The Key, October 2020 Edition

October 2020

A newsletter for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends

Rehab counseling program gets $1 million grant The University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s graduate program in rehabilitation counseling is getting an infusion of $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education.

UMES will use the federal funding over the next five years to produce “well-qualified personnel available to provide vocational, medical, social and psychological rehabilitation services to people with disabilities.”

The money will underwrite stipends for roughly 14 graduate students annually, which Dr. William Talley is hopeful will be viewed as an incentive to choose UMES as the place to pursue a master’s degree.

Talley, the department chairman, and faculty colleagues Dr. Bryan Gere and Dr. Leslie Santo, collaborated on writing the grant proposal.

“Without properly trained rehabilitation counselors and mental health professionals,”

U.S. Department of Education funding will support graduate student stipends

Santos said, “Maryland and surrounding areas will continue to struggle with a shortage of culturally-competent and well-trained providers to work with people with disabilities.”

“Those in underserved populations and minority groups will continue to lack access to adequate rehabilitation and mental health services,” she said. “We are proud that with this grant, we will be able to contribute to minimizing these disparities.”

Talley, a UMES faculty member for two decades, said the grant from the Rehabilitation Long-Term Training – Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling program ranks among the largest his department has ever received.

Talley noted UMES’ counseling rehabilitation program “is well-prepared to provide competitive training in counseling designed to expose students to the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to GRANT / continued on page 2

UMES ranked the nation’s 18th best HBCU

University holds steady in latest U.S. News & World Report survey

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore rates as the nation’s 18th best historically Black institution, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The publication’s annual rankings released in midSeptember showed UMES moved up one spot from a year ago in a complex analysis that relies on a combination of data and opinions of higher education leaders about the quality and reputation of colleges and universities.

The improvement marks an incremental step toward President Heidi M. Anderson’s goal of leading UMES to the Top 10 among peers.

“It’s wonderful to be recognized for the hard work our team has done this past year,” Anderson said. “With the current twin pandemics of COVID and racial injustice, our campus is a haven for our students.”

RANKING / continued on page 2

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Rehab Counseling grant cont.

Top 20 HBCUs cont.

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HTM Pandemic Meal Solution Education in the era of COVID-19

Page 4-5

Dr. Tyler Logan, DPT

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Voting in 2020

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Securing the Vote Hawks Keep it Clean

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UMES’ Newest Classroom Building

2 The Key / October 2020 GRANT / continued from cover

become highly competent rehabilitation counselors and counseling professionals.”

UMES offers the only nationally accredited graduate program in rehabilitation Dr. Bryan Gere counseling on the Delmarva Peninsula. Talley, Gere and Santos are now focused on identifying and recruiting qualified recipients for the first round of stipends by early 2021.

UMES’ grant proposal pledged the university would make a concerted effort to identify people with disabilities, minorities and individuals from traditionally underserved populations. Prospective stipend recipients include women as well as people from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds.

The Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling degree at UMES is a two-year, 60-credit program that meets the standards of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs and the Council on Rehabilitation Education, which merged in July 2017.

Gere, a UMES alumnus who returned to his alma mater two years ago to teach, said the good news about the grant comes at an opportune time.

“With the pandemic, people are finding it hard to come to school,” Gere said. “We’ll be better able to provide funding and support, especially for people who might be thinking about making a career change.”

Graduates of rehabilitation counseling programs assist people with disabilities to achieve their personal, career and independent living goals. Public and private vocational rehabilitation agencies, substance abuse settings, Social Security Administration, prisons, schools and insurance companies employ rehabilitation counselors.

Students who graduate from UMES’ program meet the educational requirements of the Board of Professional Counselors and Dr. Leslie Santo Therapists in Maryland and surrounding areas. “This … allows them to apply to become a Certified Rehabilitation Counselors, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors and Licensed Clinical Alcohol & Drugs Counselors.”

For Gere, a junior faculty member, writing a successful grant application is an important accomplishment.

“I was ecstatic,” he said when the university received confirmation. “We’re trying to recruit more students and retain existing students. This should be of great help.”

School News RANKING / continued from cover

UMES broke into the top 20 of U.S. News’ niche category for Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 2017.

