All posts by: UMBC News Staff

UMBC’s 2004 Valedictorian

Anthony Hoffman, UMBC’s 2004 valedictorian, has maintained a 4.0 GPA while earning a bachelor’s degree in physics—with departmental honors—and a minor in mathematics.

This fall, he will begin Princeton University’s Ph.D. program in electrical engineering on a Princeton Graduate School Endowed Fellowship. He also received fellowship offers from Yale and Penn State Universities.

Hoffman says he chose to attend UMBC because he saw an opportunity to conduct research in the new Physics building’s excellent facilities, but even more so because “The professors here seemed the most welcoming. They aren’t just teachers; they reach out to mentor students.”

Now he is graduating with some impressive accomplishments in research. Hoffman received the 2003-04 Langenberg Undergraduate Research Award for his senior thesis on electro-optic effects in organic polymers. This summer he will present his work at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. In addition, he has conducted research with a team in Dr. Michael Hayden’s Laboratory for Nonlinear Optical Studies of Macromolecular Photonic Materials.

Hoffman uses his skills in physics and mathematics to tutor and to participate in other charitable activities through the Knights of Columbus. “Service makes a person whole,” he says. “Part of academics is communicating results with the rest of the world. It’s important to keep in touch with the world and make it a better place at the same time.”

For his outstanding academic work and service, Hoffman has been elected into numerous honor societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Pi Sigma, Pi Mu Epsilon and the Golden Key International Honor Society. He has been a member of the Provost’s Student Advisory Council, the Society of Physics Students and the Newman Club.

A voracious fiction reader (William Faulkner is his favorite author), outdoor sports enthusiast and student pilot, Hoffman’s ultimate goal is to be a NASA astronaut. “You can run many different types of applications in space,” he explains. “It’s a huge platform for research.” However, after receiving his Ph.D., he’d like to gain additional experience at a government lab or in industry before returning to higher education to teach future researchers.

(5/17/04) 

Linking Graduate Education and Service

Joby Taylor, fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in UMBC’s Language, Literacy and Culture Program, is the director of the Shriver Peaceworker Program at UMBC’s Shriver Center. This prestigious fellowship program is specially designed for returned Peace Corps volunteers and follows a service-learning model for graduate education. It is named for R. Sargent Shriver, first director of the Peace Corps and architect of numerous public service programs such as Head Start, VISTA and Special Olympics.  

“It’s a really thoughtful and innovative program because it links graduate study with community service and ethical reflection,” says Taylor, a former Peace Corps worker in Gabon, Africa, and recipient of the Peaceworker fellowship for the past three years.   

“There are 14 fellows—full-time graduate students across a range of disciplines—who work 20 hours a week in community service internships,” says Taylor. “Every Friday we have seminars about social change and ethical issues. These seminars are key because they integrate what our fellows are doing in their service internships and what they are learning in their graduate programs. That’s service-learning in a nutshell!”   

The director’s position seems almost tailored for Taylor who, during his own fellowship, helped UMBC faculty members design and implement new service-learning courses. Taylor explains, “These courses integrate experiential learning opportunities for students into the traditional classroom components of reading, writing, lecture and discussion.  They involve the students in appropriate community service placements throughout the semester, and design assignments that help them to critically reflect upon their course content and their experiences of service.”  

“The service-learning model is great because it provides students with the opportunity to put their classroom learning into practice, while, at the same time, contribute their time and skills to meeting real social needs,” adds Taylor. “It is my hope for the Shriver Peaceworker Program that, in the spirit of Sargent Shriver, we will raise up a new generation of leaders who have the knowledge, skills and experience to build a more caring and just world.” 

(5/11/04)

Girl Power Times 500

On May 8, UMBC will welcome 500 sixth through eighth-grade girls and one of the nation’s most visible women journalists for Computer Mania Day 2004, a day of hands-on, fun learning designed to close the information technology (IT) gender gap.

500 middle school girls from Baltimore City and a dozen surrounding counties will be inspired by keynote speaker Soledad O’Brien, anchor of CNN’s “American Morning.” Computer Mania Day connects the girls (boys are welcome too) with female role models from Baltimore-area companies, schools, government agencies and UMBC for fun, hands-on workshops that explore the science behind cell phones, hot air balloons, code-breaking and many other topics.

