The University System of Maryland (USM) has selected Metropolitan Life (MetLife) Insurance Company as the new vendor for life insurance and long term disability (LTD) insurance plans. The USM MetLife plans are available to all Regular and Contingent II employees and will replace the existing UNUM Group Life and LTD vendor. The transition will take place effective April 1, 2021.
For the period of April 1 through April 30, 2021, eligible employees will have the opportunity to:
· enroll for new life insurance and/or long term disability coverage
· make updates to existing coverage
· take advantage of lower life insurance rates
· enjoy online enrollment (no paper forms)
Employees who are currently enrolled in the USM Group Life and LTD coverage with UNUM will not need to take any action to re-enroll during this period. Existing coverage will automatically roll over from UNUM to USM MetLife. We encourage employees with existing coverage to visit the dedicated USM MetLife website to ensure existing beneficiary information is up to date.
The dedicated USM MetLife website will be available on 4/1/2021. In the meantime, employees can review the USM MetLife Life Insurance and USM MetLife Long Term Disability plan summaries on the HR Benefits website for more about the specific benefits for both plans, or submit questions via email to hrbenefits@umbc.edu.
To receive regular updates, make sure to subscribe to the Human Resources myUMBC group.
]]>This year, however, TDOV comes at a time of deeply harmful political movements to suppress the trans community’s access to health care and sports. As of today, three state governors have signed off on anti-trans legislation that bans trans women and girls from competing in sports and, coming down the pipeline, are more laws like those being voted on in Arkansas that would prevent gender affirming health care for trans people under age 18 (ironically, this bill is called the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation” (SAFE) Act). South Dakota bill to ban transgender girls and women from sports was vetoed by Governor Kristi Noem (R), but Governor Noem quickly passed two executive orders that effectively replicaticating the law.
Chase Strangio, deputy director of transgender justice at the ACLU, recently told CNN, "There have been many existential threats to trans existence, but there's something uniquely dangerous about what's going on right at this moment with the combination of the sports bills and the health care bills… I think the impulse underlying both is to try to establish governmental policy that it's harmful to be trans."
This TDOV, we hope you consider taking action and actively fighting against these measures. Some suggestions for next steps include:
writing the governors of the various states that are considering and passing these bills,
donating to trans organizations working to fight against this bigotry,
and/or calling your own state and federal representatives to demand they stand up for trans people’s right to both healthcare and participation in sports.
For all of these actions, you can find/send pre-formed emails here and even more easy action items here.
In addition to doing this important work, consider simply learning more about the transgender community by centering trans creators, authors, activists, artists, scientists, policy makers, etc. Below, we have gathered resources to read/listen to/watch and folks to follow on social media. These are just a very few of the people and groups that you should look into--so please do explore further!
Visibility is a small step toward progress, but it’s only the first of many. There is still so much work to be done, as we can see by today’s news, but we can continue to build the futures we imagine. We can keep dreaming up utopia, uplifting transgender voices, and constructing bridges between difference.
Chase Strangio, deputy director of transgender justice for the ACLU
Alok Vaid-Menon, author, performer, and artist
Katelyn Burns, journalist with VOX
Chase Mosier, professional athlete and founder of transathlete (see below)
Raquel Willis, activist, writer, and organizer
Schuyler Bailar, first trans D1 athlete, speaker, and advocate
Wednesday Holmes, illustrator and writer
Ericka Hart, sex educator and writer
Intransitive was founded by two Trans people in response to the gap of intersectional Trans spaces in Northwest Arkansas. From its inception, Intransitive took on shutting down TERF recruitment events by organizing local and regional Trans people in the state.
FORGE reduces the impact of trauma on trans/non-binary survivors and communities by empowering service providers, advocating for systems reform, and connecting survivors to healing possibilities. FORGE strives to create a world where ALL voices, people and bodies are valued, respected, honored, and celebrated; where every individual feels safe, supported, respected, and empowered.
TransAthlete is a resource for students, athletes, coaches, and administrators to find information about trans inclusion in athletics at various levels of play. This site pulls together existing information in one central location, and breaks down information into easy-to-reference areas to help you find what you need.
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." The ACLU works at the national level and has affiliate locations throughout the U.S.
Trans Women in Women’s Spaces: A Reflection of the Transition of Privilege and Belonging
By Autumn Cook, March 26, 2020
Genderqueer & Trans Fashion Zine
By Scout Hertl, Spring 2019
By Dan Willey and Amelia Meman, 2017
How Many Trans Kids Will Die While We Await This Mythic Trans Sports Takeover? by Chase Strangio
Transgender Week of Visibility and Action (Google Doc with information and resources for activism)
Trans Athletes Bills Explained by Katelyn Burns
Myths About Trans Athletes Debunked by Chase Strangio and Gabriel Arkles
Trans History You Never Learned in School by Thomas Page McBee
Visibility Alone Will Not Keep Transgender Youth Safe by Chase Strangio and Raquel Willis
Youth Activists Lead the Fight Against Anti-Trans Bills by Jo Yurcaba
As we gain more information and folks share resources, we are updating a Google Doc with this information. You can check that out here.
