Dear University Colleagues,

Please join the UMBC Graduate School for a farewell celebration for one of our esteemed colleagues, Dr. Renetta Garrison Tull, as she leaves UMBC after 16 years of distinguished service, to take on a new position at The University of California Davis.

Dr. Tull is Associate Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives at UMBC, as well as director of graduate and professional pipeline development, and also special assistant to the Senior Vice Chancellor for the University System of Maryland.

Dr. Tull has been a passionate advocate, global mentor, education policy strategist, and champion for equity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). She has worked tirelessly to promote the professional development of graduate students at UMBC, focusing intensively on those in Ph.D. programs.

Dr. Tull is the founding director and co-principal investigator for PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and Professoriate (AGEP), as sponsored by the National Science Foundation, and administered by Dr. Tull across USM.  

Additionally, she is co-director and co-principal investigator of the USM’s Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), which presides over multiple universities. LSAMP seeks to increase the number of STEM bachelors and graduate degrees earned by students from historically underrepresented groups 

Dr. Tull will begin serving as Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UC Davis, starting July 1.  

Please join us for a celebration of Renetta’s achievements, and to wish her well, on March 27, 4-6 pm in the Commons Game Room.

Dear Members of the UMBC Community,

We are pleased to share with you the Report of the UMBC Advising Task Force, available on the Provost's Office website. The establishment of the Advising Task Force was a first step in our Strategic Plan implementation. We are grateful to Sarah Shin and Ken Baron for their leadership as co-chairs of the Advising Task Force and to all members of the Task Force for their hard work and commitment. The report has been forwarded to the Undergraduate Student Success Committee, which will be reviewing the recommendations for implementation.

Sam McCready, well-beloved former professor of theatre who mentored the careers of dozens of UMBC students, passed away on February 10 at the age of 82. 

During his years at the university, Mr. McCready directed thirty productions, beginning with The Boys from Syracuse by Rodgers and Hart in 1984, and ending with Shakespeare’s Macbeth in 2001. He helped foster the growing Theatre Department’s reputation for exceptionally high-quality, imaginative performances. Three of his productions — The Importance of Being Oscar by Micheal Mac Liammóir (1986), Spring’s Awakening by Frank Wedekind (1987), and The Diary of a Scoundrel by Alexander Ostrovsky (1996) — were invited to the finals of the American College Theater Festival at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. As an actor with the Maryland Stage Company, he was particularly noted for his interpretation of roles by Samuel Beckett, which he performed internationally. Born in 1932 in Ireland, Mr. McCready was a founding member of the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, and also taught at University College of North Wales, and Stranmillis Training College.

Last month, many of Mr. McCready's former UMBC students, colleagues, and friends traveled to Baltimore from around the country to visit him in hospice, sharing stories and reminiscences. He is survived by his wife, Joan, and son, Richard. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 9, 1:30 p.m., at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church, 10689 Owen Brown Road, Columbia, MD.

“In lieu of flowers, we are asking that people make a contribution to the Arbor Day Foundation,” says Richard. “My father adored nature, and planting trees in his honour would be the most appropriate way to remember him.”

The Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities is pleased to announce its 2018-19 research fellows, lead investigator, Dr. Susan Sonnenschein, Professor of Psychology, and co-investigator, Dr. Claudia Galindo, Associate Professor of Education, University of Maryland, College Park.

In a multi-year study, Improving Outcomes for Underserved Populations: An Examination of the Literacy Fellows Program, Dr. Sonnenschein and Dr. Galindo will investigate the implementation and effects of the Sherman Center/Shriver Center Literacy Fellows Program (LFP). The LFP is a volunteer program that places UMBC undergraduate students in early childhood classrooms to support young children’s literacy and language development. The mixed methods study will address the following research questions:

The Sherman Center award will allow Drs. Sonnenschein and Galindo to advance the Center’s work while also contributing to existing research on the role of community volunteers and school-university partnerships in improving young students’ educational experiences and outcomes. Please join us in congratulating them.

The Sherman Center request for proposals for the 2019-20 funding cycle will be announced in September 2019 and proposals will be due in January 2020. For more information, please contact Sherman Center Director, Mavis Sanders, at msanders@umbc.edu or visit shermancenter.umbc.edu.