Computer Mania Day is a hands-on extension of the mission of UMBC’s Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT), which ABC News.com has named “the best resource on women and technology on the Web.”

Research shows that the IT gender gap opens as early as the middle school years, when girls are most image-conscious and do not want to be labeled as “geeks” or “nerds.” Girls make up only 14.3% of the students who take Advanced Placement courses in computer science, a key to success in IT-related fields at the college level.

“Computer Mania Day brings businesses, educators and community members together to show girls that whatever their career choice, they’ll need to use technology, and that technology is cool,” says CWIT Director Claudia Morrell.

A parallel parent and teacher program will complement the day by providing information about causes for girls’ low enrollment in technology courses and what parents can do to encourage girls to embrace technology.

The 2003 event hosted by UMBC drew 300 students from Baltimore and Howard County schools. This year’s event is scheduled to include 500 participating girls from the following public school systems: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Calvert County, Cecil County, Harford County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Queen Anne’s County, Somerset County, and St. Mary’s County.

Morrell is currently leading efforts to address the IT gender gap at the state level through legislation that will develop a task force to study the issue. “As Maryland looks to become a national leader in the high-tech economy, we need to make sure that everyone participates and everyone benefits,” says Morrell.

For more information on Computer Mania Day, please go to the online news release.

Press Kit Components Available Online for Download (Adobe PDF files):

Computer Mania Day Schedule

Computer Mania Day Sponsors

Facts About Technology & Mentoring at UMBC

Video from Computer Mania Day 2003

(5/04/04)

Accolades for UMBC Film/Video Makers

When the doors open for the 2004 Maryland Film Festival (May 6-9 in Baltimore), the work of UMBC faculty, students and alumni will take center stage. Among the highlights of the Festival will be a new feature film, Saved!, by Brian Dannelly (Visual Arts ’97, Magna Cum Laude), which had been featured in the 2004 Sundance Festival and is scheduled for national theatrical release later this month.

Dannelly credits UMBC with much of his success. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from UMBC, he went on to become a directing fellow at the prestigious American Film Institute (AFI), the preeminent national organization dedicated to advancing and preserving film, television and other forms of the moving image. “It was absolutely amazing for me,” Dannelly says. “I never would have gotten into AFI if it weren’t for my experience at UMBC.”

In addition to Saved!, UMBC’s contributions to the Maryland Film Festival include Fulton Fish Market by Mark Street (assistant professor, visual arts); Overpass by Alan Price (assistant professor, visual arts); Site Visits by Carol Hess (associate professor and chair, dance), which features a sound score by Timothy Nohe (associate professor, visual arts); Bludren by Jill Johnston-Price (adjunct assistant professor, visual arts); Today is Thursday and Warp & Weft by Jo Israelson (IMDA ’04); L’Invitation and Love and a ’61 by Nick Prevas (visual arts ’03); Method for Self-Defense Against Scorpions by Tanner Almon (visual arts ’03); and Remission by Dan Stack (undergraduate, visual arts).

The recent attention on UMBC’s film and video makers hasn’t limited to the Maryland Film Festival. At April’s 2004 Rosebud Film Festival, an annual festival and competition founded in 1990 to promote independent film and video in Washington, Maryland and Virginia, UMBC faculty and students took three of the five prizes. Among the recipients were Alan Price for Overpass, which won the “Best of Show” award; Jo Israelson for Warp & Weft; and IMDA graduate student Renée Shaw for Blood, Breast and Other Strange Events. And in May 2004, a comedic film by May Tam (visual arts ’03), Inverval, will be included at the DC Underground Film Festival.

Mark Street’s film At Home and Asea screened at the American Film Institute Silver Theatre in April. The film was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York last October, where another of Street’s films, Fulton Fish Market, played in March—and that film was recently invited to play at the Tribeca Film Festival in May.

