The Key, September 2023 Edition

University of Maryland Eastern Shore Continues to Soar in College Rankings

UMES achieves highest-ever ranking in U.S. News & World Report as a top 6 public HBCU and the No. 14 HBCU nationally

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore received its highest ranking ever in the U.S. News & World Report survey of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

U.S. News ranked UMES in the top 10 of public HBCUs (No. 6) and No. 14 overall among 79 HBCUs in the 2023-24 edition. The overall ranking is up two spots from last year’s ranking and is its highest ranking since the publication created the HBCU category in 2007. UMES came in at #200 among all public colleges and universities.

“One great year of rankings does not make a great university,” said Dr. Heidi M. Anderson, UMES President. “But our sustained rise in the rankings indicates that we are on the right trajectory of performance. Our rise in the rankings is a reflection of the quality of our students and faculty and the commitment of our leadership team to sustained excellence,” said Dr. Anderson. “Our goal is to change the lives of our stewards and be wonderful stewards of our community. Achieving this honor is an indication that we’re achieving our goals and continue to soar above and beyond.”

It is the fourth consecutive year under Anderson’s leadership the university has moved up in the highly competitive rankings. It’s also the sixth consecutive year UMES has maintained a Top20 overall HBCU ranking.

UMES made gains in the other listings issued by the publica-

tion as the institution jumped 33 spots to No. 82 in top performers on social ability among national universities and 12 spots to No. 155 in undergraduate engineering programs without a doctorate. The university is also ranked 369th overall among national universities and 403rd in undergraduate business programs.

UMES, Maryland’s only 1890 Land Grant University, is the only HBCU to offer eight health professions programs, producing graduates to combat the health care disparities that exist in rural and medically underserved areas throughout the country.

UMES offers bachelor’s degrees in 38 areas, including such fields of study as engineering, golf management, hospitality studies, kinesiology, marine science education, mathematics, information technology, and humanities. Cybersecurity and pharmaceutical sciences are among 17 master’s degree programs in UMES’ graduate school, which also offers eight doctoral degrees, including pharmacy, physical therapy, and toxicology.

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education recognizes UMES as a “high-research activity” doctoral institution.

U.S. News asks senior administrators – presidents, provosts, deans, and admissions directors – to rate the academic quality of peer institutions. Graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, and student outcomes also factor into the ranking equation.

‘This is a team effort’

Partnerships, collaboration lead to early successes entering new year

projects, including a focus on sustainability initiatives. She also shared information on the completion of a massive IT project centered on improving bandwidth speeds.

“Most of these projects would be something you would do one of in a year, maybe,” she said. “Our team rose to the challenge and they got it done. Our overall campus infrastructure is now up to current standards and can handle the wants and needs of the campus.”

Other reasons for celebration included the announcement of UMES’s third consecutive year of increased new student enrollment. More than 860 fulltime students, including 161 transfer students, enrolled. In all, 930 new students are taking classes at UMES.

“We are now at 2,844 total students enrolled,” said Latoya Jenkins, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience. “Thanks to the hard work of our entire team, this is a bigger incoming class than last year and the largest since 2015.”

It was a celebratory atmosphere on Monday as University of Maryland Eastern Shore President Heidi M. Anderson opened the 2023-24 school year with her annual University Opening Institute event.

And there was a lot to celebrate.

Anderson, now in her sixth year at the helm of UMES, opened the event addressing the mix of new and returning administration, staff, and faculty members about some of the recent accomplishments and upcoming initiatives at the institution geared towards offering students greater opportunities to succeed.

“That’s what our mission is; bringing students in and getting them across the finish line so that they can soar above and beyond,” she said. “We cannot do that without the help of all of you here, and that, to me, is reason enough to celebrate.”

Anderson shared information on some of the highlights focused on expanding the university’s reach, including the announcement of international initiatives such as the CIEE Frederick Douglas Global Scholars Grant, pipeline initiatives such as the NASA MUREP

Program as well as a partnership with Ohio-based Educational Solutions Charter School, legislative initiatives at the federal and state level, and the arrival of the first cohort of the STEM STARS program.

