UMUC Achiever Magazine Spring 2016

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE | 2016

F L O R E N T G R O B E R G�S N E X T M I S S I O N

CONTENTS

FEATURES

8 FLORENT GROBERG’S

NEXT MISSION

BY GIL KLEIN

A conversation with UMUC student and Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Florent Groberg (U.S. Army, Ret.).

14 THE SUN RISES ON HELIOCAMPUS

BY CHIP CASSANO

A spinoff of UMUC’s data analytics unit, HelioCampus brings the power of analytics within reach for institutions nationwide.

20 UMUC CELEBRATES 60 YEARS IN ASIA

BY GIL KLEIN

UMUC continues its proud tradition of serving American military personnel across Asia, in times of peace and war alike.

NEWS AND UPDATES 2 Clapper Headlines Cyber Gala, Outlines Security Threats 3 UMUC Designated National Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence 3 Provost Elected President of Online Learning Consortium Board of Directors 4 The Kalb Report Welcomes Baseball Commissioner, Sunday Talk Show Hosts 4 Four UMUC Alumni Join Teach for America 5 In Memoriam: T. Benjamin Massey 6 UMUC Unveils Four-Year Strategic Plan 6 Alumna Gift Supports UMUC’s Global Military Operations 7 President Receives Award from NUTN Network 7 UMUC Welcomes New Orkand Chair 7 Facts About the UMUC Class of 2015 BACK OF THE BOOK

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26 Class Notes 29 Faculty Kudos

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Friend: FOR NEARLY 70 YEARS, UMUC’S mission has been to serve the needs of adult learners—and serving our nation’s military personnel, and their dependents, has been integral to that cause. The university stands today as America’s premier provider of higher education and education services to members of the U.S. military since 1947. So it is an honor and special point of pride to feature UMUC student and Medal of Honor recipient Florent Groberg on the cover of this issue of Achiever. His story of sacrifice and heroism—and his subsequent focus on finding new ways to make a difference in the world today— serves both to inspire and to remind us of the importance of our mission.

UMUC’s ongoing commitment to that mission drove the university to step forward as a pioneer in distance education—and laid the groundwork for our overseas operations. This year, we celebrate our 60th year in Asia, and in this issue, journalist Gil Klein looks back on a program steeped in history. From war-torn Vietnam to Tokyo, Bangkok, and Taipei, UMUC’s operation in Asia, and the instructors who teach there, have proven to be as nimble as they are resilient. That flexibility and agility remain a part of UMUC’s DNA to this day.

Innovation is another hallmark of UMUC’s service to adult students, and a special feature looks at a brand-new company—HelioCampus—that stands poised to change the face of higher education, even as it guides our university’s efforts to provide an education that is high quality, low cost, and valued in the 21st-century global economy. Born as a spinoff of UMUC’s data analytics unit, HelioCampus is a private company wholly owned by UMUC that continues to guide the university’s strategic decision making. And now, it also brings the power of data analytics— and the insight of trained analysts—within reach for all of higher education, while the profit it generates will serve to further reduce tuition for graduates of Maryland community colleges.

There is much more in this issue of Achiever—from the story of our third Cyber Gala, with a keynote by the Director of National Intelligence, to a report on our designation as a National Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence.

We also highlight our new, four-year strategic plan, which delves into the opportunities and challenges of technology in higher education; outlines the university’s mission, vision, and goals; explores the changing landscape of adult higher education; and discusses our academic roadmap and new business model, which better position UMUC to compete and succeed in that changing landscape.

All of this points to our ongoing commitment to the needs of adult learners and the demands of the modern workforce—and to a bright future for UMUC, for our students and alumni, and for the communities in which they live and work.

Thank you for your interest and belief in the mission of University of Maryland University College.

Sincerely,

Javier Miyares President University of Maryland University College ABOVE: ILLUSTRATION BY OTTO STEININGER

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NEWS & UPDATES PRESIDENT Javier Miyares SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS, AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Freedman VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT Heather Date EDITOR Chip Cassano ART DIRECTOR AND PHOTO EDITOR Cynthia Friedman CONTRIBUTING WRITER Gil Klein PRODUCTION MANAGER Scott Eury Call 301-985-7200 with comments and suggestions, or e-mail chip.cassano@umuc.edu.

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Director of National Intelligence Headlines UMUC Cyber Gala, Outlines Security Threats

In his keynote address at University of Maryland University College’s third Cyber Gala, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned that cyber threats top the list of national security concerns and that cyber attacks will only intensify.

“I want to talk to UMUC students who are considering a career in cyber intelligence,” the nation’s top intelligence chief said. “My one-line answer to you—the BLUF, Bottom Line Up Front, as we say in government—is that we need you.”

Clapper, who grew up in an Air Force family, attended UMUC’s Munich Campus in Germany his first year in college before returning stateside and completing his degree at the University of Maryland, College Park. That connection made speaking with the UMUC Cyber Gala audience “very special,” he said.

“The educational experiences you are getting at UMUC are invaluable to us,” Clapper said. He urged UMUC cybersecurity grads to apply to all the defense and intelligence agencies and to persevere in

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pursuing these positions. Even though downward pressure on the federal budget has hampered hiring, these jobs are essential, he added.

Clapper headlined an evening that drew intelligence and defense leaders, private contractors, diplomats, and educators, as well as UMUC cybersecurity students, to raise money for scholarships. Since the first Cyber Gala was held in 2011, the events have raised a total of $1.5 million to fund scholarships for deserving UMUC cybersecurity students. Major corporate sponsors included Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI, Cisco, Cyberpoint, Deloitte, General Dynamics, Google, the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation, the Blewitt Foundation, and ICF International.

The gala also served to highlight two awards—the Pioneer Award and the Leadership Award—that UMUC confers

(Clockwise from top left) Director of National Intelligence James Clapper presents the keynote address at the third UMUC Cyber Gala; Clapper with gala guests; Rear Admiral Elizabeth A. “Betsy” Hight (U.S. Navy, Ret.), vice president, Cybersecurity Practice, for Hewlett-Packard; members of UMUC’s championship cybersecurity team, the Cyber Padawans.

on individuals who have made significant contributions in the field of cyber security.

John Hamre, president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, received the Pioneer Award for his groundbreaking work in developing the Defense Department’s cyber defense.

Steven D. Shirley, executive director of the Defense Cyber Crime Center—an organization of professionals who provide information sharing, training, forensics services, and analysis to the Department of Defense— received the Leadership Award.

In his keynote presentation, Clapper summarized the challenges that these and other cybersecurity profession-

of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence (CDFAE), program designates centers of academic excellence—those that excel in establishing standards and best practices for digital forensics practitioners, educators, and researchers to both advance the discipline of digital forensics and increase the number of qualified proUMUC Designated A fessionals in the law enforceNational Center of Digital ment, counterintelligence, Forensics Academic national defense, and legal Excellence communities.

University of Maryland “This is about workforce University College was recentdevelopment,” said Joshua ly designated a National Black, director of the DC3/ Center of Digital Forensics Defense Cyber Investigations Academic Excellence by the Training Academy, in presentU.S. Department of Defense ing the designation. “We need Cyber Crime Center (also the help of universities to get known as DC3). UMUC is the skilled people who can do first institution in the digital forensics. At the end University System of of the day, we want Maryland to earn yber curricu students to get jobs, c lu ic m em this prestigious good jobs. designation. “[This] designa “I know I speak tion is a way to on behalf of help standardize everyone at what is needed,” UMUC when I say Black added. te i rS how proud and m “Achieving the of de ca d ig ital forensics a honored we are to designation is a difreceive this designaficult process. Kudos tion,” said UMUC President to UMUC for getting through Javier Miyares at the presentait, and congratulations to tion ceremony on January 12. everyone at the university “It represents a very important who has been involved in achievement and is evidence making it happen.” of the high quality of our programs and a testament to the UMUC Provost Elected skill and expertise of our facPresident of the Online ulty, alumni, and students.”

Learning Consortium DC3’s Academic Cyber Curriculum Alliance Board Board of Directors encourages collaboration Marie A. Cini, PhD, UMUC’s between colleges, univerprovost and senior vice presisities, and institutions of dent for academic affairs, was higher learning in an effort elected president of the Board to establish and promote a of Directors of the Online consistent national digital Learning Consortium (OLC). forensics core curriculum.

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asking for help in accessing their system.

“Bad actors are using precisely these avenues to steal our lunch every day,” said Clapper. “... We know we are supposed to do these simple things, but we don’t do them.”

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als confront on a daily basis.

“Our task in the intel community,” said Clapper, “ . . . is to distinguish a terrorist sending directions on how to build a bomb or defeat TSA procedures from someone sending their granddaughter a recipe for apple pie,” he said. “We’re not just looking for a needle in a haystack. We are looking for thousands of needles in acres and acres of haystacks.”

At the same time, he said, the intelligence community must hold the civil liberties and privacy of Americans as a top priority. “That makes our mission all the more difficult, but it is nonnegotiable.”

And the stakes are high.

Other world powers are motivated to catch up to and surpass Western industrial and defense capabilities— and ultimately to overtake the U.S. economy, he said.

On a brighter note, Clapper pointed out that most cyber attacks today can be thwarted by following four basic procedures that every cyber security analyst should know: First, patch IT software obsessively, since most intrusions occur through well-known vulnerabilities in commonly used software. Second, segment data so that a single security breach does not give an attacker access to the company’s or agency’s entire infrastructure and cache of proprietary information. Third, stay updated on the threat bulletins that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI put out; these regularly warn about intrusions taking place against U.S. businesses. And finally, teach everyone what spear phishing looks like; hackers often gain access simply by approaching a target, pretending to be someone else, and

Provost Marie A. Cini, PhD

learning worldwide; Cini’s oneyear term as president began January 1, 2016.

