The Key, September 2022 Edition

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

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

SEPTEMBER 2022

‘We left no stone unturned’ UMES freshman enrollment hits highest rate since 2015

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore announced its highest first-year student enrollment in seven years, through the implementation of a national strategy focusing on both recruitment and retention.

Latoya Jenkins, the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Engagement at UMES, announced a total of 733 new students were admitted to the university, the most since 1,011 were registered in 2015.

In all, the university’s enrollment sits at 2,520 students.

“This was because of all the hard work that we have put in as an institution to get to this day,” she said. “… When (the school year ended) in May, we were talking about where we would end up? Where would we be when we came back to campus?”

Jenkins said the initiative started with a focus on student retention leading to the establishment of a profile and make-up for the incoming first-year class.

The undergraduate enrollment data showed the average standardized testing scores of 1013 for the SAT and 21 for the ACT, with a grade point average of 3.24 for this incoming class.

The current top majors being pursued at UMES included business administration, criminal justice, sports management, and biology.

In all, more than 7,000 students from 2,050 high schools representing 60 nations and 47 states plus Washington, D.C. applied to UMES. Part of the plan to attract the increased freshman student body was a campaign to allow the university to have a greater reach.

“Two years ago, we kicked off a national strategy taking us from the UMES website and putting us on platforms all around this nation that said to students whether they were

in Maryland or whether they were in the Congo of Africa.

UMES is poised, in the midst of a pandemic, to bring you on and help you meet your educational goals,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins attributed the milestone enrollment to the tireless work of the enrollment management staff that conducted numerous phone calls, application reviews, interviews and activities including “New Hawk Day,” an orientation event which helped incoming freshmen and transfer students get prepared and acclimated ahead of the start of the new academic year.

“We left no stone unturned so that those parents, and families, and students, would know what we have to offer,” she said.

UMES ranked 16th by U.S. News & World Report Institution also earns honor for ‘social and economic mobility’

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore was ranked 16th among Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the annual Best Colleges survey released by U.S. News and World Report.

The ranking, which is the highest UMES has been listed since the publication began the category focusing HBCUs in 2007. It is the third year the institution has ascended the annual classification during the five-year tenure of president Heidi M. Anderson.

“We have put a number of programs in place to intentionally move us up in the rankings and I am thrilled they CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

IN THIS ISSUE

PAGE 3

Rebrand

PAGE 4-5 Move-in Day

PAGE 6-7 Founders’ Week

PAGE 8

Student Spotlight

PAGE 9

Faculty & Staff News

PAGE 10

Wicomico Co. Partnership

PAGE 11

Athletics Feature

PAGE 12

Game Schedule

2 THE KEY | SEPTEMBER 2022

UNIVERSITY NEWS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Spelman College (GA) Howard University (DC) Tuskegee University (AL) Morehouse College (GA) Xavier University of Louisiana are bearing fruit!” Anderson said. “It’s not just about moving up a rankings list; it’s about the world knowing the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is a powerhouse for teaching, research, and service to our community and that we are soaring above and beyond.”

Since the arrival of Dr. Anderson as the institution’s 16th president in September 2018, she has made it a priority for the university to reach “Top 10” status in the rankings by challenging faculty, staff, alumni, and supporters to work together to move the university into the upper tier.

U.S. News & World Report surveyed senior administrators – presidents, senior academic policymakers, and admissions directors – to rate the academic quality of peer institutions. Graduation and retention rates, alumni giving, and faculty resources also carried weight in the ranking equation.

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 how large classes are. UMES’ student-to-faculty ratio is 10-to-1, and 70 percent of classes the university offers average fewer than 20 students per classroom.

UMES receives honor for ‘Vibrant Campus Experience’

The U.S. News and World Report ranking was not the only recognition the university received as UMES was listed as one of the “Top 9” HBCUs for social and economic mobility by the website Bankrate.com.

UMES received the nod for “Best HBCU for a vibrant campus experience,” as a result of its undergraduate major offerings including marketing and accounting as well as professional golf management and aviation science.

UMES is the only HBCU to offer eight health professions programs, producing graduates to combat the rural health care disparities that exist in medically underserved areas and throughout the country.

UMES is one of 15 HBCUs with Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology credentials.

The methodology of the Bankrate listing comprised of the evaluations of four different categories: degrees offered, graduation rate, student-to-faculty ratio and alumni earnings.