Associate Professor Hollie Lavenstein’s most recent short film, Cleave (2000), starring Wendy Salkind (associate professor and chair, theatre) has received accolades at the Chicago International Film Festival (Silver Hugo Award), the South by Southwest Film Festival (Best Narrative Short Runner-up Award), the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival (Best Short) and the Ann Arbor Film Festival (Lawrence Kasdan Best Narrative Short). Additionally, the film has been broadcast on the Sundance Channel and has been screened at the Denver International Film Fest, the Slamdance Film Festival, the Humboldt International Short Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, the Maryland Film Festival and the AFI Fest.

Alan Price’s Overpass won an award at the 2004 Humboldt International Short Film Festival, and received second prize at the Black Maria Film Festival, which is currently on tour. The film will be screened at the Rochester International Film Festival in May, where it will receive an award. Overpass has or will be screened at many other festivals, including the Big Muddy Film Festival (Illinois), the Festival Arcipelago (Italy), the Filmstock International Film Festival (England), the Melbourne International Animation Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, the Philadelphia Film Festival, the Crossroads International Festival (Mississippi), the Fargo Film Festival, the Texas Film Festival, the Independent Film Festival of Boston, the Trenton Film Festival, the Blackpoint Film Festival (Wisconsin), the Antelope Valley International Film Festival (California) and the Langbaugh Film Festival (Portland).

Jill Johnston-Price’s animation, Bludren, won the Grand Jury Prize in Animation at the DC Independent Film Festival, and it received the GB Hajim Juror’s Choice Award at the 2004 Humboldt International Short Film Festival.

UMBC alumni who are active in the field include Joanna Raczynska (IMDA ’00), the media arts director and curator at Hallwalls in Buffalo, New York, and Kristen Anchor (visual arts ’02, Summa Cum Laude), the director of the Creative Alliance MovieMakers in Baltimore.

(4/30/04)

Focusing On Cyber Security

Whether we’re banking, shopping, voting or working, as American life becomes more dependent on information technology (IT), the security of that information becomes more vital every day.

April 26-30 is Information Assurance (IA) Awareness Week at UMBC, with a slate of speakers and hands-on demonstrations to alert faculty, staff and students to possible threats and to show them how to secure their computer systems.

This event, the first of its kind at UMBC, is a collaboration between Alan Sherman, director of the UMBC Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA), and associate professor of computer science; and Jack Suess, UMBC chief information officer; the OIT Helpdesk; and students from Sherman’s CMSC-491/691 IA class.

CISA has a three-fold mission to promote research, education and best practices in IA. Reflecting UMBC’s university-wide commitment to information assurance, it comprises faculty, staff and graduate students from the Departments of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Information Systems, Public Policy, Mathematics and Statistics and Physics, as well as the Department of Professional Education and Training and the Office of Information Technology.

The week’s activities include hands-on demonstrations of various ways to defend against hackers, computer viruses and other threats.

“For most members of the UMBC Community, the major threats are malicious code— including worms, viruses, and spyware—and identity theft,” says Sherman. “Our work at CISA aims to develop better technology and procedures and to make security easier to use.”

According to Suess, who also co-chairs the National Higher Education Computer and Network Security Task Force, information security and awareness is a top priority at every higher education institution, including UMBC. “This partnership between OIT and CISA is unique and just one example of how students in CISA are using their skills to enhance security at UMBC,” says Suess.

In April, UMBC was re-designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education for 2004-2007 by the Department of Defense. An award recognizing this achievement will be presented on June 8 during the annual conference of the (http://www.ncisse.org/index.htm) Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY. 

Later that week at the associated West Point IA Workshop, Sherman will present joint research with his students Brian Roberts, William Byrd, Matthew Baker, and John Simmons on new hands-on educational exercises they developed using UMBC’s Mobile Cyber Defense Lab. 

IAAW kicks off on April 26 with a lecture by Avi Rubin (technical director, Information Security Institute, Johns Hopkins University), a noted expert, author and researcher on cybersecurity. Rubin will discuss security issues with electronic and Internet voting in light of the 2000 presidential election debacle in Florida. The talk will be held in at 1 p.m. in Lecture Hall V.  

Students from CMSC-419/691 IA will staff activity tables on Main Street in The Commons Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Also, there will be hands-on educational cyber defense exercises on firewalls, intrusion detection and computer forensics in the Information Technology Engineering Building, room 237, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2 to 3:15 p.m. (limited seating).  