Anderson became UMES’ president in September 2018 and challenged the university’s community to work on burnishing the institution’s reputation through scholarship, research as well as engaging alumni as partners and diplomats.

UMES has since celebrated the aviation science program’s 30th anniversary, drawing attention to those in-demand career opportunities, hired Maryland’s 2018-19 state Teacher of the Year Richard Warren to head up recruiting the next generation of K-12 educators and added a master’s degree in medical science (physician assistant).

New online offerings include certificate programs in special education and health disparities / social inequities.

UMES is ranked the eighth-best public HBCU in the latest survey and fourth among land-grant schools, also known as “1890 institutions.” Eight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference institutions made the top 20; UMES was seventh in that group.

The top six HBCUs in the survey are private institutions; two are in Atlanta, Spelman (number one) and Morehouse (number six). Howard University was number two.

Among UMES’ superlatives: • The university is designated by the widely respected Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as a Doctoral University (high research activity). It awards at least 20 doctorate degrees annually; • UMES’ student-faculty ratio during the survey year was 11:1, and 68 percent of classes average fewer than 20 students; • UMES is one of six HBCUs that offers a doctorate in pharmacy practice and the lone landgrant school that offers graduate degrees in the physician assistant and pharmacy fields; • Six current UMES faculty members hold a combined 13 U.S. Patents; • Graduates who earn Doctorates in Physical Therapy consistently qualify for their national license on the first attempt taking the mandatory post-graduate exam to qualify for a credential to practice; • There are 18 PGA-certified golf management degree programs in the country and UMES is the only HBCU with an accredited program; • UMES is one of 15 HBCUs with Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology credentials; • The university is Maryland’s 1890 land-grant university and a member of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.

Seventy-seven HBCUs were ranked in the latest survey.

U.S. News asks senior administrators - presidents, academic policymakers and admissions directors - to rate the academic quality of peer institutions. Graduation and retention rates, and faculty resources also carry a lot of weight in the ranking equation.

The publication noted that it took into account students who received Pell grants and those who did not as well as graduates’ indebtedness. It also factored into its ranking equation the percentage of students who used federal loans to pay for college.

Other factors taken into consideration include the number of full-time faculty, student selectivity based on test scores and high school class standing, the institution’s financial resources and classes sizes.

School News

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Turning the pandemic into purpose UMES’ Dr. Richard Warren says educators have what it takes to innovate in difficult times

Outside of the box…but in a jar Hospitality and Tourism Management students at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore got creative with their meal presentation during the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 17, an open area “gourmet dining experience” was set up for attendees to experience a threecourse meal with safe distancing as meals were presented in Mason jars to be eaten away from the site. The innovative presentation included salads, salmon with rice, pepper steak with corn pudding, cakes, parfaits, and more. Students earned credit for the experimental event, which was not open to the public.

With the 2020-21 school year underway in many forms, I’ve been thinking about how educators can turn this pandemic into purpose.

Historian Henry Adams once said that “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” This notion is one of my favorite educational quotes.

I often read and reflect on it before every school year.

This year my reflection is a tad bit different. The word “Influence” has stood out among the rest in this quote. It reminds me of a student I taught in the 8th grade.

Each day he would show up and do the bare minimum, make terrible excuses why he wouldn’t do his assignments and would continuously try to find loopholes to get around classwork. I often wondered: “Why is this student like this. What can I do to help?”

It turns out, I simply needed to refrain from focusing on what wasn’t working and try something innovative to engage him as a solution. I designed a rocketry unit where students had to build a model rocket and were given roles on their respective NASA aerospace team. This particular student’s role was structural engineer. He would have to sketch, measure and build the final model rocket design.

To my surprise, this student began working harder than I had ever seen. When it was time for presentations, he was the first to begin talking about how sleek, “swaggy”, and scientific his design was. There was a fire in his eyes and a passion in his heart that brought spine-tingling chills to everyone in the room.

His classmates and visitors were in awe with his design and with his extraordinary ability to communicate his creation. It was the first time I saw him meet the better version of himself. Seven years later, this student is now in a career where he sketches, measures and builds fences for a highly successful business in Maryland.

