U.S. News and World Report has recognized UMBC’s online master’s degree in information systems as #34 on their national list of 2024 Best Online Master’s in Information Technology Programs. The program moved up seven spots from last year’s ranking. 

The U.S. News rankings evaluate programs based on qualities such as strong faculty credentials, a good reputation among peer institutions, and the opportunity for students to use diverse online learning tools and engage with their instructors and classmates.

In response to surging interest in artificial intelligence, this year the UMBC program added a new class on AI fundamentals. AI is also one of four program tracks that students can choose to tailor their degree to their career goals. The other tracks are cybersecurity, data science, and user experience. 

Recently, the program also launched five certificates, which students can pursue on their way to a master’s degree, or as a stand-alone credential. 

Read more about the career of a recent graduate of the online master’s in information systems and find out if it’s the right program for you.

In September, in honor of national online learning day, the information systems department interviewed the new graduate program director for the online master’s program, Jimmy Foulds, an associate professor in information systems at UMBC. 

Below is a lightly edited version of the interview, which touches on trends in information technology, and the advantages of UMBC’s brand of education.

Information Systems: Can you shed light on some of the biggest trends, milestones, and challenges shaping online programs right now? 

Jimmy Foulds: With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence in recent years, the field is coming to the point where we need to take stock of the impacts of AI and other computing technologies in our world, both good and bad, and to better account for humans in the design of computerized systems. Large language models such as ChatGPT are poised to both make our lives easier and to possibly tip over the apple cart of the entire workforce. More than ever, there is a need for skilled computing professionals. Online programs, such as the online M.S. at UMBC, provide a flexible opportunity to advance your knowledge and get ahead in your career while keeping up to date with the rapidly changing computing landscape.

Information Systems: In thinking about these advantages and trends, what are some of your immediate and long-term goals for the program?

Jimmy Foulds: In the short-term, we are increasing our (already broad) AI course offerings, including a new AI course that I will teach myself next semester. We have also recently created program tracks that allow students to specialize in the cutting-edge areas of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science, and user experience. In a new addition to our program, you can now earn certificates in these areas, as well as the foundations of information systems, without committing to completing a full master’s degree, which provides more flexibility.

In the long-term, as more computing professionals look to upskill themselves, we want to grow the program to reach more students, while maintaining the rigor and high quality of instruction that our students have come to expect. I will not compromise on that.

Information Systems: As online options become more prevalent and important among universities, and students wanting even more online options, how do you address the concerns of those that may still be skeptical of online learning?

Jimmy Foulds: I understand the concerns, as there are some programs out there that give online learning a bad name in the eyes of some prospective students. The UMBC online M.S. is not one of those programs. We have exceptional instructors in our program, including many of the tenure track faculty in the department who are leading experts in their fields, as well as highly experienced lecturers and professors of the practice (i.e., professors who specialize in teaching) with doctoral qualifications. UMBC has a reputation for teaching excellence and is a national leader in student-centered learning. Regarding the expertise of our faculty, the university is renowned as a doctoral university with very high research activity under the Carnegie Classification system, commonly known as an R1 institution. The courses offered in our online M.S. program aim to fulfill the full educational experience of our on-campus offerings.

Information Systems: Your research interests are in the area of socially conscious machine learning and artificial intelligence. How does your work aim to improve AI’s role in society regarding fairness and privacy?

Jimmy Foulds: Data-driven artificial intelligence systems now make many decisions that impact our lives, both big and small, from what restaurant we are recommended to try, to whether we get access to medical care, to whether we get offered a job interview. While it’s easy to think of data as being inherently objective and algorithms as being neutral and unprejudiced, the reality is that data reflects bias and inequity in our society, even if it were perfectly representative of the population, which is far from guaranteed. Bias in data leads to bias in algorithms, and to biased, unfair decisions by AI systems. In my research, I aim to help combat AI bias, and I try to shift the field toward taking a more human-centered perspective on the design of these systems. I have also worked on privacy-preserving machine learning algorithms, protecting users from having their personal data leaked by the algorithms themselves.

Information Systems: With your expertise in artificial intelligence and AI being a specialization in the M.S. online program, how will you be expanding the student experience for those interested in this path?

