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Wednesday
July 1, 2026

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3 Tips for Making Your Synchronous Meetings Accessible

Let’s enhance meeting productivity for all attendees! Whether you are hosting a departmental meeting, conducting a 1:1 check-in, or moderating a large-scale event, the organization and execution of that meeting impacts everyone’s ability to engage meaningfully. Attendees with hearing or vision impairments, audio processing differences, or utilizing assistive technology will benefit if you can...

UMBC Cybersecurity MS student wins best prototype award in Generative AI Hackathon at Universities at Shady Grove

Chinwe Okpala, a UMBC MS in Cybersecurity student, and Daniela Pineda Iriarte received the Best Real-World Potential award for their MedBridge project in the Prompt to Prototype: A Generative AI Hackathon held last week at the Universities at Shady Grove. The award recognizes the project that judges believe was most likely to be pursued, funded, adopted, or implemented. Their MedBridge project...

ESI Undergraduate Researchers win UMBC and NSF Research Awards

This year, three undergraduate research assistants with ESI were recognized with research awards and internships: Kaylin Burrell, Alex Esposito, and Natalie McCourt. UMBC physics undergraduates Burrell and Esposito won Undergraduate Research Awards (URAs) for the 2026-2027 academic year. Sponsored by the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, the URAs are solicited annually as a medium...

Need a portable 3x2 ft or small whiteboard

If organization is a virtue then what could be more virtuous than loaning us a whiteboard for the Summer... To help us organize!!!!! We need a portable 3x2ft or smallish whiteboard to help our team track daily schedules for our Summer Enrichment Academy staff. If you have a 3x2 ft whiteboard we could use for the Summer (until the first week in August) the sun will shine a little brighter on you,...

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AI-powered fitness and nutrition IPhone app released by UMBC MS Data Science student Manikanta Sirumalla

Manikanta Sirumalla is an MS student in the UMBC Data Science program who recently released RepTrack Pro, an AI-powered fitness and nutrition app for iPhones. He’s currently building it out through an award from the UMBC Launchpad Accelerator 10-week, cohort-based summer program that helps student founders validate their ideas and launch early-stage ventures. Hosted by the Alex. Brown Center for...

Committee Interest Form Deadline Approaching

Don’t miss your opportunity to highlight areas of interest for key committees and working groups connected to upcoming institutional initiatives and priorities. The Office of the Provost values broad participation as we shape the future of UMBC 3.0. Please take a moment to fill out the interest form by Thursday, July 2. We are creating a repository of faculty and staff that the Office of the...

Bookstore Sale

The UMBC Bookstore is running their annual summer sale. The in-person sale is active and runs through Friday, June 26. The online sale is active and runs through June 30. The Bookstore is physically closed from June 27 through July 1 to conduct their annual physical inventory. Orders placed after tomorrow, June 25, will be processed starting July 2. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

Who gets to tell the story? The tricky back story of how radio shows can promote empathy but also build up cultural divides 

In his new book, Empathy Machines: This American Life, Podcasting, and the Public Radio Structure of Feeling, Jason Loviglio, professor of media and communications, critiques and analyzes the making of and the impact of one of his favorite shows on National Public Radio (NPR), “This American Life”—a radio show turned podcast that received the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting. “This American...

The UMBC Connection | Summer Updates from Across UMBC

Dear UMBC Faculty and Staff, With summer in full swing, this edition of The UMBC Connection brings together a few updates, opportunities, and highlights from across UMBC. You’ll find information on new federal policies, employee resources, research and athletics accomplishments, and opportunities to connect with the UMBC community this summer. Opportunities & Events Opportunities to attend,...

Lunch and Learn for New Faculty

· The AOK Library & Gallery and the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) invite new faculty to a lunchtime session highlighting resources and services designed to support your research and teaching. Topics will include: Using ORCID to streamline your Faculty Success annual report Support for Open Access at UMBC Storage Options for Research Data Access campus research computing & data...

GSA Year-End Reflection and Leadership Transition

As we prepare to close out the 2025–2026 GSA year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what we have accomplished together and thank the graduate student community for allowing us to serve. Over the past year, GSA has worked to advocate for graduate student needs, strengthen communication and transparency, and create more opportunities for graduate students to engage with one another and with...

5 Tips for Posting Accessible Images & Stories to Social Media

Social media is one of the most powerful tools departments use to share news, celebrate achievements, and build community. It’s also one of the most consistently inaccessible corners of institutional communication. The good news is that most major platforms now have built-in accessibility features, and the habits that make social media accessible also tend to make it more engaging for everyone....

Thyme to grow—UMBC’s Little Seed Library starts spreading its roots

Each plant, whether a small wild buttercup or a massive oak tree, starts out as seed—packed with potential to grow well beyond its original size. By this logic, The Garden’s new Little Seed Library—co-sponsored by Retriever Essentials and the Office of Sustainability and installed by Facilities Management—is seeded with infinite potential. Based on the now-familiar concept of Little Free...

Why big AI labs are hiring so many philosophers

See the article below about the value of philosophy from The Economist "Why big AI labs are hiring so many philosophers" (Note: You can either create a free account to view it, or you can log into the UMBC library to view it.)

IMPORTANT Reminder: Submit Your Semester Requests for Summer Session II and Share Your Feedback!

We hope your summer has been going well! If you haven't submitted your semester requests for Summer Session II yet, now is the time to do so. Please log in to Accommodate to submit your requests as soon as possible. Submitting early ensures your accommodation letters are sent to your faculty in advance of classes, providing timely support. While you're there, we would greatly appreciate it if you...

Transitioning from Canva Pro

Dear Students, We have learned that Canva is raising its enterprise version pricing to a level that is not sustainable; as a result, we will not be renewing our Canva enterprise contract for the coming academic year. What this means for you is that access to the Canva enterprise account will end on Thursday, August 6, 2026, andafter this date, unfortunately, you will no longer have access to any...

UMBC Department of Theatre's 2026 - 2027 Production Season

the serpent under't An Adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth Conceived and Directed by Nigel Semaj UMBC Proscenium Theatre October 29 - November 8, 2026 Tickets Available Soon! About the Show: the serpent under't is an experimental dance theatre adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. It explores the shadows of the human psyche where ambition, guilt, and fate intertwine with the supernatural....

GESTAR II Researchers Recognized with a Variety of Awards

Congratulations are in order for the following researchers! Sean Foley (616/Morgan) attended the EarthCARE 2026 Science and Validation workshop, hosted by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and ESA (European Space Agency) in early June 2026 in Oxford, UK. For his poster presentation, "PACE / EarthCARE Matchups (PEM): An intercomparison library in Python for the NASA Plankton, Aerosol,...

UMBC Bookstore Summer Sale (up to 40% off)

The UMBC Bookstore is running their annual summer sale. The in-person sale is active and runs through Friday, June 26. The online sale is active and runs through June 30. The Bookstore is physically closed from June 27 through July 1 to conduct their annual physical inventory. Orders placed after tomorrow, June 25, will be processed starting July 2. Be patient, turnaround times on the online...

Federal Order Updates

Find information and resources related to 2025 federal orders and actions here.
Register to Vote

Register to Vote

Please take a few minutes to register to vote, or to update your registration using Maryland's online voter registration system.