Focusing on academics, Dr. Rondall Allen, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, announced initiatives involving the onboarding of new chairs and faculty, the hiring of new retention specialists for each of the four undergraduate schools, and new academic programs set to begin at this fall, including new online modalities.

Allen also discussed the implementation of a One Stop on call program that offers support to students and their parents to address questions centered on admissions, financial aid, student accounts, and the registrar’s office.

“We want our staff to be able to focus on some of those more complex issues,” he said. “This is what we do best because we’re a family and we are able to get those things done.”

Anastasia Rodriguez, the Vice President of Administration and Finance, presented information on the latest infrastructure, auxiliary, and facilities

The event concluded with featured guest speaker Dr. Mildred Garcia, former president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and incoming president at California State University. In her message, Garcia stressed the importance of serving what she referred to as “the new majority” of students of color; the first in their families to attend college, in order to ensure their success.

“I know I was one of those, as I was a first-generation college student coming from a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn,” she said. “I know you serve these students well. These students, like you, are my North Star. They have been my passion, and they have been my life’s work.”

Anderson said the collaborative nature she has emphasized since her arrival in 2018 has helped UMES achieve its status of being a Top 10 public HBCU.

“This is a team effort. When I came here six years ago, I told everyone, ‘Together in excellence affirming our mission,’” she said. “All the things we’re celebrating and that we do day-in and day-out involves teamwork, and it’s more prevalent today.”

President Heidi M. Anderson and Cabinet: (L-R) Vice President of Enrollment Management & Student Experience, Latoya Jenkins; Dr. Robert Mock, Chief of Staff & Vice President for Strategic Initiatives; Anastasia Rodriguez, Vice President for Administration and Finance; David Balcom, Vice President for University Relations; Dr. Heidi M. Anderson, President; Tara Owens, Vice President of Athletics and Recreation; Dr. Rondall Allen, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; and Matthew Taylor, General Counsel.

continue to push the needle’

New student enrollment numbers increase for the third consecutive year

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore will have a third consecutive year of increased new student enrollment and is on pace to surpass the largest influx of freshmen and transfer students in eight years.

This year’s enrollment totaled 2,844 students, comprised of 2,233 undergraduate students and 611 enrolled in graduate and professional programs. There were 930 new undergraduates, including 717 freshmen.

“We continue to push the needle to welcome in as many students as we’re capable of serving,” said Latoya Jenkins, UMES’s Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience. “I think that ultimately we’ll surpass the largest class we had in 2015, but we still have work to do to ultimately see where we will end up.”

In the fall of 2022, 733 new undergraduate students were enrolled at UMES, which was shy of the 1,011 students who came to Princess Anne at the start of the 2015 school year.

The increased enrollment numbers at UMES are following a national trend which has seen continual new student growth at Historically Black Colleges and Universities since 2020.

The drive to increase enrollment has been one of the initiatives driven by President Heidi M. Anderson since the return to campus following the pandemic. Jenkins said President Anderson challenged them to not only to continue to increase enrollment, but also enhance retention efforts, which has seen a 10 percent uptick.

As part of the mission to raise student enrollment, the admissions and recruitment department has worked on strategies to not only raise awareness of the UMES brand to students and parents, but strengthen connections with stakeholders according to Darryl Isom, Director of Admissions and Recruitment.

“I’ve been here about two years, and when I initially came on board, the determination was that the UMES brand really needed to be defined,” Isom said. “We needed to get a unified message into the community, into our feeder schools, and into the nation of what we really are about, our unique programs, our family atmosphere, and how we have all the resources of a research institution but the feel of a very small liberal arts school and that has really resonated.”

Isom also attributes the gains to the outstanding work of

his admissions and recruitment staff, which continues to expand.