In all, 101 HBCUs were evaluated for the nine categories, which also included “Best HBCUs for agricultural science,” and “Best HBCU for engineering majors.”

Hampton University (VA) Florida A&M University Delaware State University Claflin University (SC) N.C. A&T State University Fisk University (TN) Morgan State University (MD) Tougaloo College (MS) Dillard University (LA) North Carolina Central University University of Maryland Eastern Shore University of the District of Columbia Bowie State University (MD) Jackson State University (MS) Norfolk State University (VA)

REBRAND

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UMES unveils new logo, tagline as part of institutional rebrand Water tower, signage updates proceeded July 1

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No …, it’s definitely a bird.

But it’s not just any bird, it’s the newly adopted logo of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore that graces the institution’s water tower.

The recent placement of the new emblem is part of a wide-ranging rebranding effort the university is undertaking.

The rollout began July 1.

The new redesign, which was created by Baltimore-based TBC, Inc., features the hawk soaring upward in its trademark maroon and gray.

The impetus behind the design was simple: to establish a singular identity and to laud UMES’s status as a Historically Black College and University, while also distinguishing itself from competitors.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve had about 12 logos all around the campus and in different formats,” President Heidi M. Anderson said. “…

One of the things that always bothered me (was) we are a proud HBCU, and when I go places with that ‘M’ (logo), people didn’t know where I was from.”

As part of the rebranding effort, Anderson had some principles she mandated: the university’s colors and mascot must remain the same, while adding an increased emphasis on its HBCU legacy.

“We did extensive research before making changes to the logo for the rebrand and the one thing all constituencies felt connected to was the hawk,” UMES Associate Vice President and Director of Marketing & External Relations Alissa Carr, said. “The hawk really resonated with everyone.

“We also discovered many students and prospective students and parents had no idea UMES was an HBCU, so it was important to incorporate that as well as the fact that we have been here since 1886, long before many of our sister (University System of Maryland) universities.”

The complete updating of on-campus signage will take time due to supply chain issues, Anderson said.

In addition to the updated insignia, a new tagline, ‘Soar Above and Beyond,’ was unveiled.

Anderson said while UMES’s original motto, Facta Non Verba, remains intact, this tagline is something that epitomizes what she observes as she traverses the campus every day.

“To watch a hawk so majestically soar and he goes higher and higher, that’s what we’re doing too,” she said. “(That’s) in everything we do. We’re excelling higher and higher.

Higher quality, higher goals, higher enrollment.”

The university expects the rollout to be complete by Homecoming in November.

4 THE KEY | SEPTEMBER 2022

M O V E - I N D AY 2 0 2 2

UMES WELCOMES T The Republic Airways team, led by 2010 alumna Simone Williams (center), was on site to help welcome new hawks. The airline company, based in the Midwest, donated $20,000 this past spring to support UMES’ aviation science program, the only aviation science bachelor’s degree program in Maryland.

NyGuel Jones of Baltimore, Md. makes a second trip using the push cart to move into Wicomico Hall. He will be majoring in criminal justice.

Shania Beckford of New York, N.Y. had her mother and family dog, Treasure, along for Move-In Day activities.

M O V E - I N D AY 2 0 2 2

THE KEY | SEPTEMBER 2022 5

THE CLASS OF 2026 Deja Carter of Bishopville, Md. (right in black shirt) was assisted by family on Move-In Day 2022.

Vice President David Balcom (University Relations) was present to help Mia Keys and her family settle in to the residence hall after traveling from Charles County, Md.

Jalynne Jones of Dallas, Tx. will be majoring in rehabilitation services.

Tyler Simmons (right) of Brandywine, Md. stopped for a photo while taking a break from moving in to his residence hall. He will be majoring in agriculture.

6 THE KEY | SEPTEMBER 2022

FOUNDERS’ WEEK 2022

CELEBRATING THE 1

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MA

Formerly known as Princess Anne Academy and Maryland State Colleg

(L-R) Miss UMES Sydney Carr, Mister UMES Kamahri Valcourt, President Heidi M. Anderson, and Shymir Coakley

Founders’ Week began with Sunday morning service at Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Princess Anne.

Peggy Stewart (left) and her husband, George Stewart (’72) pose for a photo with Dr. Heidi M. Anderson (center).

Peggy Stewart (’70), an educator for 40 years and life member of the UMES National Alumni Association and Tri-County Alumni Association, was honored with the Legend Award on Sept. 14 during the Scholarship and Legend Award Luncheon.

