Real People Profiles: Michele Wolff

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:01:00 -0400
real-people-profiles

I’m asking some of the people you might encounter on the UMBC campus, including students, faculty and staff, to answer a few questions about themselves and their experiences. These are their responses.

Name: Michele K. Wolff

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Q: How long have you been at UMBC?

A: Over 20 years! I started in 1988, as a full-time graduate student in Sociology. During my graduate studies, I worked part-time in the Office of Institutional Research and just after graduation, I was fortunate to be hired as the first Coordinator of Internships & Service-Learning at what was then called the Office of Professional Practice (later called The Center for Learning Through Work & Service, and ultimately named The Shriver Center).

Q: In 12 words or less, what role(s) do you play on campus?

A: Facilitating creation of opportunities for outreach of university resources to our community.

Q: What aspect of your UMBC role(s) do you enjoy most?

A: I love being able to work with an incredibly diverse group of students and the number of hats you can wear while working: teacher, student, mentor, mentee, and most importantly, difference-maker.

Q: What is the most important or memorable thing you learned in college/have learned at UMBC?

A: Having the opportunity every day to interact with and learn from some pretty inspiring people. The students, staff, and faculty who I get to work with are so committed to creating positive change for themselves and others, ultimately to the benefit our community (whether local, regional, national, or global).

Q: Complete this sentence: “I am a big fan of __________”

A: Spending as much time as possible with family and friends.

Q: Do you have any UMBC stories, little-known facts about UMBC, favorite spots on campus, or anything else you’d like to share?

A: Just after I started working here, our office was located in a temporary building on the land where the Physics Building now stands. In actuality, the building was constructed from two double-wide trailers--they tried to make them as comfortable as possible, but from the terrible ventilation and moldy smells, to the unbearably noisy wall units we had for heat and air, you could tell you were in converted trailers! Needless to say, the buildings on campus have come a long way!.