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Dear Students, Student Government Association (SGA) election season is upon us! Every undergraduate student is a member of the SGA, and the SGA serves to represent undergraduates in the shared work of creating the best possible student experience and advancing the university.  The 2024 SGA elections are soon to be under way: Online early voting begins at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 12, and runs through Sunday, April 14. You can vote in person on campus between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday, April 15, through Thursday, April 18.  The elections matter, because SGA’s work is important—to you and to… Continue Reading Vote in the 2024 SGA Elections

Dear UMBC Community,  I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Tracey A. Reeves as Vice President for Communications and Marketing at UMBC. Tracey is a strategic thinker whose experience, expertise, and capacities as a highly collaborative leader will enable us to take communications and marketing at UMBC to great new heights in service of our ambitious aims. She joins UMBC from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where she serves currently as vice president for communications and marketing. She will begin at UMBC on June 3. In her role at Bates, Tracey has been a trusted advisor to the president… Continue Reading Leadership Announcement

Dear UMBC Community, Today, UMBC voluntarily entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that will bring meaningful improvements to the university’s work to prevent and respond to reports of sexual misconduct and sex discrimination under Title IX. This agreement concludes the DOJ investigation of UMBC’s Title IX compliance, the findings of which were announced on March 18. If you have not already viewed my letter and video message about the DOJ’s findings, which focused on the period 2015-2020, I encourage you to do so. The agreement we signed today commits UMBC to implement measures to enhance the… Continue Reading Department of Justice-UMBC Agreement

Dear UMBC Community, I write to you today to communicate about some significant changes at the leadership level of the university. I felt it was important to share this information with you, as well as our plans for navigating the changes, both in the short term and the long term.  Director of Athletics Very soon, we will launch a national search for a new director of athletics, as Brian Barrio is no longer serving in the role. I have met with the Athletics Department staff—both administrative staff and coaches—and many student-athletes to discuss this transition and assure them of my… Continue Reading Leadership Transitions

Dear UMBC Community, As we welcome students and faculty back to classes and look ahead to the remainder of the semester, I hope that everyone found some time to rest and recharge over Spring Break. I know that for many in our community, last week brought difficult news, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released the findings of its three-year Title IX investigation into the university. If you have not yet read the letter or watched the video I shared with the UMBC community when the DOJ made its findings public last Monday, I ask you to do so.… Continue Reading The Work Ahead

Dear UMBC Community, I am writing to you with some difficult but important news. Today, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released the findings of its Title IX investigation into the university. The DOJ investigation spanned more than three years, beginning in November 2020, and focused on the period 2015-2020. The findings are deeply troubling. The DOJ found failures in the university’s response to allegations of sex discrimination during that period. We take full responsibility for what happened, and we commit ourselves not only to addressing the failures, but also to rebuilding our community’s trust.  Title IX prohibits discrimination… Continue Reading Important News Concerning Title IX Compliance

Dear UMBC Community,    I write to share the news that Kathy Dettloff, vice president for administration and finance at UMBC, will be leaving her role, effective June 15. We are grateful to Kathy for her dedicated service to UMBC, which began in 2019 as associate vice president for financial services and continued when she assumed the role of vice president in January 2022.    As the financial management and planning lead for the university, Kathy has been responsible for the development of our budget, as well as for a wide portfolio of university operations, including facilities management, emergency management,… Continue Reading News about Administration and Finance

Dear UMBC Community, Welcome to the first day of the spring semester! As classes get under way, I wanted to share a brief video message with the campus community. I am excited and inspired to partner with you this semester on both near-term action and long-term strategic planning.  Sincerely, President Valerie Sheares Ashby

Dear UMBC Community,   It is my great pleasure to share the wonderful news that Manfred H. M. van Dulmen has accepted our invitation to join UMBC as provost and senior vice president. Manfred, who will begin in the role in July, currently serves as senior associate provost and dean of the Graduate College at Kent State University in Ohio, where he has spent the bulk of his career. I could not be more thrilled about this appointment, and I am deeply grateful to the members of the search committee and all who participated in this critically important search.   … Continue Reading Leadership Announcement

Dear UMBC Community,   I wish you all a happy and healthy start to the new year. My hope for us in the year ahead is that we strive always to support and lift up one another and value the diverse perspectives that our community comprises.  I hope, as well, that as we work together on a vision for UMBC’s future, we remain grounded in and inspired by the core values that have long defined us: inclusive excellence, collaboration, innovation, and impact. UMBC, higher education, and the wider world are better for those values and for your dedication and contributions… Continue Reading Happy New Year!

Dear UMBC Community,    With winter Commencements fast approaching, I wanted to share some updates with you before the break and express my sincere thanks to the entire UMBC community. This has been a demanding semester for everyone, I am sure, and I hope that as we head to the end of the year, you will find the time and opportunity for rest and reflection in the coming days.    I am pleased to share with you that we sought and have received incredibly helpful input from UMBC’s shared governance leaders toward creating the best possible process for strategic planning.… Continue Reading End-of-Semester Thanks and Updates