(L-R) Vice President of University Relations David Balcom, Newsome Scholar Emmanuel Reid (mechanical engineering major), Legend Award Recipient Peggy Stewart, President Heidi M. Anderson, Dr. Allen Singleton (’59), Newsome Scholar Tylecia Capers (biology major), CURE Scholar Aniyaa’ Green (agriculture major), and VP of Enrollment Management and Student Experience Latoya Jenkins.

FOUNDERS’ WEEK 2022

136

TH

THE KEY | SEPTEMBER 2022 7

ANNIVERSARY

ARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

ge, the university was founded on Sept. 13, 1886 in Princess Anne, Md.

Recent alumni were panelists for the “Young and Ambitious” panel discussion on Sept.

15. The alums shared advice for success and about their UMES experiences that led them to careers in engineering, communications, and politics.

(L-R) Former SGA President Aajah Harris (’19), Sharon Mills (’20), Nasir Neal-Watson (’22) and Former Miss UMES Sarah Adewumi (’20)

Dr. Heidi M. Anderson laid a wreath at the gravesite of university founders and former leaders on Sept. 13.

(L-R) Vice President David Balcom, Dean John Tilghman, Frederick Grant (’71), Miss UMES Sydney Carr, Wanda Stewart Holmes (’71), President Anderson, McKinley Hayes (’72), Senior Development Officer Armajeanne Harmon, Wendell Brady (’71), Mister UMES Kamahri Valcourt, and Chief of Staff Dr. Robert Mock

8 THE KEY | SEPTEMBER 2022

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

‘I came out a better person’

Electrical engineering major has life-changing experience in South Korea Akiyah Smith took a leap of faith when the opportunity for an international internship arose.

The senior electrical engineering major from Washington D.C., who is graduating in December, jumped at the chance to take part in a 10-week summer practicum with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers nearly a world away in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

“That specific one just called out to me,” Smith said. “It was different, and me, personally, I don’t travel a lot so that was something I just kind of yearned for.”

Smith’s first time out of the country started with a flight and layover in Toronto, Canada, before embarking to South Korea on a 13-hour trek. Once Smith arrived there, she encountered a much different world than what she found stateside.

“It was very different,” she said. “There were a lot of signs I didn’t understand (because of the language) and I often had to use Google Maps or Google Translate, but I wasn’t nervous or anything like that. I was very excited to start a new chapter in my life. If you apply yourself, you never know what might come your way.”

During her internship, Smith was in the role of an engineering technician, which allowed her to shadow the engineers in four divisions – construction, Geotech, project management, and engineering design. Of all the divisions, the construction aspect was her favorite.

“It was so much more hands-on … you actually got to see what the contractors were doing with the building,” she said.

“I liked being able to be on-site and seeing the end product.”

While Monday through Friday were the work days, the weekends allowed Smith to voyage out and get a greater glimpse of South Korean culture.

“The culture out there is very different,” she said. “On the trains, you’re not supposed to talk. They have Wi-Fi on the trains, so everybody’s on their phones. (Compared to) D.C., you can have a whole conversation and be loud, and have a regular conversation with your friends. You have to adjust to your environment.”

Smith said her trip to South Korea was a transformative one as it not only allowed her to experience new things but also gave her a personal and career-centric revelation.

“My goal is to get back to (South Korea). The (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) have branches everywhere, but the one place that fits me, I feel, is Korea,” she said. “I feel like I came in as one way and I’m not that person anymore. I came out a better person.”

Hawks participate in Honors immersion program Twenty seven of the 51 new freshmen members of the Richard Henson Honors Program participated in the weeklong Freshman Living and Giving Summer Honors Immersion Program (FLAGSHIP). They set sail early on their UMES journey in the program, which is designed to acclimate students to campus and its resources, help students get acquainted with one another, and to jump-start their honors coursework.

Highlights of the FLAGSHIP included early move-in to the Honors Residential Learning Community in Harford Hall on Aug.14, an opening dinner for their families, two

F A C U LT Y & S TA F F N E W S

THE KEY | SEPTEMBER 2022 9

TENURE & PROMOTIONS SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL SCIENCES (SANS) Dr. Stephan Tubene Promotion to Professor

Dr. Sadanand Dhekney Promotion to Professor

Dr. Naveen Dixit

Tenure and Promotion to Assoc. Professor UMES FLAGSHIP participants visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

educational excursions (National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. and NASA Wallops Island in Chincoteague, Va.), workshops on study strategies, math readiness, collegiate writing, time management, and the Canvas Learning Management System, a morning of service-learning at the Town of Princess Anne’s community gardens (Garland Hayward Youth Center and Seton Center) and a celebratory cook-out/movie night at the Princess Anne home of Honors Program Director, Dr. Michael E. Lane.

