The Career-Life Balance (CLB) inititative launched at UMBC on May 6 with an “afternoon coffee.” The event featured remarks from campus leaders, descriptions of the Research Acceleration Grant winners, and resources from organizations that support career-life balance and individual welleness.
Renetta Tull, associate vice provost for graduate education and postdoctoral affairs, welcomed faculty, staff, and graduate students to the launch and explained the initiative’s mission of promoting career-life balance on campus. Patrice McDermott, vice provost for faculty affairs, gave background on UMBC policies that contribute to career-life balance and introduced the Research Acceleration Grant, which was created to help faculty attain full professorship through a grant from the National Science Foundation, as well as funds from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and College of Engineering and Information Technology. The eight grant winners include:
- Rachel Brewster, Department of Biological Sciences
- Bambi L. Chapin, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
- Vandana Janeja, Department of Information Systems
- Maricel Kann, Department of Biological Sciences
- Anita Komlodi, Department of Information Systems
- Jennie Leach, Department of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering
- Sreedevi Sampath, Department of Information Systems
- Lina Zhou, Department of Information Systems
Valerie Thomas, associate vice-president of Human Resources, spoke about Human Resource programs that promote career-life balance and the re-opening of UMBC’s child care center. Janet Rutledge, vice provost and dean of the Graduate School, discussed resources and policies affecting Graduate Assistants. President Hrabowski sent a video message encouraging the UMBC community to engage in a healthy career-life balance, emphasizing the importance of fitness and stress reduction.
Representatives from various organizations, including University Health Services, Counseling Center, Human Resources, and the Relationship Violence AWareness & Prevention Program, were available to discuss on-campus resources with faculty, staff, and students.
Learn more about Career-Life Balance at UMBC here.