“We’re seeing the benefits of that where our name, our brand, our name recognition is really growing locally as we had to re-penetrate and reinforce our mission locally with our local market, nationally, and even internationally to a certain extent,” he said. “My team has gotten out there and really told the story of UMES and what a really wonderful institution this is. So that has been very instrumental in the pivot that we did initially in terms of our recruiting strategy.”

That recruiting strategy also includes the use of a regional ad campaign through Baltimore-based tbc, Inc., targeting the New York City, Philadelphia, Norfolk, and Atlanta, Salisbury and the Baltimore/Washington D.C. markets. In addition to the campaign, UMES partnered with consulting firms such as Ruffalo Noel Levitz geared to helping UMES create best practices for enrollment management.

Recruiting isn’t the only focus. There is also an emphasis on registering transfer students, which include junior and community college graduates. A total of 161 transfer students enrolled at UMES.

Jenkins said as a result of partnerships with institutions including Wor-Wic Community College, UMES has been able to share its stories and information about the rate of success students with two-year degrees have at the university.

“When students transfer from Wor-Wic to UMES, they do better and graduate in less time to complete their four-year degree,” she said. “That’s not something UMES or Wor-Wic made up, that’s baked in our data from the national clearinghouse.”

As the student population and campus community continues to grow and new academic courses are unveiled such as the new online and continuing education programs, Jenkins said one of the long-term goals is to return enrollment numbers back to pre-pandemic levels, something which is not out of the realm of possibility, but will involve continual progress.

“We have talked about charting the heights of our enrollment that was, in 2017, upwards of the times which we had around 4,000 students,” she said. “I think that coming out of a pandemic and where our institution is, we are poised to grow, but it will take us some time to get back to those numbers.”

‘We

UMES welcomes inaugural cohort of students in STEM STARS program

Ten new Hawks will pursue education in the sciences in program funded by HHMI grant

Written by Tahja Cropper

On Aug. 6, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore welcomed 10 new Hawks as the inaugural cohort for the STEM STARS (Students Achieving Results in Science) program, a program made possible by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Driving Change award. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is one of six universities and the first Historically Black University to receive the $2.5 million grant that is to be dispersed over the next five years. The purpose of Driving Change, launched in 2019, is to “create inclusive environments, promote student success, and recognize the institutional practices and historical context that are barriers to inclusion,” according to the HHMI.

Alleyah Britton (Laurel, Md.), Paul Foster (Accokeek, Md.), Qureyin Wilkinson (Gaithersburg, Md.), Victoria Casteel (Largo, Md.), Emmanuel Johnson III (Gaithersburg, Md.), Eli Ward (Cheltenham, Pa.), Amaris Cary (Baltimore, Md.), Lena Spiller (Oahu, Hawaii), Gilbert Pinkett III (Townsend, Del.), and Makai Martin (Nokesville, Va.) are the students in the inaugural cohort of the STEM STARS program.

The STEM STARS program is a living-learning, cohort model where students immerse themselves into the university’s culture and activities that support collegiate goals. The students’ programs of study include aviation management, biology (pre-med and pre-veterinary science), computer sci-

ence, mechanical engineering, environmental science, and exercise science.

“This is one of the most comprehensive scholarships that we have at UMES,” said Dr. Tiara Cornelius, Executive Director of the STEM STARS program. “It covers nearly everything which is practically unheard of for students who are enrolled in STEM programs and planning to pursue PhDs or MDPhDs (programs that provide training in both medicine and research) in STEM. Our goal is to increase the number of students of color who have PhDs because we represent such a small percentage of people with PhDs overall,” said Dr. Cornelius on the program’s goal and impact for students in STEM. She is also the Chairperson and an Associate Professor in UMES’ Department of Mathematics.

