Howdy, my name is Alex Getachew (he, his) and I am the Veteran Services Graduate Assistant here at Off Campus Student Services

I am currently a Ph.D. student in Public Policy. I enjoy various hobbies, interests, and passions, such as choral singing, poetry, philosophy, volunteering (in and out of my community), making new friends, and last but not least, imparting corny humor to unsuspecting humans.
My goal is to offer student veterans (and students who are dependents of veterans) opportunities to connect with all the resources UMBC has to offer them. I endeavor to make you feel welcome anytime you walk into our office for any reason whatsoever. Whether that be to inquire about a specific issue, drop in to say hello, have a quick chat, or even to make suggestions for future veterans’ related programming.
I will be on-campus in the office on Tuesday and Thursday this semester. You can reach me by email - agetach1@umbc.edu or Veterans@umbc.edu

Hello, my name is Grace De Oro (she, her) and I am the Adult Learner Graduate Assistant for Off-Campus Student Services. This August I celebrated 2 years of working alongside the Staff in OCSS.
I am a Ph.D. student in the School of Public Policy and recently graduated in May 2019 from UMBC with my Masters in Public Policy with a concentration in Environmental Policy. I will be hopefully defending my dissertation proposal this year. I am currently focusing my research on nonprofit organizations’ resilience through the COVID-19 Pandemic as well as their relationship to government. I commute from Woodbine, MD (Western Howard County), where I live on a small  5-acre farmincluding cats, horses, a miniature donkey, chickens, ducks, goats, snakes, and many, many dogs.
I will be on-campus in the office on Mondays and Wednesday this semester and working from home on Tuesdays. You can always reach me by email - degrac1@umbc.edu or Adultlearners@umbc.edu

The UMBC Review: Journal of Undergraduate Research is currently soliciting submissions for its 23rd edition to be published in April, 2022. We invite you to submit your research to our journal. The Review offers a rewarding opportunity to get your undergraduate research published, build your resume, and improve your writing!

The deadline to submit has been extended to Friday, September 24th.The submission application can be found at: https://ur.umbc.edu/umbc-review/. Click “Submit Here!” We encourage students of all majors and disciplines to send in their research! Your papers do not have to be ready for publication or perfect right now, we just want to see the best work and research you have completed! Reach out to umbcreview@umbc.eduif you have any questions. 

More on Submissions:

The Submission Form will require:

- Your paper: (8-30 pages including title page and bibliography), uploaded as a Word document. If your paper is over 30 pages, you can submit it as it is, but please keep in mind that you may be asked to reduce it if your paper is accepted. The paper must conform to the UMBC Review Style Guidelines, which you can find on our website.

- Abstract: Include a 200 word abstract that summarizes your project.This should be written for non-experts in the field, and should include your research question, scholarly relevance, description of your methods, major findings, and implications.

- Author Biography: 150 word biography that includes your name, major(s),/minor(s), graduation date, professional acknowledgements, honors/scholars program affiliations, future academic and career goals. If you have already graduated, you can still submit your work - as long as the research was completed during your undergraduate studies.

- Research Journey: Please submit a 200 word description of how you came to study this topic. The point of this paragraph is to demystify the process of doing research or creative work for the reader. What sparked your interest in this research? Who helped you to complete it? Why are you passionate about it? What courses, professors, or readings inspired you? We recommend taking a look at research journeys from the prior editions of the UMBC Review for further clarification: https://ur.umbc.edu/umbc-review/editions/.

Advisor Recommendation Form:

Your advisor/mentor will also need to submit our Advisor Recommendation form. This form is a very important part of your application, as we need to know that your advisor supports the paper you submitted! Please make sure it is submitted by the final deadline. If you submit your paper by the priority deadline, the advisor form is not necessary for you to receive feedback. Remember to keep your advisor informed of any changes you make to the paper before submission.

The advisor recommendation form also asks advisors to suggest possible outside reviewers for your paper. We strongly encourage advisors to provide names of reviewers who are professionals in your field of study in this portion of the form. Peer-reviewers can be professors at other universities or professionals in the field (for example, a museum curator for a paper that focuses on museums). Peer-reviewers cannot be UMBC faculty.

Further submission guidelines and the UMBC Review Style Guide can be found at our website https://ur.umbc.edu/umbc-review/ . If you have any questions contact us at umbcreview@umbc.edu.

We look forward to reading your excellent submissions!

Best Regards, 

Will Murphy (they/them, he/him)

Dariush Aligholizadeh (he/him)

Levi Lewis (he/him)

UMBC Review Editors

Please see the latest updates on UMBC’s Retriever Ready website. Questions? Email covid19@umbc.edu.

COVID-19 Health and Safety

• Please help keep our community safe and healthy by observing our key campus safety measures:
• Masking. 
• Distancing.
• Feel sick? Stay home.

• Our campus vaccination rate continues to rise past 97 percent. See more information on our Public Health Dashboard.

• Visit our COVID-19 Case Response page for information on how to report a COVID-19 case and resources for unwell community members.

• Check out these classroom safety guidelines.

Coping with Stress

• Many of us are managing a lot in our lives, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Please make time to pay close attention to your emotional well being and coping tools. Here is some helpful information.

Coping and Support

• Togetherall is a free online peer-to-peer community for undergraduate and graduate students that offers a safe, anonymous place to support your mental health 24/7.

• UMBC Retriever Integrated Health offers resources to support the campus community learning about and responding to mental and emotional well-being.

• Learn more about Retriever Integrated Health here and join us for upcoming events throughout the fall semester, including an opening reception on Monday, September 13 from 3 to 4 p.m.

UMBC Together

• Visit the UMBC Together website for recent social media posts and the UMBC Together myUMBC group for information on upcoming events.