“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Cini as OLC's new board president and I look forward to working with her on the board’s strategic priorities for OLC and our community,” said Kathleen Ives, DM, CEO and executive director of OLC. “This is an exciting and important time to be involved in online and digital learning,” said Cini, who has served on the OLC board since 2012 and was also recognized by OLC among its 2014 class of fellows for exceptional professional excellence. “OLC has set the standard for quality online education, and it will continue to set the standard for excellence in the next phase of online learning, which will increasingly involve learner analytics, adaptive and other digital courseware, and more flexible models.

I am honored to help OLC continue in its role to lead the national conversation.”

Cini, whose academic career spans more than 25 years, joined UMUC in 2008 as vice president and dean of The Undergraduate School.

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NEWS & UPDATES

She was named to her current position as provost in 2013.

A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Cini went on to earn a master’s degree in counselor education from that university and a master’s degree and PhD in social psychology from the University of Pittsburg.

She has a broad academic background as a faculty member, scholar, and administrator in both undergraduate and graduate program development and management, and has published and presented extensively on the topics of authentic assessment and academic integrity, leadership development in adult learners, retention and adult learners, and curriculum design for adult students.

The Kalb Report Welcomes the Commissioner of Baseball, Sunday Talk Show Hosts

The Kalb Report—jointly produced by UMUC, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center, and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park—hosted two landmark shows in 2015.

The first, entitled “Inside Baseball: A Conversation with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred,” covered a range of subjects, from the increasing popularity and success of the MLB.com website to the future of the designated hitter rule, Pete Rose’s ban from Major League Baseball, the use of instant replay to review controversial

(Above, from left) Chuck Todd, of NBC’s Meet the Press, and John Dickerson, of CBS’s Face the Nation, talk with host Marvin Kalb, of The Kalb Report. (Left) Commissioner of Major League Baseball Rob Manfred.

calls, and the likelihood of new expansion teams in Canada and Mexico.

The second, on November 9, 2015, entitled “Sunday Talk—A Conversation with Chuck Todd and John Dickerson,” explored the past, present, and future of Sunday talk shows with the hosts of the two highest-rated and longest-airing public affairs programs—Todd, of NBC’s Meet the Press, and Dickerson, of CBS’s Face the Nation.

With Kalb—himself a Meet the Press moderator in the 1980s—asking the questions, Todd and Dickerson delved into everything from how one prepares to interview Donald Trump to how talk shows with some 60 years of history survive and evolve in this new generation of news media.

Todd said that both Meet the Press and Face the Nation still

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provide an oasis of thought and understanding in an increasingly frantic news environment. Dickerson added, “There should be a place that’s a bit of a sanctuary from the madness, where you can put things into context, let an answer develop, and have a conversation. . . . [This] is

something worth pausing for.”

The Kalb Report—which airs live from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.—is moderated by legendary journalist and scholar Marvin Kalb. Michael Freedman, UMUC’s senior vice president for Communications, is executive producer of the series, and Heather Date, vice president for Communications and Engagement, serves as senior producer.

Full episodes of The Kalb Report can be viewed on UMUC’s Global Media Center at globalmedia.umuc.edu.

Four UMUC Alumni Join Teach for America

For the first time, four UMUC alumni—Samirah Ali, Gary Goines, John Schlag, and Brandon Quarles—are among the exclusive ranks of Teach for America recruits.

The 25-year-old Teach for America program has a mission of recruiting high-performing college graduates to teach in schools that are struggling to overcome poverty and low expectations. The program traditionally recruited from the

UMUC graduate Samirah Ali came to Washington, D.C., from Saudi Arabia to participate in the Teach for America program.

Ivy League and from other elite, brick-and-mortar institutions, and it has become so highly sought after by recent graduates that, according to program spokesperson Elora Tocci, it accepted only 15 percent of this year’s 44,000 applicants.

However, the profile of students who join the program is changing, said Tocci. “About a third of our incoming corps members joined with professional experience rather than straight out of undergrad. We look for people who have a strong record of achievement in their jobs, who are leaders in their current roles, who work well with others, who have a demonstrated interest in volunteering and serving communities, and who have prioritized education throughout their lives.”

Ali, who earned a psychology degree from UMUC in 2013, came to Washington, D.C., from Saudi Arabia—where her husband teaches at King Saud University—to fulfill her twoyear Teach for America commitment. She believes that her unique background figured in her successful application.

“I was born in the West Indies, raised in America, and am ethnically Indian and a Muslim who wears a veil,” she said. “I feel like all of those things made me a very different kind of candidate.”

Goines, who is teaching in South Orlando, Florida, also came from a less-traditional background. A veteran of the U.S. Capitol Police Department, he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from UMUC in 1989 and a second bachelor’s in psychology in 1991. He went on to earn a master’s in forensic psychology from the Chicago School of Professional

In Memoriam Dr. T. Benjamin Massey—a 38-year veteran of UMUC who served as the third chancellor and president of the university from 1978 until his retirement in 1998—died December 10, 2015, in North Carolina. He was 89.

Massey, who held a bachelor’s degree from Duke University, a master’s degree from North Carolina State University, and a PhD from Oxford University, is described in UMUC’s history book as a soft-spoken southerner, renowned for his work ethic and attention to detail. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, worked as a civilian education services officer at U.S. military bases in England, taught for several years in UMUC’s European Division, and served as the area director for the United Kingdom. He later served as director of both the European and Far East divisions and as vice chancellor of the university.

When Massey assumed the role of university chancellor in 1978, he brought with him a thorough understanding of UMUC’s stateside and overseas operations and the foresight to recognize how new technologies and approaches to learning might apply in higher education.

Under his leadership, the university established its experiential learning program (EXCEL), its cooperative education program, and its Graduate School; continued to innovate with popular distance education programs in fields like fire science and nuclear science; and broke ground with a historic joint degree program with Irkutsk State University and Far Eastern State University in post-Soviet Russia.

Massey was a true pioneer and visionary in adult higher education. Of the university’s student-centric approach, he said simply, “We value our students. Every decision we make results from recognition of their determination to pursue their education while they juggle other major responsibilities. We know we must be where they need us, when they need us. . . . Serving part-time students is our full-time job.”

Psychology, while focusing at work on active shooters, seeking to better understand their motivations and how to intervene and prevent them. He was planning his retirement and a move to Orlando after 30 years with the Capitol Police when a notice about Teach for America popped up in his e-mail.

“They seemed to be impressed with the work I had done with kids on the street in D.C. and at the Oakhill Juvenile Detention

Center,” Goines said. “They were just opening a new program in Orlando.”

Schlag, like Goines, is recently retired following a 31-year career with the U.S. Army. He completed a bachelor’s degree in social science from UMUC in 2013.

“I noticed around the world in a lot of the places where I had served that there were a lot of educational inequities in a lot of

countries,” Schlag said. “That led me to look at some of the inequities in our country. I was appalled at what I saw—the illiteracy rate and the access to education, or lack of access for people of color or lower socioeconomic status.”

Now Schlag teaches sixthgrade special education at Kory Hunter Middle School, a charter school that is part of Alliance College Ready Public Schools in Los Angeles,

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California. He said he sees how the life experience helps.

“This is the hardest job I have ever had in my life,” he said. “I think fighting terrorists overseas is easier than this.”

Another UMUC alumnus with a military background, Quarles earned a degree in English from UMUC in 2014 before joining Teach for America after an eight-year career with the U.S. Marine Corps.

“I had a lot of responsibilities in my unit getting new guys up to speed on new programs and making sure they met all the standards,” Quarles said. “The consensus was I would be a good teacher. I should try that.”

A federal program called Troops to Teachers got him in touch with Teach for America.

He left the Corps in September 2015 and was accepted by the program in January 2016. He moved his family from Camp Pendleton, California, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, before the school year started and now teaches fifth grade math and science at Marshall Elementary in one of Tulsa’s poorer neighborhoods.

His students respond to the discipline he learned in the Marine Corps, Quarles said, and his training has helped him with time management and dealing with stress— something that is critical for teachers.

In the end, the rewards outweigh the challenges.

“I would love to stay in the classroom as long as they let me,” Quarles said. “More good people from UMUC should look into this program.”

UMUC Unveils New Four-Year Strategic Plan

University of Maryland University College (UMUC) unveiled a new, four-year strategic plan at a

global Town Hall meeting on May 27, 2015.

The plan is publicly available on the university website at www.umuc.edu/visitors/president/ strategicplan.

The new plan, which outlines a strategic roadmap for the university through 2018, offers background about UMUC and explores a number of global realities and initiatives that will shape the university and the landscape of higher education for years to come. Areas of focus include The importance—and challenges—of leveraging technology in higher education

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The university’s mission, vision, and goals

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Changes in the higher education landscape—and responses to those changes, both inside and outside the university

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The university’s academic roadmap, which calls for a redesigned learner experience and more personalized support The university’s core values and cultural aspirations, including the ongoing efforts to build and strengthen the UMUC community The university’s new business model, approved by the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, which grants the university increased flexibility and latitude, better positioning it to compete in the 21st- century world of adult higher education

In introducing the new plan, UMUC President Javier Miyares pointed to

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a number of changes that have contributed to positive developments at the university.