Lena Spiller whose career goal is to become “a captain at a major airline and possibly start a scholarship for aspiring pilots” shared her hopes for her experience in the STEM STARS program saying “With STEM STARS, I am hoping to improve my work ethic and maintain my self-discipline. Through the program’s professional development classes and events, I am

Top Photo: (L-R) Alleyah Britton, Paul Foster, Qureyin Wilkinson, Victoria Casteel, Emmanuel Johnson III, Eli Ward, Amaris Cary, Lena Spiller, Gilbert Pinkett III, and Makai Martin.

hoping to network and become better adapted to the UMES campus. Moreover, my UMES experience should provide me with a glimpse of adult life and a look into my career field. Hopefully, UMES provides me with a support system and strong social connections that I will also take with me as I enter adulthood.”

“Being a part of the first cohort of STEM STARS means I am setting the example. I am the inspiration. And I am that role model that future generations will look up to. As the youngest child, this is contrary to what I am used to, nonetheless a learning experience that will only allow me to grow,” said Spiller.

President Heidi M. Anderson commended the inaugural cohort on their new status as she cited her experience in a similar summer program. “You are special because you are the first cohort. This is a special program and you are going to help us soar above and beyond,” Anderson said.

The program is a welcome addition to the institution, which has awarded 60 percent of its degrees in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math in the last several years. UMES, a Carnegie R2 doctoral research university, also has the most healthcare professions programs of any HBCU with eight, which also contributes to its STEM success.

“Once I got the scholarship for the STEM STARS program and I found out about the activities and the path we’d be blazing, I was 100 percent onboard,” said Emmanuel Johnson III who will be studying exercise science at UMES.

“I’ve always played sports so I was always interested in sports medicine. I also like helping people so physical therapy

is something I’d like to do and with exercise science, I can go into that field,” Johnson said about his career goals.

“The STEM STARS program at UMES is a monumental opportunity to help drive change in STEM and exemplify the power of the UMES education and experience. We anticipate being a part of our student’s villages to help them achieve their educational goals and aiding them in helping to meet the needs of society through the sciences, soaring above and beyond,” Dr. Anderson said on her vision for the program’s impact.

Photos by Joey Gardner

As the inaugural cohort, the STEM STARS students participated in a team building exercise during the orientation event in the new School of Pharmacy and Health Professions building.

The inaugural cohort of new Hawks in the STEM STARS program were welcomed by President Heidi M. Anderson (center) and members of her cabinet including (L-R) Anastasia Rodriguez (Vice President of Administration and Finance), Dr. Robert Mock (Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff), Dr. Rondall Allen (Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs), and Latoya Jenkins (Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience.)

FOUNDERS’ WEEK

Formerly known as Princess Anne Academy and Maryland State College, the university was founded on Sept. 13, 1886 in Princess Anne, Md.

Members of the Gospel Choir perform the alma mater during the Founders’ Day wreath laying event.

Mr. UMES, Quinton Smith, Miss UMES, Mya Woods, and President Heidi M. Anderson, stand with in front of the cemetery where the ceremonial wreath was placed during Founders’ Day Activities.

Dr. Penny Brown-Reynolds addresses the audience during a keynote speaker event on September 12 in the SSC Ballroom.

Dr. Kathryn Barrett-Gaines (center) talks to students who attended the Ghost Tour on September 13.

(L-R) Kyle Patterson, Public Art Manager for the Maryland State Arts Council; Liesel Fenner, Program Director for Public Art for the Maryland State Arts Council; President Heidi M. Anderson, Dr. Rondall Allen, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Sean Vasaitis, Dean of the School of Pharmacy & Health Professions; and artist Ayokunle Odeyele pose in front of the new statue titled, “The Family,” in front of the School of Pharmacy & Health Professions Building.

DONOR DINNER

A donor recognition dinner was held on September 14 in the Student Services Center Ballroom.

President Heidi M. Anderson addresses the audience during the Donor Recognition Dinner in the Student Services Center Ballroom.

Sophomore Jordan Conway shares her testimonial about her family connection to UMES and its impact on her and her family.

Members of UMES’s Imperial Court, led by Miss UMES, Mya Woods and Mr. UMES, Quinton Smith line up for a processional.

The UMES Gospel Choir performs one of their pieces, “Rise Up.”

