All posts by: UMBC News Staff

UMBC Men’s Soccer Squad Receives NSCAA Academic Honor

15870094955_8999c112ed_zUMBC red-shirt sophomore goalkeeper Billy Heavner earned the inaugural America East Conference Elite 18 Award, honoring student-athletes who exemplify excellence both in their sport and in the classroom. The awards were presented at the conclusion of the league’s six fall championships

The Elite 18 Award Program was established by the conference in June 2013 for implementation in the 2014-15 academic year to honor the highest achievement in academics and athletics by a student-athlete in each America East sponsored sport.

Heavner maintains a perfect 4.00 GPA while majoring in financial economics. He took over the starting position mid-season and has posted a record of 10-1-2, leading the Retrievers to the third round of the NCAA Championships. Heavner is currently eighth in the nation in save percentage (84.3%) and 11 th in goals against average (0.59).

Moreover, both the UMBC men’s and women’s soccer teams earned NSCAA Team Academic Award for the 2013-14 academic year.

Across the nation and throughout all divisions, a total of 861 soccer teams (279 men, 582 women) posted a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher, thereby earning the distinction. Of that total, 188 schools had both their men’s and women’s programs recognized, including both Pete Caringii’s and Leslie Wray’s squads.

The men posted a grade-point average of 3.08, while the women recorded a mark of 3.46.

Dennis Coates, Economics, in City Paper

Baltimore’s City Paper published an article on November 25 that examined the city’s current public construction boom, which by some estimates may exceed $10 billion, comparable to what was spent nationally by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression.

Dennis Coates

Economics Professor Dennis Coates was interviewed for the article and explained that the public projects would likely increase the local economic growth rate by close to 15 percent.

“It is certainly a construction jobs program, and I would contend it will affect growth positively, though precisely how much, especially in the short term, is questionable,” he said. “Avoiding broken water mains and the problems those cause is enormously beneficial, even if there is negligible impact on growth. The mayor’s office is not publicizing this, so in that sense it is invisible, but when water-main work is under way, that will be very visible.”

To read the full article titled “Baltimore’s New Deal: WPA-level spending has the power to remake the city, but much of it might be going away,” click here.

Zane Berge, Education, Wins Prestigious Association for Educational Communications and Technology Awards

Zane BergeZane Berge, professor of education, has won two prestigious Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) awards. Berge was named the winner of the Distance Education Book Award, which is given for the outstanding book published within the last three years that describes important aspects of distance education, theory, or examples that can help others involved in distance education or research on an important aspect of distance education. The award-winning book Handbook of Mobile Learning (Routledge 2013) was co-edited by Berge and his colleague at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Lin Muilenburg. For more information, click here.

Berge also received the Distance Learning Division Journal Article Award for his publication “Barriers to Communication in Distance Education,” published in the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education (January 2013). The article describes how improvements in distance education technology have lead to opportunities to overcome barriers to ineffective communication and the complexity of those barriers faced by participants.

The awards were announced earlier this month during the Distance Learning Division luncheon at the AECT annual conference.

Sunil Dasgupta, Political Science, in International Relations and Security Network News

Sunil DasguptaSunil Dasgupta, director of UMBC’s political science program at the Universities of Shady Grove, recently published an article in the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) digital library. In his article titled “What is Asia? A Security Debate between Alfred Mahan and Barry Buzan,” Dasgupta argued that Chinese and American security policies are making “one Asia” a more distinct reality. He compares the viewpoints of naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, who was a defender of national power, and Barry Buzan, the influential Canadian and British scholar of international relations, who was an advocate for the regional security complex.

“Those who, like Mahan, believe in the immutability of geography see the rise of China—the only power that physically connects four of Asia’s five regions—as leading to the rebirth of Asia as a singular strategic entity, returning the continent to the days before the Vasco da Gama epoch,” Dasgupta wrote.

“But Buzan’s construct of many Asias remains resilient. From a theoretical point of view, the concept of balance of power requires a defined set of balancers, or a security complex. Without clear referents and limitations on who should be counted as part of the balance, there can be no game,” he added.

To read the full article published November 21 in the ISN digital library, click here.