Said Miyares, “This strategic plan builds on these transformations and has been shaped by worldwide input and collaboration. It will guide our path forward, clarifying our mission and vision while articulating our goals, cultural aspirations, and strategies. It includes critical components that were identified, shared, and revised based on input from the university’s key stakeholders: faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

“Because of the efforts we have made together, UMUC is today a significantly different, stronger, and healthier institution. And— with this strategic plan serving as a roadmap for student success and the university’s global growth—I am confident that the best is yet to come.”

Alumna Donates $500,000 to Support UMUC’s Global Military Operations

Lt. Col. Dona Hildebrand (USAF, Ret.), of Monument, Colorado, announced a $500,000 gift to the university in March 2016. The

STRATEGIC PLAN 2015–2018

gift was made on behalf of her late husband—Col. Floyd G. Hildebrand, who graduated from UMUC in 1958—and will provide general program support within UMUC’s Global Military Operations unit.

The Hildebrands met while both were enrolled at UMUC’s campus in Wiesbaden, Germany. Dona Hildebrand earned a bachelor’s degree and attended her graduation in Heidelberg in 1957.

UMUC announced that, in recognition of Hildebrand’s generosity, the Student Veterans Lounge—in the university’s Academic Center at Largo—will be renamed the Lt. Col. Dona and Col. Floyd Hildebrand Student Veterans Lounge.

Hildebrand has been a long-time supporter of the university, and in 2014 received UMUC’s highest alumni award, the Distinguished Alumna Award, in recognition of her personal and professional achievements and exemplary record of service. She initiated the Floyd G. Hildebrand Endowed Military Scholarship in 2008 and has continued to support the scholarship.

“Education is important for anyone in any occupation,” said Hildebrand, who took courses from UMUC on several bases around the world.

Both she and her husband served in Vietnam, and “we were impressed by military members who persevered in getting to UMUC classes regardless of hazardous conditions,” Dona Hildebrand said. “I am confident that this endowment will be of enduring help for future military students.”

Said UMUC President Javier Miyares, “We are touched

by Lt. Col. Dona Hildebrand’s generosity and deeply grateful for her years of service to our country and her ongoing support of higher education for military students. She is a true pioneer, a role model for women everywhere, and epitomizes the spirit of service that distinguishes our graduates around the world. We are proud to count her among our most distinguished alumnae.”

Miyares Receives 2016 Distinguished Service Award from the NUTN Network

The National University Technology Network (the NUTN Network) named UMUC President Javier Miyares the recipient of the 2016 Distinguished Service Award, the highest granted by the organization’s Advisory Board. The award will be presented at the Network 2016 conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida, September 28–30, 2016.

“You have been selected for this award for your lifetime commitment to higher education and the work you have done in online learning,” wrote Dr. Mark Sarver, chair of the NUTN Advisory Board, in notifying Miyares of the honor. “Your energy, your leadership, and your vision are to be commended. It is for your past successes and leadership in education and distance learning for which you are being recognized.”

Said Miyares, in accepting the honor, “As president of University of Maryland University College (UMUC)— an institution with a long and proud history of leveraging technology to better fulfill our mission—it is most gratifying to receive this award from the

UMUC President Javier Miyares

NUTN Network. Your organization’s history as a champion of educational technologies to advance teaching and learning is praiseworthy, and NUTN deserves great credit for helping the field of distance learning mature.”

The NUTN Network is a consortium of more than 90 higher education institutions, which provides a networking and professional development arena for the advancement of teaching and learning.

Previous recipients of the award include the likes of Sir John Daniel, of the UK Open University; Candace Thiel, founding director of the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University and Stanford University; and the late Bruce Chaloux, executive director and chief executive officer of the Sloan Consortium.

UMUC Welcomes New Orkand Chair

Peter Smith, EdD, whose distinguished career in higher education includes

serving as founding president of both California State University Monterey Bay and the Community College of Vermont, has been appointed the Orkand Endowed Chair and Professor of Innovative Practices in Higher Education in UMUC’s Graduate School. Smith’s twoyear term began on April 4, 2016.

In his new role, Smith will collaborate with UMUC’s academic leadership and collegiate faculty to further strengthen the university’s strategic positioning and its delivery of learning and support services. He will also serve on the provost’s Academic Innovation Advisory Council, which will help guide the academic direction of the university.

The Orkand Chair was established through an endowment from Donald S. Orkand, founder of the Orkand Corporation and former chair of the UMUC Board of Visitors, to advance research and scholarship at the university by bringing scholars of national repute to the institution.

“Peter Smith’s pathfinding work in higher education fits perfectly with our university’s mission—improving the lives of adult learners in Maryland and around the world,” said UMUC President Javier Miyares.

“He will enrich our community and enhance our ability to sustain quality academic innovation.” G

FACTS ABOUT THE UMUC CLASS OF 2015 The total number of worldwide graduates representing all 50 states is

10,825 (plus the District of Columbia and Guam, and 20 countries)

Number of graduates stateside

9,023 Average age of stateside graduates

36 Average age of worldwide graduates

35 Age of oldest master’s degree graduate

74 Age of oldest worldwide graduate

80 Age of youngest stateside graduate

20 Age of youngest worldwide graduate

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Florent Groberg’s Next Mission A conversation with the Medal of Honor recipient

BY GIL KLEIN

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK FINKENSTAEDT

AS MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT FLORENT GROBERG recovered from the 32 surgeries it took to save his leg after he was wounded fending off a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, he came to two conclusions.

First, he had to opt for a positive attitude about his life. To succumb to negativity in the hospital because of his pain and loss would only prolong his recovery.

“You realize, ‘Okay, this is the situation,’” Groberg said. “‘How do I get out of this with a positive outlook, and how do I continue to make a positive difference?’”

Second, he decided that his recovery time provided an opportunity for him to continue his education, and that University of Maryland University College offered an ideal path for him to complete a master’s degree.

UMUC is “one of the leading universities for us in the military,” he said. Several people he knew who had taken UMUC courses told him the professors were supportive of unusual circumstances like his.

“I found that couldn’t have been more true,” he said.

As he sat down with an Achiever reporter in December 2015, more than three years had passed since the explosion in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama had awarded him the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony

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(Left) Florent Groberg speaks after accepting the Medal of Honor; (opposite page) Groberg holds a bracelet engraved with the names of the comrades he lost in the suicide attack that he tried to thwart; (far right) his Medal of Honor is on proud display in his home in Washington, D.C.

on November 12. After touring the United States for an Army outreach program, he was about to launch a new career with the U.S. Department of Defense. And he was nearing the end of his UMUC master’s degree program in intelligence management.

As he relaxed in his Washington, D.C., apartment with his cat, Ranger, Groberg talked about the series of life-changing events that he had experienced and where life seemed to be leading him next.

He would have preferred to return to Afghanistan and serve in the Army. But, since World War II, Medal of Honor recipients have not been allowed to go back into a war zone.

“Life is a series of doors,” he said. “I would have loved to go back and continue my career as an infantry officer. But that’s life.

The Army closed a door and the Department of Defense opened one. And another door will open where I can make a difference with the veteran community.”

He paused for a moment to pet Ranger.

“So you cherish every opportunity you’ve had,” he said.

“You take all of the good things from it. You understand all of the negative things. You go out there and make a bigger difference every single time.”

Born in France, Groberg was adopted by his American stepfather, a project manager with Motorola. The family lived in France and Spain until Groberg was 11 and spoke French at home.

Eventually they moved to the United States and settled in Bethesda, Maryland, where Groberg first went to a French school, Lycee Rochambeau, before enrolling at Walter Johnson High School.

Easygoing and athletically gifted, Groberg didn’t have trouble fitting in. His first love was track, which took him through high school and into the University of Maryland, College Park.

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“What I love is relays,” he said. “There are four of you.

You know if three guys do all their work and they run their butts off and you don’t do your part, it’s really disappointing.

There’s a lot more pressure, and I like the pressure. I love sharing that moment with the guys at the end. I have always been a team player, and that’s why I had a successful transition from college to the military. It’s all about team. The Rambos are in Hollywood.”

Groberg entered college with two objectives—to excel in track and to pursue a career in law enforcement, perhaps with the FBI. With that in mind, he majored in criminology and worked for the campus police auxiliary.

But one event changed his life—as it did for so many others.

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks happened as he was driving back to his dorm after a get-together with his team. He arrived just in time to see the second plane crash into the World Trade Center.

“It’s one of those moments,” Groberg said. “You’re confused, you’re angry, and then you realize the world has changed. And did it ever change after that.”

His father convinced him to stay in college and graduate before entering the Army. But there was no doubt where life would take him.

He is qualified as an Army Ranger, the elite special forces.

Ranger school, he said, “was a lot tougher than anything I experienced in combat.”

“You learn how to maneuver and operate with very little food and very little sleep,” he said. “It teaches you a lot about yourself and what type of individual you are under extreme stress in the way you think and the way you react to things and the way you make decisions. That’s really important when you become an infantry leader. It really prepares you mentally for this tough time when you are on deployment.”

As a newly commissioned second lieutenant, Groberg’s first tour of duty was in Afghanistan during the 2009–2010 troop surge. Deployed in Kunar Province and the Pesch Valley at Combat Outpost Honaker Miracle in the eastern part of the country, his platoon engaged the enemy more than 130 times.

“To be honest, most of the engagements were tiny things, a couple of guys shooting at you, no big deal,” he said. “I had a couple of close calls, and some tough ones, but it was fun.”

Most important, he said, was learning from veteran noncommissioned officers how to lead men and how to complete a mission without taking unnecessary risks.

“There are many times where I heard, ‘We’re not going to do that, sir,’” he said, recalling the feedback he got from his sergeant. “‘I think that’s a stupid idea. You really might want to rethink this. What is the end stake? What are we going to gain from this?