Jimmy Foulds: I am teaching a new introductory course on artificial intelligence that covers high-demand skills sought after by companies in both the public and private sector, including search, constraint satisfaction, and reinforcement learning. The course also covers reasoning and decision-making via propositional logic, probability, and Bayesian networks. As the incoming graduate program director, together with our faculty and staff, I also plan to take a close look at our curricula and see if and where we can make any improvements to take our course offerings to the next level.

Information Systems: The program just launched five new certificates, AI, cybersecurity, data science, UX design and foundations of information systems, all available 100 percent online. What are the advantages of a certificate versus the full master’s degree?

Jimmy Foulds: I am excited about our new certificate programs as they provide students with the opportunity to upskill themselves in a specific area and get recognition from employers without having to invest in completing a full master’s program. Flexibility is what online learning programs are all about, so these certificates are a welcome addition. Students can take up to two certificates concurrently. If they choose to go further, building on their certificate studies they may enroll in and finish an M.S. degree. Our online M.S. degree students can also earn these certificates along the way to their master’s degrees if they so desire. The freedom that the certificates offer to students is really empowering, and is much needed as it allows students to adapt their educational goals to fit into their busy lives.

Timmie Topoleski, professor of mechanical engineering at UMBC, has received the 2024 Society for Biomaterials Award for Service, which honors individuals who have devoted significant time and energy to advancing the goals of the professional society.

The Society for Biomaterials brings together professionals from academia, government, and business to promote advancements in biomaterials science, education, and professional standards to enhance human health and quality of life.

“I do not know anyone for whom “Service” is written in their DNA as it is for Tim,” said Paul Ducheyne, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania who nominated Topoleski for the award and is quoted in a society press release. 

Topoleski has served on and chaired many Society for Biomaterials committees and has taken on leadership positions for many years. His own research has focused on understanding the behavior of a range of biomaterials, from the harmful plaques that can build up in people’s arteries, to the metal, ceramic, and cement used in joint replacements. The work may lead to better ways to diagnose and treat diseases such as arthritis and heart disease.  

“I enjoy working to make the Society for Biomaterials a society that serves the needs of our members and provides a forum for the exchange of the latest developments in our biomaterials research,” Topoleski says. “It is an honor and very humbling to be in the company of those who previously received the award.”

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has chosen UMBC’s Interdisciplinary CoLab for its “Undergraduate Spotlight” series. ACLS is a nonprofit federation of 80 scholarly organizations that has supported and amplified American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences since 1919. Over the last six summers, UMBC’s CoLab has provided students with an innovative team-based applied learning opportunity through a three-credit paid internship in narrative-based research. 

ACLS writes, “Unlike traditional group work in a college classroom, wherein majors from the same discipline are all trying to master the same material, CoLab projects require students to use their own skills and appreciate the skills of others.”

Professional research experience

CoLab gives interdisciplinary student teams a professional research experience while learning how to tell effective stories and create valuable public-facing results for community partners. “I wasn’t aware of the [Baltimore Immigration] museum prior to my internship,” shared CoLab alum Johanna Alonso ’20, English, about her team’s project “Baltimore: The Second Ellis Island. “I think the real benefit of the CoLab is that it exposes students to people, places, programs, and projects we may never have encountered otherwise.”

Co-directed by Carole McCann, professor and chair of gender, women’s, + sexuality studies, and Donald Snyder, a principal lecturer in media and communications studies, UMBC Interdisciplinary CoLab is a partnership between the Provost’s Office, the Dresher Center for the Humanities, and the Office of Summer, Winter, and Special Programs.

“ACLS is a very prestigious national academic organization,” says McCann, “so for it to highlight CoLab as an innovative program is a big deal.” 

After participating in the 2021 CoLab focused on BLM and Civil Rights Oral Histories, Deysi Chitic-Amaya ’23, media and communication studies, said, “I want to be able to approach future projects with a more open-minded perspective that may help to produce something new and innovative.”

Read more about students’ CoLab experiences and the application process.

The increasing impact of global disasters on health systems has created a growing need for experts to help manage disaster risks and reduce their impact. In keeping with that demand, UMBC’s emergency health services (EHS) department has changed its name to the Department of Emergency and Disaster Health Systems (EDHS) to reflect the scope of research, teaching, and learning of emergency and disaster health systems covered in its programs. The new name also acknowledges the scholarship happening at the graduate level.

