Reposted from The Mosaic: Center for Cultural Diversity (i3b) website.

Applications for the Spring '25 MLE Cohort can be found HERE. 

In a collaboration with The Mosaic: Center for Cultural Diversity and Campus Life, “The Multicultural Leadership Experience (MLE)” seeks to: 

• Engage participants in a multicultural development and leadership learning program.

• Enhance participants' understanding of their social identities, leadership identity, as well as their capacity to lead while navigating systems of power, privilege, and oppression.

• Enable participants' development through authenticity, self-awareness, relationships, and capitalizing on differences. 

The sessions are as follows:

- Meeting #1: Tuesday, February 11th, 3pm - 4:15pm

- Meeting #2: Tuesday, February 25th,  3pm - 4:15pm

- Meeting #3: Tuesday, March 11th, 3pm - 4:15pm

- Meeting #4: Tuesday, April 1st,  3pm - 4:15pm

- Meeting #5: Tuesday, April 15th,  3pm - 4:15pm

- Meeting #6: Tuesday, April 29th,  3pm - 4:15pm

- Meeting #7 & Celebration: Tuesday, May 6th,  3pm - 5pm 

***All sessions will take place in The Commons (room location will be specified in a Google calendar invite)***

Participants will be exploring the concept of Authentic Leadership, Legacy Building, and Breaking Barriers of White Supremacy within Leadership. We will do this in a leadership learning cohort by: 

• Enhancing participants' leader identity and leadership capacity using an identity-conscious lens and student development theories;

• Increasing participants' awareness of their personal abilities, identity development, and intersections that shape their story through authenticity, self-reflection, and cultural humility;

• Exploring the role they play in developing relationships while building intra/intercultural connections; 

• And capitalizing on their differences, specifically in relation to their racial, ethnic, national, and other salient identity social groups

The purpose of all MLE programs is to provide a space for students and student leaders who identify within diverse or marginalized backgrounds to discover their own capacity to lead, while also promoting a better understanding of their experiences, issues, strengths, and outcomes in navigating their own collegiate careers. However, ALL students are welcome to apply!   

Registration is due Friday, January 31st, 2025 at 11:59pm. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to participate. In order to be accepted into the program you must commit to all sessions in person. Please answer all of the questions before submitting your registration. Any questions can be sent to i3b@umbc.edu. Again you can find the link to apply here. 

--- Angelina R. Jenkins (Assistant Director, The Mosaic) & Meghna Chandrasekaran (Mosaic Programming Intern)

Welcome to the Spring 2025 semester. Please consider nominating yourself for the position of Graduate Student Association Elections Committee Co-Chair!

Eligibility

The Elections Committee will be co-chaired by:

• A sitting senator or cabinet member with at least one full year of experience within the GSA.
• A graduate student who is not currently an officer of the GSA in a role of either the “officers of the cabinet,” or a position as “committee chair,” or “senator.”

Please note! You will be ineligible to run for any other positions in GSA in the spring 2025 elections if you chair or serve on this committee. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone planning to graduate in 2025 (since as a result you would be ineligible to run anyway).

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Oversight of Elections: The committee will oversee all aspects of the election process, from candidate registration to campaigning, voting, and the announcement of results.
2. Rule-Making: The committee will establish clear rules for elections, including eligibility requirements, campaign regulations, and voting procedures. These rules will be reviewed annually and made publicly available to all students.
3. Candidate Vetting: The committee will ensure that all candidates meet eligibility criteria and adhere to campaign guidelines.
4. Complaint Resolution: The committee will have the authority to receive, review, and resolve any complaints related to the election process. Decisions made by the committee in this regard will be final.
5. Publication of Results: The committee will be responsible for the transparent and timely publication of election results.

Once the Committee has completed these responsibilities (likely no later than April 2025), your service would end.

As a member of the GSA Executive Council, you would be in a position of service and support to the GSA. If you are elected, you will be expected to begin work immediately and to work for approximately 7 hours per week. You must be able to participate in online meetings every Monday from 12:30-2 PM and, once a month, on Friday from 12-2 PM. As part of this job, you will be responsible for collaborating with other members of the GSA Executive Council, attending important GSA events, and other duties as required. You will receive a stipend for your work.

Nomination Process
To nominate yourself, please submit your name, student ID number, photograph/headshot, brief biography (50-100 words), and statement as to your qualifications and interest in the role (100-300 words), by Monday, 3 Feb 2025. If you are qualified according to the Graduate School, you should participate in the election, which will take place during the GSA Special Senate meeting on 14 Feb 2025 from 1-2 PM EST (online). Depending on the number of applicants, you may be able to give a speech and/or answer questions before the vote that day.

Here is the link to self-nominate:
https://forms.gle/j3vhKPquX5DKHwoC9

You will need to be logged into your UMBC account (and you may need to log out of other Gmail accounts) to access it.

Please email me at gsapresident@umbc.edu if you have any questions.

As was the case last year, students nominate themselves for this scholarship.

The application portal opened on Tuesday, January 14^th. Applications are due Friday, February 7^th. You will need one letter of recommendation, so it is advisable to begin working on that component now.

Reposted from the International Student and Scholar Services page.

We are looking for a small cohort of students to participate in UMBC’s Intercultural Engagement Prep program in Spring 2025. This program is designed to grow your intercultural competency and skills. 

This program is open to:

• International students

• Future or returned study abroad students

• Students interested in applying to the Peace Corps after graduation

• Students who have an interest in preparing for other international or intercultural experiences

• Students who want to prepare themselves as global citizens in a multicultural world 

As a participant in the Intercultural Engagement Prep pilot program, you will:

• Meet other globally-minded students at UMBC;

• Develop your critical analytical skills;

• Increase your cultural self-awareness and critically reflect on your own unconscious bias;

• Develop strategies to improve your intercultural communication and how you’ll apply it in your future career;

• Recognize cultural differences, commonalities, perceptions, power and privilege dynamics, and how they can lead to conflict; and

• Understand the importance of intercultural dialogue and intercultural citizenship competencies for fostering social justice.

This non-credit/no-fee course, PRAC 103 (course # 6928), will meet twice in the Spring 2025 semester at a mutually agreeable time, but the majority of the course is accessed through asynchronous learning. Students will be required to attend two globally themed events or activities and will also have independent assignments to complete in Blackboard. Upon successful completion of the program, participants will earn two digital badgestitled Increasing Cultural Self-Awareness and Reinforcing Intercultural Dialogue. 

You can register for the course under PRAC 103 and course number 6928.

For questions regarding this certification please contact Dr. Irina Golubeva at golubeva@umbc.edu.

As was the case last year, students nominate themselves for this scholarship.

The application portal will open on Tuesday, January 14^th. Applications are due Friday, February 7^th. You will need one letter of recommendation, so it is advisable to begin working on that component now.