Bowie State University - University System of Maryland



Report to the USM Board of Regents

Chancellor William E. Kirwan

Friday, September 28, 2012

Thank you Mr. Chairman . . . And let me congratulate you on your first Board meeting as Chair. I also add my words of welcome to everyone for the first University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents meeting of the new academic year. I especially want to welcome our new student regent—Steven Hershkowitz—to his first “official” board meeting.

This is also the first “official” board meeting for our new Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Joann Boughman. I thank Nancy Shapiro who has been serving in this position in an “acting” capacity for the past few months.

AND . . . let me also welcome Juliette B. Bell, who formally assumed the presidency of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) on July 1st.

Of course, I once again thank and congratulate the winners of the Regents Staff Awards. These individuals truly represent the excellence, professionalism, and commitment that can be found throughout the USM.

The summer months used to be thought of as a “down time” for higher education, but that is simply not the case anywhere within the USM. Since we last met in June, there has been an incredible amount of activity. So much so, that I am going to have to move through my report very quickly just to hit the highlights!

I am especially pleased with the extent to which these achievements advance the elements of our strategic plan.

Starting with the importance of promoting college completion:

The U.S. Department of Education made some significant grants to the USM’s Historically Black Colleges:

• $3 million right here for Bowie State University (BSU) to close the achievement gap for first-generation college students, increase enrollment, and enhance educational offerings.

• $2.8 million for Coppin State University (CSU) to strengthen retention and graduation, improve academics, and increase minority participation in the sciences.

• $2.5 million for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) for building access, recruitment and retention, and closing the achievement gap.

Towson University (TU) was awarded $2 million in federal and state grants for Towson UTeach, modeled after the UTeach program established at the University of Texas to create a new model for producing more, highly qualified STEM teachers for the K-12 sector. This addresses a very high priority in our Strategic Plan, namely to triple the number of STEM teachers our campuses produce.

Giving another big boost to these efforts is the exciting announcement that Mary Ann Rankin, who created the UTEACH program while dean at the University of Texas – Austin’s College of Science, will assume the position of provost at College Park this next Monday, Oct 1st .

The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) is continuing to expand:

• The University of Baltimore’s (UB) popular Master of Science in Health Systems Management program came to USG this fall.

• In addition, USG, Montgomery County Public Schools, and Montgomery College have partnered to launch the Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success program to create a seamless educational pathway from high school to college completion for underrepresented minority and first-generation college students.

The University System of Maryland at Hagerstown (USMH) is also on the move:

• With the start of the new academic year, Coppin became the sixth institution offering programs at the USMH with its Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management program.

• USMH is growing physically as well, expanding into an adjacent city-owned building downtown with additional classroom and office space.

Expanded access—both virtual and physical—is happening throughout the USM:

• University of Maryland University College (UMUC) has signed an agreement with NJVC, an information technology solutions provider in Northern Virginia, to offer postsecondary education opportunities to the company's 1,300 employees and their family members around the world.

• With the new academic year, CSU is offering its first completely online bachelor’s degree program in Management.

• And the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) opened the first phase of its new $165 million performing arts and humanities building.

In recent years, the economic impact of the USM has become increasingly important. It is a key aspect of our strategic plan, a driving force behind the new University of Maryland: MPowering the State initiative, and is the subject of an on-going economic impact study, the results of which will be announced soon.

Nowhere is our impact more high profile than in the area of cybersecurity:

• Earlier this summer, the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and Northrop Grumman launched the Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES) partnership, establishing an honors program to educate a new generation of cybersecurity professionals.

• This summer also marked the one-year anniversary of the Cync program—a partnership between Northrop Grumman and UMBC—an incubator dedicated to cultivating companies that develop innovative solutions to counter the global cyber threat.

• The Maryland Cybersecurity Center at UMCP announced a new partnership to establish collaborative activities in cybersecurity with Sourcefire, Inc. This is the 14th corporate cybersecurity partnership for the center.

• And—to improve career paths, advance training and education, and help cultivate the next generation of cybersecurity professionals and leaders—UB launched a Cyber Discovery Camp this past summer for high school students and teachers.

Beyond cybersecurity, our campuses are making a significant impact in other areas key to our state’s growth in the innovation economy:

• UMES received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to prepare high school students for undergraduate and advanced degrees that lead to careers in geosciences.

• Salisbury University’s (SU) Nursing Department has been awarded $1.8 million from the Maryland Higher Education Commission to expedite and expand doctoral education for nurses statewide.

• Towson received a $2 million NSF grant to provide scholarships for students pursuing studies in computer science with a concentration in computer security.

And earlier this week we celebrated the launch of the collaborative University of Maryland School of Public Health, made possible by the new MPowering the State initiative.

• This intensive partnership effort bringing together the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) will advance Maryland’s leadership in the health sciences, while also strengthening our efforts to meet key health care workforce needs.

