Retriever Essentials is in need of empty copy paper boxes. If you have any to donate, please contact Julie Rosenthal at julier@umbc.edu
Thank you for your continued support!!
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Going home over the summer? Working a low-paying or unpaid internship and worried how you’ll pay for groceries? Just interested in a free bag of nonperishable food?
Retriever Essentials has an abundance of food available, and we want you to come shopping in our pantry!
Stop by during exam week and hand pack your own bag for the summer. Come once, twice, or as many times as you need. We want to make sure you’re well taken care of during the break.
Are you going to be on campus during the summer for classes? Fear not! Our normal Food Zones will be open and stocked full of bags to be picked up at your convenience.
Email retrieveressentials@umbc.edu or call 410-455-2765 to set up your shopping appointment, 8:30am-5pm Monday-Friday from May 15 - May 24.
]]>Going home over the summer? Working a low-paying or unpaid internship and worried how you’ll pay for groceries? Just interested in a free bag of nonperishable food?
Retriever Essentials has an abundance of food available, and we want you to come shopping in our pantry!
Stop by during exam week and hand pack your own bag for the summer. Come once, twice, or as many times as you need. We want to make sure you’re well taken care of during the break.
Are you going to be on campus during the summer for classes? Fear not! Our normal Food Zones will be open and stocked full of bags to be picked up at your convenience.
Email retrieveressentials@umbc.edu or call 410-455-2765 to set up your shopping appointment, 8:30am-5pm Monday-Friday from May 15 - May 24.
Faculty and staff, please help us spread the word to your students! Feel free to copy the above message and send it to your students.
DoIT is pleased to announce that Andrea Mocko has been named manager of its Technology Support Center (TSC). Previously, she’d served as acting coordinator, specialist and even a student consultant during all four of her undergraduate years at UMBC. She is responsible for recruiting, hiring, training and supervising the 12-15 student consultants who make up the largely student-run staff serving at the TSC each semester. The TSC also serves as an informal on-site “storefront” to demo products as part of the Mac & Dell online stores, and also provides Scantron test scoring support.
In addition to daily responsibilities managing the TSC, Andrea has played a key role in revamping DoIT’s knowledge management approach to IT support. Specifically, she serves as the primary architect and curator of UMBC’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) knowledge base (umbc.edu/faq) that has dramatically reduced phone, email and Request Tracker (RT) tickets by helping users help themselves. Typically, UMBC’s FAQs generate about half a million page views each year (though not all from UMBC) after generating only 3k in 2011.
Among other benefits, this kind of self-support has allowed the TSC to keep staffing costs low. Despite the high turnover you'd expect to see in a primarily student run help desk (with 2 FT staff), the FAQs help TSC student consultants get up to speed quickly and work efficiently and effectively, In fact, our student labor & assistance budget has shrunk from about $100k (in 2011) to $83k each year since, while campus users have consistently rated DoIT’s overall IT support as 90 percent “good or excellent” ever since we started using RT 10 years ago, including up through UMBC’s 1 millionth ticket last semester.
Andrea’s expertise in user support has also been recognized by Educause, the professional development organization for higher ed IT. She was a member of the Educause IT Service Management Working group and also co-authored a white paper, “Demonstrating Value Through IT Service Management in Higher Education” (2016).
A life-long member of the UMBC community, Andrea recently earned her Master’s degree in Human Centered Computing (HCC) in UMBC’s Information Systems (IS) department, graduating in December 2018. Before then, she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UMBC 2012. As a senior student consultant, she was also instrumental in the TSC’s move from the basement of the Engineering Building to the first floor of the Library, next to the Retriever Learning Center (RLC) in Summer of 2011. This year, she’s also a member of the 2018-19 Personal Leadership and Project Management (PLPM) cohort organized by Human Resources. ]]>Director of Health and Counseling Bruce Herman announced that three new staff members will be joining the Counseling Center, while two current staff members are taking on new roles.
New Counseling Center sexual assault services and case manager/referrals coordinator positions were funded partially in response to recommendations from students, faculty, and staff for more resources.
The new staff members will begin this summer: Dr. Kevin Tabb, psychologist (July 8); Dr. Ginger Armas, psychologist and Counseling Center sexual assault services coordinator (Aug. 19); and Dr. Alayna Berkowitz, assistant director of outreach and mental health promotion (July 8).
In addition, Dr. Soonhee Lee was promoted to assistant director, training director of the Counseling Center. She previously served as interim assistant director. Sam Chan will be starting in a permanent position as a case manager/referrals coordinator on May 20.