Why put ourselves in this type of danger for nothing?’”

“

That’s where I learned a key thing I will take with me for the rest of my life,” he said. “Try to find a positive in every negative situation.”

the American, Afghan, and Pakistani military. “[It helped me] understand the mindset behind the entire madness of the war,” he said. “It gave me a broader understanding of our mission. It made me appreciate more the reason why we were fighting and what we were doing.”

And he got to travel by helicopter almost every day. For six months, it was a great adventure. Until August 18, 2012.

That day, what Groberg calls his “spidey senses” started to act up.

His mission was to lead a group of American and Afghan soldiers as they escorted their commanders to a meeting with local Afghans. It seemed simple enough—just a short walk on foot and over a narrow bridge, pretty much the same drill as always.

But something didn’t seem right to Groberg.

“I changed everything that day, where I positioned myself and where to position some of my guys, because I didn’t feel comfortable with what was happening,” he recalled. “I just felt I had so many high-ranking officials with me. That was unusual. That was the spidey sense. I just didn’t like it.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK FINKENSTAEDT

In the end, he said, his platoon was able in inflict a lot of damage on the enemy without losing a single American life.

Returning to Afghanistan in February 2012, his mission was different. Now a captain, Groberg was selected by Brigade Commander Col. James Mingus to serve as personal security detachment commander for Task Force Mountain Warrior, Fourth Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Fourth Infantry Division.

With a team of five soldiers, his job was to protect the movement of officers as they traveled to 45 different outstations in five eastern Afghan provinces. Groberg coordinated with the bases they visited to make sure security would be tight.

He and his men would position themselves in a diamond formation with the colonel, major, and any other visiting officers inside. If they were attacked, their job was to collapse on the top officers while other troops responded to the attack, then escort the officers to safety.

For Groberg, it was a fascinating assignment. He got to attend high-level meetings between high-ranking officers of

Some of the shrapnel ripped into Groberg’s legs, and the blast threw him into the middle of the road.

Miraculously, he and Mahoney survived, but three other American officers and a USAID foreign service officer were killed.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK FINKENSTAEDT

Florent Groberg at home in Washington, D.C., with his cat, Ranger.

At first, they passed pedestrians, a few cars and bicycles, even some children. As they approached the bridge, a pair of motorcycles sped toward them. The Afghan troops shouted at them to stop, and the riders ditched their bikes in the middle of the bridge and ran away.

It turned out to be a diversion.

A man in dark clothing stepped out of a building and began walking backward, parallel to the moving formation.

“It was weird, odd,” Groberg said. “All right, what the hell is this guy doing? He did a 180 and . . . turned to face me. I left my position and went at him. I hit him with my rifle as [Sergeant Andrew] Mahoney followed me right into it.

“When I hit him, I said ‘S—t, he’s got something on.’ I grabbed him and knew it was a suicide vest. All I could think was I had to get him as far away from everyone else—the boss, specifically. You don’t think about the consequences of it. You have a job. As long as the boss gets to go home, you’ve had a successful day at work.”

As he and Mahoney pushed the assailant to the ground face first, the suicide vest detonated. Because the ball bearings were positioned in the front of the vest, their damage was significantly limited, though still deadly.

Some of the shrapnel ripped into Groberg’s legs, and the blast threw him into the middle of the road. Miraculously, he and Mahoney survived, but three other American officers and a USAID foreign service officer were killed.

Tragic though it was, it could have been infinitely worse. A ACHIEVER | 12 | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

second suicide bomber was still hiding in the building. When the first bomb went off, the bomber likely lost his grip on the trigger to his vest, and it detonated prematurely, killing him but causing no additional injuries.

In awarding Groberg the Medal of Honor, President Barack Obama described the scene this way: Ball bearings, debris, dust exploded everywhere. Flo was thrown some

15 or 20 feet and was knocked unconscious. And moments later, he woke up in the middle of the road in shock. His eardrum was blown out. His leg was broken and bleeding badly. Still, he realized that if the enemy launched a secondary attack, he’d be a sitting duck. When a comrade found him in the smoke, Flo had his pistol out, dragging his wounded body from the road.

Had both suicide bombers been successful, many more allied lives would have been lost, Obama said.

But before the Medal of Honor was awarded, before Groberg could begin a new life, he had to endure three years of pain, surgery, and rehabilitation. He had lost 60 percent of his left calf and suffered severe nerve damage. He resisted the decision to amputate.

“The first couple of months are the worst,” he said. “You’re bedridden. You have no way to make a difference. All you have is your pain and your thoughts and the frustration.”

It would have been easy to sink into self-pity, negativism, and despair.

“

I understand that I need to live my life better. I have to make sacrifices to make sure I earn the right to be here because I got a second opportunity and they didn’t,” he said. “They’re watching me.”

“Some of the other wounded warriors come into your room and check up on you. They tell you this is just a stage. You will be all right,” he said.

“When you see guys who are missing multiple limbs come into your room and they are smiling and joking with you, you realize, ‘What am I bitching about? These guys are way worse than me in regards to their injuries, and they’re smiling and living life,’” he said. “I was pushing people away, even though they kept coming back because they understood.

“That’s where I learned a key thing I will take with me for the rest of my life,” he said. “Try to find a positive in every negative situation.”

That was one role that UMUC played in his rehabilitation.

By focusing on improving his education, Groberg gave himself another mission during the long months of recovery. He opted for a master’s degree program in intelligence management because he realized his entire career had been wrapped up in intelligence, even though he hadn’t known it at the time.

“As an infantry officer, I was conducting intelligence every single day, even though my job was not in intelligence,” he said. “When I went to speak to someone about the on-ground situation in their village, that was intelligence. You understand why things are happening and you can almost predict future outcomes.”

That made managing intelligence a compelling subject.

Studying online was the only practical option, he said, and the understanding that many faculty members have shown him has been essential to his success.

Even the requirements around receiving the Medal of Honor presented challenges, and professors Jonathan “Jock” Binnie and Robert Clark were understanding. When he needed more time, they gave it to him, even though they didn’t cut him any slack on the quality of his work.

“Clark was tough on me sometimes,” he said. “[When] I didn’t have time, [and] I just wrote something, he would write back, ‘You can do better.’ So I really made a point to focus more. I got an A in both classes.”

To get through a statistics course, though, he knew he would need more face-to-face instruction, he said. Because UMUC offers classroom locations, he was able to get that, too.

The classwork and his new position with the Department of Defense are just a means to an end, though, said Groberg. His mission for the rest of his life will be to work with veterans—both the wounded and those simply mustered out—to help them make the most of their lives.

“The Medal gives you a platform and a voice in your community,” he said. “My community is the veterans and their families.”

In particular, he wants to convince young veterans to take advantage of the educational opportunities they are offered.

“These 19-year-old kids who are doing incredible things for our

country, they are changing lives at such an early age,” he said. “But once they are done with it, that’s all they know, and they feel they can no longer be a positive member of society. I tell them, ‘Go to school.’ The best time of my life was going to college.”

Already Groberg is back in the hospitals, working with the recently wounded to give them the same encouragement that he received during his darkest hours.

And then there are homeless vets that so desperately need help.

“I read that 32 percent of all homeless males are vets,” he said. “I want to figure out not only how we can help those who are currently on the streets, but also how to prevent new vets from ending up there.”

Keeping a positive attitude, helping vets, making his life count— all are things he says he owes the four men who died in the attack.

“It’s unexplainable, one of those things you can try to piece together every single day of your life, a thousand different ways,” he said. “There will just be no simple explanation. It’s just the way it works.”

He said he was closest to Command Sergeant Major Kevin Griffin because he worked with him daily and Griffin fielded all of his questions and “helped me better myself as an officer and as a human being.”

The night before the attack, he said, he ran into Air Force Major David Gray, who was so physically strong he was known as “the beast.” They talked about how much he loved Colorado, and how he was looking forward to gathering with his family when he got home.

He said he didn’t know Army Major Tom Kennedy that well, but when Groberg attended the Army-Navy football game this year, some 15 of Kennedy’s fellow West Pointers came up and talked about all that Kennedy had done for them.

USAID foreign service officer Ragaei Abdelfatah was born in Egypt. He understood the region in detail, and he cared for the people, Groberg said. “He wasn’t fighting. He wasn’t carrying a weapon. He was there to help the Afghan people.”

When people ask him about the Medal of Honor, Groberg says it is only a means for him to extend the good that these people who died were doing.

“I understand that I need to live my life better. I have to make sacrifices to make sure I earn the right to be here because I got a second opportunity and they didn’t,” he said. “They’re watching me.”

Groberg walks well, although his toes on his left leg are numb and he can only feel his heel. He no longer can run, and he misses that. He looked around his apartment with belongings scattered around because he was unpacking from an Army outreach trip.

“The Medal represents those who died,” he said. “I’m here. I got ESPN on right now. This crazy cat is here. My beautiful girlfriend who lives with me is coming home. I got to live life. I get to go home for Christmas. Four individuals can’t go home to their families and more importantly, four families are missing a key member.

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THE SUN RISES ON

HelioCampus UMUC establishes HelioCampus—a spinoff of its data analytics unit—which brings the power of analytics within reach for colleges and universities nationwide . . . and may forever change the face of higher education.