“Our new department name signifies our commitment to emergency and disaster health education,” says Lauren Clay, associate professor of emergency and disaster health systems and department chair, who has received several grants from the National Science Foundation in recent years to specifically address the understanding and monitoring of food availability, acceptability, and accessibility during disasters. “We prepare leaders that are ready to tackle the complex and evolving hazards facing communities across the United States and the world,” explains Clay. 

UMBC’s EDHS department is rising to the challenge by equipping students with the skills needed to pursue careers as emergency preparedness coordinators, community engagement specialists, emergency communications supervisors, or analysts. Undergraduate students can now enroll in classes that focus on disaster management in healthcare, public health, and emergency management organizations, in addition to emergency health services classes.

UMBC’s EHS department has a long history of preparing students to enter careers where they are ready to respond to local disasters like Ellicott City’s most recent floods and international disasters, like the Philippines’s Typhoon Haiyan. The EHS baccalaureate program began in 1980 with the goal of producing the most comprehensively educated individuals capable of performing tasks within the broad scope of the emergency healthcare field as leaders, managers, and providers.

The graduate program for emergency health services, the first in the nation, began a year later. It remains the largest program of its type available in the United States. Next year, the department is planning to offer several new graduate and undergraduate classes on a range of disaster health systems topics.

“The department has offered emergency health services and disaster management programs for decades. The former name did not fully capture the breadth of those offerings,” explains Clay. “We wanted to make sure that students and our colleagues know about our programs that prepare students to work in various professions addressing emergency and disaster health.”

Learn more about what EDHS has to offer.

Noor Zaidi, assistant professor of history, received a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship to research and write Translations of Zaynab: Gender, Sectarianism, and Citizenship in Shi’a Islam. The book will analyze how the seventh-century figure, Zaynab bint Ali, granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammed, has been used in 20th-century political contexts.

“It is my great pleasure to announce NEH grant awards to support 260 exemplary humanities projects undertaken by scholars, higher education institutions, and organizations of every size,” stated NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo) in the NEH press release. “This funding will help preserve and expand access to community histories, strengthen the ability of small museums and archives to serve the public, and provide resources and educational opportunities for students to engage with history, literature, languages, and cultures.”

Zaidi, a 2017 UMBC postdoctoral fellow, is a scholar of the Middle East and South Asia. She specializes in the history of gender, sectarianism, and Shi’a Islam in national and transnational spaces. Her research explores “sites of sectarianization” through the 20th century, tracing the development and evolution of pilgrimage to two female shrines in Syria and Pakistan and prisons in Iraq as sites of memory and identity construction. Based on oral interviews, fieldwork, and archival research in Syria, Pakistan, and Iraq, Zaidi’s work explores the physical and imaginative spaces in which identity is made and contested and shows how transnational narratives become embedded in local contexts.

You can read Zaidi’s articles about “green” Ramadan, the hajj pilgrimage, and the Shiite Muslim holiday, Ashura, in The Conversation.

Meet Kevin Yang ’07, computer science and financial economics. Kevin is a real estate entrepreneur, the current executive vice president and vice president of finance of the UMBC Alumni Association Board of Directors, and one half of an alumni power couple. Kevin met his wife, Katelyn Niu ’05, biochemistry, when the pair found themselves in the same physics study group as undergrads (because where else do you find love at UMBC?). They both share a passion for UMBC that runs deep. Take it away, Kevin!

Q: What is your WHY? What brought you to UMBC? 

A. I grew up in an immigrant family and witnessed the sacrifices that my parents made to give me an opportunity to achieve the American dream. Although they never had the chance to finish high school, my parents firmly believed in the importance of higher education. I came to UMBC for a quality STEM education and found it to be a perfect fit. UMBC offered the resources of a larger university and the individualized attention of a smaller college.

Q: What’s your favorite part of Retriever Nation?

A. I love UMBC’s commitment to inclusive excellence. Retriever Nation welcomes students from diverse backgrounds and provides them with the necessary support to succeed at UMBC and beyond. I am forever grateful for the amazing experience that I had at UMBC! In addition to receiving a quality education, I made many lifelong friends, including my wife. I have stayed engaged since graduation, and I am proud of UMBC’s commitment to inclusive excellence.