A complete schedule of activities for Information Assurance Awareness Week is available online.

(4/26/04)

Fieldwork with the O’s

While spring brings the return of baseball season and Baltimore’s beloved Orioles, the O’s avian namesakes aren’t due to migrate back to Maryland for another few weeks. But when they do come back, it’s a sure bet that Meyerhoff Scholar and biological sciences and chemistry double major Elizabeth Humphries will be watching.

For the many undergraduates involved in research at UMBC, the return of warm weather means it’s time for fieldwork. For Humphries and other students under the mentorship of evolutionary biologist Kevin Omland, spring is the time to trade lab coats for binoculars.

But this type of bird-watching is no leisure activity. “I’ve been bitten by a horse during a nest watch and I couldn’t do anything because that would ruin the data. Fieldwork is rough,” she says.

Humphries and other students in Omland’s lab are studying the oriole population to try to help answer why Northern, migratory species (like our Baltimore orioles) have brightly-colored males and dull-colored females, while Southern, non-migratory species have both brightly-colored males and females.

Humphries is focused on the “parental care” theory, which suggests that the difference in coloring is due to the fact that males are the protectors, while females are the caretakers and thus need to blend in with the environment.

Her research is part of Omland’s larger, ongoing project on the evolutionary history and family tree of orioles. “There are really quite a few possible theories and we’re trying to go through and address them one at a time,” says Omland.

Omland’s experience with undergraduate researchers has been very positive. “Undergraduates are an integral part of our research. They are total intellectual participants in the lab. It really puts us in a position where I and the graduate students can learn from them.” Omland says.

Undergraduates also benefit from the experience. “You get to see whether or not something is really as fun as you think or whether you’re really interested in the subject,” Humphries says.

“I’m really glad I got to do research because it’s so much fun,” she says. “I love my lab and the people who work there. I love the work I’m doing. It makes my Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

Omland is amazed at the amount of self-motivation that Humphries possesses. “Liz is incredibly dedicated. She’s here because she wants to be here, not because she’s putting in her 10 hours a week to earn her two credits.”

All that hard work is paying off, because in June, Humphries will travel with Omland and Roland Cheung, another undergraduate researcher, to Mexico to establish field sites.

On April 28, Humphries will present her research results at this year’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD), a campuswide celebration of undergraduate research and creativity. URCAD 2004 will feature student oral presentations, poster sessions and artistic exhibits and performances. The annual event emphasizes UMBC’s commitment to promoting student-faculty interaction and undergraduate participation in research

For more information on Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day, please visit the URCAD Web site.

(4/20/04) 

From Grad School to Google

Computer science doctoral student and Graduate Student Association (GSA) Vice President Tom Armstrong has a very full calendar for the rest of the spring, followed up by a summer internship with one of the Web’s hottest companies: Google.

As a second year Ph.D. student, Armstrong fills the bulk of his time with research in the intersection of computer science and linguistics at the CORAL (Cognition, Robotics and Learning) Lab, led by Professor Tim Oates. But like many graduate students, Armstrong also juggles his own coursework with teaching undergraduates (a section of Computer Science 203, Discrete Structures) and involvement with student organizations like the GSA.

Armstrong, who did undergraduate work at U. Massachusetts Amherst, came to UMBC and the CORAL Lab after meeting Oates, a fellow UMass Amherst alum. “We study what’s called language acquisition or language learning,” says Armstrong. “We look at ways a robot with sensors—much like a human baby—could learn language by being immersed in an environment. Children learn language by interacting with and listening to adults speaking normally. We want to make a robot do the same thing.”

This summer, Armstrong will be in California working at one of Google’s research labs. “I’ll be part of a team helping to improve Google’s machine translation function. When you Google something and get a result from a foreign-language Web page, I’ll be working to help make the ‘translate this page’ link in your search results work better.”

Armstrong is one of a growing number of UMBC grad students who have gone on to work at the research and development labs of prestigious IT and Web companies like Hewlett Packard, IBM, Nokia and Amazon.

This semester, Armstrong has been busy as vice-president of the GSA, which supports and promotes UMBC’s growing graduate student population. Armstrong is chair of the 26th annual Graduate Research Conference (GRC) between UMBC and the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), to be held at UMBC on April 23. The annual event, which UMB and UMBC take turns hosting, is open to the entire campus community and is a good place to learn more about the real-world impact of graduate student research at UMBC.