BY CHIP CASSANO ILLUSTRATIONS BY OTTO STEININGER ACHIEVER | 14 | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

A February 2016 opinion piece in Forbes— entitled, “Big Data’s Coming of Age in Higher Education”—argues that “the application of datadriven decision making has begun to permeate all aspects of campus life and operations” and that 2016, in retrospect, may be seen as “the jumping-off point for policies and practices that define higher education in the digital era.” b Against that backdrop, the future seems especially bright for a young company—owned by University of Maryland University College, and leveraging technology that the university uses to guide its own operations—to change the way that higher education thinks about and uses data analytics.

THE HISTORY UMUC in 2012 was facing what President Javier Miyares described then as a “perfect storm” in all of adult higher education—a storm that would only worsen with time. As this new normal came more clearly into focus—a mature market, increasing competition, rising costs, declining state support, and further cuts to education spending in the military and corporate sectors—Miyares, a self-professed “data guy,” looked to analytics to help guide UMUC along the pathway of stability and growth. b Consolidating and augmenting functions that already existed at UMUC, Miyares established a data analytics unit as part of what is now the Office of Analytics, Planning,

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and Technology, under the leadership of Senior Vice President Pete Young. Darren Catalano—a University of Virginia graduate with a degree in economics, previously director of business analytics for Rosetta Stone—headed up the unit.

His group analyzed millions of records and hundreds of variables, uncovering a number of interesting trends. Using analytics, and considering a range of behavioral and experiential variables, the team worked with outside vendors to predict with greater than 80 percent accuracy on the first day of class whether a student would pass or fail the course.

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Another trend that the team identified pertained to students who waited to the last minute to enroll. These latecomers were consistently at highest risk of subsequently withdrawing or failing the course. In fact, the trend was so clear that the why became a secondary concern, and Miyares announced a new “four-by-four” policy for courses of standard length. Enrollment was closed four days prior to the first class meeting, while a grace period allowed a student to withdraw from a class, without penalty, for up to four days after the class began. Not only would the student receive a full refund, but the withdraw-

“

Just because you have the data, and just because you know your problem, doesn’t mean you know the solution that will address the problem or make it go away,” said Chang. “That’s the point where it is vital to be able to call on the analytics team.”

al would not appear on her or his transcript.

The response was uniformly positive, and the results were dramatic. Undergraduate completion rates rose 7 percentage points over four years while retention rates increased by 4 percentage points.

At the same time, the analytics unit worked with the university’s marketing and enrollment management teams, helping to identify areas of opportunity and improve efficiencies.

Again, results were positive and easily observed. By the fall of 2014—thanks to better targeting and smart spending— the university had increased its stateside new student enrollments by 20 percent while reducing expenditures on student recruitment by 20 percent.

Susie Chang, vice president for Student Recruitment at UMUC, is just one university leader who has come to depend on the capabilities that the analytics unit provides. Each week, she chairs a meeting of representatives from a variety of teams that work with new and prospective students—marketing, military operations, community college outreach, regional site teams, and others. The analytics unit participates as an equal.

“Just because you have the data and have identified your problem doesn’t mean you know the solution that will address the problem or make it go away,” said Chang. “That’s the point where it is vital to be able to call on the analytics team: ‘Can you provide me with the data from a different dimension, or with different attributes, that will help me drill down further? What if I break it out by program? Were there bright spots?’

If one program is growing and another is not, for instance, do you leverage more efforts and go with the winning horse, so to speak, or do you focus more resources on the program that is lagging?

“That is where it is critical to be able to work with somebody who really understands the data and can offer suggestions about what it may be telling you.”

THE PLAN

It was against this backdrop that Miyares posed a challenge to his senior leadership team: present proposals of ways to better position UMUC to grow and thrive in the increasingly competitive landscape of 21st-century adult higher education.

No proposal would be discarded as too ambitious, no idea dismissed for being too far outside the box.

Young and Catalano responded with a bold plan to build on the success of the data analytics unit, spinning it off into a separate company—one that would leverage the proprietary technology and capabilities that UMUC had developed over the space of several years. The company would continue to support UMUC’s operations while also offering its capabilities to other colleges and universities in a fee-forservice model. It would be wholly owned by UMUC and all profits would benefit the university, helping to further reduce tuition for graduates of Maryland community colleges.

Miyares recognized the potential, and university leadership gave the project a tentative green light.

The university retained Accenture to conduct market analysis, and the initial findings were promising. There were other companies that offered analytics capabilities, but none could promise a full suite of services geared specifically toward higher education, packaged with dedicated support from trained analysts. The market potential was significant.

And the time was right.

“There is a confluence right now—a series of capabilities that weren’t there, historically,” said Young. “One is extraordinarily inexpensive computing power. The ability to get substantial, massive computing capability and storage at low cost means you can now both collect and process massive data. And second, now that so much is being done electronically, the ability to collect data points has exploded.”

At the same time, academic leaders are becoming increasingly aware of the potential power of analytics.

“There is a growing number of senior administrators and presidents—huge percentages, in fact—who believe WWW.UMUC.EDU | 17 | ACHIEVER

“

There is a growing number of senior administrators and presidents—huge percentages, in fact— who believe that analytics will play a key role in the success of their institutions,” said Miyares.

that analytics will play a key role in the success of their institutions,” said Miyares. “There may be some healthy skepticism, but bottom line, the challenges facing higher education— the need to be more efficient, more effective—are driving the interest in analytics.”

Others agree. “Higher education is finding many uses for this technology. It’s ubiquitous in early alert and intervention, in prospective donor identification, and in content recommendation engines for adaptive learning,” wrote Jeffrey Alderson, principal analyst for Eduventures, in a January 26, 2016, feature, “Predictive Analytics: Coming to an Admissions Office Near You.” He added, “2016 is shaping up to be the year of analytics in higher education. Analytics is hitting the mainstream, becoming integrated into all phases of the student lifecycle, and becoming a core part of vendor marketing efforts.”

THE COMPANY

Enter HelioCampus, its name a mashup of helios, the personification of the sun in Greek mythology, and hippocampus—a portion of the forebrain critical to memory and learning.

In broad terms, the company assembles data from an institution’s existing source systems, “normalizes” the data—adjusting values so they can be compared on a common scale—and models the data in a central repository. The data is then presented to the client via a series of intuitive and interactive dashboards, and a professional data analyst is assigned to each functional area to help the institution interpret the data and identify key trends.

As Catalano, who serves as CEO, is careful to point out, these are not theoretical capabilities.

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and as such it was born fully formed, with the operating infrastructure of an established company. Expectations are high, and Catalano and his team have responded within a sharply compressed timeframe.

Three months after the University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents reviewed and approved the initial plan, HelioCampus had been incorporated, its website— www.heliocampus.com—was live, and the new company had secured office space in downtown Bethesda, Maryland. Administrative policies had been drawn up, benefits plans created, and offers made to university employees who would transition to the new company. Most important, on January 8, 2016, the company signed its first outside client, Frostburg State University, in Maryland.

“It’s been a full-court press, logistically, and some of it is kind of mundane—setting up bank accounts, hiring a law firm, and so on,” Young said. “But if you think about the sheer breadth of things that have to happen to make a company real—and to be able to say, ‘Oh, and by the way, we have also already signed our first customer’—that is just a breathtaking outcome for any organization, commercially.”

The venture has drawn praise from the likes of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who noted that

“

Every university is different and unique; that is true. However, at the data level, we are not as different as we think. We all care about similar metrics and measures, even though our targets and expectations may be different.”

—DARREN CATALANO

UMUC has a long history of innovation, “making education accessible for people in Maryland and beyond.”

“We are excited and proud to see [UMUC’s] commitment to using this venture’s profits to reduce tuition, make education even more accessible, and, ultimately, make Maryland a better place to live and learn,” said Hogan. “This is exactly the type of innovation my administration is looking for.”

USM Chancellor Robert L. Caret echoed the governor’s enthusiasm, noting that “UMUC is again trailblazing a new path for higher education, not only in Maryland, but across the nation. HelioCampus fills an important niche as institutions of higher education seek cost-effective ways to utilize ‘big data’ without adding infrastructure and staff.”

THE FUTURE

“

The only obstacle to HelioCampus’s success, at this point, may be inertia—and higher education is famously subject to inertia. Now, though, the combination of increased capability and pressing necessity may converge to overcome it.

“We get a lot of questions from institutions about setting up a data analytics unit,” said Catalano. “So when we make our pitch, one of the things we talk about is, ‘Hey, here are all the things you need to do and buy—and people you need to hire— in order to establish an advanced analytics capability on campus.’

Why would you do this yourself? It’s grossly inefficient. HelioCampus can provide you with sophisticated capabilities at a fraction of the time and cost it will take to do it yourself.

“Every university is different and unique; that is true. However, at the data level, we are not as different as we think. We all care about similar metrics and measures, even though our targets and expectations may be different.”

The greatest interest, Catalano said, comes from those institu-

“

Right now,” Young added, “you have some leading institutions—institutions like UMUC—who have taken this, demonstrated substantial value, and are ahead of the rest. Now it is no longer optional. Everyone is going to need to have mastery of their data, and this is going to become the new, base-level capability that every institution must have.”

—PETE YOUNG

tions that are under some sort of pressure—whether they depend on enrollments and tuition, like UMUC, or struggle with retention or four- or six-year graduation rates, as is the case with some large public institutions.

Combining data from across various silos on campus— what Catalano terms “connecting the data dots”—drives additional interest as prospective customers recognize the potential impact and value.

“When we go to a prospective client and say, ‘Look, here is the profile of the student you retained and who successfully graduated—and it is very different from the aspirational profile of the student you are hoping to recruit’—that is where people really start to see the power and value of what we’re doing, and how it can help them take advantage of the data,” said Catalano.

