Renetta Tull, Graduate School, Interviewed on Global Webcast

Renetta Tull, associate vice provost for graduate education and postdoctoral affairs, was interviewed as part of a global webcast featuring women in data. The webcast was hosted by O’Reilly Media, which published a report on Women in Data in February that also featured Tull.

In the interview, Tull spoke about resources for women in tech from underrepresented backgrounds and mentioned programs such as the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate at UMBC. Tull was joined by Michele Chambers, president and COO at RapidMiner, Laurie Skelly, data scientist at Datascope and curriculum developer and instructor for the Data Science bootcamp at Metis, and Alice Zheng, director of Data Science at Dato.

Click here to watch the webcast.

This post originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

Richard Forno, Cybersecurity, in American City and County

Richard Forno, assistant director for UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity, was recently in American City and County to discuss government recruitment of cybersecurity practitioners. American City and County is a magazine that features stories of interest to state and local government officials.

In the article, Forno recommends that governments look for cybersecurity professionals with a combination of technical and soft skills. “You need people that have the right mix of technical talent and the ability to apply that talent effectively in the workplace,” he said.

Click here to read “Hunting cybersecurity talent” in American City and County.

This post originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

UMBC’s Psychology Training Clinic Featured in the Baltimore Sun’s April Education Section

In its April education section, the Baltimore Sun published an article on programs that prepare students to provide effective, evidence-based care for patients. UMBC’s Psychology Training Clinic, part of the Psychology Training, Research, and Services Center at the South Campus Research and Technology Park, was featured in the article. Rebecca Schacht, a clinical assistant professor of psychology and director of the clinic, was quoted extensively in the story and discussed the new clinic, which provides low-cost therapy for people struggling with anxiety, depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress syndrome. Graduate-level students provide care under supervision of licensed psychologists.

“This is really the standard for training,” Schacht said. While students also train in community outpatient clinics, “you don’t get as much oversight there. It allows us to have more contact with our students to train them in evidence-based treatment.” Patients at the clinic agree to be recorded, and then the professors review the tapes with the students. “It benefits the students and the patients because there’s a lot more focus,” Schacht added. “You really think more deeply about each person.”

Students at the clinic study the latest research which benefits patients and Schacht noted the training at the clinic will provide the field with effective practitioners. “One of the biggest determinants in whether people get better is the relationship with their therapist,” she said. For more information about the clinic, click here.

This post originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

Robert Deluty, Graduate School, Publishes his 48th Book

Robert Deluty, associate dean of the graduate school, has published a new volume of poetry “Worthy of Consideration.” In his review, Ronald Pies writes: “Robert Deluty’s excellent new collection of short poems presents us with an intriguing dialectic, partly inspired by epigrams from the writer Hermann Hesse. On the one hand, for Hesse, ‘. . . every man’s story is important, eternal, sacred.’ On the other hand, Hesse tells us that his own story is ‘not sweet and harmonious’ but is filled with ‘folly and bewilderment’ – even madness. Deluty’s poems vibrate with this dynamic tension: sometimes evoking the eternal and sacred; sometimes reflecting human folly and bewilderment – and sometimes, both, as in ‘fundamentalists/ blasting Christian rock music/ at their Sikh neighbors.’ What allows Deluty’s poems to ‘work’ is his deep sympathy and understanding of the paradoxes of the human condition.”

“Worthy of Consideration,” as well as all of Dr. Deluty’s other books, may be purchased at the UMBC Bookstore.

Volunteers Needed for Spring Commencement Ceremonies (5/20 & 5/21)

It’s the time of the year when we ask for your help with May Commencements!  This year, the Undergraduate ceremony at the Royal Farms Arena (previously the Baltimore Arena) will be held on Thursday, May 21.

To volunteer, click here, select “Undergraduate Ceremony” and register.  You will see a brief description of the jobs available and the number of staff needed. If you prefer a particular job, sign up now before they are filled. You will receive a confirmation e-mail after you submit your selection.