This story is an important reminder for educators. We must remember that at our core we are ’influencers.’ Now more than ever, we must embrace the notion that we still have what it takes to innovate in the face of COVID-19 issues.

We still have what it takes to stonewall the school reopening discrepancies and to make a lasting impact on students. We still have what it takes to demonstrate excellence in the midst of distant learning disparities. We still have what it takes to move the teaching and learning needle forward in the presence of flaws.

The conditions may not be ideal, but I believe that somewhere, in someone, lies a sleeping giant waiting for a chance to defeat the odds. A chance to influence.

Dr. Richard H. Warren, Jr. is the Richard F. Hazel Professor of Education in UMES’ Department of Education and holds three degrees from the institution.

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Student Perspective

Beyond the physical UMES’ Dr. Tyler Logan shares his physical therapy journey

By Tahja Cropper

Dr. Tyler Logan, a 2020 graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, is preparing for a rewarding career as he equips himself for the national licensure exam this month. During this time, the Washington, D.C. native shed light on healthcare disparities and ignited a discussion about stereotypes, attracting followers and questions after a post on social media.

“I had no idea that my post would have the response it did from people who weren’t already following me,” said Logan, a former college basketball player with an athletic build and long locs.

His Twitter post, accompanied by graduation photos, says: “If basketball the only thing I had to offer, I’d be doing the world a disservice.

Only Black male of my graduating class at my HBCU. Doctor of Physical Therapy.” Responses ranged from “We love to see it!” to inquiries from individuals who are pursuing the profession.

With a bachelor of science degree in Human Movement and Performance (2015) from Florida Southern College, Logan was encouraged to apply to the Physical Therapy program at UMES by 2003 alumna Jennifer Buchanan during an internship at Forestville Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Prince George’s County, Md. The DPT program’s student to faculty ratio (approximately 15:1) and its 100% pass rate for the national licensure exam were qualities that stood out to Logan.

UMES’ Doctor of Physical Therapy degree program constitutes the initial professional preparation for students desiring to become physical therapists. Graduates of the program will be prepared to carry out the expanding responsibilities as autonomous health care providers practicing in a variety of clinical settings and in educational and research environments.

Logan embraced his graduate school experience and held on to

his athletic background by starting an intramural men’s basketball team consisting of physical therapy students. The games were played in the Tawes gym and provided the faculty, staff and program students with opportunities to socialize and connect outside the classroom.

“As UMES is located in a rural and underserved area, the DPT program plays a very active role in addressing health care disparities by exposing students to numerous service-learning projects and community service activities throughout the curriculum,” department chair Dr. Michael Rabel said.

“The DPT program is regularly involved with Fall Prevention screenings at senior centers throughout the Eastern Shore region, including the Maintaining Active Citizens Center in Salisbury, Md. Wellness screenings are performed at the Senior Center in Westover, Md. and on Smith Island, Md.,” Rabel said.

Other service activities included safe exercise, healthy heart and fall prevention programs for local stroke survivors support groups and injury prevention as well as health & fitness programs have also been developed and provided to students at high schools in Somerset County.

Logan’s last clinical affiliation as a student was at KConway Physical Therapy, a minority-owned outpatient practice serving Calvert, Charles, St. Mary’s and Prince George’s counties. A patient Logan worked with expressed to faculty her appreciation for Logan’s ability and work in the DPT program, which allowed him to encourage her to successfully complete her physical therapy plan of care.

“Tyler gained a greater understanding of how to communicate with patients in order to establish a good rapport and an effective patientphysical therapist relationship. He also developed an interest in higher level exercise training and has plans to pursue a certification in strength

Student Perspective October is National Physical Therapy Month.

UMES’ DPT program has a rolling admission process. Per the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service, the 2020-2021 application cycle is now open.

and conditioning after graduation,” said Rabel on Logan’s growth as a DPT student.

“It’s kind of my duty now to be an advocate for minorities to play a bigger role in healthcare. This includes getting more minorities to apply to these programs. There is work to be done on the student and admission side,” said Logan.

Although his interest has shifted from wanting to work in professional sports, he is considering the right professional fit amid interviews for physical therapy positions. According to the U.S Department of Labor, the 2019 median pay for Physical Therapists was $89,440, or $43.00 per hour.

