September 14th Meeting
- Update from HR's Talent Learning & Organizational Development
- Fitness and Wellness Updates
- Homecoming, October 8 - 14, 2023
August 10th Meeting
- President Valerie Sheares Ashby was in attendance, and she discussed updates regarding executive staff transition and the university strategic plan. She provided some insightful answers and thoughts about the coming year. Some highlights of her comments are below:
- A report summarizing the comments from the UMBC Bold sessions is expected to be shared with the campus community this fall. Dr. Ashby expects five priority categories to emerge that will provide a framework for work on the strategic plan.
- In addition to using the five priority categories as a framework for developing the strategic plan, Inclusive Excellence will be “everywhere, in every breath that we take.”
- David Dauwalder will serve as interim provost beginning August 15th, and he will move forward with strategic plan development, as will any other interim leaders in place.
- The strategic planning period is expected to begin this fall, and staff, faculty, and staff will be thoroughly involved as the framework for planning takes shape.
- Dr. Ashby mentioned UMBC’s history as a leading institution in innovation and highlighted our continuing opportunity to lead through imaginative thinking and bold action as we serve our diverse student body and evolving workforce
- For the rest of our meeting, we discussed setting our PSS Strategic Plan for FY23 and committee assignments for the year.
Check out the meeting minutes for additional information.
|
|
Next PSS Meeting
Thursday, October 12th
2:30 – 4:30 p.m., Virtual
PSS meetings are open to all interested staff members. View our meeting minutes and meeting schedule on myUMBC. To RSVP and join via WebEx, visit myUMBC.
Please RSVP via the myUMBC event if you are not a senator.
Missed a PSS meeting? You can access all PSS Meeting Minutes on our PSS MyUMBC page! Minutes are located in our files tab, which you can access here.
|
|
|
Council of University System Staff (CUSS)
|
|
|
The Council of University System Staff (CUSS) kicked off their first meeting of the year in person at Coppin State University (CSU) in August! The CUSS Representatives and Alternates for UMBC this year can be found below. Feel free to reach out to any CUSS Representative/Alternate with any staff concerns or questions that should be elevated to the system level.
CUSS Representatives:
Dr. Laila M. Shishineh - AETP ( lailams@umbc.edu)
Roy Prouty - DoIT ( proutyr1@umbc.edu)
Terisa White - Provost's Office ( terisac@umbc.edu)
CUSS Alternates:
Dr. Laszlo Korossy - OAPA ( korossy1@umbc.edu)
Deanna Cerquetti - OAPA ( deanna5@umbc.edu)
Cathy Myers - Human Resources ( catmyers@umbc.edu)
CUSS Newsletter - Summer 2023 |
|
|
Homecoming Staff & Faculty Social
|
|
|
Homecoming Staff and Faculty Social
Wednesday, October 11, 4 - 6 PM
The Commons : Skylight Room
The only staff and faculty exclusive homecoming event is coming up - Please RSVP on myUMBC event! Come socialize with some colleagues and enjoy some tasty appetizers. Wine and beer will be available for purchase.
-------
Staff Cookout
Thank you to everyone who attended the Staff Cookout in August! We welcomed nearly 300 staff members on a beautiful day to socialize and enjoy some lunch.
Special thanks to our Staff Outreach & Development Committee for their hard work planning the Cookout! We had a number of raffle prizes that were distributed in the last few weeks to some lucky winners!
|
|
- USM Professional Development Week starts TODAY and continues through the week! Make sure to check out the virtual session offerings and RSVP for sessions. Read more here.
- Did you catch the campus news from the Office of Equity and Civil Rights? Read more on the myUMBC post here from Tanyka M. Barber, Vice President for Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer.
- There's a lot of work going on to improve campus! Make sure you're following Facilities Management on myUMBC for up-to-date information.
- HR's Talent Learning & Organizational Development has a new training opportunity focused on Change Management, and there are a variety of different in-person trainings to choose from. Click here for more information
- Homecoming is from October 8 - 14, 2023! Make sure to RSVP for the events you're planning on attending at homecoming.umbc.edu
- Worried about COVID-19, the flu, or other respiratory viruses? Make sure you've read the Fall Public Health Update (which tells you where you can get masks on campus!) and think about getting your Flu, COVID-19, and other vaccinations at one of the on-campus clinics.
|
|
Meet the Senator - Tim Lynch
|
|
|
Although I usually say that I grew up in Catonsville (21228) technically I grew up in Westgate (21229) which is just a hop, skip, and a jump away as the crow flies.
During my early years, I attended St. Agnes grade school (Class of ‘79) and Mt. St. Joseph High School – Go Gaels!! (Class of ’83).
And then I proudly earned my BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Video Production and Management) from UMBC in 1987. After graduation I did freelance work for a few years, but soon decided that I wanted to do something else with my life…but I had no idea what that something would be. So I decided to take a few more classes at UMBC while I tried to figure out what it was that I wanted to do.
|
|
|
During that time, I started working at UMBC in 1993 as a part-time office assistant in the Continuing Education Department. After just a few weeks, I knew that this is where I wanted to be, and what I wanted to do. I loved the people, loved the campus, and I felt that this is where I could make a positive difference. Thirty years later, I’m currently serving as the Acting Director of Summer/Winter Programs.
Outside of work, I’m a huge Orioles fan, I enjoy working in my backyard, playing guitar, and listening to music (Beatles, Bob Dylan, Ramones, Jimi Hendrix, etc.), but my main hobby is collecting books (photo below). I started collecting while in high school, and now have about 1,300 books on my shelves – including over 300 autographed books.
I’ve been married for 27 years, and we have two wonderful children (and a daughter-in-law). This fall, my daughter will be graduating from UMBC with a degree in Spanish, and a minor in Latin American Studies.
Overall, I’ve had a pretty good life…but several years ago I started to suffer from panic attacks. At first I wasn’t sure what was happening and why I was feeling so anxious. My heart would race, I would start to sweat, and then feel lightheaded. I never knew when the next panic attack would crop up, so that made me more anxious, and the panic attacks would become more frequent and more severe. After dealing with this for years, I finally went to a doctor and got the help I needed. One of the best things I ever did. I wanted to mention this because I imagine that there are other people suffering from panic attacks or other stresses in their lives, and I wanted to let you know that YOU'RE OK…and help is out there.
|
|
Newsletter Requests
Do you need staff volunteers for an event, or are you hosting a program you think staff would love? Or do you just want us to cover something specific in our next newsletter? Let us know by filling out this form.
|
|
|
|
|
|