Several developments over the summer underscore the SYSTEMWIDE dedication to stewardship, both in terms of addressing environmental sustainability and reducing the state's carbon footprint, and in terms of supporting alternative sources of funding:

• The 16.1-megawatt solar installation at Mount St. Mary's University —a partnership between Constellation Energy and the USM—has been completed.

o Electricity generated by this “Generating Clean Horizons Initiative” will be purchased by the USM through a 20-year solar power purchase agreement with Constellation.

• Frostburg State University (FSU) was also cited in Sierra magazine’s sixth annual ranking of the U.S. colleges that are helping solve climate problems and making significant efforts to operate sustainably.

• The NSF is awarding $5.8 million for the Maryland-Delaware Climate Change Education, Assessment, and Research (MADE CLEAR) partnership led in part by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES).

• Bob Parsons, founder and executive chairman of Go Daddy, has made a $1 million donation to the UB to establish a new professorship specializing in digital communication.

• The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) named UMES a Circle of Excellence Educational Fundraising Award winner for superior improvement in fundraising.

Finally, the USM’s continued demonstration of academic excellence was on full display in recent months. Let me start with the most recent wave of rankings and other accolades, beginning with U.S. News & World Report:

• UMCP was ranked 19th among all U.S. national public universities.

o U.S. News also recognized UMCP for having the third lowest tuition rate among the top 20 public universities.

• UMBC was ranked No. 1 among "up-and-coming" national universities for the fourth straight year.

o U.S. News also ranks UMBC eighth on a list of the top national universities "where the faculty has an unusual commitment to undergraduate teaching," tied with Duke, Berkeley, and Notre Dame.

• Salisbury ranked among the top 10 public regional universities in the north.

• Towson ranked 10th among top regional public universities in the north region, an improvement of one spot from last year's rankings.

• UB was ranked 23rd among public universities in the north region.

• Our “host” institution today—Bowie State University—rose to 27th in the U.S. News ranking of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

• UMES joined Bowie in the top tier of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities, ranked 33rd.

Beyond the annual U.S. News success stories, there were many other significant institutional accolades:

• Colleges of Distinction, a national organization that identifies colleges and universities that excel in the key areas of student engagement, quality of teaching, vibrancy of the college community, and success of graduates, named both Frostburg and Salisbury as two of only 280 Colleges of Distinction nationwide.

• And Victory Media, Inc.—an organization that provides publications for military personnel transitioning into civilian life—has recognized Frostburg for the second straight year as a Military Friendly School.

• The Chronicle of Higher Education once again ranked UMBC as one of the best colleges in the nation to work for.

There was also no shortage of individual honors for members of the USM family.

• Salisbury University President Janet Dudley-Eshbach has been named one of Maryland’s Most Admired CEOs for 2012 by The Daily Record.

• At UMB, Jeremy Yap, a PhD candidate at the School of Pharmacy, was one of four national winners of an American Chemical Society (ACS) Medicinal Chemistry Predoctoral Fellowship.

• Dionne Curbeam, director of Coppin’s Instructional Technology Department, won the 2012 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Communication Strategies.

• President Obama has named UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski chair of the newly created President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

o In addition, Freeman was honored as a recipient of the prestigious Heinz Awards. He was selected as this year’s winner in the category of Improving the Human Condition.

• UMBC Physics Professor Raymond Hoff has been awarded NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal, its highest form of external recognition.

• Former UMCP President Dan Mote has been nominated to serve as the next president of the National Academy of Engineering.

• And, I had the honor of receiving the Maryland Chamber of Commerce’s Public Service Award earlier this month.

All these achievements not only serve to advance the elements of our strategic plan, but also highlight what an impressive team the USM has in this board, campus leadership, faculty and staff, and students.

Just a few final items I want to update you on . . . .

On Monday, October 15th, I will be taking part in the inaugural event of the Montgomery County Business Hall of Fame. Out of the initial six inductees, I am pleased to note that two have very strong USM ties: Cliff Kendall, former long-serving chair of the board and Regent Norm Augustine. I hope many of you will come out to USG for the event to show your support. And . . . all net proceeds from the Montgomery County Business Hall of Fame will benefit scholarship programs at USG.

On Saturday, December 1st UMUC will host our next Way-2-Go-Maryland event, the USM’s information campaign, which aims to put more Maryland middle-school students on the path to college. I know just about every institution sends representatives to take part in the college fair component of the Way-2-Go events. I thank you all for your support of this important effort.

Finally, we are at the earliest stages of working with leaders in Annapolis on the USM’s budget for Fiscal Year 2014. Governor O’Malley has expressed the desire to invest in USM, especially with our STEM workforce and technology transfer efforts, if the funds are available to do so. I will, of course, keep you informed as our efforts move forward. Obviously, we will continue to link the budget to the elements of our new Strategic Plan as well as our important economic impact.

Mr. Chairman . . . this concludes my report. I would be happy to respond to any questions the Regents may have.

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