The UMBC Kinetic Sculpture Team will share their process for redesigning the “MC Hammerhead” kinetic sculpture, including research on sustainable design (McDonough and Braungart 2002, 2013), Agile methods of project management (Ullman 2008) and integrative strategies for combining the expertise of majors from engineering, visual arts, information systems, anthropology, psychology, and Asian Studies (Miller&Boix Mansilla 2004).
The Team will share art and engineering sketches, photos of the design and build process, and videos of the test ride of the twenty foot shark sculpture. Team members will discuss their experiments with reclaimed materials, including how they tested material integrity through prototyping. Building on the visual communication the Kraken Upcycle Team used regarding plastic accumulation as the new monster of the sea, the Shark Sculpture Team will create visual metaphors highlighting the importance of using recycled plastics.
The project is continually evolving in iterative cycles, merging past teams’ work with current team members’ personal experience and skills that they bring to the project. Finally, the team will discuss the broader impact of sustainable design through examples such as WashedAshore.org and the work of artist Angelia Haseltine Pozzi.
URCAD.umbc.edu
Check out what's to come in April with i3b and our partnered events.
RSVP to any events HERE
An Open Processing Space on Anti-Asian Violence
A supportive brave space for students
Friday, April 2, 2021 | 3:00pm - 4:00 p.m. | Online via Google Meet
myUMBC Event Post: Link | Google Meet: Link
Workshop Wednesdays: Tools for Navigating Difficult Dialogues
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 | 10am - 12p.m. | myUMBC Post: Link | Webex Session: Link
DreamZone Development Lunch & Learn Session
Help us develop one of our newest initiatives!
Friday, April 16, 2021 | 12pm - 1:15 p.m. | myUMBC Post: Link | Webex Session: Link
OCA Mocha Mondays with i3b: Interfaith Dialogues
Monday, April 19, 2021 | 6pm - 7:30 p.m. | myUMBC Post: Link | Webex Session: RSVP Required
Retriever Immigrants United: Equity for all? **
Advocating for our most underserved
Friday, April 23, 2021 | 12pm - 1:15 p.m. | myUMBC Post: Link | CANCELED
SistaCare: Equity for all? **
Advocating for our most underserved
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | 1pm - 2p.m. | myUMBC Post: Link | Webex Session: Link
LGBTQ+ Networking Event
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | 4pm - 5:30 p.m. | myUMBC Post: Link | Webex Session: Link
Dear UMBC Community,
We are pleased to share with you that in partnership with the University System of Maryland, UMBC is recognizing Juneteenth as an administrative leave day.
For 2021, UMBC will be closed on Friday, June 18. Exempt employees who must work on June 18th can take administrative leave by August 31, 2021. Nonexempt employees who must work on the administrative leave day will be credited with the administrative leave on that day.
Juneteenth honors June 19, 1865, the day that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and that the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, declaring the freedom of slaves in states not controlled by the Union, would be enforced for the first time. We support the work of activists in Maryland and across the country that are seeking to make Juneteenth an official holiday as it has long been observed by many in our community as a way to celebrate the accomplishments and resilience of Black Americans.
At UMBC, we know how impactful the legacy of slavery is for our community members. We also know that the work for racial equity is far from over. We are committed to continuing this work every day through our words, our actions, and our community values.
We encourage all in our community to use the day to put our UMBC values of equity and inclusion into action by participating in events honoring the holiday or through education and self-reflection on racial justice issues.
President Hrabowski and Provost Rous
The Office of Health Promotion (OHP) mourns the victims of the horrific shootings in Atlanta on March 16. These attacks are just the latest among a nationwide rise in violence, discrimination, and xenophobia directed towards members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community this past year. During a time of uncertainty, we know that these events can cause additional fear and anxiety in members of our UMBC community.
Here at UMBC, we welcome people from all backgrounds. Specifically, the OHP’s team, which includes our professional and student staff, is firmly committed to promoting the safety and well-being of all students, regardless of their cultural background, race, or ethnicity. As we continue to reflect on this past year and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, remember that the words we use and the actions we take matter. Let’s continue to strive to create an inclusive campus that not only acknowledges and condemns violence, but also the discrimination and stereotyping that have negatively impacted communities throughout the country. Everyone deserves to feel safe in their home, community, and country.
To the AAPI-identified members of our UMBC community, the OHP staff stands in solidarity with you during this time, and always. We are listening. We value you. We support you.
If you would like to process this past week’s events, or any other experiences, with a professional, please contact the Counseling Center at 410-455-2472 between 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to make a virtual appointment. If you need support after hours, please call 410-455-3230.
If you are in need of additional inclusion resources, we encourage you to contact the following UMBC offices:
Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (i3b)
Office of Equity and Inclusion
If you would like to take action, check out this list of action items and resources gathered by UMBC’s Asian & Asian American Faculty & Staff Council.
]]>When embarking on a job or internship search, if you are like most job seekers, you may be feeling a sense of ambiguity. You may be wondering what’s “out there” for me? What opportunities should I be targeting with my educational background and/or degree? These questions are typical and can often lead to a sense of anxiety and confusion.