Q: Tell us what you love about your academic program or an organization you’re involved in.

A. I had an excellent experience with the computer science program, which offered many opportunities beyond the classroom. As a tutor, teaching assistant, and research assistant in the computer science department, I learned valuable written and verbal communication skills, which was a highlight of my UMBC education.

Today, I am a real estate entrepreneur, the Founder of KRY Properties. As a business owner, I love the ability to chart my own path. I often have to assume multiple roles, which is both challenging and rewarding. The analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills that I developed at UMBC gave me the confidence to pursue entrepreneurship.

Q: Where did you find support? 

A. I built meaningful and long-lasting relationships at UMBC. I attribute much of my personal growth and academic achievements to my peers. We struggled together in challenging engineering courses, contemplated our futures from late night into early morning, and celebrated our birthdays at the local Olive Garden. We strengthened our bonds through highs and lows, and I will forever cherish those special memories.

Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you.

A. I received substantial financial and academic support from the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, which laid the foundation for my personal and professional successes. As a Meyerhoff Scholar, I learned about and took advantage of many incredible opportunities, such as summer internships at Georgia Tech and MIT. The Meyerhoff Scholars Program and its co-founder, Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, have inspired me to give back to the community that gave me so much.

Q: As alumni, how have you and Katelyn given back?

A. “To whom much is given, much is required.” I have been a donor every year since I graduated in 2007. My support focuses on scholarships, including the Meyerhoff Scholars Program and the Alumni Endowed Scholarship Fund. My wife, Katelyn, and I established an endowed scholarship in 2014 to support undergraduate students. Katelyn and I were fortunate to receive scholarships at UMBC. We are giving back so students who come after us can continue to have the same extraordinary experience that shaped our future.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?

A. UMBC community members work together to help our students achieve their academic and professional goals. We are proud of our collaborative culture!

* * * * *

UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

Learn more about how UMBC can help you achieve your goals.

Walking down Academic Row, the ground floor windows of the Biological Sciences Building reflect the flow of student traffic, and colorful renditions of animals and microbes, silhouettes of researchers, and other elements of biology seem to pop off the wall and join the campus milieu. 

For many, the images on the mural blend into the background of campus—just another wall in just another building. But the artist remembers the blank wall 10 years ago, covered sparsely in inspirational posters and placards. 

“It was a huge wall, and visible from the outside,” says Anna Vikhlyayeva ’15, visual arts. In addition to wanting to beautify the space, Vikhlyayeva thought to herself, “The research of scientists can be very interesting and colorful and very inspiring for artists. What if by highlighting the biology research that people do in this building, other students will become more interested in biology?”

More than a mural

In 2013 Vikhlyayeva took her plan to then-chair of the biology department Professor Philip Farabaugh, and it was perfect timing, he says. “I’d been thinking about branding the building in some way…and a mural was an obvious means to do that.” And in the decade since its installation, Farabaugh says, “I’m really gratified that the mural acts as a uniting image for all our faculty, staff, and students.”

But in December 2022 a combination of freezing temperatures and burst pipes resulted in damage across campus and significant flooding in the biology building. The bottom half of the mural fell victim to the water.

The challenges caused by the flood were hard to bear, particularly following COVID, says Farabaugh. “But, despite the disaster fatigue that everyone felt, the faculty, staff, and students responded with grace, energy, and yes, resiliency to the challenge.”

Vikhlyayeva, a working artist, still lives in the area, so when the biology building was reopened, Farabaugh emailed her to see if she’d be interested in repainting the damaged section. “I was happy to know that people in the building appreciate this wall so much that they want me to repair it,” says Vikhlyayeva. “Based on my images of the original mural, I’ve attempted to replicate the colors and designs the same.”

Farabaugh says different elements of the mural stick out to him at different times, including that “the integration of the realistic animals and stylized students works to emphasize their direct relationships.” He sees the figures in the mural “representing all the thousands of students who have passed through the building in the last almost 60 years. I hope that many of them feel that their experience of research in our building set them on a life path and the mural is a visible representation of that.”

A glow up, 10 years later

In summer 2023, Vikhlyayeva brought a folding camping stool and a vibrant palette of green and blue hues to tackle the lower portion of her mural.

