New Login Process for the SPS Workday Benefits System

Dear Faculty and Staff,

The State of Maryland Department of Budget & Management (DBM) Employee Benefits division has moved to a new multi-factor login process (OneLogin) in SPS Workday, effective September 10, 2020, to enhance the security of users' data.

The SPS Workday system allows employees to enroll, view, and make changes to their health benefits. With the Annual Open Enrollment period approaching in October, UMBC Human Resources is encouraging employees to follow the instructions to create new login credentials using the new OneLogin process.

SPS Workday will require employees to create new login credentials using your existing SPS ID and a temporary password found in these instructions. In addition, this system will require users to verify their identity with each login. You will be able to select a method that works best for you—a one-time passcode via email or text, a mobile app, or by answering security questions.

If you have questions about SPS Workday or benefits, please contact hrbenefits@umbc.edu.

UMBC Human Resources

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Dear Faculty and Staff, The State of Maryland Department of Budget & Management (DBM) Employee Benefits division has moved to a new multi-factor login process (OneLogin) in SPS Workday,...

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Please see the latest updates on UMBC’s Retriever Ready website. We encourage you to bookmark this site for the most current information on UMBC’s COVID-19 response, online learning this fall, and more. Questions? Please email covid19@umbc.edu.

COVID-19 Health & Safety

UMBC’s Public Health Dashboard provides timely data about the prevalence of COVID-19 within our main campus, based on UMBC’s on-campus testing and reported results from off-campus testing among UMBC faculty, staff, and students who are approved to be on campus this fall. UMBC’s current positivity rate is 0.7%.

New Service-Learning Opportunity: Apply for the Reach Together Program

Students: UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program, in collaboration with The Shriver Center, is seeking applicants for the Reach Together Program. This new program engages UMBC students in mentoring and tutoring Baltimore City youth. Applicants should be in their second year at UMBC or beyond. Mentor-tutors will each provide targeted math tutoring for five students through an eight-week program (September 28 – November 20) with a week of training starting on September 21. Submit your application as soon as possible through this Google form and schedule a 15-minute interview between now and September 18.

UMBC Together

Visit the UMBC Together website for recent social media posts and the UMBC Together myUMBC group for weekly event spotlights.

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What defines us is not whether crises happen, but how we respond to them. How is UMBC continuing to redefine excellence in higher education at the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and economic disruption?

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to share your stories and learn together in a series of virtual gatherings during the 2020-2021 academic year. Please join your colleagues and special guests for:

The Empowered University
Shared Leadership, Culture Change, and Academic Success in a Pivotal Time

Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation in Our Communities Town Hall
Thursday, September 24, 2020
4-6 p.m. via WebEx
Download a printable flyer for this event.

The UMBC community is invited to learn about our Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center and our campus’s connection to a national framework addressing race equity. The Shriver Center’s Choice Program, along with community partners, will also share how structural racism has impacted youth development in Maryland and how we all can become agents of change.

Moderators

Candace Dodson-Reed ’96, Executive Director, UMBC Office of Equity & Inclusion, and Chief of Staff, President’s Office

Howard Nicholson ’21, Chemical Engineering major and Music minor, UMBC Inclusion Council Member

Presenters

Jenny Eagan, Chief Attorney, Juvenile Division, Maryland Office of the Public Defender – Baltimore City

Tia McNair, Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Student Success, and Executive Director for TRHT Campus Centers, Association of American Colleges & Universities

Brother David Fakunle, Ph.D., Executive Director, WombWork Productions, and Executive Director (acting) Maryland Lynching, Truth, and Reconciliation Commission; joined by Mama Deborah

Dr. Loren Henderson, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health

Diane Bell-McKoy ’73, President and Chief Executive Officer, Associated Black Charities

Michael Sarbanes, High School Physics Teacher, Green Street Academy, and Community Organizer

Eric N. Ford ’14, Director, The Choice Program at UMBC

Frank Anderson ’15, Director of Operations, The Choice Program at UMBC

Upcoming Virtual Community Gatherings

Stay tuned for more information about upcoming community gatherings this fall and winter with the following themes.