“Right now,” Young added, “you have some leading institutions— institutions like UMUC—who have taken this, demonstrated substantial value, and are ahead of the rest. Now it is no longer optional.

Everyone is going to need to have mastery of their data, and this is going to become the new, base-level capability that every institution must have.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a community college or a land-grant research university,” said Miyares.

“This is the new model.”

For more about HelioCampus, visit www.heliocampus.com. G

The venture has drawn praise from the likes of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who noted that UMUC has a long history of innovation, “making education accessible for people in Maryland and beyond.”

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UMUC

CELEBRATES

60 YEARS

IN ASIA

Since 1956, UMUC has served American military personnel across Asia, in peacetime and war alike. That proud tradition is one that continues to this day.

BY GIL KLEIN SIXTY YEARS AGO THIS AUGUST 7, JUST DAYS after General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, commander in chief of the U.S. Far East Command and the United Nations Command, signed an agreement to launch the University of Maryland’s Far East division, he sent a cable to University President Wilson H. Elkins that ended this way: “It may now truly be said, in view of your educational activities in Europe and Asia, that ‘the sun never sets on the University of Maryland.’”

Today, University of Maryland University College is a separate institution in the University System of Maryland, and to mark its 60th anniversary in Asia, UMUC President Javier Miyares noted now much has been accomplished in educating U.S. military personnel and other students throughout Asia and the Pacific.

“We have sent professors into the thick of the fighting during the Vietnam War, taught students on remote islands, provided strong education programs from Seoul to

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Tokyo, from Bangkok to Taipei to Woomera in Australia,” he said. “We even survived a volcano in the Philippines. And now we have expanded into Siberia.

“But one thing we should never lose sight of is the daring and foresight it took for the University of Maryland to commit to providing this far-flung education when other universities had failed.”

There are challenges associated with establishing an education program in a new country—let alone in a country at war—and in 1950, when the military invited the University of Maryland to expand its fledgling European program into Asia, university leaders didn’t pursue the opportunity. The job went to the University of California, but logistical challenges interfered, and the program was discontinued in 1956. Again, the military asked Maryland to step in, and this time the answer was yes. By then, Maryland had an established record of providing solid academic programs to troops stationed in Europe, and the university was the obvious choice.

(Clockwise, from top) Chancellor Ray Ehrensberger at Da Nang Air Base in Vietnam, 1966; Augustus J. Prahl, the first director of UMUC’s Far East Division, at the Chosun Pagoda in Korea, 1956; an evening class in Korea.

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On September 17, 1956, with less than a month to prepare, Maryland launched classes at 42 military education centers in Japan, Okinawa, and the Republic of Korea.

More than 1,700 people signed up for 82 courses in 27 subjects. The cost? Ten dollars per credit.

Sharon Hudgins, who authored UMUC’s official history book, wrote that despite a variety of challenges, many of them unique to what was initially known as the Far East Division—troop withdrawals in one country; shortened tours of duty in another; typhoons; military field maneuvers; the temporary suspension of the program in one location, and the opening of a new program on short notice in another— the division thrived and enrollments grew steadily.

By 1959, more than 500 students were enrolled in Seoul, South Korea, alone, making it the largest single overseas center.

Less than a year after the program was estab-

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lished, students already were referring to their instructors as “portable professors,” Hudgins wrote.

One of those portable professors was Joe Arden, who went on to serve as director of the Asian program from 1975 to 1981.

He recounted a term in Thailand in which he taught in Bangkok on Monday and Wednesday and then at a base on the seacoast on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was a fourhour drive each way.

“Several students said to me, ‘We really feel good [that] you would . . . [travel] four hours to teach us tonight,’” he said.

Julian Jones, who served as director of the program from 1981 to 1990, believes that Maryland succeeded where the University of California did not because of the autonomy given to program leaders.

When he was given the assignment, Jones said that he was told to “act like he was president of a small college.”

That allowed him to make quick decisions without having to first seek approval from university leaders in Maryland.

Given how slow and costly communications were at the time, the Far East Division flourished in part due to that independence.

“This program covered 10 million square miles of Asia and the Pacific,” Jones said. “The distances are vast, and

“

We have sent professors into the thick of the fighting during the Vietnam War, taught students on remote islands, provided strong education programs from Seoul to Tokyo, from Bangkok to Taipei to Woomera in Australia,” he said.

“We even survived a volcano in the Philippines.”

(Opposite, counterclockwise from top left) Joseph J. Arden served as director of the Far East Division from 1975 to 1981; Julian S. Jones served as director from 1981 to 1990; and Paula A. Harbecke served as director from 1990 to 1996.

(Above, counterclockwise from top) Chancellor Ray Ehrensberger meets with military leaders in Asia; the Osan Air Base bus carries a banner promoting registration in the 1950s; a van advertises UMUC programs at Long Binh army post in Vietnam; a UMUC advisor assists students with registration in Asia.

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the opportunities for [U.S. servicemembers stationed] on a lot of the tiny locations were nonexistent.”

And no location was too small. A program was established on Kwajelein Atoll, an island not much more than a sandbar halfway between Tokyo and Hawaii in the Marshall Islands, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, he said. Even more remote was a location on Diego Garcia, an atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

“We had students out there desperate for any diversion,” Jones said. “It was easy to expand.”

At the same time UMUC was sending faculty to these remote locations, the university was also bringing educational opportunities to troops serving in challenging settings like the demilitarized zone in Korea.

But those challenges paled in comparison to what the university faced when it was asked to send professors into Vietnam. By 1963, there were enough U.S. personnel in the country to warrant an education center in Saigon. Six years later, at the height of the war, the Far East Division offered courses at 24 military bases in South Vietnam with enrollments totaling 11,000.

As one administrator told Hudgins, “If you signed up with the university, you signed up to go to Vietnam. So everyone had to put his life on the line in order to teach for the university in Asia.” Yet the call to service was strong, and the university had no trouble recruiting faculty. Some even opted to stay extra terms in the war zone.

At one point, the division opened a program in Laos for U.S. military personnel, even though the U.S. government

UMUC graduates in Asia.

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did not officially acknowledge that American personnel were operating there.

In the chaos of the sudden evacuation of American forces in the fall of Saigon, Robert Schoos, Maryland’s last faculty member there, made his way to the U.S. embassy and was among the last Americans helicoptered out.

Over the years, the Far East Division became known as the Asian Division, and later simply as UMUC Asia. Always, though, flexibility was the watchword. When locations in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand closed, and the American presence in Taiwan was scaled back, the program expanded to Hong Kong, Australia, and the Philippines.

When Mt. Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991— destroying the American military bases there—and the Philippine government subsequently asked the U.S. military to leave the country, UMUC simply packed up operations in the Philippines and moved them to Singapore.

With the rise of the Internet, UMUC’s flexibility allowed it to take advantage of new opportunities, said Paula Harbecke, who directed the Asian program from 1990 to 1996.

“In the early 1990s, we had two classes in Christchurch, New Zealand, that fed online programs to a couple of students stationed in Antarctica,” she said. “With UMUC becoming one of the first universities offering online education, the Asian Division became a natural place for distance education and online learning.”

Building on its success in serving U.S. servicemembers, the university also established programs targeted toward local civilian populations.

Hundreds of thousands of students studied at UMUC locations across Asia; (below) UMUC students at Kunsan.

“

If you signed up with the university, you signed up to go to Vietnam. So everyone had to put his life on the line in order to teach for the university in Asia.”

“We established a program in Malaysia at the behest of the Malaysian government to help the local Malay-speaking population, called Bumiputera, do as well in business as the Chinese population in Malaysia,” said Jones. “It was kind of an affirmative action program where the Malay-speaking population took the first two years of a U.S. college education in Malaysia. That was pretty amazing for 1983–84.”

As Japan became an ascendant economic power, UMUC created an international business and management institute, which served as a consulting and training operation for Japanese business people who wanted to understand how international businesses in other countries operated.

And, as relations with the Soviet Union thawed in the late 1980s, UMUC launched tours to the “closed” city of Vladivostok, in the Soviet Far East, and to Irkutsk, capital of Eastern Siberia near Lake Baikal. These led to formal contracts that called on UMUC to provide programs for Russian university students at the Irkutsk State University and Baikal International School of Management, as well as at Far Eastern Federal University.

When he delivered a commencement speech at both of the Russian universities in 2013, President Miyares summed up what UMUC’s 60 years in Asia had produced: “You here today exemplify UMUC’s global reach,” said Miyares. “Our partnership with you sets the standard for our desire to reach students everywhere. By extending beyond borders and across cultures to study with faculty members and fellow students from UMUC, the world has become your classroom. You are no longer limited by any geographical constraints.”

In 2015, UMUC was once again awarded a U.S. Department of Defense contract to continue providing instruction to U.S. troops in the Asia Pacific region. And so, for the foreseeable future, the university will continue its proud history of service in Asia, and wherever U.S. military personnel are called to serve, UMUC’s “portable professors” will be right there with them. G

WWW.UMUC.EDU | 25 | ACHIEVER

CLASS NOTES

Sgt. Robert Pouliot ’86, of Stevensville, Maryland, was recognized by Worldwide Branding for showing dedication, achievement, and excellence in leadership, strategic positioning, and team building. He is currently the vice president of operations at Connections Education.

the board of the African American Credit Unions Coalition.

Timothy Anderson ’90 & ’02, of Bowie,

is executive officer of Naval Medical Logistics Command, Fort Detrick, Maryland, and

Maryland, was named chairman of

Lorna Cudmore ’94, of Brandywine, Maryland, was named chief financial officer of St. Mary’s County, Maryland, by the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County.