Maryland State College alum Willie Baker accepts the Alumni Legacy Award with a speech.

(L-R) “Soaring Above and Beyond” campaign co-chairs Willie Baker and Tina Wilson discuss the mission of the fundraising initiative.

UMES WELCOMES THE CLASS OF 2027

At the start of the fall 2023 semester, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore enrolled the largest freshman class since 2015 totaling 717 students.

Elizabeth Odusanya (second from right; biochemistry) and her family were all smiles on Move-In Day after arriving from Chicago, Ill.

Jeronimo Canonero of Abingdon, Md. will be studying environmental science (marine biology).

Donald Meredith of Baltimore, Md. (aviation science – pilot) had his dad’s assistance on Move-In Day.

Students (L-R) Jeffrey Assamoah and Naseem Hammond assisted with moving efforts on Move-In Day.

in business.

It’s a family affair! William Patterson (center, black shirt) is returning to campus as a freshman on Move-In Day 2023. Patterson was three weeks old when his mother (right, gray shirt) brought his sister, 2009 alumna Cortia Reaves (kneeling), to campus for her freshman year. The Newark, N.J. native is majoring in business.

President Heidi M. Anderson welcomed Mekai Jenkins to the Hawk family during Move-In Day. Jenkins, his mother, his grandparents, and President Anderson look forward to recreating this photo at commencement as Mekai is majoring in sports management.

With assistance from her dad on Move-In Day, Eva Parker of Philadelphia, Pa. is prepared to begin her biology (pre-med) studies.

(L-R) Karl Reece and John Chin, the grandfather and stepfather of Gabrielle LaCroix (sociology), were present on Move-In Day.

Lamont Joynes of Salisbury, Md. had help from his family on Move-In Day. Joynes is majoring

In his career in radio, Peter Solomon has two passions – his love for jazz music and a penchant for utilizing the medium to tell captivating stories.

Solomon, who was the on-air host and music director for Delmarva Public Media, received high praise for his storytelling prowess in addition to the DPM staff as they took home 13 Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association Awards, including “Best in Show,” at the annual event held in Ocean City earlier this summer. Solomon won first place for best specialty reporting for his series on last year’s National Folk Festival.

“It’s nice to get recognition and it’s recognition from a group of peer journalists,” said Solomon, who left WESM in August to take a position at public radio station KBEM in Minneapolis. “I think it’s very meaningful and encouraging of the work that we’re doing.”

Solomon’s series featured four profiles of performers that included Irish-American violinist Eileen Ivers, the Ukrainian folk ensemble Gerdan, the sacred steel guitar gospel band The Campbell Brothers, and Chincoteague cigar box guitar maker Stan Opiel, providing an eclectic array of backgrounds and biographies.

So, how did Solomon narrow down his selection of clips to submit to the judging committee? The answer was a simple one.

“I’ll be honest with you … I didn’t realize my stuff was being submitted,” Solomon said with a laugh. “But it was a determination that our director of production and operations, Bryan Russo, and also our news director, Don Rush, made to enter the pieces. They felt that they were worth submitting to the AP Awards.”

Rush, who himself took home five awards in the categories of best enterprise reporting, outstanding serious feature, and outstanding use of sound, said Solomon’s entries enabled

listeners to get a better understanding of the subject matter.

“When you think about the audio version of the medium, it’s about capturing the essence of who the people are and that’s what really shines beyond everything else,” he said. “When you hear these people talk about the music, you can hear that enthusiasm and passion in their voice, and I think that’s what captures it the best.”

Rush said stories like Solomon’s and others are things that are crucial in helping Delmarva Public Media shift to create long-term success in serving the community.

“We try to cover stories and do material that is important to the medium, that’s the important thing,” he said. “In those four minutes we have daily and the hour we have on Fridays we try to dig into the meaning of the story and what it means to the community and to the people as well.”

Solomon, who said he never felt constricted telling stories with only sound, said that in the process of creating the stories, he wanted to match the legacy of storytelling heard on National Public Radio, from which Delmarva Public Media relays programming.