Despite the difficulty of arranging logistics for 150 presenters and 70 judges, Armstrong is excited about hosting the conference. ”It’s an opportunity to showcase grad student research to the UMBC community and beyond,” says Armstrong. “Plus it gives grad students practice giving presentations on their work before going to a conference in their field, which can be somewhat of a lion’s den.”

According to Armstrong, events like the GRC help build UMBC’s national research reputation. “Higher visibility for graduate programs trickles down to a higher quality of undergraduate applicants, which over time will help UMBC rise in the national graduate program ratings.”

For more information on the 2004 Graduate Research Conference, visit http://www.umbc.edu/gradschool/research//grc04.html

(4/12/04) 

Empowering UMBC’s Students

 For Student Government Association President Scott Nicholson, public service has become a way of life. Service with the SGA and other student organizations has offered him the opportunity to bring about positive changes that will benefit the entire UMBC community.

Nicholson, a native of Los Angeles, California, had never been involved with the SGA before beginning his term as president, but had served the campus as a resident assistant, a tutor and conversation partner for students learning English as a foreign language and a member of University Health Services’ Men Against Violence program. Originally recruited by last year’s SGA President Phil Shockley to be the vice president in Shockley’s successful re-election bid, Nicholson became president after Shockley was appointed to the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents last fall.

“Before becoming SGA president, I was quick to criticize anything I didn’t like at UMBC,” recalls Nicholson. “But when I had the opportunity to lead the SGA, I realized that students really did have the power to make changes on campus.”

Nicholson’s belief in the SGA’s ability to promote change has produced tangible results over the course of the year. Campus food and student participation in SGA elections have been the two biggest issues that the SGA has tackled this year. Thanks to their efforts working with Dining Services, nutritional information and healthier food choices are now available at campus eateries. The SGA also hopes to set a new record for voter turnout at UMBC with its goal of drawing 5,000 votes for its upcoming elections, being held April 19-23.

“I hope to leave the SGA with a stronger sense of its role representing the needs of UMBC’s undergraduates and have convinced all students that they do have ways of making their voices heard,” says Nicholson, reflecting on his year of service. “Every student has the ability to advocate for change.”

As for Nicholson, he will soon be striking out into the world beyond UMBC. After only three years, he graduates next month with a double major in history and political science. His immediate plans are to spend a year in China teaching English and history in Shanghai. When he returns to the United States, he intends to complete a law degree and pursue a career in politics.

UMBC Student Government Association elections will be held April 19 through 23. For more information, contact SGA at x.5-2220.

Protecting the Urban Environment

Whether you live in the city or the suburbs, issues such as traffic, sprawl and pollution impact the quality of life of all Marylanders.

The Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE), a multidisciplinary research center at UMBC, is on a mission to advance understanding of the environmental, social and economic consequences of the ongoing transformation of the urban landscape.

“I want to make CUERE a center of excellence in environmental research and education with visibility at regional, national and international levels,” says CUERE Director Claire Welty.

CUERE draws talent from a cross-section of UMBC departments including economics, policy sciences, civil and environmental engineering, geography and environmental systems, biosciences, physics, mathematics and statistics, and chemistry/biochemistry.  The center’s research agenda focuses on relationships between natural and socioeconomic processes that occur in urban environments and their impact on public policy.  

Welty, also a professor in civil and environmental engineering with a specialty in hydrology, came to UMBC from Drexel University in October of 2003.

CUERE, a relatively new center at UMBC, received initial support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2001.

Welty is excited about expanding the reach and reputation of the center’s collaborative research and she has a clear vision of how she would like the center to evolve.

Welty’s plans for CUERE are exemplified by many of its current research activities, which are of interest and importance to the greater Baltimore region. They include:

• State of the Baltimore Region — A triennial “report card” on development and the environment, households and neighborhoods, the economy and workforce, access and mobility, governance and fiscal capacity.

• The Definition and Measurement of Urban Sprawl — Conceptually defines and empirically measures urban sprawl, and then examines its effect on various indices of metropolitan well-being.

