UMGC Achiever Magazine 2020

ACHIEVER

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GLOBAL CAMPUS | 2020

Our Name Has Changed.

Our Mission Endures.

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MESSAGE FR O M T HE P R E S I DE N T Dear Friend: FOR ALMOST 50 YEARS, BEGINNING IN 1970, MARYLAND’S LARGEST UNIVERSITY—and the premier provider of education to military students worldwide—was known as University of Maryland University College (UMUC).

It was a fitting name, borrowed from British usage to indicate a college that carries a university’s academic programs beyond its walls and outside of normal class times.

As UMUC sought to expand nationally, it became clear that its name had become a source of puzzlement, its roots lost to history.

That all changed on July 1, 2019, when Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed legislation changing the name of our institution to University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC).

It was a historic step and a fitting one, communicating both our global footprint and status as a respected state university.

In this issue of Achiever, we are proud to tell that and other stories—about “The Lone Rangers,” solitary UMGC staffers who support military students, often in remote locations; about a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cuba for the XIII Bienal de La Habana; about our first-of-its-kind partnership with Amazon; and more.

You will find an in-depth interview with UMGC Senior Vice President of Global Military Operations Maj. Gen. Lloyd “Milo” Miles (U.S. Army, Ret.), who shares his unique perspective on the evolving role of higher education in the U.S. military, along with news of a comprehensive administrative realignment that replaces our graduate and undergraduate schools with new schools of arts and sciences, business, and cybersecurity and information technology, each offering undergraduate and graduate coursework.

And of course we are always pleased to highlight the many accomplishments of our distinguished faculty and alumni in Faculty Kudos and Class Notes, respectively.

I hope you are as proud as I am of this issue of Achiever and the many milestones—personal and institutional alike— highlighted within, and I hope you enjoy the new look of our cover and layout that better reflects our new brand.

I thank you, as always, for your interest and belief in our university and our mission.

Sincerely,

Javier Miyares President University of Maryland Global Campus ACHIEVER | 2 | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GLOBAL CAMPUS

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T A B LE OF C ONT E NT S FEATURES 8

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THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GLOBAL CAMPUS

THE LONE RANGERS

BY GIL KLEIN Maryland’s largest university changed its name July 1, 2019. This is the story.

NEWS AND UPDATES

BY GIL KLEIN

2 UMGC Partners with Amazon to Offer IT Courses to Hourly Employees

At dozens of locations worldwide, a lone UMGC staffer wears multiple hats while helping military students continue their studies.

2 Military Leaders Honored and Historic Milestones Commemorated on November 11 3 Seven Caregivers Earn Pillars of Strength Scholarships in 2019 3 UMGC Realigns Its Academic Operations Under Three New Schools 4 “Cultural Traditions Unbounded” Highlights Work of Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan 4 UMGC Says Aloha to First Civilian Location in Hawaii 5 Distinguished Administrators Honored at OMA Reunion

14 ART. FREEDOM. CUBA.

BY CAROLE C. MAHONEY The UMGC Arts Program visits Cuba for the XIII Bienal de La Habana.

36 TEACHING AND SERVING A conversation with UMGC Senior Vice President of Global Military Operations Maj. Gen. Lloyd “Milo” Miles (U.S. Army, Ret.).

5 The Kalb Report Welcomes Michael Collins, Cokie Roberts 6 UMGC Journalist-in-Residence Michael Freedman Elected President of National Press Club 7 Mary Ellen Schmider Presents Fulbright to Germany’s Angela Merkel

BACK OF THE BOOK 42 CLASS NOTES 48 FACULTY KUDOS 51 Ethics Takes Center Stage

at Big Data and Analytics Education Conference

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NEWS UP D A T E S PRESIDENT Javier Miyares SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, JOURNALIST-IN-RESIDENCE, AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Freedman

UMGC Partners with Amazon to Offer IT Courses to Hourly Employees

EDITOR Chip Cassano

University of Maryland Global Campus, the nation’s largest online public university, formed a groundbreaking partnership with Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the country, to serve as the company’s premier online education partner for hourly employees who wish to advance their IT skills and pursue IT industry certifications or associate degrees in IT-related fields.

ART DIRECTOR AND PHOTO EDITOR Cynthia Friedman CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gil Klein, Carole Mahoney PRODUCTION MANAGER Scott Eury Call 301-985-7200 with comments and suggestions, or e-mail chip.cassano@umgc.edu.

University of Maryland Global Campus subscribes to a policy of equal education and ­ employment opportunities.

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The initiative, which officially launches in January 2020, is part of Amazon’s Career Choice Program, under which Amazon will pay up to 95 percent of tuition and fees for hourly employees to receive training and education in high-demand areas. The stated goal of the program is to assist hourly employees in moving on to higher paying, more advanced positions outside of the company.

Most eligible employees work in one of the more than 110 Amazon fulfillment centers nationwide. They will be able to pursue an associate degree in general studies, choosing among four tracks designed to lead to a position as either a computer user support specialist, an information security analyst, a network technician, or a Web developer.

Many of the UMGC courses also prepare students for industry certification exams, such as CompTIA A++,

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CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Cisco CCNA, and Linux+. And because the courses are offered online and are fully “stackable,” students can study anywhere in the world and can later transfer seamlessly into a UMGC bachelor’s degree program if they so choose.

Said UMGC President Javier Miyares, ”This unique relationship allows us to combine the university’s strengths—quality academic programs in IT that are offered online; a robust, customer-centric career services operation . . . ; and an academic support system that is geared toward the unique challenges of working adults— with Amazon’s commitment to improving the lives and career potential of its hourly workforce around the country.”

Military Leaders Honored and Historic Milestones Commemorated on November 11 UMGC President Javier Miyares bestowed the President’s Medal—the university’s highest honor—on two distinguished

Vice Adm. Ross A. Myers

military leaders at a special Veterans Day ceremony in the John W. Vessey Jr. Ballroom of the university’s conference center in Adelphi, Maryland, on November 11, 2019.

The ceremony also commemorated two historic milestones— the 75th anniversary of the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the GI Bill, and the 70th anniversary of the launch of UMGC’s overseas operations, when seven pioneering University of Maryland faculty members flew to Germany on short notice to teach American military servicemembers stationed in postwar Europe.

Vice Adm. Ross A. Myers, U.S. Navy, deputy commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, and

UMGC President Javier Miyares (left) is joined (from left to right)

by Maj. Gen. Linda L. Singh, Master Sgt. Marie L. Villegas, Maj. Gen. Lloyd “Milo” Miles, Col. Keith Hauk, and Vice Adm. Ross A. Myers at a special Veterans Day ceremony on November 11.

Seven Caregivers Earn Pillars of Strength Scholarships in 2019

and Maj. Gen. Linda L. Singh (U.S. Army, Ret.), chief executive of Kaleidoscope Affect LLC, each received the President’s Medal during the ceremony.

Both Vice Adm. Ross and Maj. Gen. Singh offered keynote remarks, with the entire event livestreamed worldwide by the university’s media partner, ConnectingVets.com.

Maj. Gen. Linda L. Singh

Myers, a career aircraft carrier naval aviator, has comanded at all levels of naval aviation, including squadron, fleet replacement squadron, air wing, and carrier strike group.

He has flown more than 4,600 hours in more than 17 types of aircraft and landed on more than 15 different carriers. After numerous shore and staff tours and several joint assignments, he became the deputy commander at Headquarters, U.S. Cyber Command, in May 2019.

Singh served in the Maryland National Guard for more than

Master Sgt. Marie L. Villegas

Seven volunteer caregivers of wounded military service members were granted Pillars of Strength scholarships at a special awards ceremony at the MGM National Harbor resort in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on June 27, 2019.

Sonia Yulfo, who works with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation—a voice for wounded veterans and their families—spoke on behalf of this year’s scholarship recipients and said she hopes to use her scholarship to complete a degree in psychology to help other disabled veterans alliance with the National Military Family and family members.

Association and University of Maryland She was barely out of her teens when her Global Campus (UMGC). The scholarships go father, Army Sgt. First Class Luciano Yulfo, to the caregivers of wounded veterans and returned from Afghanistan with severe cover the cost of a full degree at UMGC. wounds to his left leg, a traumatic brain Richard F. Blewitt, CEO of the Blewitt injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Foundation and creator of the Pillars of Yulfio dropped out of college to help out as Strength scholarship program, said that a her father underwent extensive treatment total of 29 caregivers have now been affordat Walter Reed National Military Medical ed the opportunity to advance their educaCenter in Bethesda, Maryland. tion, and four already have earned degrees.

“Early on in his recovery, a nurse pulled “We found that caregivers me aside and said my dad for our wounded veterans needed help, and it wasn’t receive little or no educational the help that a medical team benefits,” he said, explaining could provide,” Yulfo said. how the program began in “Since I was the only child, 2012. “We focused on providing it was on me. I realized how full scholarships from a leadmuch my dad needed me. ing university [that could offer] For 20-plus years he had online capabilities with a taken care of me. Now it was history of working with the my turn to take care of him.” military and veterans.” G Pillars of Strength scholarScholarship recipients _________________________________ ships are made possible by Corie Bellucci, Sonia Yulfo, For more, visit and Deborah Elliott.