October: Research and Creative Achievemen
November: Teaching and Learning
December: Virtual Holiday Celebration – The Empowered University: Storytelling
January/February: University Retreat – The Empowered University: Writing the Next Chapter

Vist our website for more information about the Fall Empowered University Gatherings.

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What defines us is not whether crises happen, but how we respond to them. How is UMBC continuing to redefine excellence in higher education at the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black...

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Dear Colleagues,

We have faced many challenges as a community through the spring and summer, working together to support both academic continuity and campus health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please know that you have our deepest gratitude for the hard work and commitment you have shown in preparing for a fall semester like no other.

While state officials and University System of Maryland leaders appropriately focused first on public health, Maryland and its public higher education institutions must also now respond to the severe impact of the pandemic on both the state’s economy and university finances. USM Chancellor Jay Perman announced Wednesday the need for campuses to take a number of budget actions to close a significant FY 2021 budget gap.

Like other USM campuses, UMBC finds virtually all of our revenue sources under pressure, and we anticipate a nearly $65 million, or 13 percent, decrease from the budget originally projected for this fiscal year.

The State has cut the USM base budget appropriation by $117 million, which has been passed on to all the institutions. UMBC’s share of this reduction is $11.8 million.

Tuition and fee rates are frozen at FY 2020 levels.
Enrollment for Fall 2020 is lower than in Fall 2019.
Auxiliary units have been hit very hard. The University returned over $18 million in room, board, and other fees to students for a portion of the spring semester and waived most fees in the fall. The Fall 2020 losses are estimated at $28 million.
In order to reduce density for health and safety, residence halls are operating at 34 percent of normal capacity, decreasing not only housing revenues but also dining services revenues.
All external events have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, impacting revenues at the UMBC Event Center and Conference Services, with estimated losses through December of nearly $1 million.

While this is one of the most challenging fiscal environments our campus has faced, we are firm in our commitment to our guiding principles of supporting the people who are part of the UMBC community and protecting the academic program. Our strategy is to avoid layoffs, if at all possible, and we have conferred with shared governance leaders about a financial path forward through these very difficult times.

Our revised FY 2021 budget process takes the following steps:

Identifiying expenses ﹘ such as dining services, travel, and utilities ﹘ that will naturally drop due to the lower volume of people on campus.
Scouring non-personnel costs to determine where cuts can be made without affecting the quality of instruction.
Deferring or canceling non-critical infrastructure projects.
Continually reviewing business processes to ensure utmost efficiency.

Finally, knowing that nearly 70 percent of the University operating budget is for personnel costs, we have necessarily had to turn to strategies to reduce those expenditures as well, including the following steps:

Eliminating a portion of budgeted vacant positions, and implementing a hiring freeze to achieve savings from remaining vacant budgeted positions.
Implementing a temporary salary reduction (TSR) plan for those staff and faculty earning $100,000 and above. The reductions will be spread across the remaining available pay periods of the fiscal year and range from 1.5 percent at the lower end of that salary range up to 15 percent for the President. This TSR will offset the State-funds shortfall by almost 6 percent and the total funds shortfall by approximately 2.5 percent. For more detailed information on the TSR plan, please visit the Human Resources website.

While these circumstances are serious and unfortunate, we know our UMBC community will navigate through successfully by continuing to work together. We are inspired by the dedication of our faculty and staff as you continue to support our students and one another. Thank you for all that you do for UMBC.

President Freeman Hrabowski and Provost Philip Rous

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Dear Colleagues, We have faced many challenges as a community through the spring and summer, working together to support both academic continuity and campus health during the COVID-19...

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Dear Members of the UMBC Community,

We are deeply troubled by continued acts of brutality against Black people, including the recent shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This tragic shooting saddens us, as does the violence that has since occurred in Kenosha. Today, we are writing to share new opportunities to get involved in UMBC’s work to confront structural racism and listen to and uplift the voices of those who are too often silenced or ignored.