Dr. Jennifer Timmons

Tenure and Promotion to Assoc. Professor

Dr. Caleb Nindo

Tenure and Promotion to Professor

Dr. Byungrok Min

Promotion to Professor

Dr. Ahmed Elnabawi

Tenure at Associate Professor

At the Garland Hayward Youth Center, Joshua Gibbons (left), Sydnee’ Thomas and other honors freshmen weeded and planted fall crops in the community gardens.

New Administrator joins UMES cabinet Anastasia Rodriguez was named Vice President of Administration and Finance at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).

Joining President Heidi M. Anderson’s cabinet, she began her role on Sept. 26.

Rodriguez comes to UMES from Jacksonville State University in Ala. and brings with her 20 years of experience in federal and state funds management, cost accounting, payroll, pre-award/post-award, risk management, bond financing and procurement.

She has increased the accuracy and time of processes on her campus and navigated through Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) and COVID expenses as Controller at JSU. “I believe that in order to provide good fiscal stewardship, one must understand the mission and strategic goals of each area and how they align with the university’s overall strategic goals. Doing so will allow us all to be successful together,” said Rodriguez.

“With Anastasia’s extensive experience in controls, staffing, and finance, she is poised to help our university manage the significant responsibility of the HBCU funds as well as the state appropriations to better serve our campus and our students,” said Anderson. “She brings a hands-on, get-it-done approach that I appreciate that will help her get results.”

Rodriguez holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Business Administration, all from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY (SBT) Mr. Christopher Hartman

Tenure and Promotion to Assoc. Professor

Dr. Katherine Quinn

Promotion to Associate Professor

Dr. Wendy Hwei Wang Promotion to Professor

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THE ARTS (SESA) Dr. Tao Gong Promotion to Professor

Dr. Amy Hagenrater-Gooding Promotion to Professor

Mr. Christopher Harrington Promotion to Professor

Mr. Bradley Hudson

Promotion to Professor

Dr. Tau Kadhi

Tenure at Professor

SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND HEALTH PROFESSIONS (SPHP) Dr. Richard DeBenedetto Promotion to Associate Professor

Dr. Dana Fasanella

Promotion to Associate Professor

Dr. Bryan Gere

Promotion to Associate Professor

Dr. Michelle Joy Gorman Sanfilippo Promotion to Associate Professor

Dr. Leslie Santos-Román

Promotion to Associate Professor

Dr. William Talley

Promotion to Professor

Dr. David Tosin

Promotion to Associate Professor

10 THE KEY | SEPTEMBER 2022

W I C O M I C O C O . PA R T N E R S H I P

‘A new paradigm’

Partnership with Wicomico County will help create new aviation maintenance training program A new curriculum that focuses on aviation maintenance training is on the horizon at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore through the help of grant funding from Wicomico County and the State of Maryland.

The Federal Aviation Administration-certified course would include participants logging 1,900 hours of training through the university. The credits can be applied to additional training in the aviation sciences major at UMES. “There’s a tremendous shortage of aviation maintenance technicians in this country … coming out of the pandemic and (with) the increase in aviation customers in terms of commercial flight,” Dr. Derrek B. Dunn, professor and dean of the School of Business and Technology, said. “So, it was a natural fit for them to approach us because of our current footprint with aviation sciences with our professional pilot program and our aviation management program.”

Wicomico County’s funding will come through a $3.2 million grant from the Rural Maryland Economic Development Fund. The investment program, which was created earlier this year, allows rural regional councils throughout the state to apply for capital to “boost economic development activity, stimulate private sector investment, and grow jobs in the state’s rural regions,” according to a press release from the office of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

Eligible uses for the funds include developing infrastructure like utilities and transportation, as well as for workforce development and the attraction of talent and projects that stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation, according to the release.

Dunn said discussions regarding the creation of the program have been in progress for close to two years and added the cost of developing a program of this nature is a tremendous undertaking.

“The program is very expensive, obviously, in terms of needs of equipment and other items that students can work on in terms of being trained to maintain and repair commercial aircraft,” he said. “So, it took quite a while to work to-

gether, find the money, (to) determine the curriculum … to make this program happen. We’re still probably two-thirds of the way through in terms of (it) actually becoming reality.”