The Blewitt Foundation in umgc.edu/pillarsofstrength.

38 years and, as adjutant general and cabinet secretary, was responsible for the Maryland Military Department. She is founder and chief executive officer of Kaleidoscope Affect LLC; mentors, coaches, and speaks on leadership, diversity, adversity, and career transition; and is the author of Moments of Choice: My Path to Leadership and What’s in Your Box.

Master Sgt. Marie L. Villegas (U.S. Air Force, Ret.) received the General John W. Vessey Jr. Student Veteran of the Year Award. A 20-year veteran who served both stateside and overseas, specializing in diet therapy, she currently supports the Defense Intelligence Agency as an information technology project manager and is pursuing an MBA at UMGC.

UMGC Realigns Its Academic Operations Under Three New Schools Effective January 4, 2020, UMGC’s academic operations will be administratively realigned under three new schools—each offering both undergraduate- and graduate-level coursework—that will replace

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UMGC’s Graduate School and Undergraduate School.

• The new School of Arts and Sciences will be led by Dr. Kara Van Dam, previously dean of The Undergraduate School; • The School of Business will be led by Dr. Bryan Booth, previously vice dean of Doctoral Programs; and • The School of Cybersecurity and Information Technology will be led by Dr. Douglas Harrison, who served most recently as acting vice provost and dean of The Graduate School.

The realignment is designed to position UMGC to better respond to the shifting needs of adult learners and will also reorganize the various operations within Academic Affairs under four departments: the Office of the Deputy Chief Academic Officer, Student Affairs, Academic Operations, and Academic Quality.

Dr. Peter Smith, UMGC’s interim senior vice president and chief academic officer, called the move a “reboot,” adding, “It’s not downsizing or upsizing, but creating an academic structure and student-support structure that, given the technology or opportunity of the moment, will let us respond more quickly to the emerging universe of need.”

The end result, Smith said, will be a university that is “more agile, more accountable, and more consistent in its attainment of quality.”

Cultural Traditions Unbounded Highlights Work of Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan The UMGC Arts Program hosted an opening reception May 8,

(Top) A Quiet Memory 6; (below left) Breath of Nature; (below right) UMGC President Javier Miyares (left) with Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

blending childhood memories of rural Korea with more immediate images of Maryland, cherry blossoms, and seascapes from the Eastern Shore.” He added, “They also underscore an important point: that art serves as a universal language and a symbol of our shared experience, affirming our desire to discover and create, to learn and to grow.”

UMGC Says Aloha to First Civilian Location in Hawaii

2019, for a special exhibition, Cultural Traditions Unbounded, highlighting the work of Maryland’s First Lady, Yumi Hogan. Hogan’s husband, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, and Dong-gi Kim, minister and consul-general at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, were among the honored guests.

Hogan—her official responsibilities notwithstanding—is an active and prolific Maryland artist, working in sumi ink, acrylic, and Asian pigments, and teaching Chinese brush painting at her undergraduate alma mater, the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is also an advocate and supporter of art therapy through her nonprofit Yumi C.A.R.E.S Foundation.

UMGC President Javier

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Miyares described Hogan’s artistic vision as “uniquely American” and her works as “beautiful and often ethereal,

UMGC celebrated the grand opening of its first civilian location in Hawaii—UMGC at Pearl City—with a ribboncutting ceremony on October 24, 2019.

UMGC has been serving the military and veteran community in Hawaii since 2005, offering academic advising services to students at military sites on Oahu. The new location, which

UMGC President Javier Miyares (center) joins visiting members of the Overseas Marylanders Association in Adelphi, Maryland, June 2019.

For the latest news and updates about UMUC, visit the Global Media Center at globalmedia.umgc.edu.

is located off the H2 freeway and convenient to Joint Base Hickam-Pearl, is open to prospective and current students alike, hosts four staff members, and offers a full suite of services, including enrollment and advising support and hybrid course instruction.

The location includes a large, high-tech classroom that can accommodate 20 students, and the first hybrid classes began on October 21, 2019.

UMGC has also recently partnered with the USO in Hawaii to help them continue to provide free services to servicemembers and their dependents based in Hawaii.

Distinguished Administrators Honored at OMA Reunion UMGC President Javier Miyares presented a “State of the University” address and recognized four former heads of the university’s overseas divisions at a reunion of the independent Overseas Marylanders Association (OMA) in Adelphi, Maryland, June 21–22, 2019.

UMGC Vice President and Director for UMGC Europe Tony Cho (bottom left) joins with staff members to commemorate UMGC Europe’s 70th anniversary.

Miyares conferred the honorary title of Vice President Emerita, Overseas Programs, on Joe Arden, John Golembe, Julian Jones, and Paula Harbecke.

Arden was hired as a faculty member in 1967 and went

on to head both the Asia and Europe divisions during a 40-year UMGC career.

Golembe joined UMGC overseas as a librarian in 1978 and held positions including director of UMGC Europe

from 2004 to 2006. Jones spent 28 years at UMGC as a faculty member and head of the Asia Division. And Harbecke served as a faculty member and head of both the Europe and Asia divisions during a 20-year career with UMGC. In his remarks, Miyares noted the administrative and logistical challenges of getting faculty and resources where they were needed, worldwide, and cited the four honorees for “longstanding meritorious service and leadership in support of the public mission of University of Maryland Global Campus.”

The Kalb Report Welcomes Michael Collins, Cokie Roberts The Kalb Report celebrated its 25th season in 2019 and host Marvin Kalb welcomed Apollo 11 astronaut and command

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module pilot Michael Collins and veteran newswoman Cokie Roberts to two historic episodes of the series on April 1 and April 15, 2019, respectively.

Collins, 88, talked about his epic flight 50 years earlier and how he was captivated more by looking back at planet Earth than ahead to the approaching moon.

“I don’t know why, but I felt that I was looking at something fragile,” he said, noting the beauty of the planet and its lack of

Host Marvin Kalb interviews (above right) newswoman Cokie Roberts and (above) astronaut Michael Collins.

borders. “I felt like I was seeing [it] for the first time.”

An advocate of continued space exploration, Collins conceded that sending a human to Mars might still be more than 20 years in the future, but believes the effort comes with its own reward.

“Exploration is a large part of who we are,” he said. “I don’t want to live with a lid over my head. It’s something within us.

People in general want to go and touch and see.”

Roberts, a mainstay of National Public Radio since 1978 and of ABC News since 1988, discussed democracy, politics, and the press as she looked back on

George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, Harvard's Shorenstein Center, and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at University of Maryland, College Park.

The series is underwritten by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

UMGC Journalistin-Residence Michael Freedman Elected President of National Press Club

a career that has spanned more than 40 years and led to her being named a “living legend” by the Library of Congress.

Discussing divisiveness in politics, she noted that, following World War II, many legislators had “literally been in foxholes together,” so many “... had this sense that the enemy was not the guy across the aisle, but the dictator across the sea.”

That changed with the end of the Cold War, and the ensuing periods of economic and social turmoil left large parts of the population wishing for a return to “the good old days.”

Turning to the current debates about sexual harassment in business and politics, Roberts described how much the environment has changed since she first launched her career.

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“At that point, you had men saying to you, ‘We don’t hire women to do that,’ with their hands on your knee.” She went UMGC Senior Vice President on to note how many overlook Michael Freedman—the the impact of the 1964 Civil university’s journalist-inRights Act, which prohibited residence and executive employment discrimination producer of The Kalb Report— based on race, religion, national was elected the 113th origin, and color. Thanks to the president of the National efforts of Rep. Martha Griffiths Press Club on December 6, (D-Mich.) and Margaret Chase 2019, in Washington, D.C. He Smith (R-Me.), “sex” was added will take office in January 2020 to the list. and serve a one-year term.

“That’s what changed employ In a career spanning more ment for women in America,” than 35 years, Freedman has Roberts said. She recalled sitting served as general manager next to a senator at a head table of CBS Radio Network, vice during an event and having him president and managing ediplace his hand on her knee. tor for the broadcast division “I picked it up, put it on the table, and said, ‘I think this belongs to you.’

It was so blatant, and the discrimination was so blatant. So honestly, we cared less about the harassment than we did about the discrimination.

Give us the job, and we will escape you.”

The Kalb Report is a series of forums on ethics and excellence in journalism co-produced by the National Press Club Journalism Institute, University of Maryland Global Campus, the Michael Freedman

of United Press International, and a vice president and professor of journalism at The George Washington University. He joined UMGC in 2012 as senior vice president for communications and professor of the practice.

For the past 25 years he has served as executive producer of the award-winning public broadcasting series The Kalb Report with Marvin Kalb.

He and his teams have won more than 85 honors, including 14 Edward R. Murrow Awards, and he is co-author of The Broadcast Voice Handbook; a contributing writer for Broadcasting Through Crisis, The Encyclopedia of Journalism, and Responsible Journalism; and a contributor to Cronkite,

by David Brinkley.