Tom Beck, Library, Speaks at the Library of Congress

Tom Beck, Chief Curator, Library & Gallery, recently spoke at the Library of Congress commemorating the photographs of David Seymour. He is a biographer of the famous photographer who in 1947 co-founded Magnum Photos with Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and George Rodger. Magnum Photos is the internationally important photojournalist’s cooperative whose members are among the finest photographers in the world.
The Library of Congress program occurred on the 103rd anniversary of the birth of Seymour and celebrated the donation of 112 of Seymour photographs to the Library of Congress.

University Strategic Planning Discussion on Applied Learning, Mentoring, and the Campus Experience

14930051824_16e91d55c2_zThe Student Experience: University Strategic Planning Discussion on Applied Learning, Mentoring, and the Campus Experience

As part of the Student Experience Strategy Group, our team was tasked with answering the question, “What are the student experiences that influence preparation for the lifespan and the careers of undergraduate and graduate students? What roles do civic agency, academic support, health and fitness play in this preparation?”

Based on our research we have concluded that student preparation and success both in and out of college revolves around three main areas:
1. Advising and mentoring
2. Meaningful applied learning
3. Student campus experience

We have decided to run a set of discussion meetings where we can bring together a few members of our community to talk about these topics and how they tie back to our charge question. We also will be asking for recommendations from participating members on what can be done at UMBC to support these areas.

The Advising and Mentoring discussion will be held on Wednesday, December 3 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on the 7th floor of the Albin O. Kuhn Library. To RSVP, please complete this form.

The Applied Learning discussion will be held on Tuesday, December 9 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Commons 331. To RSVP, please complete this form.

The Student Campus Experience discussion will be held on Wednesday, December 10 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Commons 331. To RSVP, please complete this form.

If you cannot attend a session but would like to contribute, please indicate so on the appropriate RSVP form and a survey will be sent to you at a later date.

Thank you for your support!

Team Members include: Craig Berger, Student Life Office; Michael Moubarek, Student; Christine Routzahn, Career Center; Ally Yang, Student

Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation, Marketing and Creative Services Win NODA Award

nodaawardNODA, the Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education, recently held their annual conference in Orlando, FL.

UMBC, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation, Marketing and Creative Services won for Best Family Calendar/Handbook for mid-size institutions. The calendar was distributed to all incoming freshman and transfer parents and family members this summer. The Publications & Media Showcase awards highlight the best of the promotional materials submitted for the 2014 orientation season.

Donald Norris, Public Policy, Writes Baltimore Sun Op-Ed

In advance of the UMBC public policy program 40th anniversary celebration, Donald Norris, professor and chair of the department, wrote an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun in which he defended the value of studying public policy to meet the growing demand for public servants who can improve government at all levels.

Donald Norris UMBC

In the column, Norris discussed the strength of the UMBC public policy program in educating students to make a strong, local impact after graduation: “Over the past 40 years, the public policy graduate program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) has grown from 12 master’s students to 135 doctoral and master’s students. One key to our success is the program’s focus on issues impacting the state,” Norris wrote.

“The UMBC public policy program welcomes students from many nations and many states, but the majority of our students are from Maryland, and the majority of our graduates remain in Maryland. Moreover, at a time when fewer and fewer college students say that they want to work in the public sector, more than half of UMBC’s public policy students who graduated in the last 10 years are employed by Maryland state and local government, federal agencies and nonprofits,” he added.

Norris was also quoted in two recent Baltimore Sun articles analyzing the clout of Maryland’s congressional delegation after the election and a failed loan repayment from Anthony Brown’s campaign. To read the column and articles, click below.

Public policy schools more relevant than ever (Column)
Clout for Maryland lawmakers in Congress slips after midterm elections
Brown failed to repay $500,000 on time 

Roy Meyers, Political Science, Inducted into National Academy of Public Administration Fellowship Program

Photo Courtesy National Academy of Public Administration

Earlier this month at the National Academy of Public Administration annual meeting, Political Science Professor Roy Meyers was inducted as a new fellow for the organization. The Academy is an independent, non-profit organization that assists government leaders to build more transparent, efficient, and effective organizations.

