Provost van Dulmen will meet with our group on Friday 5/9 at 12-1pm.  If you can attend, please sign up here: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/aaafsc/events/141597 

Please also take a moment to complete the AAAFSC onboarding guide.  We already received contributions from many AAAFSC members, but we still need more recommendations and data to help our new colleagues out.  The aggregated data will be available to the contributors and our new colleagues so everyone can benefit from this collective effort.  Complete the guide here (UMBC users only):  https://forms.gle/DzwAHUitJ1DKKcbn8

Greetings!

The Office of the Provost, in collaboration with the Office of International Students and Scholars Services, warmly invites our International Faculty, Researchers, and Staff to the upcoming International Scholars Connection & Conversation with Provost van Dulmen. This is a great opportunity to connect with colleagues, as well as the Provost, and share experiences in a relaxed setting. There are only 25 seats available, so please RSVP as soon as possible if you plan to attend. If you are unable to make this event, there will be more opportunities at the end of the month to connect as well. 

When:  Thursday, April 10, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Location: Admin Building, Second Floor, Room 218

There are only 25 seats available. If you plan to attend, please RSVP as soon as possible via google form HERE. Once you have indicated your intent to attend, a calendar invite will be sent over to you.

Whether you're new to campus or have been here for years, this is a wonderful chance to meet fellow international faculty, researchers, and staff, exchange insights, get to know the Provost and build a supportive community.

We look forward to seeing you there!

William Brooks

CyberDawgs President

The weekly CyberPaws CTF challenge has been released! Please submit your flag to the "CyberPaws CTF Bot" on our Discord via DMs, using the `!submit` command! You have until our next meeting to submit. The flag will always be in the following format: Paws{ex4mpl3_fl4g}.

DM a board member for help if you get stuck.

File Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JcOHgVy8ZrbFW-8NKp_r-CKhqo0P1lRe/view?usp=sharing

Dear UMBC Community,

As you have heard from President Sheares Ashby, UMBC is embarking on an important campus climate assessment survey this month.

Please use this link to participate in the survey. It is vital that as many members of our UMBC community as possible share their voices so we may best understand opportunities to create a more inclusive campus for all.

Thank you for participating in this important project!

Sincerely,

Hi Everyone,

Great news! The refreshed Employee Handbook covering 2025-2026 has been published and is ready for you.

This is your go-to resource for understanding UMBC's policies, procedures, benefits, and expectations. We encourage everyone to take some time to familiarize themselves with the contents.

Find the 2025-2026 Handbook here: https://umbc.box.com/v/staffhandbookpdf

Got questions? The HRSTM team is here to help! Reach out at HRSTM@umbc.edu.

Best,

Human Resources & Strategic Talent Management

Dear UMBC Community,

At UMBC, we seek to create an environment characterized by openness, fairness, and equal access for all students, staff, and faculty. A welcoming and inclusive environment is grounded in mutual respect, nurtured by dialogue, and evidenced by a pattern of civil interaction, and it is one of the foundations of our educational model. Creating and maintaining a community environment that respects individual needs, abilities, and potential is critically important.

To that end, UMBC is undertaking a campus climate assessment survey, led by the Division of Institutional Equity and its vice president, Tanyka Barber. We have engaged Rankin Climate, a firm with more than 22 years of experience in conducting more than 300 campus climate assessment projects.

A committee of faculty, staff, and students, co-chaired by Jasmine Lee, associate vice president for community and culture, and Orianne Smith, associate professor of English, is collaborating with Rankin Climate to develop and implement the assessment.

The findings will be shared with the campus community in the fall, once the data analysis is finalized. This information will help identify areas for growth in the development of new programs and policies, as well as enhance and replicate those that are already effective.

A project website has been developed to keep the community informed about the process and results of the assessment. You will receive an email with an invitation to participate in the survey shortly.

I encourage you to join me in supporting this important initiative.

Sincerely,

E-board applications for the pre-pharmacy society are now open! Applications close on April 20th, at 5 pm, so submit your application before that date. We will also be hosting interviews shortly after the submission date. If you have any questions, you can reach out to this email: jloyo1@umbc.edu

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Vunnathi Ankem | Conceptualizing intimate partner abuse through the lens of intracultural dialogue amongst South Asian students | POSTER #10 | UC Ballroom at 10:00 – 11:00am | Mentor: Christopher Murphy 

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Joy Ware | Cultural dimensions represented in Panama | ORAL | UC 310 at 2:20 – 2:35pm | Mentor: Dr. Sidas Saulynas 

Arianna Richardson | Virtual reality’s role in understanding factors affecting education | POSTER #19 | UC Ballroom at 2:30 – 3:30pm | Mentor: Anita Komlodi