In his acceptance speech, Freedman acknowledged the challenges facing journalism and pledged to continue the National Press Club’s efforts to protect freedom of the press.

“At the National Press Club, we protect press freedom, we protect reporters around the world, and today we must also protect the reputation of journalism,” Freedman said in his acceptance speech.

“Today we live in a digital world . . . one in which we have more information at our fingertips than perhaps even Ed Murrow could have imagined. At the same time, readers, listeners, and viewers on all platforms are asking, ‘Whom do you trust?’

“The National Press Club is an indispensable platform to educate, inspire, empower, and protect. I ask tonight that we join together over the next year to use it to those ends.”

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Freedman is a graduate of

(Left to right) UMGC’s Mary Ellen Schmider; Manfred Philipp, of the Fulbright Association Board of Directors; Germany’s Angela Merkel; and journalist Christiane Amanpour.

Wayne State University and served for 15 years as a reporter, sportscaster, anchor, and news director in Detroit radio before moving with his family to Washington, D.C. _______________________________ Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists. Headquartered on the top floor of the National Press Building, just two blocks from the White House, the club serves members with professional development and networking events and advocates on behalf of journalists and press freedom worldwide.

Mary Ellen Schmider Presents Fulbright to Germany’s Angela Merkel Dr. Mary Ellen Heian Schmider, a UMGC adjunct professor of history and women’s studies, presented Chancellor Angela Merkel with the 2018 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding in Berlin on January 28, 2019.

Schmider is herself the recipient of two Senior Fulbright Lecturer Awards, a former executive director of the Fulbright Association, and the current chair of the Fulbright Prize Committee.

She co-presented the prize with former Fulbright Association President Manfred Philipp.

Established in 1993, the prize recognizes exceptional contributions toward fostering greater understanding of others among people, cultures, or nations. In her introductory remarks, Schmider noted that Merkel received the award, in part, for her compassionate leadership, mutual understanding, international cooperation, and efforts toward peace.

She added, “Chancellor Merkel has embodied the best of leadership from the start, and she has continued to operate within her values as they are tested anew with the unremitting challenges and crises of our time.” G

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THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF

University of Maryland Global Campus For almost 50 years, the largest university in Maryland was known as University of Maryland University College.

That all changed on July 1, 2019.

This is how it happened.

BY GIL KLEIN

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On April 19, 2019, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed legislation changing one of the more distinctive—and, some might say, confusing—names in all of higher education.

Effective July 1, the institution known since 1970 as University of Maryland University College became University of Maryland Global Campus.

It was a historic milestone, and reaching it took nearly two years of work. The full transition—at a university that spans the globe, with some 90,000 students, 240,000 alumni, and a vast online footprint—is expected to take many more months.

It is well worth the effort.

“This name change opens the door for the next chapter in the history of our university,” said President Javier Miyares. “We have always been in the forefront of

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1980s

1990s

1996

2015

2018

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higher education innovation—from the dawn of adult learning, to sending professors around the world to educate our military, to pioneering online education.

This name change will help us expand our global reach.”

The story of how it came about is one that is unique in Maryland and in higher education.

It began at the University of Maryland, following World War II, as returning veterans—seeking to take advantage of the GI Bill to advance their educations and their careers—enrolled in record numbers, nearly doubling headcounts on the campuses in both College Park and Baltimore.

Realizing that it needed to expand capacity while also responding to the unique needs of these adult learners, the university created a College of Special and Continuation Studies (CSCS) in 1947 that offered the flexibility of off-campus classes that fit into the schedules of working students.

The new college served other purposes, as well. It became the home of the College of Military Science and Tactics, which had been established in 1944 to meet the needs of the military. And it helped satisfy the needs and demands of the increasing number of African American students who were still barred by segregation from taking classes on state campuses.

The CSCS program was an immediate success, offering more than 250 courses at 27 off-campus centers in its first two years and enrolling a total of 4,391 students.

(By comparison, prior to the end of World War II, the campuses in College Park and Baltimore together only enrolled some 6,000.)

In 1949, CSCS answered a call from the U.S. Defense Department to offer courses at military bases in Europe.

By 1956, it had expanded its overseas operations to bases

“

This name change opens the door for the next chapter in the history of our university,” said President Javier Miyares.

“We have always been in the forefront of higher education innovation—from the dawn of adult learning, to sending professors around the world to educate our military, to pioneering online education. This name change will help us expand our global reach.”

(Seated, left to right) Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller, Gov. Larry Hogan, and Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Jones sign a bill changing UMGC’s name as President Javier Miyares (standing, second from left) and other UMGC officials look on.

in Asia and would later even follow U.S. troops into the Vietnam War. It had become a truly global operation, wedded to the U.S. military’s needs to provide advanced education to active service personnel.

In 1959, Dean Ray Ehrensberger convinced the Board of Regents to change the rather cumbersome “College of Special and Continuation Studies” to a much simpler name: “University College.”

Ehrensberger borrowed the term from British usage.

A “university college” was a college inside of a university that offered all academic programs to locations beyond the university’s walls and outside of normal class time.

By the 1960s, University College was not only growing in size, but also becoming increasingly independent of the University of Maryland’s other programs and facilities. By changing its name, the institution sought to establish a more distinct identity.

Thus, it only made sense that, in 1970, University College would become an independent state institution, accredited as University of Maryland University College.

Unfortunately, except for those with knowledge of British academic traditions, the name’s roots were soon lost to history.

In fact, Senior Vice President and Chief Enrollment and Marketing Officer Erika Orris admits that she was mystified by the name when she was hired in March 2016.

“When I was recruited, I didn’t understand what UMUC was,” she said. “If it was that confusing to me, having worked in academia for as long as I have, I wondered what it is like for students and the general public?”

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“

Ehrensberger borrowed the term from British usage. A “university college” was a college inside of a university that offered all academic programs to locations beyond the university’s walls and outside of normal class time.

EUROPE 1950s

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At the same time, UMGC had set a new goal of expanding its operations both locally and nationally. Its size and record of growth had allowed the university to keep tuition low, but it was facing increasing competition from for-profit and large state universities alike.

Despite being responsible for marketing and branding, Orris couldn’t simply move to change the name on her own, and when she raised the issue to UMGC President Javier Miyares, he authorized her to hire a research firm to conduct qualitative and quantitative studies nationwide. The results were eye-opening—and deeply concerning.

“In every single survey, the result was that our name was a barrier—even in Maryland,” Orris said.

“There was brand confusion. What does University of Maryland University College mean? Are we just trying to be the University of Maryland? Are we a for-profit trying to pretend we are a state university? And there were nasty comments: ‘That’s a stupid name,’ came up multiple times. People just heard the name and laughed.”

After the first focus group, Orris texted Miyares: “This is worse than I thought.”

Initially, Miyares thought it unlikely that we could secure approval to change the name, Orris said. But the feedback from the focus groups was so negative that he recognized that if the university was going to compete nationally, the name had to change.

But to what?

Again, research led the way, and seven prospective names were developed and tested with focus groups.

Each intended to communicate the university’s global presence. One—University of Maryland Universal Campus—was designed to keep the UMUC acronym, but met with a lackluster response. University of Maryland Global Campus was the clear favorite.

“It keeps the University of Maryland brand up front and adds that our mission is to extend the quality of a Maryland public higher education around the world,” Orris said.

Once a name had been selected, the focus changed to securing approvals through the academic and political labyrinths. The first step was to approach University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), which owns the “University of Maryland” trademark.

Some anticipated a lengthy negotiation, but Miyares had developed a close relationship with UMCP President Wallace Loh. Both had escaped as children from Communist regimes—Miyares from Cuba, Loh from

China—and both had pursued lengthy careers in higher education, steadily rising through the ranks.

When Miyares shared the focus group results, Loh immediately recognized the need for the name change and granted his approval.

That put the ball in the court of Frank Principe, Miyares’ chief of staff, who enlisted the help of Erin Favazza, the university’s director of state government relations. Principe had been through a university name change procedure when he was associated with Towson State during its transition to Towson University. He knew there could be unforeseen pitfalls and wanted to be prepared.

But the new name was unanimously endorsed by the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, and the Maryland Higher Education Commission issued a strong statement of support.

Next, the process moved to the Maryland General Assembly.

“In preliminary conversation with legislators, we found they were getting the same reactions to the university’s name that we had heard from the focus groups,” Principe said.

“They had never understood what the name meant. Now, armed with all of the research we had conducted, they were willing to move this forward.”

Miyares made the rounds of key leaders in the General Assembly to ensure that everyone’s questions had been answered before he was called to testify.

His message was clear: “Our regional market is small and no longer growing, even as competition continues to increase,” he told the Maryland House Appropriations Committee in February. “As a result, we are now launching a national expansion campaign which promises to position us for continued growth and long-term stability while keeping tuition low for Maryland residents. The name change proposed in this bill is critical to the success of this effort.”

The momentum continued.

“You’re always waiting for some opposition,” Principe said.

“Nothing can be this simple. But there was just an appreciation among the folks in Annapolis for what we are doing to move the institution forward. It made sense to them.”

