Retriever Essentials is a faculty, staff, and student partnership tackling food insecurity in the UMBC community. The program offers three ways for students to receive access to healthy foods and other essential supplies, free of charge: Food Zones, Save a Swipe, and Community Partnerships. Food Zones are seven designated locations on campus where students or any UMBC member can anonymously pick up a pre-packed bag of non-perishable groceries and toiletries. The intake process is anonymous, but a short demographic-based intake survey is required; no financial evidence of need is required. Additionally, there are 4 locations on campus, and 1 off-campus, with donation bins. Retriever Essentials is a fully donation-supported food pantry, where the campus community routinely provides non-perishable groceries for distribution. The Save-a-Swipe program provides free meals to the students at the campus dining hall. Students with meal plans can sign up to donate either 5 or 10 meals to the Save a Swipe “pool.” These meals then become available for use by students who are identified as food insecure by trained Retriever Essentials team members and campus staff (Retriever Essentials Case Managers), so they can eat on campus for free. Community partnerships act as the final pillar to Retriever Essentials. Retriever Essentials is aware that food insecurity is often the tip of the iceberg in a student’s financial struggle and can be the first of many barriers to academic success. To provide support for “higher needs services,” the Retriever Essentials Case Managers will refer students who are utilizing Retriever Essentials to other campus and/or community resources. All three aspects of Retriever Essentials programming provide a pathway to academic/career success for the most at-risk UMBC members.
Member Duties : The CCMA AmeriCorps VISTA will implement the operation manual to continue institutionalizing all Retriever Essentials programming, while updating the manual to ensure needs are met in the most efficiently. They will coordinate volunteers for daily operations of the food pantry, including donation collection, inventory, bag packing/delivery, and client shopping. The VISTA will also develop a fundraising plan to raise money to support the new permanent pantry space on campus and to fund a staff member. They will work to develop partnerships with departments and student groups and on and off campus partners to provide programming and events around food justice and healthy eating on a budget. Additionally, the VISTA will coordinate the student leadership board to help institutionalize Retriever Essentials. They will train students in researching and advocating for food and housing insecure students. The VISTA will create and update promotional content and develop marketing strategies.
Program Benefits : Childcare assistance if eligible , Gym Membership , Relocation Allowance , Choice of Education Award or End of Service Stipend , Training , Living Allowance , Health Coverage* .
Graduation for many students is just around the corner. We’re in the second half of the semester and it’s the home stretch. For many of you, the job search has begun. So now, it’s time to polish up that resume and start applying to jobs. But what if you don’t have a whole lot of experience in your field of interest? That’s not uncommon for an undergraduate student looking for their first job out of college. So how do you pitch yourself as the ideal candidate for a job without the relevant experience? You focus on your Transferable Skills.
Transferable Skills are the skills you’ve learned throughout your life in different areas that apply to any job you’re applying for. Skills like adaptability, communication, and teamwork are all great to have not only on your resume, but to emphasize in a cover letter or interview. As long as you can back up your claim with a story or instance where you used that skill, you can
use it. While the semester and your schoolwork have gotten more complicated thanks to Covid-19, you’re also learning critical skills in digital technology, communication, and adaptability. Learning to articulate your transferable skills will give you a leg up in the job search.
The top Transferable Skills employers look for according to NACE are:
Critical Thinking/Problem-Solving
Think about a time where you were faced with a problem that needed to be solved. How did you go about it? For example, did you have to change your spring break plans at the last minute because of Covid-19? How did you solve that problem?
Oral/Written Communication Skills
Your resume and cover letters are an example of your written communication skills, and your interview is a good representation of your oral communication skills. Another question employers might ask would include public speaking. Have you ever done a presentation in front of a class or for your work?
Teamwork/Collaboration
Think about a time you had to work on a team. How did you handle the situation? Were there conflicts you needed to solve?
Digital Technology
Think about what computer skills you have, are they what the employers are looking for? Can you think of a time where you had to learn a new software or application on the job or for a class? For example, did you have to quickly learn how to use Webex for a class because of the pandemic?
Leadership
Think about a time you expressed leadership qualities, what did you do and how?
Professionalism/Work Ethic
Has there ever been a time where you needed to work with an angry customer or solve a workplace dispute? Or did you need to switch quickly from in-person work to remote work for your job? How did you hold yourself accountable at home?
Career Management
Do you have the skills necessary to build and manage your career on your own? Do you have goals and a strategy to achieve those goals?
Global/Intercultural Fluency
Talk about a time you worked with someone from a different culture or background as you. Was there a conflict to resolve professionally?
These are skills that you can learn through your classes, at an internship, or through any job you may have held, and many of these skills will come in handy for your classes and jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic. You don’t have to have learned or used these skills in a completely relevant job or internship to your field of interest, these skills are life skills. Of course, if you need any help articulating these skills, the Career Center is here to help!
Immediate Openings for the critical role of Clinical Assistant I for KKI’s Neurobehavioral Unit (NBU) in Baltimore.
All majors are considered for this role.
KKI provides full training for this position.
Interviews will be conducted virtually
via Zoom for selected candidates.
KKI offers tuition remission for eligible
employees who work in the Neurobehavioral Unit.
Kennedy Krieger Virtual Interviews on 4/14 (via Zoom)
Position: Clinical Assistant I
Apply in UMBCworks :
Look for Position ID: 9313893
Deadline to apply in UMBCworks
is: April 5th
Clinical Assistant Role
The Clinical Assistant will provide direct
care and supervision of patients admitted to the Inpatient Neurobehavioral
Unit, implement written behavioral and educational protocols, and collect data
on patient-specific target behaviors.
See UMBCworks for a full position description – Position ID: 9313893
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