As the University System of Maryland leadership previously stated, we believe that public colleges and universities are obligated to help end inequity and to promote social justice. UMBC is committed to promoting social justice and taking action to address inequities on our own campus in a number of important ways, including the work being done by UMBC’s new Inclusion Council.

The Inclusion Council was formed to provide advice and guidance to the Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI) from a variety of perspectives. Members also act as ambassadors for the office across campus, and Inclusion Council meetings provide a venue for discussing equity issues as they arise. The Inclusion Council is made up of students, faculty, staff, and alumni working with the campus community. UMBC’s important Retriever Courage initiative is now a part of the Inclusion Council’s work, which is also being advised by the Retriever Courage Faculty/Staff Advisory Committee.

The Inclusion Council is committed to partnering with the UMBC community. We acknowledge that there are many faculty, staff, and student groups that are already doing important inclusion work in our community and beyond. We believe in the power of collaboration and seek to help elevate and provide space for the important work that is already underway.

The Inclusion Council is now launching working groups to gather information, develop recommendations, and propose a plan of action with respect to a number of issues that have been identified by our community as priorities. We encourage UMBC community members from a variety of backgrounds to participate in these working groups. As a community, we plan to draw on the leadership and wisdom of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff, many of whom confront these issues every day through their teaching, research, and activism.

If you are interested in joining any of the working groups, please submit your top two choices via the Inclusion Council Working Group Selection Form by September 21, 2020. You will find a brief description of the proposed subject matter for each group there.

Please note that group space is limited, so depending on the number of volunteers it is possible that not all volunteers will be able to be a member of a particular group this year.

Working Groups

Alignment of Economic Decisions and Values
Bias and Microaggression
Communications
Conflict Resolution and Restorative Practices
Curriculum
Faculty and Staff Diversity, Recruitment, Retention, Belonging
Intersectionality and Engagement
Land Acknowledgment and Education
Policies and Procedures
Policing and Safety
Sexual Misconduct and Harassment
Student Recruitment and Enrollment
Student Retention and Belonging
Training and Education

We will continue these important conversations and invite all to share their thoughts about the efforts these working groups will undertake through oei@umbc.edu. For more resources on inclusive excellence in action, please visit the OEI website.

UMBC Office of Equity and Inclusion

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Dear Members of the UMBC Community, We are deeply troubled by continued acts of brutality against Black people, including the recent shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha,...

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COVID-19 Health & Safety

Retesting for All Residential Students: In order to support the health and safety of the residential community, all residential students are required to be retested for COVID-19, September 8 – 10. All residential students received an email with more information on September 1. Please sign up for a testing appointment by this Friday, September 4, at noon. Please email covid19@umbc.edu with questions.

Labor Day Weekend Safety Reminders

All UMBC community members are reminded to practice good public health behaviors during the upcoming holiday weekend to limit possible exposure to COVID-19. These include limiting interaction with others, staying physically distant, wearing masks, and washing hands often.
Faculty, staff, and students who are approved to be on campus this semester are reminded to continue performing symptom tracking every day.

Enhanced Enrollment Management Resources

Check out the recently updated Enrollment Management website to learn about how to access services provided by Financial Aid and Scholarships, Academic and Pre-Professional Advising, the Registrar’s Office, and more.

Campus Access

If you have a one-time need to visit campus and have gained appropriate approval(s) but do not have keys to access the building/office that you need to enter, please call UMBC Police Deputy Chief Bruce Perry at (443) 677-2195 or Lieutenant Derrick Johns at (410) 207-0850.

New Mailroom Hours

The mailroom’s new hours for departmental mail pick up are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.

UMBC Together

Visit the UMBC Together website for recent social media posts and the UMBC Together myUMBC group for weekly event spotlights.

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Dear UMBC Community,

The Labor Day holiday honors the achievements of working people, and it takes on special significance this year as we recognize the extraordinary professional and personal demands placed on our faculty, staff, and students as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and particularly on those with caregiving responsibilities. Our community remains committed to working together to address these work-life balance challenges.

Because of our strong shared commitment to our students and colleagues, we know that some members of our community may be reluctant to voice the caregiving challenges they face and ask for support. We are also aware that the primary responsibility for caregiving often falls disproportionately upon women, and that the intersection of the pandemic and the ongoing national movement for racial and social justice likewise impacts Black, Indigenous, and people of color within our community.

We ask all campus leaders, supervisors, faculty, and instructors to remember the importance of communicating effectively the support available to our community members with caregiving responsibilities so that we can provide as much flexibility as possible and encourage those who are encountering challenges in their work-life balance to come forward. In that spirit, please act on each of the following as the semester begins:

1. Ensure that everyone in your department/area is aware of these institutional resources:

Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)
UMBC’s Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Harassment, and Gender Discrimination Policy
COVID-19 Faculty Support Policy: Plans will be developed during the Fall semester and implemented in Spring 2021.
UMBCWorks: Faculty/staff can advertise caregiving needs to UMBC students.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Work-life specialists can research and provide referrals and customized resources for childcare and eldercare.
EAP Coronavirus Resources
myUMBC Moms and Parents Group
Office of Equity and Inclusion Resources for Pregnancy and Parenting
Women’s Center Caregiver Resource page (coming soon)
Mental Health Resources: EAP Confidential Counseling Resources for Employees, including free short-term counseling services for employees and their dependents. Counseling Center Resources for Students, including free online counseling appointments and after-hours support for students in crisis.

We will provide updates as we identify additional resources.

2. Discuss COVID-19-related caregiving needs and provide support and resources at your next department or staff meeting. During this discussion please:

Invite faculty and staff of all genders who have caregiving responsibilities to meet individually with you to discuss ways in which their workload might be reduced or redistributed within existing University policies.
Review how you might reduce the frequency and duration of, and increase the effectiveness of, department, committee, and staff meetings.
Identify non-essential work, including periodic and other types of reports, that could be discontinued or deferred.
Talk about how you will work with employees to develop backup support plans for all responsibilities in case of illness or urgent caregiving challenges.

Thank you for your continued support of our community as we navigate these unprecedented times.

President Freeman Hrabowski
Provost Philip Rous
Faculty Senate President Orianne Smith
Non-Exempt Staff Senate President Melody Wright
Professional Staff Senate President Bobby Lubaszewski

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Dear UMBC Community, The Labor Day holiday honors the achievements of working people, and it takes on special significance this year as we recognize the extraordinary professional and personal...

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Dear Members of the UMBC Community,

I am pleased to announce that UMBC has acquired the former Catonsville District Courthouse building on Walker Avenue, located on land designated as part of the original UMBC campus in 1965. The State of Maryland will transfer the building and surrounding land to the University System of Maryland for the use and benefit of UMBC. Once the District Court vacates the building, which is expected within six months, the property will be available to the University once again.

The building will provide us opportunity to expand our capacity in high-demand academic programs, including but not limited to computing, cybersecurity, and engineering. This will enable UMBC to continue supporting Maryland’s economy by producing additional graduates who will be ready to work in these growing fields, and to expand research.

I would like to thank Governor Larry Hogan, Comptroller Peter Franchot, State Treasurer Nancy Kopp, Secretary of General Services Ellington Churchill, and Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Adrienne A. Jones for their support throughout this process. I also want to thank Vice President for Administration and Finance Lynne Schaefer and especially Senior Associate Vice President for Administrative Services Terry Cook for their work to advance this transfer through the state’s property process.

This acquisition will help us continue to move UMBC forward and contribute to Maryland’s economy. We will keep the UMBC community updated as the plans for this building are finalized.

President Freeman Hrabowski

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Dear Members of the UMBC Community, I am pleased to announce that UMBC has acquired the former Catonsville District Courthouse building on Walker Avenue, located on land designated as part of...

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COVID-19 Health & Safety

UMBC’s Public Health Dashboard provides timely data about the prevalence of COVID-19 within our main campus, based on UMBC’s on-campus testing and reported results from off-campus testing among UMBC faculty, staff, and students who are approved to be on campus this fall. UMBC’s current positivity rate is 0.7% (learn more).
We understand that some faculty, staff, and students who are approved to be physically present on campus and who have undergone testing very recently might not have been informed of their test results yet. If you have been tested but have not yet received your results, you may return to campus provided you follow all other health and safety requirements, including daily symptom tracking and COVID-19 health and safety training. If you have not been tested, do not physically come to campus until you have a negative test result.