On April 19, 2019, in a signing ceremony in the Capitol, an announcer proclaimed: “House Bill 319, University of Maryland University College renaming,” and the bill was placed in front of Governor Hogan as Senate President Mike Miller and House Speaker Adrienne Jones looked on.

With a flourish of the governor’s pen, the job was done.

While the name change officially took effect July 1, the work of making the transition was only getting started, and the new name did not come into common use until the fall.

“

It keeps the University of Maryland brand up front and adds that our mission is to extend the quality of a Maryland public higher education around the world,” Orris said.

EUROPE 1960s–1970s

EUROPE 1980s–1990s

The university’s logo had been already been reworked to deemphasize “University College” and to add a descriptor saying, “State University . . . Global Campus.”

“We wanted to make sure people knew we were part of the University System of Maryland and also begin to get them used to the Global Campus name,” Orris said. “From a marketing standpoint, we had to get our ducks in a row first and get all of the components of the name change done.”

And while a name change can involve risk, Orris doesn’t see much in a move like this.

“University of Maryland” remains, with its international name recognition, and “Global Campus” simply describes what this remarkable university has been since it was founded more than 70 years ago. G

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ART. FREEDOM.

CUBA

BY CAROLE C. MAHONEY

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CYNTHIA FRIEDMAN AND BILL DODSON

Taxi anyone? Vintage cars and tourists eager to ride in them are a mainstay of Cuba’s identity— and a major source of income for everyday Cubans.

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IN APRIL 2019, THE UMGC ARTS PROGRAM ORGANIZED A WEEKLONG TRIP OF A LIFETIME for 17 art enthusiasts, who traveled to Havana, Cuba, for the island nation’s 13th art biennial, the XIII Bienal de la Habana.

Participants encountered a city of deep and abiding contrasts—past and

present, have and have not, freedom and repression. They found themselves immersed in works of art that offered comment—sometimes subtle, sometimes provocative—on the island’s history and the social, economic, and political conditions that shaped both the art and the lives of the Cuban people.

Here, UMGC writer and editor Carole Mahoney reflects on a week of sensory

immersion in a world of art that joyously celebrates the mix of cultures at its roots.

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THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The large bronze lobby sculpture

Ritmo Cubano (Cuban Rhythm) by Florencio Gelabert depicts twirling male and female dancers and is original to the Hotel Habana Riviera by Iberostar, built in 1957 as The Havana Riviera by mobster Meyer Lansky; artist Alexia Miranda built her installation Tejido Colectivo (Collective Tissue) on-site at the arts biennial by weaving large nets out of gauze with the help of seamstresses, artists, and even tourists whom she invited to join her throughout the process; Havana Cathedral, built between 1748 and 1777, is one of the oldest cathedrals in the Americas, and its façade is a foremost example of baroque style.

The Hotel Habana Riviera by Iberostar commands a hill on the uppermost reach of the Malecón—the iconic boulevard, promenade, and seawall that frames the city’s northern edge and stretches west for five miles along the waterfront from Old Havana’s harbor to the Almendares River.

On most days, the Malecón succeeds in restraining the Gulf of Mexico from intruding on Havana’s real estate. But in the early morning hours of April 14, from my room on the Habana

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Riviera’s 17th floor, I watched as a ribbon of vintage cars, some hot pink, some teal, danced a colorful conga line around a succession of rogue waves that breached the wall and spilled across the roadway. In Cuba, it seemed, even the scenery made art.

No doubt the cars were headed to the Parque Central in Old Havana—La Habana Vieja—to join the ranks of mid-to-late 1950s-era Chevy and Ford convertibles offering hour-long joyrides to tourists for between 30 and 60 Cuban convertible pesos

Ramses H. Batista shared this image of Hurricane Irma among other works during a visit to AMOS Photography Workshop that he runs in partnership with Alex Castro as a studio, gallery, and community outreach project offering free workshops for children to encourage creativity and promote the arts.

($30 to $60), depending on one’s bargaining ability. The car-filled street, awash in aqua punctuated by bold strokes of fuchsia, dashes of red, a patch of plum, a dot of orange, was a pastiche of mid-century impressionism that evoked Havana’s time as the premier tropical playground for wealthy, famous, or infamous Americans, as well as Cuba’s revolutionary past.

The Havana Riviera, as it was originally known, epitomized that past. Mobster Meyer Lansky built the 21-story hotel, faced in turquoise mosaic, as the crown jewel of a gambling empire he dreamed of creating that would reach from Havana across the Caribbean into South America, ultimately superseding Las Vegas and Monte Carlo.

In 1957, as rebel forces led by Fidel and Raul Castro and Che Guevara were gaining ground in the Sierra Maestra Mountains against Cuban President Fulgencio Batista’s army, Lansky hired renowned Cuban sculptor José Florencio Gelabert to adorn his architectural wonder.

The Havana Riviera opened in December 1957, and in three months reportedly raked in more than $3 million in gambling proceeds. The glory days were short-lived. Less than a year later, as New Year’s Eve celebrants hailed the arrival of 1959,

The car-filled street, awash in aqua punctuated by bold strokes of fuchsia, dashes of red, a patch of plum, a dot of orange, was a pastiche of mid-century impressionism.

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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The cityscape along Havana’s iconic

Malecón gains new dimension when viewed through the 13th Havana Art Biennial installation T3C36 by David Magán; Cuban artist Eduardo Choco Roca signs a copy of his book, Choco: El Soplo de la Vida, for a member of our UMGC tour group; Adrián Sancho’s sculpture, La Virgen de la Caridad (Our Lady of Charity), a patron saint of Cuba, was one of the many works gracing the promenade along the San Juan River at Matanzas City on Cuba’s northeast coast, as part of the 13th Havana Art Biennial (XIII Bienal de La Habana); the pictorial installation, The Básquet People (The Basket People) by Spanish artists Martín and Sicilia was one of 41 works in the “Liquid Scenario” presented by the Dedelmu Project as part of the central exhibition of the 13th Havana Biennial; at his working farm and studio Manto Blanco, artist Manuel Mendive’s assistant discussed the singularity of his artistic vision where humankind, the botanical, and all beings that live in the sea and on land are one.

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President Batista fled Cuba, and roughly a year after that, gambling was banned on the island.

Today, Gelabert’s bronze statue of twirling dancers, Ritmo Cubano (Cuban Rhythm), still stands in the hotel’s lobby, which retains its sleek, geometric mid-century modern architecture and furnishings, minus some of the polish.

The show-business greats who once lounged there—William Holden, Ava Gardner, Nat King Cole, Ginger Rogers—are mere ghosts of a memory.

Another Gelabert sculpture— a white marble mermaid and swordfish intertwined—still greets visitors at the hotel’s entrance.

But water no longer dances in the fountains, and the domed mosaic roof of the casino barely hints at its original luster. Chunks of mosaic have long since fallen away.

In the Habana Riviera by Iberostar we see contrast and contradiction. There is the here and now juxtaposed with Lansky’s Havana Riviera, a faded snapshot frozen in time.

The contrast and contradiction is the same everywhere across the city. Yesterday and today coexist in Cuba in such graphic detail that it is difficult to absorb and appreciate Cuba’s art in isolation from its surroundings—and from the country’s history.

That way, Batista pointed out, “we could use both sides of the wall, shoot from the top, shoot from the front. We left this empty space here,” he added, gesturing toward the ceiling, “because lights need to go high.”

The renovation fed Batista’s soul. He is passionate about using photography to preserve as many of Cuba’s architectural treasures as he can before they are forever lost to the ravages of time.

Castro, who has produced two photo-journals on his father’s later years, combines his passion for action photography with his passion for two other national treasures, ballet and baseball, to capture Cuba in motion.

Batista focuses on the stillness beneath. He has said that in each captured moment there are “silent metaphors that reveal life in front of [his] lens.”

He spent three days wading hip-deep water in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma to capture on camera the resilience and inventiveness of the Cuban people, Batista said. People navigated the streets on suitcase rafts. They floated by him on makeshift Styrofoam boats and doors ripped from their hinges by Irma’s winds. Boys swam.

“The surreal perception you get of the city . . . that’s the reason why I shot it,” Batista said. “To me, the whole city becomes like a canvas to create an abstract work.”

In Old Havana, the Wifredo Lam Center of Contemporary Art, named for the renowned Cuba-born artist, resides in the elegant 18th-century Casa del Obispo Penalver in Plaza de la Catedral.

Was it the woven installation Tejido Colectivo (Collective Tissue)

by El Salvadoran artist Alexia Miranda hanging in the casa’s courtyard that was on exhibit, or the courtyard itself?

MIranda developed her piece onsite in the weeks leading up to the Biennial, inviting local seamstresses, artists, and even tourists to assist with the weaving. Her work suggests that realizing the festival’s theme, “Constructing the Possible,” begins with human connection and collaboration.