• Creating an Urban Ecosystem of Blue and Green Space in the Greater Baltimore Region — Examines the interconnectedness of the urban open and waterfront spaces in Baltimore City and how these spaces could be improved.

• Hydrology, Hydraulics and Hydrometeorology of Flood Response in Urbanizing Drainage Basins —  Focuses on the flood response to patterns of rainfall for warm season systems of thunderstorms and how the response varies with land-surface properties for several study watersheds in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Welty takes over CUERE leadership from Royce Hanson, who as interim director and professor of public policy helped guide CUERE through its establishment and early years. Hanson is now an affiliated faculty member with CUERE, visiting professor of public policy at UMBC, and research professor at the George Washington University Institute of Public Policy.

“The directorship offers me the perfect opportunity to combine urban policy and environmental engineering with the chance to work in a multidisciplinary setting,” says Welty. “It’s a new challenge and I’m looking forward to working with the UMBC community to help make the public more aware of how environmental science relates to their daily lives.” 

Capturing UMBC’s First America East Championship

 After leading the Retrievers to their first-ever championship title in the America East Conference, Swimming and Diving Head Coach Chad Cradock has once again proved that the equation “Cradock + UMBC” yields only success.

Cradock, a native of Barrie, Ontario, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UMBC in 1997, was a four-year letter-winner for the Retriever Swimming and Diving program. “I really enjoyed my experience as an athlete at UMBC,” said Cradock. “The friends that I made here are friends that I’ll have for a lifetime, and the whole school experience was a tremendous run for me. Being from Canada, it was a dream come true, since I always wanted to go to the States to compete. To be successful on top of it all was even more amazing.”

While at UMBC, Cradock recorded at the U.S. Open and was fifth in the 400-yard freestyle at the Canadian Olympic Trials in 1996. A mid-free and distance swimmer, he capped his senior season by earning ECAC Swimmer of the Meet honors. In that competition, he won the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle events, breaking pool records in the 200 and 500 to lead UMBC to a second-place finish. His times of 4:28.62 in the 500-yard freestyle (’96) and 15:34.61 in the mile (’97) set school records that to this day are yet to be broken.

After graduating, Cradock assumed the position of assistant coach under his mentor, Sid Burkot. “I never really assumed that I would be a coach,” said Cradock. “I decided to apply for the opening and was pretty excited. Hard to believe, but it all actually just led to what it is today.”

What it is today is a head coaching position that has posted an incredible 62-15 men’s and women’s combined record, good for a .805 winning percentage. This year alone, both teams set a school-best 12-1 record, with the men winning their seventh straight league title, while capturing UMBC’s first ever championship in the America East. The women, who took four of five league titles during UMBC’s tenure in the Northeast Conference, finished second in the America East.

“Watching my athletes today—watching them train hard and work hard—has been a great experience,” said Cradock the day his team captured the championships. “They deserve everything they have achieved with hard work and dedication and discipline.”

The hard work showed during the three-day competition, where the Retriever men dominated, as they amassed a league-record 901 points. The closest competitor was Binghamton, who came in second with 574 points. Senior co-captain Brad Green received Swimmer of the Meet honors, as he broke the 12-year old school record in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.82, en route to receiving five gold and two silver medals in the championships.

On the women’s side, everyone contributed a tremendous effort, as the Retrievers broke three school records—Astrid Sperling in the 100 backstroke, Agnes Stanislawska in the 200 freestyle, and the 400 medley relay team of Sperling, Lindsey Prather, Holly Wittsack, and Stanislawska. In addition, Stanislawska received Swimmer of the Meet honors in her first year as a UMBC competitor.

“The keys to being successful in our program are belief in what you’re doing, belief in yourself, trusting yourself and focus, dedication and discipline,” said Cradock. “If you put it all together and never question yourself and you’re always positive, you will be a successful student-athlete at UMBC.”

Mentoring Outside of the Classroom

 Tim Oates, assistant professor of computer science, is a fixture in Potomac Hall on Wednesday evenings, greeting students as they leave for dinner or return from class. He is one of several UMBC professors who participate in the Faculty Mentor Program.