The fellowship program includes prominent scholars, former members of Congress, cabinet officers, governors, business executives, and public administrators who provide valuable insight and support, guidance to the organization, and address emerging policy issues while contributing to intellectual and popular discourse on government.

Meyers was formerly a principal analyst with the Budget Analysis Division in the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. For Meyers’ biography page on the Academy website, click here. To read more about the National Academy of Public Administration fellowship program, click here.

Lia Purpura, English, in The New Yorker, Orion Magazine

English Writer in Residence Lia Purpura is featured in the November 24 edition of The New Yorker. The magazine published her poem “Study with Melon.” You can read the poem in The New Yorker by clicking here. The full text of the poem is below:

Lia Purpura

Study with Melon

The stem end of a melon
is weblike, form
finding a pattern
that’s thinking itself
a density
a concentration
beginning a line
then casting it out
and moving on from,
an order established,
a gesture complete.
Completion: how
someone at a distance
might see it.

In addition, Purpura’s essay “In The Despoiled and Radiant Now” appears in the November/December issue of Orion Magazine.

Bill Shewbridge, Media and Communication Studies, and Michelle Stefano, American Studies, to Present “Mill Stories” at SVA Film Festival

UMBC professors Bill Shewbridge (Media and Communication Studies) and Michelle Stefano (American Studies) are screening their film Mill Stories at the Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA) film festival. The screening will take place at 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, December 6 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C. Below is a description of the film from the SVA Film Festival website:

46-Mill-Stories-640x425

Recently closed, the Sparrows Point Steel Mill in Baltimore, Maryland helped to shape the lives of hundreds of thousands of steelworkers and associated personnel for over 125 years. Mill Stories: Remembering Sparrows Point presents a collection of personal stories based on ethnographic interviews collected at the time on the mill’s final closing. The film seeks to amplify the voices of former workers as a means of helping to safeguard and promote the living heritage of the recently closed mill and its surrounding areas.

To read more about the Mill Stories project, click here. For more information on the SVA film festival, click here.

UMBC: How Sweet It Is!

How Sweet It Is!

The UMBC men’s soccer squad vanquishes No. 4 College Park in NCAA Tournament

UMBC fans who made the trek down to College Park saw history on Sunday night when the Retrievers men’s soccer team snatched a 1-0 victory over the Maryland Terrapins – ranked number four in the nation – in a second-round game of the NCAA tournament.

The win sends UMBC into the third round of the tournament for the first time as a Division I squad. The Retrievers will travel to Kentucky to play the University of Louisville Cardinals on Sunday, November 30 at 6 p.m. EST.

The Retrievers goal was scored in the 70th minute by junior midfielder Malcolm Harris, who coolly slotted home a rebound created by a hard shot by senior forward Kay Banjo that was saved but not controlled by Terrapin goalkeeper Zack Steffen.

A scoreless first half saw both teams feel their way into the match, and only a few scoring chances were created by either team. The game’s second half was a far more open affair, with the Retrievers having the better of the play but failing to capitalize on a number of clear scoring chances.

A strong and energetic traveling contingent of Retrievers fans cheered loudly throughout the match. And when Harris’ dramatic goal stunned and silenced the boisterous Terrapin crowd, UMBC fans filled the stadium with cheers of “We Can’t Hear You!”

The Retrievers defended fiercely for the last 20 minutes of the match, as the Terrapins threw everything they had into an effort to score an equalizer. After the final second of the match elapsed and the referee blew his whistle, exultant UMBC fans stormed the field to celebrate the victory with the players.

The UMBC men’s soccer team extends its current unbeaten streak to eight games, and the Retrievers have yet to be beaten in open play in the NCAA tournament dating back to 2010. (All of their losses have come on penalty kicks.)

The victory also extends the careers of the team’s standout group of seniors, including Banjo, defender Omar Ballo, defender Jordan Becker, midfielder Geaton Caltabiano, midfielder Michael DiCesare, defender Marquez Fernandez, midfielder Stephen Ho, midfielder Mamadou Kansaye, midfielder/defender Zach Wenger, and defender Spencer Williams.

To see video highlights of the historic win, explore detailed game accounts and statistics, and obtain information on tickets to next Sunday’s game in Louisville, head to www.umbcretrievers.com

(Updated 11/23/2014)

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