As part of our annual assessment plan, the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) encourages the campus community to complete the following annual survey of information technology services: 

http://umbc.edu/go/doitusersurvey

This brief (10 minute max), anonymous survey will help us in our planning for academic year 2015-16 and provides important feedback to understand what technology services are important to you and how well we are meeting your needs. The survey results are shared with our governance committees and used in our planning for the upcoming year.

If you have any questions about this survey or need more information, please contact our Technology Support Center (TSC) located on the first floor of the library or call 410.455.3838.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance. Your input is critically important in shaping the services we offer.

Join us in a celebration of libraries.

Please RSVP on MyUMBC: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/31161

Students who are not from UMBC, and are coming from other schools within the University System of Maryland, may RSVP by placing your name, school, and department into the comment section below.

UMBC participates in the national effort to connect graduate students with options for careers through the Council of Graduate Schools’ effort, Pathways Through Graduate School and Into Careers. 

REF:  Council of Graduate Schools and Educational Testing Service. (2012). Pathways Through Graduate School and Into Careers. Report from the Commission on Pathways Through Graduate School and Into Careers. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

WEBSITE with the report and additional resources: http://www.pathwaysreport.org/

Confirmed organizations as of 4/4/15

• National Security Agency
• The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratories
• District of Columbia Public Schools
• Aflac
• SABREE, Inc.
• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• Senaissance software
• The Hilltop Institute
• Creative Staffing International
• Social Security Administration
• City of Baltimore – Bureau of Budget and Management Research (BBMR)
• Basis, Inc.
• US NAVY
• US Secret Service
• Northrop Grumman
• National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)

Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are invited to meet Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Volkow is coming to UMBC as the Spring 2015 Distinguished Speaker for the ADVANCE program at UMBC. UMBC ADVANCE reached out to PROMISE and worked with Dr. Volkow to create a special session specifically geared to connect with graduate students. Dr. Volkow’s research is on addiction and the brain, but she is also interested in sharing about her role as a woman leader in STEM. Dr. Volkow grew up in Mexico and has been studying addiction since she was a teenager. She has published more than 580 articles, and 90 book chapters and other papers!

Come and meet this phenomenal leader!

• Monday, April 13, 2015
• Special Session for graduate students and postdocs: 1:00 – 2:00 PM, UMBC Campus, University Center, Room 310 (Light refreshments will be served.)
  • UMBC RSVP here: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/31746
  • Grad students who have participated in PROMISE, but are not at UMBC, RSVP with your name and school in the comment section below.
• Afternoon Research Lecture: 4:30-5:30 PM, AOK Library Gallery (All invited, reception to follow), http://my.umbc.edu/groups/advance/news/50784

NIDA’s website describes Dr. Volkow’s work as follows:

Dr. Volkow pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate the toxic effects and addictive properties of abusable drugs. Her studies have documented changes in the dopamine system affecting, among others, the functions of frontal brain regions involved with motivation, drive, and pleasure in addiction. She has also made important contributions to the neurobiology of obesity, ADHD, and aging. (REF: http://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/directors-page)

See Dr. Volkow’s talk from TEDMED:

_______________________

The PROMISE AGEP would like to express gratitude to UMBC ADVANCE for specifically developing a session with Dr. Volkow for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. We express sincere thanks to Dr. Autumn Reed (Program Coordinator for Diversity Initiatives, Office of the Provost, UMBC)  for strengthening the ADVANCE-AGEP connection through this structured and coordinated event with Dr. Volkow. 

• ABOUT ADVANCE: National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers (ADVANCE)
• ABOUT ADVANCE at UMBC: http://advance.umbc.edu/
• ABOUT the ADVANCE Hispanic Women in STEM Project with UMBC & Puerto Rico: https://hispanicstemwomen.wordpress.com/

_______________________

Dr. Volkow’s image and biographical information are reprinted with permission from the National Institute on Drug Abuse Press Office. 

Adaptive Release provides controls to release content to students based on a set of rules provided by the instructor. The rules may be related to availability, date and time, individual users and user groups (such as course Groups), scores or attempts on any Gradebook item, or review status of another item in the course. Using adaptive release can help instructors keep track of student progress in the course, and release content items as they see fit.

Examples of Adaptive Release

Apply review status criteria as the student progresses

Your course is divided into sections, each containing an overview, readings, and a quiz. You want content to be released as the student progresses through content and marks items as reviewed.

• You want the overview to always be visible, so you apply no criteria.

• You want the readings to be available after the overview has been reviewed, so you apply a review status rule to each of the readings, selecting the overview.

• You want the quiz to be available after the final reading has been reviewed, so you apply a review status rule to the quiz, selecting that reading.

Apply date criteria as the term progresses

Your course is divided into three sections. You want the sections available on specific dates throughout the term.

• You want the first section to always be visible, so you apply no criteria.

• You want the second section to be available after February 1st, so you apply a date rule to each item in the section.

• You want the third section to be available after March 1st, so you apply a date rule to each item in the section.

Apply grade criteria for remedial purposes

You created additional course material for remedial purposes.

• You want the remedial material to be available to students who receive 65% or less on their midterm exams, so you apply a grade rule to the material based on this test score.

Best Practices

Since adaptive release allows distribution of content as the course progresses, unlike in the face-to-face environment, students do not see this process. Without a bit of explanation, they may be confused when items suddenly appear, or wonder why some students see different items than they do. No placeholder exists for items hidden due to adaptive release criteria. Students have no way of knowing where items may appear unless you tell them.

To eliminate such confusion, consider adding a statement to your course syllabus or getting started materials:

All students access content using the Course Documents link on the course menu. Some content is released based on the following rules:

• Date criteria: Some content is assigned a default release date. On that date, it is available to all students.

• Review status criteria: Students, who are progressing through course content quickly and marking the content as reviewed, see content before the default release date.

• Membership criteria: For group projects, the class is divided into several groups. Different material is released to each group. You will not see content that another group sees.

• Grade criteria: Students must receive 70% on each test before the next unit is released for viewing. Students who receive less than 70% on their tests can access additional review materials. After marking the additional materials as reviewed, the next unit is released for viewing.

Getting Started with Adaptive Release

To learn more about using Rubrics in Blackboard:

• visit our Blackboard Adaptive Release FAQ page  

• open an               RT Ticket for any technical issues

• view the schedule of training workshops on the   DoIT group page

• contact  the Instructional Technology Team with any questions or concerns

The 2015 PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI) will be held on Saturday, August 15, 2015, 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM. This conference (business attire) provides professional development for new/incoming graduate students, continuing graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, early-career professors, and professionals in the region. This is an annual event that has been in existence since 2003. All PROMISE alumni are welcome to return! Professionals in the area are welcome to attend to be part of this networking, professional development, and community building event. The 2015 SSI will be held at The Hotel at Arundel Preserve, in Hanover, MD. See more about our SSI History: https://promiseagep.wordpress.com/promise/the-promise-summer-success-institute-ssi/

Stay tuned to this website. It will be regularly updated with information.