The Lam Center is steps from Havana Cathedral, one of the oldest in the Americas. Its façade is a foremost example of baroque style. Old Havana, which contains the city’s original core, surrounds visitors in architectural masterpieces spanning five centuries, from the curvaceous, dynamic baroque to the clean elegant lines and towering columns of the neoclassical.

“The surreal perception you get of the city . . . that’s the reason why I shot it,” Batista said.

“To me, the whole city becomes like a canvas to create an abstract work.”

THEN AND NOW At No. 203 Amistad Street, Ramses H. Batista (no relation to the former president) and associate Alex Castro (son of the late President Fidel Castro) work side-by-side to enrich the lives of Cuban youth and share the essence of Cuba, one snapshot at a time.

Their AMOS Photography Workshop is at once a working studio, a gallery where they exhibit and sell their photos, and a center for community outreach. There, Batista and Castro offer free photography workshops to children to encourage creativity and promote the arts.

The building that houses the AMOS project led three former lives, interspersed with periods of abandonment. In the 1920s and 1930s it was a jewelry store, then a pawn shop. It became a private residence in the 1950s.

Batista and Castro acquired the space in 2012 and spent the better part of two years rehabilitating it, opening the walls and adding a second-floor loft that overlooks the gallery and serves as the main platform for their work.

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CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE PAGE: This photo by Ramses

Structures in the “old city” that border the streets and plazas most frequented by sightseers have benefitted from restoration projects undertaken by the City Historian’s Office courtesy of the influx of tourist dollars in recent years, according to Eric Garcia, our guide and companion for our weeklong journey of revelation. In neighboring Centro Habana (Central Havana), the city’s most densely populated district, some 70 percent of buildings are not salvageable, he said.

Not far from the beaten path, architectural decline crescendos to decay and devastation. But amidst the rubble, there also is rebirth.

Cuban painter and sculptor Kadir López plays with memory and nostalgia in his art, building his works on a yesterday-andtoday construct to shed light on Cuba’s tomorrow. Literally.

For the past 15 years López has been restoring—and reinstalling in their original locations—the vintage neon signs that lit up Havana’s night sky from the mid-1930s until about 1960, rivaling the brilliance of New York’s Times Square and Paris, France. The project is called “Habana Light Neon + Signs.”

H. Batista of AMOS Photography Workshop captures Hurricane Irma unleashing its fury across the Malecón; the original ballerina from Havana’s Tropicana nightclub peeks from behind a wall in the central lobby of the Rex Cinema, a gem of Art Deco design built in 1938 that is being restored by Cuban artist Kadir López; in La Vajilla/La Ultima Cena (The Dinnerware/The Last Supper), López’s rendition of the DaVinci masterpiece rests beneath vivid green neon letters that in another time might have been hawking plates and saucers. The parody continues on the reverse side showing the global elite enjoying a lavish state dinner; an avid collector of vintage items, artist Kadir López layers neon with old signs, historical documents to critique the spiritual, economic, and political ramifications that progress— or its lack—has on society.

It is part historic preservation, part neighborhood revitalization, and part fine arts. Central to the project, López and his team are restoring the Rex Cinema and helping to reanimate the Boulevard of San Rafael, a once-thriving shopping promenade.

A gem of Art Deco design, the Rex was built in 1938 and repurposed many times in its cinematic afterlife until finally being shuttered in 1980. Most recently, the former cinema served to warehouse sanitation materials. At some point, the roof over the central lobby collapsed.

Resurrected as the Rex Neon Centre, the project houses galleries showcasing neon art and signs, as well as López’s design and restoration studio. One of his assistants, Jamie, said the

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Beauty amid the ruins: The installation Okuda San Miguel by Félix González Torres (center left) and restored ‘50s vintage cars draw a sharp contrast with Havana’s crumbling infrastructure.

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completed venue will be a working media and cultural center offering workshops in sign production, educating about neon, and promoting the return of sustainable outdoor lighting across the city.

Neon signs were first used in Cuba in 1936, Jamie said.

“We lose them through time, and [López’s work] is kind of like recovering the lights of Habana.”

López is quick to explain that the project’s goal is not to remake the city as a carbon copy of its earlier self. Rather, its purpose is “to see the present with the authenticity of the original.”

An avid collector of vintage items, López layers neon with old signs, photographs, historical documents, lettering, and other graphic materials. On the surface, an advertisement glows; look beyond the neon, however, and another story emerges.

In La Vajilla/La Ultima Cena (The Dinnerware/The Last Supper),

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López’s rendition of the DaVinci masterpiece rests beneath vivid green neon letters that in another time might have been hawking plates and saucers. It represents a double parody.

On the reverse, large white neon letters, “Aji,” (in this context, a spicy sauce), are layered atop the image of a lavish state dinner. Tuxedoed men and women in tiaras line rows of tables burdened with china, crystal, and candelabras. They watch as Queen Elizabeth and President Obama exchange toasts while the royal family looks on.

As López explained in his online bio, by blurring past, present, and future in his work, he critiques the spiritual, economic, and political ramifications that progress—or its lack—has on society.

“This is what art does,” said Lopez, in a January 2019 Miami Herald article on the Biennial. “It brings light to darkness.”

FAR LEFT: Much of the art

adorning Hamel’s Alley is crafted from found objects, such as this ancient cash register; LEFT: Somewhere, midalley, Salvador’s studio hides in plain sight amid the explosion of foundart sculpture, paint, and graphic imagery that surrounds it.

Legend has it that after completing his first mural there, Hamel’s Alley locals approached Salvador with bits of this and that—leftover printer’s ink, yellow paint—and he kept right on working with the materials that came his way.

Soon, residents began contributing their own work to the mix.

OPPOSITE PAGE: : A Hamel’s Alley local touches up a mural by

Cuban painter and sculptor Salvador Gonzales Escalona, who has been transforming the passageway into a vibrant Afro-Cuban wonderland since he moved there in 1990. ABOVE: The remains of claw-footed bathtubs serve double duty in this sculptural rendering of a faux house façade and as blank canvases on which locals can inscribe their poetry and drawings.

In Callejón de Hamel (Hamel’s Alley) in the working-class Cayo Hueso neighborhood near the University of Havana, a man reclines on the pavement with a bucket of red paint, using what appears to be an artist’s flat easel brush to touch up the wall beneath a mural. Under the mural, a line of poetry reads: Me muero contigo, pero no muero por ti. “I’m dying with you, but I’m not dying for you.” It is signed, simply, Salvador.

Since 1990, Cuban painter, muralist, and sculptor Salvador Gonzales Escalona has helped transform this once-dusty enclave into a vibrant Afro-Cuban wonderland of color and sound. Boys wander the street to the rhythm of their claves, the percussion sticks that keep the tempo of the salsa and rumba true. Perhaps they can earn a little something extra today selling their homemade CDs of local bands that play on Sundays at local rumba parties.

Here, half of what used to be a claw-footed bathtub is now a bubblegum-pink sofa. There, an early 20th-century cash register rests atop an iron pipe, both drenched in electric blue. And somewhere mid-alley, Salvador’s studio hides in plain sight amid the explosion of found-art sculpture, paint, and graphic imagery that surrounds it.

Legend has it that after completing his first mural there, Hamel’s Alley locals approached Salvador with bits of this and that—leftover printer’s ink, yellow paint—and he kept right on working with the materials that came his way. Soon, residents began contributing their own work to the mix.

He has described his art as a blend of surrealism, cubism, and abstraction. But whatever the form, Salvador said the works in Hamel’s Alley represent more than the “feeling” of African art.

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CLOCKWISE FROM FROM TOP TOP LEFT: LEFT: Artist ArtistJosé JoséFuster’s Fuster’shome homeand andstudio— studio— and the neighborhood neighborhood around aroundit—known it—knownas asFusterlandia, Fusterlandia,isisaa wonderland of of ceramic ceramic art; art;laundry laundrydances danceson onaabalcony balconyabove aboveaa mosaic mural mural of of birds birds adorning adorningthe thewall wallof ofaanearby nearbyhome, home,one oneof of more more than than 80 80 dwellings dwellings thatthat locals locals invited invited Fuster Fuster to decorate; to decorate;

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a bold mural mural featuring features an a portrait homageoftoCuban the late revolutionary VenezuelanErnesto “Che” Guevara President Hugoprovides Chávez and a colorful provides backdrop a colorful at the backdrop “Fusterlandia” at the Fusterlandia bus stop; andbus while stop; Fuster and draws while Fuster inspiration draws from inspiration Spanishfrom Spanish creative creative geniusesgeniuses Pablo Picasso Pablo and Picasso architect and architect Antoni Gaudi, Antonihe Gaudi, infuseshe hisinfuses work with his work Caribbean with Caribbean symbols and symbols themes. and themes.

For him and for his neighbors, they reflect “the presence of African culture in our country.”

Far from Hamel’s Alley, the tiny fishing village of Jaimanitas occupies a bit of coastline at Havana’s outermost northwestern edge.

To get there, one travels across the Almendares River and through Miramar, a district of broad avenues lined with banyan trees and colonial-style mansions behind sprawling lawns, developed in the 1950s as a new space for Havana’s elite to live and play.