UMES HEALTH PROFESSIONS PROGRAMS Dietetics (B.S.) Exercise Science (B.S.) Kinesiology (B.S.) Pharmacy (Pharm. D.) Physical Therapy (DPT) Rehabilitation Counseling (M.S.) Rehabilitation Services (B.S.) Rehabilitation Psychology (B.S.) *Physician Assistant (MMS-PAS) *The ARC-PA has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Physician Assistant Program sponsored by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARCPA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation-Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students.

Accreditation-Provisional does not ensure any subsequent accreditation status. It is limited to no more than five years from matriculation of the first class.

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6 The Key / October 2020

Voting in 2020

Hawk voices on voting in 2020 Bryan Larose

Jazmin Wilson

Sophomore, 19 Philadelphia, Pa. Mechanical Engineering major

Freshman, 18 Laurel, Md. Sociology major; (minor in psychology)

I plan to submit a write-in ballot. I registered as soon as I turned 18. I feel as though I was getting older and I wanted to take control of my future. One way of doing that is to have a voice in who gets elected to office.

It’s especially important this year because of our options – (Donald) Trump and (Joe) Biden – aren’t the best candidates. It’s about picking the lesser evil.

The youth take up more than half of the voting population and we need to have our voices heard like older voters.

I’m setting an example for my (four) younger siblings, and making sure they see they have a voice.

It (voting) is a rite of passage. Once you turn 18, you are considered an adult.

I’m a first-generation college student. All the events in 2020, people being killed because of the color of their skin – where do I want to see my future?

I want to be a (police) detective (specializing in juvenile issues).

I feel I could be a step in the right direction. I could spark a change that could change the climate of the world we live in today.

My family is multi-cultural. My great-grandmother was biracial … and when it came time for her to vote ... she had difficulty. Her race was holding her back so she stopped voting altogether.

My grandmother is going to vote this year; she even joined a march to show her support.

Mackenzie Freeman

Amir Gawish

Sophomore, 19 Cambridge, Md. Criminal Justice major

Sophomore, 21 Burtonsville, Md. Computer Science, major

I registered when I was in high school (and plan to use a mail-in ballot). I feel it’s important, in order to have a say, you have to vote. You can’t complain about what’s going wrong if you not willing to at least make a change.

The government needs to be reformed. In the past four years, the current administration hasn’t done much to reform.

By reform, I mean social justice; equality, equity and the way we go about policing is a good example.

Many people think voting is not important. You don’t know until you get out there and see the difference you can make if you just vote.

My parents are both immigrants. They came here from Sudan, where they lived under 30 years of dictatorship. They were not able to vote.

They protested as college students.

Now, I have the opportunity and I should. Being the oldest of four children is a motivating factor to set a good example of what it means to a good citizen.

I think traditionally people think younger people don’t care about politics.

The whole mentality is starting to shift, we do care about politics … and we all have a responsibility to create a better tomorrow. Not necessarily for us, but for the generations after us.

Voting in 2020

Securing the

The Key / October 2020

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On September 22, National Voter Registration Day, over 350 University of Maryland Eastern Shore students participated in the “Secure the Vote” event ahead of the 2020 national election in November. Forty eight new voter registrations were completed as 287 were confirmed voters.

Photos by Augustus Roberts.

Hawk Pride keeps it clean

Sixty-five students participated in an Oct. 6 campus clean up event organized by UMES’ Student Government Association and the Office of Residence Life. Students developed the idea after expressing their wish for others to take pride in keeping their housing areas clean. Trash was removed from parking lots and grass areas.

Participating organizations included the Herman Franklin Paraprofessional program, Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Michael Amo and Area Director Serena Studivant (above) were instrumental in the success of the event.

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID MAIL MOVERS

University Relations 30665 Student Services Center Lane Princess Anne, MD 21853

The spring 2020 semester’s COVID19 lockdown prevented a ceremonial groundbreaking for UMES’ newest classroom building, but construction nonetheless is moving forward on the estimated $85 million structure that will be home to programs in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions.

The Key / October 2020

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