Michael J. Kemper ’94, of Olney, Maryland,

Spotlight on Alumni It isn’t often that you get to finish a master’s degree and save lives at the same time—but that’s exactly what happened when then-UMUC student Tyler Marrs enrolled in the capstone course SWEN 670 (Software Engineering Project) on his way to a UMUC Master of Science in Information Technology with a specialization in software engineering.

The instructor, Dr. Michael Scott Brown, asked students at the beginning of the class to suggest companies they might like to work with on the capstone project. Marrs nominated his employer, Children’s Mercy Hospital, in Kansas City, Missouri, where Marrs works as a bioinformatics software engineer in the Center for Pediatric Genomic Medicine.

As it happened, there were others in the class who came from scientific backgrounds—one student was a biologist— and several expressed interest in Marrs’ proposal. So Brown contacted Children’s Mercy Hospital and formalized the details.

For 12 weeks, Marrs and four other students—Shaun Einolf, Daniel Epstein, Robert Holloway, and Katie Heasley—worked closely with a hospital representative to build an application that would allow researchers to access and share information about DNA motifs, or patterns. The application stores variants—genetic mutations as sequences—as haplotypes, or sets of variants with similarities.

Now, instead of hunting through multiple data fields, researchers can search a centralized database. The application has a number of potential benefits, but at Children’s Mercy—where patients with specific genetic anomalies may have issues metabolizing certain drugs—it is vital, because it can help reduce errors in dosage.

According to a recent study in the Journal of Patient Safety, preventable harm to patients resulted in more than 400,000 premature deaths per year nationwide—and drug dosage errors figured significantly in that number.

Said Marrs, “It was exciting to create something that is now being used to reduce drug dosing errors. . . . Knowing that the application is [being] used and the [purpose] it is being use for is very rewarding.”

ACHIEVER | 26 | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

future commanding officer of Navy Expeditionary Medical Support Command, Williamsburg, Virginia. In a special ceremony on March 5, 2016, Kemper was frocked to the rank of captain. A frocking ceremony grants officers selected for promotion—and, if required, confirmed by the U.S. Senate but not yet promoted— the right to wear the insignia and uniform and assume the title of the next higher grade. A native of Mary Esther, Florida, Kemper enlisted in the Navy in 1983. He earned his bachelor’s degree from UMUC in 1994 and was subsequently commissioned a Medical Service Corps officer.

Lawrence Gross Jr. ’95, of Waldorf,

Maryland, was appointed chief information officer (CIO) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Most recently, he served as CIO of the Farm Service Agency, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He previously served as deputy CIO for the Interior Department and associate CIO for the Treasury Department. He holds CIO Certification from the National Defense University.

Sonya Williams-Giersch ’95, of Strasburg, Virginia, has served two terms on the Shenandoah County School Board and plans to run for reelection.

Jennifer Gradnigo ’99, of Springfield, Virginia, was named the director of public relations at the faith-based nonprofit Bethany Christian Services.

Richard Hays ’99, of Baltimore, Maryland, was named corporate group sales manager at the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Hotel in Baltimore.

Rachel Sparks ’00, of Mechanicsville, Maryland, was appointed human resources coordinator I in the St. Mary’s County Public Schools human resources department.

Kristina Carr ’03, of Mays Landing, New

Jersey, was selected to serve on the Egg Harbor Regional High School District Board of Education.

Tacy Holliday ’04, of Germantown, Maryland,

was named director of governance at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland.

Steve Dutra ’05, of Charleston, South

Carolina, was named area operations

manager for Charleston by Engineering Services Network, Inc., a leading provider of professional engineering and technology services for military and government customers. Dutra, who has worked in information technology for 25 years, was previously a program manager at ManTech International Corp. in Charleston, where he provided support to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic.

Jalen Rose ’05, of Lathrup Village, Michigan, is a former NBA star. He received the 11th annual National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award, along with WNBA player Tamika Catchings and former NBA player Spencer Haywood.

Jerry Bamgbade ’07, of Laurel, Maryland,

was named director at Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies in August 2015.

“Being deaf and growing up in Nigeria, I always wanted and needed an education. But that is not cheap.

It is an honor to be at UMUC, where my education was made affordable and accessible. I want to thank the donors who helped make my American Dream come true.”

KUDIRATU USMAN MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT, RAY EHRENSBERGER SCHOLARSHIP FUND RECIPIENT

Kudiratu’s words are a reminder of the tremendous impact scholarships can have in the lives of so many deserving individuals. Your support allows the university to offer more scholarships than ever, empowering

Call Michael Richmond, Director, Annual Giving Programs at 301-985-7127 or visit umuc.edu.

our diverse student population to reach their potential and make a difference—locally, nationally, and internationally.

Help our students get started creating their future.

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C L A S S N O T E S CONTINUED

Brian Monsheiser ’07, of Columbia,

Illinois, was named director of U.S. Federal Programs at Boundless Technology, the leading provider of opensource geospatial software and services.

Ann Quarles ’08, of Clarksburg, Maryland, announced her retirement from the U.S. Navy on November 20, 2015. She was the leading petty officer of seven dental departments before moving to the Administrative Department and working with the dean.

Janelle Barth ’09, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was named associate director of the Office of Management in the Center for Tobacco Products, part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Kristen Cronin ’09, of Rensselaer, New

York, was promoted to vice president of finance and comptroller at Ulster Savings Bank in southern New York.

Camille Roussel ’09 & ’10, of Germantown,

Maryland, was named the chief quality and performance officer at National Lutheran Communities and Services.

Blake Jacobson ’10, of Huntingtown,

Maryland, was named Commanding Officer of Navy Information Command Bahrain. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1999.

Ernest Lindqvist ’10, of Upper Marlboro,

Maryland, was named Career Firefighter of the Year by the American Legion, Department of Maryland. He has been a career member of the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department since November 2000.

William McElhaney ’10, of Hughesville,

Maryland, was promoted to partner at IntegrityONE Partners.

Jarett Parker ’10, of Washington, D.C.,

was named vice president of Asset Management–Metro D.C. for Federal Realty.

Stephen Stahr ’10, of Grayslake, Illinois,

received the Association Forum of Chicagoland’s Inspiring Leader Award.

He is currently CEO at Million Dollar Round Table.

Mary Jo Anderson ’11, of Washington,

D.C., joined Northwest Federal Credit Union as the organization’s first senior vice president for member experience.

Previously, she served as a senior vice president for Bank of America, where she assisted with the implementation of quality and process improvement leadership. Said Chris McDonald, Northwest Federal’s president and CEO, “Mary Jo’s knowledge and experience will help us ensure that, along with our growth, we stay focused on the service culture for which Northwest prides itself.”

James Holzer ’12, of Warrenton, Virginia,

was appointed director of the Office of Government Information Services for the National Archives and Records Administration.

Tyler Carlin ’13, of Potomac, Maryland,

was recently hired as a cybersecurity senior associate at KMPG, LLC, where he is currently building a cybersecurity practice.

Joseph Carlucci ’13, of Beckley, West Virginia, was named business coach at the West Virginia Small Business Development Center.

Kirsten Coombs ’13, of Columbia, Maryland, is currently running for election to the Howard County Board of Education. She has been endorsed by the Howard County Educators Association.

ACHIEVER | 28 | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Akm Nur-E “Milu” Islam ’13, of O’Fallon, Missouri, was named executive vice president of Darmill Group, LLC. Lisa DeSantis ’14, of Henderson, Maryland, was promoted to vice president of Corporate Services at Choptank Electric, an electric cooperative located in Denton, Maryland.

Evan Dickinson ’14, of New Cumberland,

Pennsylvania, was named vice president and business banker of S&T Bank’s Integrity Bank Division.

Sgt. Maj. Darrin Jefferies ’14, of El Paso,

Texas, retired from his position as the senior enlisted leader with the 32nd Air and Missile Defense (Blackjack) Command in June 2016 after 30 years of service.

Sayshan Conver-White ’15, of La Plata,

Maryland, was presented with the Safety Officer of the Year Award at the International Association of Fire Chiefs annual convention, Fire-Rescue International (FRI), in August 2015. She is a safety officer with the Prince George’s County, Maryland, Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department.

Tim Steele ’16, of North Pole, Alaska, retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2004 after 21 years of service. The author of the popular blogs vegetablepharm.blogspot.com and PotatoHack.com, Steele’s new book, The Potato Hack: Weight Loss Simplified (CreateSpace, 2016) is available from Amazon.com. According to his author’s bio, Steele spends the short Alaska summers gardening, fishing, and raising chickens and bees under the midnight sun. During the long winter nights, he researches health science. He recently published “Hybridomas: Ageing Technology Holds Promise for Future Drug Discoveries” in Generics and Biosimilars Initiative Journal (2016), Vol. 5, No. 1. G

FACULTY KUDOS

Denise Baken, an adjunct associate professor who teaches in the biotechnology program in The Graduate School, published (with Ioannis Mantzikos) Al Qaeda: Transformation of Terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa (Praeger, 2015).

Major Clark, an adjunct professor in the

business and management program in The Graduate School, was selected as a member of the United States Delegation to Round 11 of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations with the European Union in Miami, Florida, October 19–25, 2015. His focus was on small- and medium-sized business and international organizational standards.

Melanie Cohen, an adjunct professor in the business and management program in The Graduate School, has been invited to serve on the editorial review board of the journal Organizational Dynamics beginning January 2016.