Miramar’s infrastructure has seen better days, but the stark contrast between this once grand residential neighborhood and the rest of the city still accentuates the disparity between those in Havana who are privileged and those who are not.

But richness of a different kind has breathed new life into the Jaimanitas community. Cash-poor yet bountiful in spirit, more than 80 villagers have over time offered up their humble homes for artist José Fuster to use as an urban canvas.

There, he has let his imagination run wild for the better part of four decades.

In a whimsical wonderland of ceramic art, a towering rooster under a smiling sun stands guard over the neighborhood. Houses that once claimed only chicken-wire as decoration are now clothed in broad-smiling crocodiles, mermaids wearing fish for hats, and gulls, goats, boats, birds, farmers, hens … and saints.

Welcome to Fusterlandia. The creative epicenter for Fuster’s public art and exhibition project is his home and workspace, Taller-Estudio. It is no longer recognizable as the modest wooden dwelling he purchased in 1975.

“I wanted my studio to be a place where I could live with art,” said Fuster in an earlier story in Havana Cultura. “I kept working every day to do something more and more spectacular.”

He saturated his studio-home with his drawings, tiles, mosaics, and monumental sculptures in vibrant yellows, reds, blues, and greens. Then Fuster’s work spilled over into the courtyard and outbuildings and eventually out the front gate and along the surrounding streets, where neighbors, friends, school children, and other artists became engaged.

After graduating from the National School of Art Instructors in Havana, the classically trained painter, engraver, and ceramicist spent time in Europe absorbing the work of early 20th-century modernist masters. And while his work is soulfully Caribbean, Fuster said he draws inspiration from the artist he calls his spiritual father, Pablo Picasso, as well as his “favorite uncle,” architect Antoni Gaudi.

It is Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer Constantin Brancusi, though, who has influenced him most, Fuster said. In the 2018

The world-class National Ballet of Cuba, housed in Havana’s Grand Theatre, was founded in 1948 by Cuban prima ballerina Alicia Alonso who, until recently, still served as the company’s artistic director.

article on lahabana.com, he recounts being so moved by the trio of Brancusi’s sculptures in Targu-Jiu, Romania, in 1976, that he vowed he would one day pay tribute to Brancusi.

His Fuster Gate, Table of Cubans, and Rooster Tower are an homage to Brancusi’s Gate of the Kiss, Table of Silence, and Column of the Infinite.

Fuster believes that the art and architecture have boundless potential to revitalize communities—although there is always more work to do—and Fusterlandia exists as a vivid and fantastical life-affirming oasis.

The Malecón, too, is an oasis. As photographer Batista suggested, to get the real story, you sometimes need to step back, lean against the seawall, and take the long view.

“Everywhere you go in Havana it’s beautiful,” he said. “When I have time, I like to walk down the Malecón and just enjoy people.

They sit. They bring their guitars.

They bring rum. They bring the kids.

There’s the ocean.

“I go out in sunset. The colors are amazing. There’s blue. There’s orange.

The beauty, it’s free . . . It’s Cuba.” G BATISTA

“I go out in sunset. The colors

are amazing. There’s blue.

There’s orange. The beauty, it’s free . . . It’s Cuba.”

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Freddie Anguiano’s UMGC office is at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, overlooking the Red Sea.

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Lone Rangers THE

At dozens of locations around the world, a lone UMGC staffer plays the role of jack—or jill—of all trades, supporting U.S. military personnel wherever they are called to serve.

BY GIL KLEIN

WHEN FREDDIE ANGUIANO LOOKS OUT OF THE WINDOW OF HIS UMGC OFFICE AT THE TIP OF THE SINAI PENINSULA, he can see the Red Sea shimmering on the horizon. He is there to support the U.S. Army battalion that assists the multinational force and observers—representing 13 nations—who help enforce the 1979 Camp David Accords that brought peace between Egypt and Israel.

He starts to tick off the nationalities—Italians, Canadians, Uruguayans, Australians, Colombians, Czechs, Fijis . . .

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“

This is a one-man show,” he said.

“I really like this. I like helping these soldiers. And it’s not just the connections you make with them; it’s the satisfaction you get knowing that people graduate.”

—FREDDIE ANGUIANO

In one important way, though, Freddie Anguiano is alone. He is the only full-time UMGC employee in the entire Sinai Peninsula.

His responsibilities are broad ranging. He recruits, tests, and advises students, encouraging them every step of the way. He ensures that the technology works and that classrooms are monitored. He networks with officers to seek out new adjunct faculty.

Periodically, he flies to another base an hour to the north to do the same things and also supports personnel in various tiny outposts in the desert.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“This is a one-man show,” he said. “I really like this. I like helping these soldiers. And it’s not just the connections you make with them; it’s the satisfaction you get knowing that people graduate.”

As UMUC celebrates its 70th anniversary of providing higher education to military personnel overseas, what Freddie

Anguiano does in South Sinai is repeated around the world.

The university’s contracts with the Defense Department require that at least one full-time staffer be available on the ground, no matter how far-flung the base. Those contracts are at the foundation of UMGC’s operations; more than half of the university’s students are affiliated with the military— either active duty, reservists, veterans, or dependents.

And while most bases have two, three, or more UMUC staffers working on-site, at many remote locations the number of troops is so small that the university only provides one.

These single staffers serve from the Azores in the Atlantic to Guam in the Pacific; from the furthest northern reaches of Japan to the southern tip of Korea; in small U.S. bases in northern Europe, Greece, Italy, and Portugal; and in sensitive spots downrange throughout the Middle East.

“You have to be a jack-of-all-trades,” said Tony Cho, UMGC’s vice president and director for Europe.

That means interacting with everyone from the private making her or his first foray into higher education to the base commander and the government education services officer.

It means being familiar with the terms of the Department of Defense contract, the details of the courses that servicemembers need, and expectations for reasonable course loads given the demands of a military assignment. Technical savvy is another requirement, with the UMGC representative responsible for ensuring that testing and live-streaming equipment works as well as handling logistical arrangements for the site.

Bonnie Bayless (left) joined UMGC in search of adventure, working for 14 years on Guam and recently relocating to Kuwait.

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Shawn Little (left and below right) had his first solo UMGC assignment in Kuwait and now works at a Marine Corps base on Okinawa.

“If you are there by yourself, you are the decision maker,” said James Cronin, UMGC’s vice president and director for Asia. “Sometimes you don’t see another UMGC employee for three, four, five months.”

The work appeals to different people for different reasons, and Cronin said that he typically sees applicants from one of three categories. Some are adventurous types who graduate college and go looking for an opportunity to live in an exotic locale. (While many are young, some joined the university more than a decade ago and never returned home.) A second group are spouses of military personnel, who understand the lifestyle and are seeking jobs as they move from base to base. Finally, a third group are American expatriates who live locally and may be married to someone from that country.

Bonnie Bayless falls in the first category. Growing up in Chicago, she attended a small, denominationally affiliated college in northern Wisconsin.

After graduating, she went in search of the exotic, moving to Guam to teach middle school history. During her 14 years on Guam, she began working for UMGC, first part-time and then full-time.

When interviewed for this story, she had just moved to

“

If you are there by yourself,

you are the decision maker,” said James Cronin, UMGC’s vice president and director for Asia.

“Sometimes you don’t see another UMGC employee for three, four, five months.”

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Kuwait, the sole UMGC representative at an Air Force base in the desert in Ali Al Salem.

“On a base like this, it is all networking and getting word out to division leaders so they can get it to their airmen,” she said. “‘Hey, there are classes available [and] testing available.

Take advantage of it while you are here.’”

Most of her students are airmen taking general education courses to complete a degree from the Community College of the Air Force. Just in the past two days, she said, more than 50 people contacted her by phone or as walk-ins seeking advice or interested in taking tests that may exempt them from some college courses. And, she said, she is constantly on the lookout for people qualified to teach the basic class, often mining government contractors for their expertise.

“Maybe the reason I do this,” she said, tears welling, “is seeing the student walking across the stage with a diploma.

That’s the greatest high ever, knowing I am helping our country by helping our servicemembers succeed. That’s my goal: Let’s succeed together.”

Shawn Little, who holds a UMGC degree himself, had his first solo assignment in Kuwait, and now works at a Marine Corps base with 10,000 military personnel on Okinawa.

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Jada Daniel works at a Middle Eastern base whose mission is so sensitive that its location can’t be disclosed.

Outside of his office is a flight line of Apache helicopters that “circle around my head all day long.”

As a single staffer, he said, “You can’t hide. The success of my site is on my shoulders.”

Student satisfaction trumps numbers, he said, and his goal is to have five students thrilled with UMGC rather than 500 who feel they are just another student filling a seat.

Jada Daniel, who works as the sole UMGC staffer at a Middle Eastern base whose mission is so sensitive that its location can’t be disclosed, said that with so little to do on base, she has little trouble enrolling students.

“Here, you either go to the gym or you go to class,” she said.

Students come to her Learning Resource Center for advice and testing, and she makes sure to walk around the base “to show my face so everyone knows I’m here.”