In addition to scheduling regular “office hours” in the residence halls, faculty mentors offer programs on topics such as studying for tests and applying to graduate schools. Research indicates that students who have contact with faculty outside the classroom are more likely to graduate, are more likely to exhibit higher levels of achievement and are generally more satisfied with their college experience.

“I’m available to listen and talk with anyone who wants to stop by,” says Oates. “We chat about everything from day-to-day concerns to career interests and graduate and professional schools.”

Oates says he participates in the Faculty Mentor Program, in part, because of his own experience as an undergraduate. “I would have benefited greatly from having an advisor with whom I could share my career interests,” he explains. “No one at my undergraduate institution talked with me about going to graduate school. After college I ended up working for a few years before I discovered that I really wanted to go back to school.”

The Faculty Mentor Program is also welcomed by the students. “Dr. Oates provides good insight into whatever problems students are dealing with,” says Jesse Ellsbury, a senior English major. “[The program is] a good resource for Potomac.”

Meeting with students in the residence hall setting helps Oates remember what it’s like to be an undergraduate. “I see firsthand many of the adjustments first-year students make, and that affects my approach in the classroom. It makes me more sympathetic,” says Oates.

For information on how to become a faculty mentor or to nominate a UMBC faculty member, e-mail Matt Soldner, assistant director of residential education.

Leading the Way for Student-Athletes

UMBC has built a tradition of successful student-athletes who are not only great competitors at their sports, but also provide leadership on and off the field. High jumper Ed Warner confirmed his place in this elite group with his participation in the NCAA’s Leadership Conference, held last summer in Orlando, Florida.

Accomplishments on and off the field earned Warner one of only 300 spots at the conference. During the 2002-03 indoor track seasons, he won the high jump at the Terrapin/PVA Indoor Track Meet with a leap of 2.09 meters, was the runner-up in the high jump at the Penn State Indoor Invitational and the NEC Indoor Championships. He has also been team captain for the last two years.

Warner has also been actively involved in student organizations throughout his years at UMBC. As a freshman, Warner served on UMBC’s judicial board and has also been a resident assistant. A highlight of his campus activity is his work with the Student Government Association, where he helped create the Team Point System, designed to promote school spirit by increasing attendance at UMBC athletic events. Student organizations were awarded points when their members attended these events, and organizations with the highest number of points at the end of the year received prizes.

Warner’s strong leadership skills proved to be an asset at the NCAA Leadership Conference. While at the Conference, Warner formed a team with about 15 other student-athletes. This team was led by two facilitators who taught the student-athletes how to work as a unit and become better individual leaders in the process.

Leading by example, the facilitators left a deep impression on Warner. “The facilitators taught me so much that I can still remember their names,” Warner said.  “They taught me how to be a great leader and improve my existing abilities.”

Conference participants were presented with a series of challenges that gave them the opportunity to practice the leadership and team-building skills they were learning. One specific challenge that Warner remembered well was a night when all 300 student-athletes thought they were getting ready to go out for a nice dinner. The students gathered on buses to go, but, when they approached a barn, Warner and his teammates grew suspicious. When they stepped off the buses, students were told that, instead of receiving dinner, they would be preparing their own dinners with their teammates.

 “When my teammates and I first heard our mission, we began to argue about what we could make for dinner that would accommodate everyone’s individual tastes and dietary restrictions,” Warner recalled. “We had to stop and remember what we had learned earlier in the week about teamwork and apply it to this challenge. Once we started working together, as a team it became a better environment and a good dinner.”

Warner must have made quite an impression at the Leadership Conference because, in early November, he was chosen to go to the headquarters of USA TODAY to meet with NCAA corporate sponsors and the president and vice president of the NCAA to share his experiences at the leadership conference. He was one of only three student-athletes chosen to address the group. Warner received a firsthand look at  the NCAA’s plans for the 2004 athletic seasons, including its upcoming promotional campaigns.

“My experiences at both the Leadership Conference in Florida and the meeting at USA TODAY were amazing,” Warner said.  “Although the Leadership Conference is over, I’ve just begun to use all that I learned.”

Warner, a political science major, doesn’t plan to leave his leadership skills behind after leaving UMBC. After graduation, he intends to go to law school and pursue a career in immigration and naturalization law.