“While I was doing those pieces, I was very cognizant of how am I going to tell this story not only with the words but the sounds that accompany each of these stories,” he said. “I love telling stories with sound, and I think it’s a medium you can tell a story just as well in sound as you can with words or as you can in pictures.”

‘It’s about capturing the essence’ WESM’s Peter Solomon earns first place at Chesapeake AP Awards

Photo: Peter Solomon, the former on-air host and music producer for WESM and Delmarva Public Media, holds his first-place award from the Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcaster’s Association for “Best Specialty Reporting,” based on his collection of audio profiles previewing the 2022 National Folk Festival. Solomon left WESM and Delmarva Public Media on Aug. 11 to take a position at public radio station KBEM in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

UMES Scholar-Athletes Excel in the Classroom

In true Hawks fashion, UMES Scholar-Athletes finished the semester strong in the classroom. Out of 200 scholar-athletes, more than 50 percent % carried a GPA of 3.0 or above. Many of them in STEM-related fields: 15 had a 4.0 GPA and 40 earned a GPA of 3.5 and above. Overall in the spring semester, they accumulated a higher average GPA the general student population, a feat even more impressive when you factor in that many of them are in STEM majors.

Here is a breakdown of UMES student-athletes’ academic performances from the 2022-2023 academic year are as follows:

University of Maryland Eastern Shore Receives $100,000 AASP Grant

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore received $100,000 to enhance academic certification and other academically related endeavors within the department to increase resources for student-athletes. UMES is one of 11 Division I institutions to receive the Association for Applied Sports Psychology (AASP) grant for the 2023-2024 season.

“This grant will immediately support our incoming freshman cohort, while also adding additional on-campus resources to help us meet our goal of providing student-athletes with the support services they need to have a holistic academic experience,” Tara A. Owens, Vice President of Athletics & Recreation said.

Established in 2012, the AASP assists Division I schools as they work to meet the NCAA academic standards. Over $1 million in AASP grants are awarded annually to colleges and universities to support the academic success of student-ath-

letes and increase graduation rates.

The grants support school efforts to meet the requirements of the Division I Academic Performance Program, which ensures that student-athletes have access to an environment that promotes academic success.

Funding may be used in a variety of ways, including academic facility enhancements, technology upgrades, professional development programming for staff, tutoring resources and student-athlete career development opportunities.

“As a former AASP committee member, I know firsthand how transformational the AASP grant is in bolstering the academic success of student-athletes” UMES Deputy Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator Alisha Tucker said. “I’m grateful for the support of UMES President Dr. Heidi Anderson and VP for Athletics Tara Owens as we pursued this funding. I commend the NCAA for believing in the vision we put forward in our grant request as we continue to position our student-athletes to succeed in the classroom.”

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Bowling team had a cumulative GPA of 3.42, one of the highest cumulative scores in the UMES athletics program.

Princess Anne, MD 21853

Henry, Logan selected as 2023 White House HBCU Scholars

Students will represent UMES at 2023 National HBCU Week Conference

Congratulations Brittney Henry and Khamara Logan! They will represent the University of Maryland Eastern Shore as 2023 HBCU Scholars through the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Henry (top) is studying pharmacy. Logan (bottom) is a junior Human Ecology major (fashion merchandising concentration).

As participants, Henry and Logan will serve as ambassadors of the White House Initiative on HBCUs and will receive training and cross-university networking opportunities. Henry and Logan will also have an opportunity to work on issues specifically related to the HBCU community and participate in national and regional events with professionals from a wide range of disciplines. The two students were also invited to the 2023 National HBCU Week Conference, in Arlington, Virginia which took place this month.

“Having our students be recognized and have the opportunity to participate in this prestigious program through the White House is a testament of what HBCUs can accomplish,” said UMES President Heidi M. Anderson. “I know that they will utilize this experience to show that we Hawks can truly soar to great heights.”