Dunn said the new curriculum would consist of three aspects – general aviation maintenance, airframe — which is the structure of the plane itself — and the power plant.

The partnership is the most recent of between the School of Business and Technology, which includes previous public-private collaborations with Microsoft, Apple, Boeing, and on a regional scale with Delmarva Power and the Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco).

“This is the way the school of business and technology is now working to set up new initiatives,” he said. “No longer working by itself but working with industry partners and government partners to help us set those up and also help with funding.

“This is sort of a new paradigm. A new model of how to work with individuals to start new academic initiatives.”

AT H L E T I C S

THE KEY | SEPTEMBER 2022 11

UMES welcomes new Athletic Director Owens is now at the helm of an athletic program that is Before she ever got in the process of filling several key positions, but she is coninto athletic adminisfident that the team she inherited is up for the challenges tration, Tara A. Owens ahead. was once a women’s bas“Our current staff possesses a great mix of experience, ketball player at Virginia success and energy that will propel us to new heights as a State University and later NCAA Division I program,” Owens said. “Our focus continspent more than a decade ues to be graduating student-athletes with a quality educaas a women’s basketball tion while working to improve their experience at UMES coach. and maintaining competitive programs.”

When she began her During her time at CSU, Owens saw student-athlete tenure as Director of Athgrowth by 110% and secured $2.5 million in funding for renletics at The University of ovations to athletic facilities. CSU thrived under Owen’s Maryland Eastern Shore leadership as she was crucial in securing funding and providin early September, she ing planning and management to multiple facility upgrades. boasted four years of exShe led a realignment of the athletic department to enperience in the same role hance staffing and programming dedicated to student-athat Division II Central lete health, well-being, sports performance and leadership State University and another eight at Baltimore City Comdevelopment. The realignment included the hiring process munity College previously. in identifying five new head coaches and adding additional But her previous experiences shaped her management assistant coaching, academic services, and athletic training style and made her the athletic leader she is today. positions.

“My experiences as a student-athlete helped me underAt CSU, Owens also increased student-athlete engagestand the meaning of being a part of a team,” Owens said. ment in both department policy decisions and university “Some of the personal traits I developed as a student-athlete committee projects and teams. Under Owens, CSU athletwere the value of working together, discipline, perseverance ics created an academic center dedicated specifically to stuand commitment. Understanding the physical and mental dent-athletes and hired the department’s first student-athdemands of being in that position certainly contributed to lete academic coordinator. making me a better athletic director.

Prior to her role at CSU, she spent eight years serving “On the other hand, my experiences as a coach allow me as the athletic director to see situations from a at Baltimore City Comcoaches perspective while munity College (BCCC). understanding, coaches As the athletic director, need the support of the Owens was responsible athletic director,” she for managing all aspects said. “The foundation of of BCCC’s athletic proany relationship is comgram which included munication and my years business operations, staff of coaching enhanced development, complimy communication skills ance, recruiting strategy, and relationship buildscholarship allocation, ing skills. Coaches have scheduling, marketing, the drive to be successful and fundraising. and as an athletic director Beginning in the 2013 there must be a shared vision, while coaches are season, Owens also served and Director of Athletics Tara Owens support the UMES transforming players, President Anderson as BCCC’s head women’s Cross Country team at a meet earlier this month. winning games and gradbasketball coach. Owens uating student-athletes the athletics director commits to was named the Maryland Junior College Athletic Confersupporting these efforts.” ence Coach of the Year as she compiled an overall record of Owens was hired following a nationwide search and saw 22-8 and an 11-1 record in the conference to win the 2017-18 becoming a Hawk as a great fit considering her career arc regular-season conference championship. In five seasons at and experience at both HBCUs and the Mid-Eastern AthletBCCC, Owens compiled an overall record of 104-46. ic Conference.

A 1993 graduate of Virginia State University (VSU), Ow“I am very appreciative and thankful of the opportunity ens played for the Trojans from 1988-1991. She received her that President Anderson and the search committee have afbachelor’s degree from VSU in physical education/health forded me,” Owens said. “UMES’s athletic teams have taken and completed her master’s degree in administration and great strides and I look forward to the opportunities in front supervision at Cheyney University in 1998. of us.”

CONTENT COURTESY OF UMES ATHLETICS

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

The Key / September 2022

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