Volunteer training for the undergraduate ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19  at 2:00 pm in the RAC. Transportation will be provided to the Arena on the day of commencement with the bus leaving Commons Drive Circle at 9:30 a.m. and returning 30 minutes after the ceremony.

Volunteers are also needed to help with the Graduate School Ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, May 21 at 10:00 am in the RAC.  You may use the same link as above and just select “Graduate Ceremony”.

If you have questions regarding the Undergraduate ceremony, contact Erin Johnson at ejohnso@umbc.edu or ext. 5-5897.  For questions regarding the Graduate School ceremony, contact Lisa Portis Morgan at limorgan@umbc.edu or ext. 5-8142.

To celebrate your efforts, we will once again host a Commencement Volunteer Thank You in January for those of you who assist with the May and/or December ceremony.  Look for further information in the late Fall.

Grad Students – Earn $1900 Advising New Students!

Faculty, staff, and graduate students are needed to work as New Student Orientation Advisors during Summer 2015 with the Office for Academic and Pre-Professional Advising (OAPA).

Graduate students and 9½ month faculty members will be compensated directly at $100.00 per session. 12 month faculty members’ compensations will be sent to their Departments. Staff members are not eligible to receive additional compensation. Comprehensive training will be provided for all Orientation Advisors.

For additional information regarding the position and to apply, please visit the OAPA website. You may also contact Ms. Paula Ashby, Assistant Director, OAPA at ashby@umbc.edu or (410) 455-2451 with questions.

UMBC’s Professional Graduate Programs Open House (4/29)

Professional Graduate Programs Open House will be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. EDT at UMBC South Campus (bwtech@UMBC South) 1450 S. Rolling Road; Halethorpe, MD 21227.

Join us to meet program directors, alumni and students from UMBC Professional Graduate Programs, and learn about industry trends and opportunities. Representatives from Financial Aid, Veteran Affairs, the Graduate School, and others will be on hand to answer your questions. The Open House will include breakout information sessions that will focus on Graduate Programs, including: Cybersecurity, Biotechnology, Health Information Technology, Engineering Management, and Systems Engineering. If interested in attending, please RSVP online.

GRA Pradeep Guin Publishes Article and Presents at National Conference

Hilltop Institute graduate research assistant and UMBC Public Policy Ph.D. candidate Pradeep Guin is co-author of an article recently published in the journal Health, titled Health Status and Access to Health Services in Indian Slums. The article presents the findings of a study that analyzed the status of health and access to health services among the urban poor in India, based on data from a primary survey conducted among 2000 households, covering 10,929 individuals from four cities of India. The results of the study indicate continued vulnerability of the urban poor, and the need for urgent government action. Guin presented a paper on this study at the Health Systems Reform in Asia Conference in Singapore which took place December 13-16, 2013. Citation: Gupta, I., & Guin, P. (2015). Health status and access to health services in Indian slums. Health, 7, 245-255.

Guin also presented a poster at the Association for Education Finance and Policy’s (AEFP) 40th Annual Conference on February 27, 2015, in Washington, DC, titled The Impacts of Exposure to Natural Disasters on Children’s Education and Health Outcomes. This dissertation research attempted to answer the question: Does (a) exposure to natural disasters and (b) economic losses from disasters have any impact on a child’s education and health outcomes? Guin found that there is no significant impact on a child’s outcome measures in a one-year exposure period due to various types of disasters. There is evidence, however, that disasters that lead to especially large economic losses can reduce students’ performance on math assessments.

This post originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

Graduate Research Conference 2015: Community, Collaboration, Career

Reimagined UMBC Graduate Research Conference focuses on unique professional development opportunities.

For the past year a dedicated team of graduate students has been carefully retooling UMBC’s annual Graduate Research Conference (GRC). Their hard work and creativity paid off on March 25, 2015 when the largest-ever group of conference participants gathered to celebrate and promote student research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and diverse career paths.

UMBC’s Graduate Student Association (GSA), GSA Senate, and Office of Graduate Student Life (OGSL) together hosted this day-long event. GSA Vice President and GRC Chair Romy Hübler ’15, Ph.D., Language, Literacy, and Culture, shares, “The whole idea of the redesign was to make it more collaborative, more interdisciplinary…a way to build community, not just among graduate students, but also faculty, staff and undergraduates.”

The reimagined conference attracted 140 presenters—more than double the number that participated last year. Oral and poster presentations came from a variety of disciplines, and for the first time included Artist Talks and Works in Progress. Janet Rutledge, vice provost and dean of the Graduate School, shared, “I’m really excited about the inclusiveness of the new format of the conference, which allows graduate students at all stages of research to have an opportunity to present their work.”

Jaclin Paul ’17, intermedia and digital arts, shared her project “First Contact,” which uses twelve digitally altered images of American Girl dolls to explore themes of cultural identity in Colonial America. Paul explained: “In creating ‘First Contact,’ I wanted to engage conversation about [indigenous identity], the nature of the colonialism, and subverting the traditional cultural assimilation hierarchy.”

Ann Kellogg, a Ph.D. student in public policy, presented “Collaborating for Success: The UMBC Student Success Network.” This ongoing project examines formal and informal relationships across campus that shape the networks and resources impacting student progress toward graduation. “We continue to push out rules and regulations at the state and federal level, but if we don’t understand how they diffuse across a campus and how they are adapted to local practices, I think it’s hard to make effective policy,” Kellogg shared.

Cailing Dong, a Ph.D. student in information systems, presented “Predicting Behavior on Online Social Networks.” The goal of her work was to create a decision-making model for social media consumers to assist them in protecting their privacy online. Through her research, Dong observed what she calls a “privacy paradox”—a “disconnection between users’ intention of privacy protection and their actual privacy activity.” She explains, “Even if a person claims that they have a high level of privacy, when it comes to sharing some information on social networks, you really share more than is intended.”

Kayla Lemons, a Ph.D. student in biological sciences, examined the system in mice responsible for detecting odors to determine how exposure to harmful pollutants and irritants may affect cells that contribute to long-term sensory capabilities. “It’s important for this system to be able to maintain function on a long-term basis for animals like mice who need to detect predators and mates,” Lemons asserted.

Beyond welcoming a broader range of research presentations, the redesigned GRC also included professional development workshops on industry, non-profit/government, and entrepreneurial careers, in collaboration with the Career Center.

Renetta Tull, associate vice provost for graduate student development and postdoctoral affairs, described this new aspect of the conference as “addressing a key issue that the Council of Graduate Schools identified in their report, ‘Pathways through Graduate School and into Careers,’ which notes that students need to have a broad view of career options.”

This year, a highly interdisciplinary keynote panel replaced the usual keynote speech, bringing together faculty from the Erickson School; Imaging Research Center; chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering; and American studies. The GRC planning team also offered a resource-rich research fair and, to foster collaboration, added a closing reception for students, faculty, and staff to share ideas and reflect on presentations.

Planning for next year’s conference is already underway, with the committee exploring new opportunities for student-led workshops, roundtable discussions, and, as Hübler describes, making the most of this opportunity to “build community and make connections.”

For a complete list of presentations and to learn more about the 2015 conference, see the GRC website.

Grad Students: Join the PROMISE myUMBC Group!

We invite graduate students to join the PROMISE myUMBC group http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise to get updates for all of the professional development programs on campus.

We invite ALL of our graduate students from all disciplines, all degree programs, and all backgrounds to join the group.  When it comes to some activities, we still frequently hear complaints of “I didn’t know” or “no one told me” even though events are usually posted weeks in advance.  We don’t want any of our nearly 3000 students to miss out on opportunities.  This year we’re posting more job opportunities than ever, we’re starting to have webinars for people who can’t come to in-person seminars, and we’re starting to record and webcast some of our workshops.