On Wednesday, April 9, 2014, we will welcome new PROMISE Mentor, Dr. Michael Penn, Vice President of Strategy at Gladstone Institutes (and author of “Finding Your North,” a book that we featured at a past SSI), and Dr. Jaime Bonilla, Dean of the School of Engineering at  Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico.

Dr. Penn (in-person) and Dr. Bonilla (via Skype) are among leaders from 15 organizations who are coming to talk to graduate students about job opportunities. Dr. Penn is interested in finding talented biomedical researchers who are ready for postdoctoral positions. He is coming to Maryland so that he can go beyond just having people apply for positions on a website. He is coming from California to meet you in person! You never know what opportunities might transpire, so if you do research in any of the areas that Gladstone covers, e.g., HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s and other neurological disorders, virology and immunology, bioinformatics, cardiovascular disease, and more. Read more about the research at Gladstone Institutes, a partner of the University of California, San Francisco: http://gladstoneinstitutes.org/

After connecting with Dr. Jaime Bonilla at the International conference of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) in Atlanta in 2013, and again at the 2013 World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) in Cartagena, Colombia, we learned that Dr. Bonilla had developed a unique “Visiting Professors” program that is available to engineering Ph.D.s around the world. In an effort to expose his students at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico with a global perspective, he wants to bring in new faculty from around the world, to teach technical courses in English. These short assignments would give you, participants in PROMISE, an opportunity to have an international short-term visiting professorship. An example of the kinds of  positions that are on the table can be found here: http://www.higheredjobs.com/m/details.cfm?JobCode=175866267&Title=Visiting%20Professor%20-%20Engineering. Come and talk to Dr. Bonilla, a member of the Global Engineering Deans Council, to find out more about this opportunity, including opportunities that have not been discussed here.

The event is the Career Pathways for Graduate Students Dinner Seminar, which includes a concurrent panel discussion on global careers. Both graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are invited to this event.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

UMBC’s Campus

A.O.K. Library, 7th Floor

RSVP:

• UMBC’s graduate students and postdocs: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/19713
• Graduate students and postdocs from other schools within the University System of Maryland: Please RSVP by writing a message in the comment section below with your name and department. Alternatively, you may send email to promisestaff@gmail.com, with the subject “Career Pathways 2014.”

Other guests include representatives from:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
• Creative Staffing International
• Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
  
• Kelly Government Solutions
• National Security Agency
• Soft Tech Consulting
• The Canton Group
• The Hilltop Institute, UMBC
• U. S. Census Bureau
• UMBC, Research Administration
• Urban Teacher Center
• Viggorr Innovative Systems and Solutions Company
• The Fulbright Program
• The U. S. Department of State

About Dr. Penn:

Dr. Michael L. Penn, Jr, is VP for Strategy at the Gladstone Institutes and Chief Executive Officer of the Gladstone Foundation. Dr. Penn oversees the Communications Department and the the core laboratories and provides leadership for the conception, analysis and implementation of Gladstone’s strategic initiatives. Prior to joining Gladstone in 2012 he worked for more than 8 years at Genentech Inc., where he helped advance innovations in drug development. In 2001, Dr. Penn co-founded Building Diversity in Science, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering underrepresented minority students to pursue careers in science. From 2002 to 2004, he served as Commissioner for San Francisco’s Health Commission, the policy-making board of the Department of Public Health. Dr. Penn earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Morehouse College and an MD and PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of California, San Francisco.

About Dr. Bonilla:

After Thursday, May 22, the My Documents folder on lab computers will be disabled for storing files. Instead, DoIT recommends using Box (box.umbc.edu) for storing all of your files.  Combined with a new local vs. network profile, disabling the My Documents folder is expected to decrease login times on lab computers.  

In terms of personal storage, Box provides anytime, anywhere access and is available from desktops, laptops and mobile devices. Of course, lab computers will still support personal USB flash or “thumb” drives, too. For more information on Box, please visit the “Help” menu at the bottom of the Box login page at box.umbc.edu.

After May 22 any stored files will no longer be accessible and any future files stored in My Documents will not be saved.  Any data stored in the My Documents folder prior to May 22, 2014, will be available for one year, but recovery will only be possible by submitting an RT ticket by visitinghttp://my.umbc.edu/help or contacting our Technology Support Center at x53838.

Update:

Given recent IT security threats generally, DoIT has decided to force the password change to May 23, 2014, the day after Undergraduate Commencement. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. 

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In an effort to improve campus security and better protect user information, DoIT is requiring that everyone with a UMBC account must change his or her password by June 9, 2014, unless this has already been done this calendar year. This will apply to all myUMBC account holders -- students, faculty, staff and alumni. We know people hate changing their account passwords, but with the rise of emails targeting people to share their account and password, called phishing, we feel it is necessary for security.

As part of this effort, everyone will also be required to provide an alternate email address and create account security questions. Once in place, all users will then be able to reset their password through a self-service page. We have had these account security questions in place for the last two years for students and the program has been very successful in reducing the number of time-consuming, manual password resets performed by our Technolgy Support Center (TSC). We expect that by expanding self-service password resets to all account holders, everyone will benefit.

A notice will appear to all faculty and staff when they login on Wednesday, April 23, informing them they need to change their password and establish their security questions, if they have not done so already in 2014. While the final date for password changes is June 9th, DoIT especially recommends that faculty make this change before they leave for the summer. We will also be sending out regular reminders.

To create your own security questions, visit the following Frequently Asked Question (FAQ):

How do I create my security questions to reset a forgotten password?

