PROMISE Opening Meeting, Fall 2015 - Friday, Sept. 11

Build Community w/ Faculty, Staff, Postdocs, & Grad Students

Location

On Campus : Game Room, Commons 2nd Floor

Date & Time

September 11, 2015, 4:30 pm6:30 pm

Description

PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP is dedicated to increasing the numbers and diversity of Ph.D.s in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields. PROMISE also provides a strong support system for underrepresented students from all fields, and for all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.  Come out for dinner and connections on Friday, September 11 in the Game Room, 2nd Floor of the Commons. We want to meet you!

Calling faculty, students, and staff from the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS)! We want to meet you and re-connect with you at this event! Calling all in COEIT and CNMS! We hope to see you! Calling all staff in centers and campus offices, please come on out!  LSAMP BD Fellows past and present, Meyerhoff Biomedical Fellows, alumni ... please attend!

We continue to hear many of the same questions:

  • Does UMBC have any other students who went to HBCUs, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, or Native American Universities/Tribal Colleges?
  • In undergrad, I was involved in the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), are there any other NSBE students here? Are there any students from SHPE (the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers)? What about SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicano and Native American Scientists)? 
  • I was a McNair student. Are there others at UMBC?
  • I went to a large university for my undergraduate degree, but I felt isolated and alone. Can I meet other people from underrepresented backgrounds in graduate school? I just want to connect.
  • I came from a small town in the south. Are there any other students from Georgia or North Carolina?
  • Are there any other students from the Caribbean? 
  • I heard that there are only a few graduate students from the African Diaspora, where are they? 
  • I miss being able to hear and speak Spanish. Where are the other students from Puerto Rico, Mexico, or Latin America? 

Even if you have never asked any of these questions, we welcome you ... please come! 


These former UMBC graduate students attended the PROMISE Opening Meeting when they were graduate students. They have since finished their PhDs. L-R: Dr. Violeta Colombo is now teaching in Argentina, Dr. Elisabeth Arevalo-Guerro is teaching in Spain, and Dr. Mileidy Gonzalez (part of the original photo) is now a researcher at the NIH. 



These graduate students met at programs like the PROMISE Summer Success Institute and the PROMISE Opening Meeting. They later represented UMBC at a NSBE conference. Dr. Heather Holden, front left, came back to the 2013 SSI to talk about publishing. She works for ARL in Florida and is the co-editor of a new Information Systems based book.  



If the answer for any one of the questions above is yes ... we have graduate students from these diverse backgrounds and you can meet or re-connect with them at the PROMISE Opening Meeting!



This connection meeting will allow you to meet other students, staff, postdocs, and faculty members who also have similar experiences. Did you know that some of our faculty and staff are also from HBCUs, MSIs (Minority-Serving Institutions) or Latin America, or had the same kinds of experiences that you may be having now? Come out and meet them! We have faculty, postdocs, staff, and graduate students from Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, etc. We have members in our community who went to either undergrad or grad school or taught at Howard, FAMU, NC A&T, and more! We have people who have been active in the National Society of Black Engineers, Society for the Advancement of Chicano and Native American Scientists, the Compact for Faculty Diversity (includes social sciences and education programs), and other organizations that serve the needs of populations that are underrepresented in a variety of disciplines! Come on out and meet peers and mentors!

Dinner will be served. Please feel free to bring your family members, including children. If you are bringing family members, please let us know how many in the comments below. Children of our students always love it when we have programs in the game room!




RSVP today!