Fener Deonarine, who teaches in the business administration program in The Undergraduate School, has been admitted to the Supreme Court Bar. Elizabeth Gondles, an adjunct associate professor in the criminal justice program for The Undergraduate School, in 2015 received the prestigious E. R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award from the American Correctional Association (ACA). The award was presented at a special banquet held during the 145th Congress of Correction in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 18, 2015. The E. R. Cass Award was established in 1962 and is presented “to those men and women who exhibited selflessness and remarkable achievement toward the advancement of ACA, the corrections field, and the community.”

Richard Hough, an adjunct associate professor in the criminal justice program in The Undergraduate School, published (with Kimberly D. McCorkle) American Homicide (SAGE Publications, 2016).

The book combines scholarly research and theory with details about recent cases and coverage of current trends as it examines all types of homicide, with particular attention to the more prevalent types of murder and suspicious deaths in the United States. Hough has conducted more than 100 training seminars, conference presentations, and international briefings on criminal justice issues and serves as the primary instructor for contemporary policing practices and gangs and hate groups at the regional law enforcement academy in Pensacola, Florida. He is a member of the Homicide Research Working Group, the Police Executive Research Forum, the International Homicide Investigators Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Southern Criminal Justice Association, and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Andrew Iserson, who teaches in the

information systems management program in The Undergraduate School, presented “Necessity of Change Management as a Part of Project Management” to the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Project Management Institute on March 23, 2016, in Falls Church, Virginia.

Michelle Jarvie-Eggart, an adjunct pro-

fessor in the environmental management program in The Graduate School, is currently serving a three-year term on the Civil and Environmental Engineering Professional Advisory Committee for Michigan Tech. The Graduate School’s environmental management program advises the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on matters

related to curricula and staffing, focusing on the needs of industry for civil and environmental professionals.

Rana Khan, vice dean for the informa-

tion and technology systems program in The Graduate School, was elected to a three-year term—beginning January 1, 2016—on the Board of Directors of the National Professional Science Master’s Association.

Mary Beth Klinger, who teaches in the business administration program in The Undergraduate School, published (with T. Coffman) “Encouraging Innovation Through Active Learning and Community Building” in Proceedings of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2016 (AACE, 2016). She presented “Encouraging Innovation Through Active Learning and Community Building” at the same conference, in Savannah, Georgia, in March 2016.

Naomi Leventhal, an adjunct professor

in the nonprofit management track of the Master of Science in management program in The Graduate School, published The Changing Work Experience: Building an Anywhere, Anytime Culture (WorldatWork Press, 2015). She frequently writes and speaks on the subject of culture change and the evolution of the 21st-century workplace.

Sharon Levin, program chair for

accounting in The Graduate School, serves as vice president of the Virgin Islands Society of CPAs. She facilitated the first minority scholarship offered by VISCPA, which awarded two $3,000 scholarships the first year.

Mitchell Marovitz, program chair for public relations in The Graduate School, served as president of the Public

WWW.UMUC.EDU | 29 | ACHIEVER

FACULTY KUDOS

Relations Society of America (PRSA) National Capital Chapter in 2015 and is currently chair-elect of the PRSA Mid-Atlantic District. He took office on January 1, 2016.

Laura McWeeney, who teaches in the business administration program in The Undergraduate School, authored an article for the Maryland State Bar Association on administrative issues in the immigration appeal before the United States Supreme Court in the case of United States of America, et al., v. State of Texas, et al. She organized and sponsored “An Evening with Attorney General Brian E. Frosh” for the Maryland Bar Association, December 10, 2015.

Jack Monell, who teaches in the crimi-

nal justice and legal studies program in The Undergraduate School, wrote a chapter (with Denise D. Nation and Dawn X. Henderson), entitled “The Interrelationships of Politicization of School Shootings, Focal Concerns, and Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline Policies,” in the book Critical Examinations of School Violence and Disturbance in K–12 Education (Tiffin University, 2016). The book serves as an authoritative reference source for the latest research on youth violence in schools, analyzing contributing factors and offering possible solutions to prevent future occurrences.

Cynthia Pierre, an adjunct professor in

the business and management program in The Graduate School, received the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award from The George Washington University Trachtenburg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and has been invited to serve on the Trachtenburg School’s Advisory Board. She also participated on a panel at the 2015 Annual NASPAA (Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration) in

Brooklyn, New York, where she discussed “Training the Next Generation of Public Sector Leaders to Lead Inclusive Organizations.” She was named to the Office of Personnel Management’s Qualifications Review Board for the fall quarter of 2015. The board reviews and approves the appointments of Senior Executive Service applicants for all federal agencies.

Dee Preston-Dillon, an adjunct professor in the psychology program in The Undergraduate School, serves as director of the Center for Culture and Sandplay. She presented at the ACA Group Specialist National Conference in Alexandria, Virginia, in February 2015, and will present at the Regional Play Therapy Conference in June 2016.

Claudine SchWeber, assistant pro-

gram chair for doctoral programs in The Graduate School, now serves as a reviewer for the Fulbright Program in a new area—disaster management. She completed two FEMA courses that are required for certification as a Community Emergency Management Team (CERT) member in Montgomery County.

Kathleen Sindell is an adjunct professor and course chair in the finance department in The Undergraduate School. She serves on the board of directors of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) National Capital Area, as a member of the 2016 National FPA BE (Business and Education) Baltimore Task Force, and on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Financial Planning. The author of 12 books, she helped establish UMUC’s CFP (Certified Financial Planner) program. A new book, Social Security: Maximize Your Benefits, 2nd Ed., is due out in 2016.

Robert Smith, an adjunct associate professor who has taught criminal justice

ACHIEVER | 30 | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

courses for both The Undergraduate School and The Graduate School, in January 2016 was elected president of the Washington, D.C., area chapter of the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE). He is also a member of the organization’s board of directors and was instrumental in bringing a daylong training session from IAFIE to UMUC’s Academic Center at Largo in 2015, focused on current trends in educating intelligence analysts and the interface between the intelligence field and academia.

Theo Stone, collegiate professor and

manager of employer industry relations in The Graduate School, presented “Evaluation of Professional Dispositions in Teacher Candidates

by University Field Supervisors at a Distance,” at the 22nd International Conference on Learning in Madrid, Spain, July 2015. The paper—coauthored with former UMUC faculty member Barbara Schwartz-Bechet— was accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal The International Journal of Technologies in Learning.

Stone was also honored recently at the 25th Summer Institute in Nursing Informatics, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. A former faculty member of the University of Maryland School of Nursing in the 1990s, he was recognized for his “leadership in nursing informatics education and the advancement of the field of nursing informatics for the benefit of nurses, patients, and healthcare systems.”

Merrily Stover, professor emerita in

The Undergraduate School, published (with J. Ronch and former UMUC collegiate associate professor and academic director for social science and gerontology Robin Majeski) “Making Asynchronous Online Learning More Learner-Oriented: An Integrated

Conceptual Model with Applications for Course Design and Instruction,” in Educational Gerontology, Vol 42. No. 2 (2016), pp. 109–119. Stover and Majeski also collaborated on an article, “Contemplative Pedagogy in Hybrid and Asynchronous Online Undergraduate Aging Services/Gerontology Courses,” which has been accepted for publication in Gerontology and Geriatrics Education.

Marc Toplin, who teaches in the business administration program in The Undergraduate School, was a featured speaker at the Thales Group Symposium, “Doing Business with the U.S. Government,” in Paris, France, September 15–16, 2015. His presentation was entitled “Strategy Development Within the Framework of U.S. Government Contracts.”

Paul Wang, collegiate professor and

director of the Center for Security Studies in The Graduate School, presented “Threat Intelligence and Risk” at the NSA/DHS Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) Conference and NIST National Initiatives of Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Conference in San Diego, California. He received a travel award from the conference organizer. G

“My wife and I always talk about being examples for our children. After years of studying, I was finally able to achieve that. When I saw the big smile on my son's face at my graduation and when he put my graduation cap on, it almost felt like a glimpse into his future. That was my Moment.”

MIKE KNUTSON BACHELOR OF SCIENCE, CYBERSECURITY

UMUC helps thousands of students find their Moment when they feel

MOMENTS@UMUC.EDU

confident that the knowledge and skills they are gaining make them more valuable to their employers and the path ahead looks brighter.

Be inspired by their journey and inspire others with your own.

Be an inspiration—share your story!

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Your UMUC Alumni Network In today’s global economy, networking is an essential tool for every professional. And that’s where the UMUC Alumni Association comes in. Tap into the power of your alumni community around the globe!

No matter where you are in your career— advancing within your current organization, transitioning to a new field, making plans to start or expand a business, or wrapping up active-duty service and seeking civilian employment—the UMUC Alumni Association can help you expand your professional horizons.

As part of our vast and growing network, you have access to professionals with similar goals and career aspirations—all across the country and in more than 115 countries.

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The UMUC Alumni Association can help you by providing exclusive access to the following: • Networking opportunities. Expand your professional and personal connections by attending UMUC alumni events in your area, participating in alumni webinars, and join ing our social media communities (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and other social sites). Stay on top of alumni news and events in your city and beyond.

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Here’s where you can create and polish your résumé, practice for important interviews, research jobs and companies, and more.

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“As a single mom, I am responsible for everything. Trying to achieve a work-life balance is very challenging at times, but I didn’t let it stop me from pursuing my dreams. At UMUC I learned what I needed to know about starting a company. Starting a nonprofit—that was my Moment.”

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UMUC’s career-relevant programs focus on the needs of today’s workforce, so our students know that they are gaining the skills and knowledge they’ll need to perform well. Whether you’re looking to improve your skills in business, IT, or education, UMUC has a program for you. Find out what a graduate degree from UMUC can do for your career.

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