With no indoor plumbing, a typical day is anything but typical, and for a while, her office was in a converted shipping container with no windows.

“

The reward for her, she said, is

seeing the look in a young person’s eyes when the realization finally sinks in that an education can bring her or his goals within reach. “That makes me happy and makes me want to be here, despite all of the challenges.”

—GULCIN ELLIS

“One day, someone slammed the door and the knob fell off,” she said. “The door wouldn’t open. I beat on the door and yelled for help, but no one came.”

Eventually she called 9-1-1 and the fire department showed up, cutting her out of the building with a saw.

“It’s different,” she admitted. “It’s something I can tell my grandkids about.”

Gulcin Ellis, at Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, would probably agree. When she arrived a little more than a year ago, she had to rebuild the UMGC program, which had been abandoned when nonessential personnel were evacuated.

She brought two key assets: For 21 years as a military spouse, she had followed her husband around the world and knew the military culture. And, while she is an American citizen, she was born in Turkey, speaks the language, and knows the customs. Her husband, a UMGC graduate, was a military contractor at the base, and Cho, as director, was only too pleased to get someone with those credentials to work for the university.

With an MBA, Ellis is also able to teach classes, and she constantly scours the base for other potential adjuncts. She hired a military servicemember to teach math and recruited another from the base’s medical group who holds a doctorate in psychology. She has found other experts in government, speech, and writing.

At Incirlik, military personnel are restricted to the base, which gives her an advantage in recruiting students. She customizes her pitch to her audience: “You can either take care

Gulcin Ellis works at Incirlik Air Base in Southern Turkey. A military spouse, Ellis was born in Turkey and has the advantage of speaking the language and knowing the customs.

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“

[Terrance McDuffie] recruits all

over the base, talking to soldiers at

the PX, the food courts, at the USO

center, even on the golf course.

Because he has been there for so long, he is able to introduce newcomers to others who have already enrolled with UMGC.

of yourself by going to school and going to the gym, or you can get drunk and get in trouble.”

She can relate to the students because her own college career got off to a rough start, and she knows what it’s like to work full-time, have a family, and still work up the enthusiasm for one more class. The reward for her, she said, is seeing the look in a young person’s eyes when the realization finally sinks in that an education can bring her or his goals within reach.

“That makes me happy and makes me want to be here, despite all of the challenges,” Ellis said.

Camp Casey comes with its own unique challenges, situated as it is against the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea, some 40 miles north of Seoul. Usually, the Army base has two UMGC staffers, but one has been on extended leave for months, leaving Terrance McDuffie alone until shortly before this interview.

Growing up in a military family, McDuffie had lived in Korea as a boy and came back to find work as a civilian with the Army while himself earning a UMGC degree. Since 2014, he has worked for the university full-time.

With relations tense between the U.S. and North Korea, the units at Camp Casey have been on edge.

“Sometimes there are things out of our control, and we must weather the storm

Terrance McDuffie (left, top) grew up in a military family and lived in Korea as a boy. Now, he works for UMGC at Camp Casey, alongside the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.

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LaShandra McCall-McKoy works at Camp Henry Army base in Daegu, South Korea. She is also responsible for Camp Walker, an Army base; K-2, an Air Force base; and the Navy base at Chinhae.

to find alternative ways to still assist soldiers with their personal education goals,” McDuffie said.

Instead of longer posts, troops now serve on nine-month rotations, not accompanied by family members.

“The first month or so is rough for them as they are adjusting and getting their feet on the ground,” McDuffie said.

“Soldiers are hesitant to register [because of] the unknown timetables they may face. Then, in the middle of their rotation, they may be required to go into the field for training exercises. For the last month, it’s all about breaking down and getting ready for the new rotation.”

He tries to get the younger soldiers to at least take tests to determine if they can opt out of some courses and get their college education started.

He recruits all over the base, McDuffie said, talking to soldiers at the PX, the food courts, at the USO center, even on the golf course. Because he has been there for so long, he is able to introduce newcomers to others who have already enrolled with UMGC. Soldiers often come to him with questions, accompanied by a friend who is also interested.

“Learning to have a flexible disposition in a location as high speed as this one really helps us keep UMGC known around our community and promotes a positive experience when our name is brought up in conversation,” he said.

At the other end of Korea, LaShandra McCall-McKoy followed her spouse, who had just retired from the military, to work at Camp Henry Army base in Daegu. She is responsible for Camp Walker, an Army base; K-2, an Air Force base; and the Navy base at Chinhae.

“Normally, if I am lonely, I chat with UMGC staffers at other bases,” she said. “But most days the servicemembers keep me busy by stopping in to check on me and entertaining me with their funny stories. I guess you can say we keep each other company.”

The hardest part of the job, she said, is that you’re it. If you are not in the office, the servicemembers seeking advice have no one on-site to help them.

Ultimately, how effective are the single-site staffers?

Tony Cho is justifiably proud of a letter he received from Cory Alkire, an NCO who had just departed from South Sinai.

Alkire wrote: “I‘d like to say a huge thanks to the [UMGC] team for everything they have done for me here and supported me through.

Freddie has been an amazing motivator, mentor, guide, and friend. Through his support, I will be leaving the Sinai with 84 semester hours and an associate degree, all earned in one year‘s time. Every time I began to feel overwhelmed or unsure, Freddie was there telling me I could do it, and he was right.” G

UMGC.EDU | 35 | ACHIEVER

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Teaching and Serving UMGC Senior Vice President of Global Military Operations Maj. Gen. Lloyd “Milo” Miles (U.S. Army, Ret.) sat down with Achiever editor Chip Cassano for a conversation on the role of higher education in the military and how UMGC can best serve the women and men who wear the uniform of our country.

Thank you for making time to chat. I know your schedule is full. Let’s begin by talking about the role of education in your own life and how that informed your views.

I can honestly say education changed the trajectory of my life. I come from a large family, and we grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. There was actually a set of railroad tracks that ran just a couple of hundred meters from our house, and those tracks were the dividing line between the poor side of town and those who were a little better off.

Where was that?

At the time, we lived in a small town in Colorado. My parents weren't well educated, but they knew the value of education. They pushed us every day to study and to stay in school, and that really was our guiding star.

My parents believed, like many Americans do today—and, I imagine, as do most of our students—that through education, we could make a better life for ourselves . . . a life better than theirs.

The reality is, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the Military Academy, so my education was paid for, but the rest of my seven brothers and sisters, they had to do it the hard way—as working adults.

They had jobs, and they went to school at night. I am proud to say that all of them got their degrees, and they all went on to bigger and better things—C-suite executives, some with doctorates, senior government officials, nurses. In many ways, I’m probably the runt of the litter, and I’m OK with that.

UMGC.EDU | 37 | ACHIEVER

And I should mention that my oldest sister was the very first one in our family to graduate from college— and she graduated from UMGC. She gave us hope and a belief that if she could do it, we could do it too.

So education clearly played a pivotal role for you growing up. How did your experience align with what you saw in the military?

There are burdens associated with military service, and when I travel to our various locations and see our military students, I am so proud of the service we provide. Military students are working adults, and like my siblings, they are doing it the hard way, too—at night, on the go, during training exercises or emergency missions, during long missions into the war zones, and of course, all compounded by the stress and turmoil that comes from being picked up and moved to different places every couple of years.

So when I see our military students, I see the faces of my brothers and sisters and their hopes and their dreams. For themselves, their families, and their children, they just want a better life. And I think that desire is consistent from generation to generation.

I know that, historically, education has been a significant motivator for men and women who join the military. Do you expect that to continue?

I don’t see that changing. To me, the GI Bill is one of the greatest benefits in our society today, and deservedly so.

Tuition assistance for active-duty personnel is important, as well, and I think more servicemembers should take advantage of it.

You have led at virtually every level in the military.

What did you see, in terms of the impact of education and the effect it had on the men and women under your command?

To give you some context on how different it is today, I would have to go back to when I first came into the military as a young platoon leader or lieutenant in 1980.

In the first combat infantry platoon I led of 36 men, only three were high school graduates.

It’s hard to believe, but that was the state of the military back then—not uneducated, but certainly not as educated as our current servicemembers. In fact, many of those soldiers that I first served with would probably not qualify for military service today. Our current military

ACHIEVER | 38 | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GLOBAL CAMPUS

is the most educated and lethal force our nation has ever produced. Today’s military personnel all have high school diplomas or the equivalent, and many have associate or bachelor’s degrees, as well.

The education standards were sufficient for the times because the weapon systems were much simpler. Today, even tanks have sophisticated computer systems on board and technical digital displays. And if you think of all the other systems that are coming out—drones, satellites, smart weapons, and so on—there is a real demand for a better educated soldier/sailor/airman just to successfully operate those technologies.

I would imagine that is a trend that crosses various levels—among those who operate the systems, the support personnel, the analysts who interpret the data that these sophisticated platforms produce. Is that the case?

That‘s right. Everyone, from the analyst to the senior leader, is participating in complex operations enhanced with

“

Education isn’t just toward

technological innovation and sophisticated weapons. It’s also education in terms of the arts and humanities and science and history and culture, so that at the end of the day, when that serviceman or woman takes off the uniform, he or she is a better citizen.