“I thought that bright colors, these nice pictures, will put other students in a good mood and give them inspiration to study and even to be more happy,” she says.

Farabaugh says that he’s enjoyed watching students and researchers claim the re-beautified space as their own, holding poster sessions in the hallway with the mural as the backdrop. “It really has become the heart of the building and, mixing a metaphor, its public face.”

Get ready for taxes in April!

International scholars are required to report their taxes every year in April. Our office will send out a very thorough email in late February with information about a free tax filing service for nonresidents, called Sprintax. Prepare your documents in advance and make sure you have everything you need to file your taxes. For more information, please visit our tax resources page.

Do I need to file taxes?

If you worked last year and earned any money, then you must file a tax return. If you did not earn any money last year, then you only need to file form 8843. Depending on your situation, you may need to file both a federal and state tax return. Filing your tax return can be completed using the Sprintax software we provide in the spring.

More questions?

The ISSS office cannot provide tax advice since we are not tax professionals. However, please review some of the resources we provide. If you have specific questions, please reach out to a tax professional.

UMBC’s Center for Accelerated Real Time Analytics (CARTA) team will advance its work in investigating data analytics using next-generation computing hardware with the launch of the next phase of the multi-institutional research collaboration. 

UMBC is partnering with Rutgers University, the University of Miami, and Arizona State University to deploy CARTA Phase II, a five-year initiative that explores data analytics research to develop new accelerated and real-time approaches to address advanced technology integration in industries such as health care, finance, and security. 

CARTA initially launched in 2018 with funding provided by the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) program to develop next-generation computing hardware to address data-intensive infrastructure challenges. The IUCRC grant has been extended to fund new and existing CARTA sites with an additional $100,000 per year (for the next five years) to build on the centers’ work in data analytics research. 

“CARTA’s focus has been on real-time analytics of large datasets on next generation technologies, or accelerated technologies, like high-performance computing, cloud computing, and quantum computing. This work will continue in Phase II,” says Karuna Joshi, associate professor of information systems and director of UMBC’s CARTA site. 

Advancing industry collaborations

Since its launch, UMBC-CARTA faculty and student researchers have conducted more than 40 projects examining data analytics in Blockchain technology, malware analysis, medical data sharing, and evaluating bias in artificial intelligence in medical imaging. UMBC-CARTA collaborator Milton Halem, research professor of computer science and electrical engineering, will continue his work in weather and wildfire prediction research in the next phase of the initiative. 

CARTA Phase II projects will largely focus on medical analytics (medical images and dataset sharing) and scientific and environmental datasets that can inform weather and wildfire predictions, Joshi explains, adding that “security is going to be the overlying paradigm across all of those various areas of research.”

The CARTA sites are also aiming to expand their number of industry partner collaborations. In CARTA Phase I, UMBC worked with a range of industry partners that included NASA, IBM, the National Security Agency, Laboratory for Physical Sciences, the Department of Homeland Security, Morgan Stanley, RAD-AID, and Carestream. 

“In Phase II, we are focusing more on collaborative projects with our university partners and building on those collaborations and making them stronger,” says Joshi. “We’re also looking at new avenues that our industry partners might be interested in such as smart cities, next-generation airports, and how to build secure image analytics and algorithms.”

As Phase II evolves, UMBC-CARTA research will also focus on large language models that are rising in popularity, such as ChatGPT, and digital twinning technologies, which is the process of creating a virtual model of a physical object. 

Student collaboration at every level

Undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students will continue to work on research projects at UMBC-CARTA. Since its inception, UMBC-CARTA has supported more than 15 graduate students and has provided opportunities for undergraduate students to strengthen their research skills through the NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. 

Kelvin Echenim, a second-year information systems Ph.D. student at UMBC, has worked on the CARTA team developing a scoring system to assess the comprehensiveness and user-friendliness of internet of things privacy policies.

“The scoring system aims to improve user comprehension and involvement in privacy matters by finding a balance between strict legal compliance and end-user practical accessibility,” says Echenim. 

He adds that current and future research in CARTA Phase II will help expand his knowledge in solving complex problems in data-driven AI systems. 

Read more about UMBC’s Center for Accelerated Real Time Analytics