Winter and Spring 2021 Study Abroad Programs

Winter and Spring 2021 study abroad programs are canceled. UMBC will not accept applications for future terms until current travel restrictions are lifted.

Campus Access

Reminder: To help keep our community safe, students commuting to campus for in-person classes should enter only those buildings in which their in-person classes are being held. As needed, they are also permitted to visit University Health Services (by appointment only), Student Conduct and Community Standards, True Grit’s Dining Hall, and campus study spaces. Commuting students are not permitted in residential buildings.
Reminder: Students who are not approved to be on campus should not visit campus. However, all students can access free wifi from the Administration Drive Garage, if needed for online learning, provided they remain in their vehicles.

UMBC Together

Check out The Retriever’s UMBC Fall 2020 Preview Video, which includes interviews with President Freeman Hrabowski, Vice President for Student Affairs Nancy Young, University Health Services Medical Director Vic Madrid, and more.
Visit the Virtual Study Room this Fall. The Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery is sponsoring a virtual study room to help keep you on track during the fall semester.
Visit the UMBC Together website for recent social media posts and the UMBC Together myUMBC group for a weekly event spotlight.

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Dear UMBC Community,

UMBC’s fall 2020 semester began last week with a conservative approach designed to enable some on-campus activity supporting students’ academic progress while protecting the health of our community. Eighty-nine percent of classes are currently online, two percent are in-person, and nine percent are hybrids (largely online, with in-person options or elements). On-campus housing is at 34 percent of capacity.

Early results of baseline COVID-19 testing among faculty, staff, and students approved to be on campus are now available on UMBC’s Public Health Dashboard. These results indicate a campus positivity rate of 0.7 percent. This reflects 19 positive results out of 2,560 documented test results from both on- and off-campus COVID-19 tests conducted between August 13 and August 26. This is below Baltimore County’s positivity rate of 3.7 percent, and is at a level to continue, for the time being, with UMBC’s planned approach to the fall 2020 semester. Please know that every positive case has received appropriate follow-up.

While we understand that it is not possible for any campus to be completely free of COVID-19, our community has adopted many important public health measures to limit spread of the virus. Beyond the COVID-19 testing requirements, the University also requires all faculty, staff, and students with access to campus to undergo ongoing daily symptom tracking and health and safety training. Additional UMBC public health measures include administrative controls (such as mandatory mask wearing, physical distancing policies, and staggered shifts) and engineering controls (such as reconfiguring spaces for physical distancing and replacing air filters).

We expect that the data in this initial report will shift somewhat over the coming days, as we receive a small number of delayed test results, and if some faculty choose to shift their hybrid or face-to-face courses to a fully online format. We are also planning another round of on-campus COVID-19 testing for residential students after the Labor Day weekend.

We will continue to carefully update and review UMBC’s public health data and will notify the University community if there are changes that require our current plans for the fall semester to change. Campus factors that would lead to further restrictions would include: a significant increase in the percentage of positive cases or positive surveillance tests, inability to conduct ongoing surveillance tests due to supply chain gaps, or clusters of cases on campus that exceed resources to test, trace, and isolate. We will also be guided by the advice and actions of state and local government authorities and the public health status of our surrounding community.

We are deeply grateful for your collective efforts to keep our UMBC community thriving and healthy during this extraordinary time. We particularly want to thank the many staff from across the campus who worked together to develop and implement a safe and efficient on-campus testing process.

We wish all a wonderful fall semester.

Provost Philip Rous
Vice President for Finance and Administration Lynne Schaefer
Co-Chairs, Fall Planning Coordinating Committee

Vice President for Student Affairs Nancy Young
Chair, Students, Health & Well-Being Workgroup

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Dear UMBC Community, UMBC’s fall 2020 semester began last week with a conservative approach designed to enable some on-campus activity supporting students’ academic progress while protecting...

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