Instead of approaching your search from the notion that your major should drive your direction, why not be open to new possibilities? After all, when does life unfold just as you expect? I say embrace the journey – after all, the journey is the destination! When starting out, rather than chasing a specific “path”, having a sense of adventure and openness will not only take the pressure off, you may find an opportunity where you least expect it!
Don’t be limited by your major – but rather think of it as a springboard off which to jump into your next adventure!
UMBC's Career Month begins in April. Throughout the month, we offer an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to explore their professional options through workshops, resume reviews, alumni panels and virtual networking events with employers. Each week we are featuring a different employment industry but with repeating event types.
We encourage all students from freshman to PhD-level to "Be open to the possibilities. Opportunities may exist in unexpected places!"
View the full calendar of events at careermonth.umbc.edu.
Dear Asian and Asian American Faculty and Staff Members and Community Allies:
The AAAFSC board would like to extend our gratitude for your support at the March 22, 2021 event “An Open Dialogue on Anti-Asian Racism.” We appreciated the candid and heartfelt comments shared by community members that allowed us to process our collective grief and the allyship that so many of you expressed.
We are heartbroken over the murders of 8 people in Atlanta over the past week, 6 of whom were women of Asian and Asian American descent: Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, and Yong Ae Yue.
We see this violence as the latest in a surge in similar acts towards Asian and Asian American communities over the past year, and also part of a longer history of violence and discrimination against Asian and Asian American communities. Furthermore, we recognize these acts are the result of systemic white supremacy, and we stand in solidarity with other minoritized communities in our campus and beyond to condemn white supremacy, hateful violence, and discrimination in all of its forms.
Taking a cue from our discussion on March 22 and the Association of Asian American Studies statement in response to the Atlanta murders, we have collated some resources below to gather the “collective knowledge and feeling” of the many Asian American scholars, activists, journalists, mental health professionals, writers, and individuals who have released statements and written opinion pieces to provide historical, political and emotional context for the effects of these murders.
In addition to the list of resources that we sent out last week and a list of resources compiled by the Women’s Center, below we have gathered additional readings and responses that address some of what came up in our discussion yesterday: themes of building cross-racial solidarity, Asian American invisibility/hypervisibility, the model minority paradigm, intersections of racism and misogyny, increased education on Asian American history, and intergenerational trauma and relationships.
We hope that these sources will help you process the events of this past week and year.
In solidarity and support,
The AAAFSC board: Tamara Bhalla (chair), Aditya Desai (member at large), Soonhee Lee (member at large), Shuyan Sun, (member at large), Fan Yang (secretary)
READ:
Pawan Dhingra, The Most Effective Way to Fight Back Against Anti-Asian Hate, CNN, 3.21.2021
“In order to effect lasting and meaningful change, we need an educational campaign starting in K-12 schools that reveals the strength and complexity of Asian Americans.”
Jennifer Ho, To Be an Asian Woman in America, CNN, 3.17.2021
“To be an Asian woman in America means you can't just be what you are: a fully enfranchised human being. It means you are a blank screen on which others project their stories, especially, too often, their sexualized fantasies -- because US culture has long presented Asian women as sexualized objects for White male enjoyment.”
Milliann Kang, Why Are Perpetrators’ Motives Given More Importance Than the Lives They Take?, Ms.Magazine, 3.22.2021
“This racialized sexualization of Asian women has deep roots in U.S. society and culture, making them vulnerable targets for harassment and violence, motivated simultaneously by misogyny, xenophobia and anti-Asian racism. But these points seem to be lost on those who refuse to recognize this as a hate crime, simply because the perpetrator said it wasn’t.”
Viet Thanh Nguyen and Janelle Wong, Bipartisan political rhetoric about Asia leads to anti-Asian violence here, The Washington Post, 3.19,2021
“The experience of racial discrimination does not happen for any group in isolation; white supremacy depends on pitting people of color against one another so they do not see their shared cause. Racial profiling does not stem from the same stereotypes for Asian Americans, Black people, Muslims and other groups, but it serves a common purpose — to define who is essential and who belongs to the nation.”
Jerusalem Demsas and Rachel Ramirez, The history of tensions — and solidarity — between Black and Asian American communities, explained.Vox, 3.16.2021
“Ultimately, there is a failure to remember what got America to this place of racial hierarchies and lingering Black-Asian tensions: white supremacy....And for Black and Asian American communities to move forward, it is important to remember the root cause and fight together against it.”
A List of Asian American Books and Memoirs compiled by the LA Times
WATCH:
PBS’s Asian Americans (2020)
Slaying the Dragon: Reloaded (2011, Deborah Gee)
Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1987, Renee Tajima-Peña, Christine Choy, Nancy Tong)
ACT:
Support community efforts in Atlanta, Georgia: AAPI Community Resources Offerings Form (mutual aid intake form), sign on to a community-centered response against anti-Asian violence, & donate to support families of the victims, Atlanta Action Card
Call your elected officials to support community centered policies for addressing hate violence
Protect AAPI workers at your workplace or union with these APALA Guidelines.
Join a vigil, read statements by Atlanta-based AAPI organizations & sign-on letters
DONATE: