The Graduate School Accepting Applications for Summer 2015 Dissertation Fellowship

Application Deadline:  Friday, May 1, 2015

The Dissertation Fellowship is designed to provide doctoral candidates at UMBC an opportunity to devote the necessary concentration and attention towards finishing the writing of their dissertations.  The Fellowship is specifically designed for students with full-time jobs off-campus, for those without any financial support who are making steady progress with their writing, and for whom having additional time and resources would permit them to complete the process more expeditiously.  This Fellowship is not available as an option for students with available graduate assistantship support.

The Dissertation Fellowship could provide promising doctoral candidates with financial support so that they may reduce their current obligations and partially offset any reductions in salary or increases in expenses.  No additional work assignments other than work on the dissertation are to be associated with this support.

Priority will be given to students who demonstrate that the Fellowship will allow them the needed time to complete their writing and to make revisions in time to defend the work within a realistic but expeditious time frame.  Awards will be made to students who have demonstrated a commitment to provide at least 20 hours per week for an entire academic semester to writing the dissertation.

Dissertation Fellowship awards are available for Summer 2015. The duration of an award is for one semester.  The maximum level of support for Fall is a total stipend of $2,996.32 per Fellowship plus tuition remission for two credits of 899.

To be considered for a Dissertation Fellowship, the Ph.D. candidate must:

• be in good academic standing;
• provide a letter of support from the Chair of the Dissertation Committee that

1)  describes the state of the dissertation and the probable impact of receipt of the Fellowship on the progress toward completion; and,
2) verifies that no UMBC-administered financial support is available for the student;

• provide, if employed outside the university, written evidence from the student’s employer indicating the employer’s willingness to reduce job time and duties in order for the student to participate in the Fellowship;
• submit a dissertation abstract of no more than two pages in length; and
• submit a 1-2 page management plan signed by the Chair of the Dissertation Committee describing the status of the dissertation work, the steps required to complete the work, and the feasible time line for completion.

Applications for Summer 2015 Dissertation Fellowships will be accepted by the Office of the Associate Dean of the Graduate School until 4:30 p.m., Friday, May 1, 2015.  A committee consisting of three members of the Graduate School Leadership Team will review applications and announce recipients of the Fellowship by May 8, 2015.  Selection will be based on the extent of convincing evidence that the award will provide the critical element need to complete the dissertation.

Visit the Graduate School’s website at:  http://www.umbc.edu/gradschool/funding/opps.html for the updated announcement and application.

UMBC’s MFA Exhibition INCIDENTAL MATTERS opens Thursday, March 26th

INCIDENTAL MATTERS
MARCH 24 – April 10, 2015

An exhibition of Emerging Artists from the Intermedia + Digital Arts (IMDA) MFA Program at UMBC

Featuring 2015 MFA Thesis candidates:

Tim (Silouan) Bubb, Chanan Delivuk, Kata Frederick, Jason Hughes, Meghan Marx, and Victor E. Torres

Opening Reception – Thursday, March 26, 5 to 7 pm

Exhibition Venues:

Jordan Faye Contemporary and Maryland Art Place (MAP)
218 West Saratoga Street
(First + Fifth Floors)

Current Space
421 North Howard Street

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 12 noon to 5 pm, or by appointment

Oral MFA Examinations will be open to the public, times/days TBA

For more information contact:

imda.umbc.edu (imda@umbc.edu / 410.455-4290)
artscalendar.umbc.edu
jordanfayecontemporary.com (443.955.1547)
mdartplace.org (map@mdartplace.org / 410.962.8565)
currentspace.com (info@currentspace.com)

In collaboration with Current Space, Jordan Faye Contemporary, and Maryland Art Place and in partnership with the Bromo Arts & Entertainment District, we are pleased to introduce INCIDENTAL MATTERS. This exhibition features six MFA candidates hosted by UMBC’s Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture and the Department of Visual Arts.

The venues for INCIDENTAL MATTERS are located within a short alley walk from each other in two buildings in Baltimore’s downtown Bromo Arts & Entertainment District. INCIDENTAL MATTERS is grateful for the support of UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

For directions and additional information, please refer to UMBC’s Arts and Culture Calendar.

Policy Pioneer – Renato “Renny” DiPentima, Ph.D. ‘84

Renato “Renny” DiPentima, Ph.D. ’84,  policy sciences, had a distinguished career in the Social Security Administration, where he rose to the rank of deputy commissioner and served on numerous governmental task forces and advisory boards. He was also selected by Government Computer News as the Government Executive of the Year in 1993. After leaving Social Security, DiPentima was president and CEO of SRA International, a company he helped build into a leading provider of information technology services and solutions throughout the federal government. DiPentima was also the recipient of UMBC’s Alumni of the Year Award in 2004.

UMBC Magazine asked DiPentima – the first recipient of a Ph.D. in the program – to reminisce about his experiences in one of UMBC’s signature fields of advanced study.

I remember well that day over 30 years ago when I made the pilgrimage from UMBC’s Administration Building to the Albin O. Kuhn Library and then back to Administration Building to register as one of UMBC’s first public policy Ph.D. students. It was the beginning of a truly rewarding experience that significantly influenced my career and life going forward.

At the time I entered the program, I was a senior manager at the Social Security Administration (SSA) in Woodlawn, and had responsibility for the agency’s advanced systems.

Five years earlier, SSA had inherited the welfare programs for the aged, blind, and disabled across the United States. This implementation and transition from 50 states and four territories had been fraught with problems and major policy and systems failures. Having witnessed it firsthand as a participant in its planning and implementation, I became increasingly more interested in the interplay between policy and technology and why large programs failed.

Continue reading here: https://umbcalumni.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/policy-pioneer/

UMBC’s Division of Professional Studies Appoints Two New Graduate Program Directors

The Division of Professional Studies at UMBC has appointed Thomas Moore to lead Systems Engineering Graduate Programs and Krystl Haerian to lead the Health Information Technology Master’s Program (umbc/hit). Both appointees bring with them extensive industry experience, aligning with the Division’s mission to deliver relevant graduate programs that are responsive to the needs of working professionals.

Systems Engineering Master’s and Certificate Programs will benefit from Moore’s 25 years of experience designing, developing and testing products. Most recently, Moore served as the Director of Systems Engineering and Logistics for Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems. Moore received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University. Moore also serves as UMBC’s Assistant Graduate Program Director for the Engineering Management program. See Moore’s Full biography here.

Haerian’s more than 12 years of medical, informatics and public health experience will be beneficial for the Health Information Technology Master’s program. Among various fellowship experiences, Haerian served as a Commissioner’s Fellow at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products, where she employed informatics methods that support the development of policies and regulations intended to decrease morbidity and mortality from tobacco products. Haerian received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from UMBC, a M.S. in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, a M.S. in Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University and a M.D. from the University Of Maryland. See Haerian’s full biography here.

Individuals interested in learning more about Systems Engineering and Health Information Technology Graduate programs at UMBC are encouraged to attend the Professional Programs Open House on April 29, 2015. Moore and Haerian will be at the event to discuss the programs and meet prospective students. Register for the Open House here.

This post originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

2015 May Commencement Ceremonies

From: Provost Rous

As we prepare for the 2015 May Commencement, President Hrabowski and I cordially invite you to participate in the Commencement ceremonies of the Undergraduate and Graduate School Programs. Doctoral and Master’s degrees will be conferred on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. in the UMBC Retriever Activities Center (RAC). Baccalaureate degrees will be conferred on Thursday, May 21, 2015, at 1:00 p.m. at the Royal Farms Arena. As you know, these events mean a great deal to our students, their parents, and guests, so I hope you will make a special effort to share in their celebrations.

RENTING REGALIA: As in the past, UMBC will subsidize the rental of academic regalia for faculty, and administrative and associate staff. Faculty and staff may order regalia beginning Tuesday, March 3 through March 29. Click on this to reserve regalia: https://my.umbc.edu/go/commencementform. If you have ordered regalia at UMBC before, your information will automatically appear on the screen when you enter your username. If you have not ordered before, you must enter the following information: your cap size, height with shoes, weight, degree earned, and the name of the school where the degree was earned.

DEADLINE TO ORDER: Please order your regalia no later than March 29. Beginning March 30, you will be asked to pay a late charge of $25.00 for your order. Please note that it will not be possible to order regalia after May 4. Even if there is a slight chance that you will attend Commencement, you should order regalia. It is easier for the Bookstore to return unused gowns and hoods then it is to place a late order and not receive delivery on time. Regalia will be ready for pick-up beginning May 6. If you have any questions, please call Gail Dupree at the Bookstore, x53904.

LUNCH AND BUSES: You are invited for lunch at 11:00 a.m. at the Royal Farms Arena before the Undergraduate Commencement. Bus transportation from UMBC to the Arena will also be provided, leaving at 10:30 a.m. for lunch and 11:30 a.m. for ceremony only.

RSVP: Following is the information we need for planning and seating purposes.

• Your name
• Your plans to process in the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony, including whether you will come for lunch, and whether you will ride either the 10:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. bus from UMBC to the Arena.
• Your plans to process in the Graduate School Commencement Ceremony.

If you plan to participate, please send your response for either or both Commencement ceremonies by May 4, by clicking this link: https://my.umbc.edu/go/commencementform.

For additional information about the 2015 May Commencement Ceremonies, please visit the Commencement website: www.umbc.edu/commencement. We look forward to your participation in the Ceremonies.

MIPAR Researchers Receive International Award

The International Center of Mental Health Policy and Economics has awarded UMBC researchers David Salkever (Public Policy) and Brent Gibbons (Ph.D., ’13, Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research), along with co-authors Robert E. Drake, William D. Frey, Thomas W. Hale, and Mustafa Karakus, an Excellence in Mental Health Policy and Economics Research Award – 2015 for the article “Increasing Earnings of Social Security Disability Income Beneficiaries with Serious Mental Disorder.”

The article, which was published in the Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics 2014; 17 (2): 75-90, reports the results of MIPAR research conducted in collaboration with Westat for the Social Security Administration. The award will be presented on March 27 in Venice, Italy at the Twelfth Workshop on Costs and Assessment.

This post originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

Kavita Krishnaswamy, CSEE Ph.D. Candidate, on CNN

UMBC student Kavita Krishnaswamy, a Ph.D. candidate in computer science and electrical engineering, was interviewed by CNN about how she has used a Beam telepresence robot to visit museums, attend computing conferences, and defend her Ph.D. proposal. Telepresence robots consist of a screen on motorized wheels that allows users to visit places and interact with people remotely.

Krishnaswamy is also an undergraduate alumna of UMBC (’07, computer science and mathematics). Her Ph.D. proposal focuses on using robotics to increase autonomy for people with severe disabilities and draws on her personal experiences with limited mobility.

Click here to read “Will robots help the bedridden see the world?” on CNN and here to see Krishnaswamy’s proposal defense on YouTube

This post originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

Chemistry PhD Student, Evgenia Barannikova, in Scientific American

Scientific American posted an article featuring Evgenia Barannikova ’11, biochemistry and molecular biology. In it, she discusses her recent work using specialized peptides to improve lithium ion batteries, a breakthrough inspired in part by the structure of snail shells.

In the quest to make a better battery Evgenia Barannikova, a graduate student at UMBC in the department of chemistry and biochemistry, has isolated a peptide, a small sequence of amino acids, which binds to lithium manganese nickel oxide (LMNO), a material that can be used to make high performance batteries.

“Biology provides several tools for us to solve important problems,” said Evgenia Barannikova, a graduate student at UMBC. Barannikova works in the lab of Mark Allen and studies how biological molecules in general can improve the properties of inorganic materials in batteries. “By mimicking biological processes we can find the better solution,” she told phys.org

Read more at:

Phys.org  Newelectronics Scientific American

Parts of this post originally appeared on Retrievernet, UMBC’s Alumni Community and in UMBC Insights.

President of Portugal Honors Tony Moreira, Vice Provost of Academic Affairs

The president of Portugal has honored Antonio “Tony” Moreira, vice provost of academic affairs and professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, with the title Commander of the Order of Public Instruction.

Ambassador Nuno Brito bestowed the honor upon Moreira this week at the Portuguese Embassy in Washington, D.C. At the ceremony, Moreira discussed how he works to foster connections between UMBC and Portugal. “In my almost 25 years working at UMBC… I felt that I need to support the youth of Portugal and provide them opportunities,” he said.

President Hrabowski praised Moreira’s work at UMBC during the ceremony. “Portugal has a rich tradition of exploration and of working across cultures,” he said. “Tony’s efforts to expand international opportunities for UMBC students clearly reflect this tradition. It’s very fitting that he was selected for this honor.”

This post originally appeared in UMBC Insights.

Lidar Graduate Students Win at AMS 2015

Atmospheric Lidar Graduate Students Alexandra St. Pé (Geography and Environmental Systems) and John Sullivan (Physics) were tied in 3rd place in the 7th Symposium on Lidar Atmospheric Applications at 95th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ January 4 – 8, 2015.

This post originally appeared on the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology website.