If you have any questions or need help, please submit an RT Ticket or contact the TSC at 410.455.3838.

[Tune in every 2 weeks for Library Staff Highlights!]

Name: Sarah New

Hometown: Bel Air, MD, USA

Alma Mater: University of Virginia

Well there is no need to splurge on an expensive bike on a college student's budget. The perfect solution is the RetrieverFleet! The program is free (unless renting overnight) and consists of 6 Diamondback bikes!

How does it work?

You hand your UMBC I.D. to the RAC staff and check out a bike—they come with locks and helmets. Bikes are due back to the RAC 15 minutes before closing time to avoid the overnight charge.

Need the bike for more than one day?

The program allows for overnight rentals at the rate of $17 per day and the first day is free. 

Author: Uyen Nguyen, OCSS Sustainability Outreach Intern

Through our PROMISE AGEP collaborations with the World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF), and the Student Platform for Engineering Education Development (World SPEED), you are being invited to apply for  MIT’s “Education DesignShop”  the sponsored by MIT’s Office of Digital Learning. The program is slated to employ “design thinking” and “user-centered design” to address three distinct topics:

1) Curriculum Re-Design for STE(A)M – Science, Technology, Engineering, (Arts), and Mathematics

2) Motivational Structures In & Out of the Classroom

3) Resources and Support Structures for Retention & Diversity

Slots are limited. This program is free. The leader of the program has asked that we encourage you to apply. They learned about PROMISE at the 2013 WEEF Conference in Cartagena, Colombia, and through meetings of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies.

This is a unique opportunity to “think outside of the box” and have some, new, and different experiences. Please apply:

http://edudesignshop.mit.edu/apply.html.

_________________________________

Related: 

About WEEF 2014: http://weef2014.org/

Through our PROMISE AGEP collaborations with the World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF), and the Student Platform for Engineering Education Development (World SPEED), you are being invited to apply for  MIT’s “Education DesignShop”  the sponsored by MIT’s Office of Digital Learning. The program is slated to employ “design thinking” and “user-centered design” to address three distinct topics:

1) Curriculum Re-Design for STE(A)M – Science, Technology, Engineering, (Arts), and Mathematics

2) Motivational Structures In & Out of the Classroom

3) Resources and Support Structures for Retention & Diversity

Slots are limited. This program is free. The leader of the program has asked that we encourage you to apply. They learned about PROMISE at the 2013 WEEF Conference in Cartagena, Colombia, and through meetings of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies.

This is a unique opportunity to “think outside of the box” and have some, new, and different experiences. Please apply:

http://edudesignshop.mit.edu/apply.html.

_________________________________

Related: 

About WEEF 2014: http://weef2014.org/

This year, SGA's Prove It! grant competition features many student groups looking to create real change on campus.  On the week of March 24-28, UMBC students will vote for the grant proposals they like the most.  The two winning ideas will receive $10,000 to implement their programs on campus.

One of the campaigns that students can vote for is Veteran Peer Mentor Program.

The student veteran population is one of the fastest growing populations at UMBC.

A solid support system at UMBC has not yet been developed to meet all their needs.

We need to implement a Veteran Peer Mentor Program to help meet those needs and provide the camaraderie many vets miss after leaving the military.

 Transitioning veterans to be successful students adds a valuable resource and benefit to the whole UMBC community.

Having veterans adds depth and diversity to the student body. Veterans are an incredibly team oriented, resilient, and motivated group of individuals.  They bring unique perspectives to the classroom from their experiences.  They understand the importance of cooperation, having been used to working in close-knit teams in the military; their peers were sometimes the difference between life and death.

Their military training prepared them to handle life and death situations but not how to transition to being a college student.  When a veteran doesn't feel connected to their university they may be more inclined to leave school.  Student veterans do not respond to traditional methods of outreach.  A Veteran Peer Mentor Program will enable veterans to achieve a higher level of academic success and smoothly transition to student life which not only benefits veterans but the entire UMBC community

Veterans have invested in our nation.  Now it’s our turn to invest in them.  Vote for the Veteran Peer Mentor Program on the Prove It! poll at http://my.umbc.edu/discussions/11313

1. The WT2014 Bb server will be taken completely offline on Friday, 3/21.
2. WT2013 courses will be restored on the UMBC Bb production server. We encourage you to download a copy of your grade center, and any other content that you might need to your local machine. If instructors have students finishing incomplete grades, and students must have continuing access to their WT2014 course over spring break, the instructors should put in an RT ticket request prior to Thursday, March 20.

Thank you for your patience during this transition.

As part of our ongoing commitment to security, the Unix Infrastructure will be conducting its quarterly patching of systems.  While many of the systems will be patched without any service disruption, there are several systems which require the downtime of key services.  The schedule below outlines which key services will be offline and for how long.

Monday March 17th, 9am to 1pm

• myUMBC lite page will be up resulting in  reduced myUMBC functionality

• The sites (wordpress) web hosting environment will be down

• The new web hosting environment will be down (pages will be available but any database calls will not work)

• All HFS (user) servers will be down

• Student mySQL databases will be offline

Tuesday March 18th, 9am to 1pm

• RT will be down

• Userpages will be down

• Wiki will be down

• R25 will be down

• License5 will be down (autodesk, cadence, idl, schrodinger, xilinx)

• Student mySQL databases will be offline

• Perseus will be down

There will be no data loss during the outage and no user action is required prior to the downtime. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Technology Support Center at x53838.