public health reasons that inform this decision can be found on our newvaccine webpage. We will also update this website as we learn more about vaccine availability and distribution.
Thank you for your continued commitment to keeping our community safe and healthy. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to us at covid19@umbc.edu.
Provost Philip Rous
Vice President for Administration and Finance Lynne Schaefer
COVID-19 Planning Coordinating Committee Co-Chairs
In coordination with the First-Generation Workgroup, Off-Campus Student Services is incredibly excited to announce the First-Generation Peer Mentoring Program (FGPMP).
FGPMP is designed to support the success of current first-time and full-time first-generation students at UMBC. At UMBC, first-generation students are defined as "a student who is the first in their immediate family to attend college". Students that take part in this program can expect to meet other first-generation students and become a part of a large, supportive community that works to share resources, find lasting friendships and connections, and create an impactful college experience. Please be aware that in order to be a mentor, you must have completed at least one year as a student at UMBC and mentees must be within their first year at UMBC.
Participants of the FGPMP will also have the opportunity to take part in a series of activities and workshops designed to enrich students both personally and professionally.
Some additional benefits of taking part in the FGPMP include:
Developing transferable and marketable skills to enhance professional experience
Cultivation of leadership, self-management, and organizational skills
Improved communication and interpersonal skills
Greater self-efficacy and self-awareness
An increased network of support
Expanding your resume
If you would like to be a part of the FGPMP, please click here to fill out the application. The application deadline is Monday, February 8 at 5:00 PM.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. M. Antonio Silas at silas@umbc.edu. Thank you and we look forward to connecting with you!
“In Cherishing the Small and Ordinary, his sixtieth collection, Robert Deluty once again charms the reader with his poetic snapshots of ordinary people in ordinary situations ‘caught,’ as Art Linkletter used to say, ‘in the act of being themselves:’ their quirks and peccadilloes across a vast array of contexts, ethnicities, and age groups, embellished with Deluty’s indefatigable wry insights, spectacular puns, ever-inventive wordplay, and cradled in the warmth of his affection for this peculiar species.”
In this first of a series of updates, we’ll give a description of what HelioCampus (Helio, for short) is and why we’re investing in it, provide an overview of UMBC’s goals for the project, and summarize what we’re currently working on and what’s next.
HelioCampus was established as an independent company after being formed at UMGC. It provides a data analytics platform covering the student lifecycle, institutional finance, and advancement. Designed to run using Amazon Web Services, Helio provides UMBC with the next-generation decision support services we need to operate more strategically and sustainably (from a financial perspective).
Put simply, Helio integrates our enterprise data warehouse with advanced reporting and visualization tools. With it, we’ll be better able to share information from our systems and answer key questions through analytics, data storytelling, and data science and do it easier and faster. Helio’s a key component of an integrated infrastructure for academic planning, assessment, and analytics and it helps to support our strategic plan, strategic enrollment plan, and the recommendations of our Middle States accreditation Self-Study.
Our goals for Helio are to broaden and deepen our use of analytics to increase enrollment, improve student success, shorten time to degree, ensure financial sustainability, and accelerate gift giving...all key elements of UMBC’s plans to weather the current environment and position ourselves for growth and success going forward.
Helio uses Tableau visualization software. The first set of visualizations and tools, often called dashboards, has already been deployed to a small group of campus users to allow them to test the platform. These dashboards focus on metrics related to admissions, enrollment, retention, and graduation. People using Tableau have had very positive reactions to its ease of use and power.
We’re delighted to tell you that the implementation is on schedule. We will be holding regular meetings starting in the first quarter of 2021 that will showcase Helio’s and Tableau for people interested in learning more and we’ll provide training for people who would like it. Look for another installment in this series with the details.