— Maj. Gen. Lloyd “Milo” Miles

newer, faster, and more lethal technologies. The technology would not be effective in the hands of an uneducated military organization. Bottom line: A well-educated military is not a luxury, it is a necessity.

That leads to a related question: How is the modern military changing in relation to its demand for education, its needs, and the ways that education serves the military population?

I believe that the sophistication of weaponry will continue to advance, and that suggests the demand will only increase. But even if you step back from the technological aspects of the military and look at societal needs, there are things that we can do better.

One of the challenges I attempted to tackle during my service dealt with the hiring of veterans after they transitioned from the military. It was frustrating to see highly trained veterans, with skills and functions in demand in the local communities, not being able to fill the gap because there were obstacles that prevented them from doing so.

For example, in the state I was in—and nationwide, actually—there was great demand for drivers of long-haul trucks, 18-wheelers. Some of the transitioning service members had driven these vehicles for five, 10, 15 years, and sometimes more. They had driven on the roads here and in war zones, dodging bomb craters and mines and IEDs. Yet when they left the military, they couldn’t get a job in any state because they didn‘t have the piece of paper, the CDL, the commercial driver‘s license.

It was the same with combat medics. They could treat gunshot wounds, traumatic injuries, even amputations on the battlefield, but when they left the military, they couldn’t be hired as EMTs because they lacked accepted documentation.

Those are just a couple of examples. Local communities had a stated need, a shortage, and the military had a transitioning labor pool with the necessary skills, but because they lacked a certificate or certification, they weren’t able to fill the positions. Some of those servicemembers would end up on unemployment. That is wrong on many levels— wrong for the individual and wrong for society.

There has got to be a better way for the military, for business and industry, and then for the training and education providers to be able to come together and figure out a way in which that transition is more seamless. A lot of progress has been made in this area since I departed the military, but we still have a way to go.

That touches on a related question. Among military populations, are we seeing a shift in emphasis or preference from traditional associate and bachelor’s degrees to certifications, specializations, and the like?

I think that is what we are talking about here. The push now is to have every servicemember leave the military with a certificate or a certification of some type, so that even if they don‘t have a full degree, at least they will have something that is recognized by business and industry and perhaps have a better chance of finding employment.

Interesting. What other trends are you seeing that might shape the military’s needs or where it places emphasis?

The same demands that you see in society are those that face the military. The focus on data analytics, robotics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, et cetera, is no different for the military. There may be some very

UMGC.EDU | 39 | ACHIEVER

focused specializations, but almost everything we’re talking about—from certificates to advanced degrees— is applicable to military and civilian employers.

What about political or societal factors? Do you see those as impetus for changes in trajectory?

You know, the current political environment is probably unlike any we have seen, so I think anybody who would say they could predict its impact is either a fool or a charlatan.

From the military perspective, though, I think that a few things are true and will continue to be true. First, the mission for the military won‘t change. It will remain to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. It doesn‘t matter what person sits in the White House or whether there is a change in the makeup of Congress; that mission will be the same.

Second, the sophistication of weapons will continue to advance, partly driven by us and partly driven by our strategic competitors. And that will continue to place demands on a well-educated force.

Third, regardless of the technology, the military will always have a need for organizations that are tough, disciplined, well-led, well-trained, and well-equipped.

I don’t see that changing.

The piece that might be different in terms of emphasis is that education isn’t just toward technological innovation and sophisticated weapons. It‘s also education in terms of the arts and humanities and science and history and culture, so that at the end of the day, when that serviceman or woman takes off the uniform, he or she is a better citizen, not just here in the United States but a citizen of the world.

Even for our current force, having individuals with broader perspectives as they travel to different countries will enable them to better understand the historical, cultural, environmental, and societal aspects of warfare.

I read something recently about the Navy testing ships with crews that are much smaller but also much more highly and broadly skilled. Is that a trend in the military, and if so, does it point to increased selectivity in the future?

I think that might be the case in certain specialties. In the future, I am sure there will be specialties we don‘t have today, and some that will become obsolete or morph into something else.

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“

You read about education

services being provided in Iraq and Afghanistan while mortar rounds are coming in, and the professor just sort of pauses and then continues teaching . . . it just tells you something about our commitment to servicemen and women, and it tells you something about our faculty and staff.

— Maj. Gen. Lloyd “Milo” Miles

At the end of the day, though, technology is just one piece of the equation. You can have high levels of sophistication, but when it comes to combat—and seizing and holding a piece of ground—you still have to do it the old-fashioned way, by putting men and women in the dirt, and that requires numbers.

Let’s shift focus a bit. It has been almost five years since you joined UMGC, and you have taken some important steps in Global Military Operations. What are you most proud of?

I think there are probably three things that I‘m most proud of when I think about UMGC, and the first thing is always its mission. We say—and I truly believe it is felt from the bottom all the way up to the president— that we are focused on students first. You get that wherever you go—no matter what department, stateside or overseas, you get that same sense of students first. Coming from the military, where it is also a very mission-driven environment, it just makes

me proud to be associated with an organization like UMGC. Second, I am proud of our people. That might sound trite, because a lot of organizations say that, but in my role, I’m very fortunate that I can travel and see our folks firsthand, scattered around the globe.

Many schools say that they are global, but they aren’t really. UMGC is located in 165 different sites in 20 different countries and territories. We truly are global.

And when you visit the different locations—whether in Korea or Okinawa or Europe or in portions of Africa or wherever—and you talk to our folks, you really feel proud that these individuals volunteered to do what they are doing, especially in these far-flung places, and in some cases, environments where safety is an issue.

We‘ve always been able to fill our ranks with adventuresome, dedicated, and innovative people, and it makes me proud to serve beside them.

The third thing is our history, which is unique within higher education. Again, there are many schools that can say

they provide education to the military, but only one can say that it has done so in peace and in war—and that is UMGC. The stories are just inspiring. When you read about book bundles being kicked out of helicopters in Vietnam on the fire bases in the middle of the jungle so that the professors could provide instruction during the breaks in the battle, it makes you feel good. Or when you read about education services being provided in Iraq and Afghanistan while mortar rounds are coming in, and the professor just sort of pauses and then continues teaching . . . it just tells you something about our commitment to servicemen and women, and it tells you something about our faculty and staff.

In many ways it is no different from the very first professors that we sent overseas, with little knowledge of how they were going to be supported, where they would teach, how they would get around, what the facilities would be like. They just went and figured it out. It is almost like the pioneers who loaded up their wagons and headed West.

I think they could only have succeeded because of their belief in what they were providing—serving the people who serve this nation. It makes me feel proud about who we are as an institution, and it is an aspect of this university that I hope we never lose.

As UMGC President Javier Miyares says, serving the military is part of our DNA. It‘s who we are. And if we ever decide that we are no longer going to do that, then we will have fundamentally changed as a university.

How would you summarize the key to fulfilling that mission?

I think it is important to keep in mind that military students are no different from our civilian students.

We are still dealing with the hopes and dreams of working adults trying to make a better life for themselves.

As I talk to my own folks in Global Military Operations, I tell them at the end of the day, it is not about the piece of paper, the diploma. It really is about helping working adults who happen to be in the military achieve their hopes, their dreams, and their goals. Whether we have them for one term or 10, if we see our purpose as helping folks change the trajectory of their lives and their children’s lives, then I think we will be doing okay. G

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CLASS NOT ES

W. Mike Phipps ’82, of Owings, Maryland, was elected vice chairman of the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO), where he has represented Calvert County since 1998. A farmer, licensed funeral director, and accomplished bluegrass musician, Phipps serves on SMECO’s Board Risk Oversight Committee and chairs the Policy, Audit, and Budget Committee. He is a past president of the board of directors of the Calvert Farmland Trust and of the Maryland Farm Bureau. He has also served as a member of the Calvert County Planning Commission.

Chris Collins ’88 & ’98, of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, was named chief financial officer of Harbor Retirement Associates (HRA), a regional senior living development and management company based in Vero Beach, Florida.

He served as HRA’s controller for six years and brings more than 26 years of experience in accounting and operations management to his new role.

Wanda Johnson ’92, of Silver Spring, Maryland, is chief program officer of The Endocrine Society, where she leads the Education, Science, and Professional Development department. Her team organizes the society’s annual meeting and expo, ENDO, and in 2018 she won the PCMA Education Foundation’s Visionary Award as Meeting Professional of the Year.

Stacie Bowie ’93, of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, joined Lander University, in Greenland, South Carolina, as vice president of finance

and administration.

Previously, she served for eight years as CFO of Coastal Carolina University and most recently served as senior vice president of public finance for Stephens Inc., an independent financial services firm.

Ann Darrin ’93, of Baltimore, Maryland, was named a 2018 Influential Marylander

by The Maryland Daily Record. An expert in aerospace and systems engineering, she serves as managing executive of the Space Exploration Center at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. Previously, she was an aerospace engineer at the NASA Goddard Space Center and a division chief for Assurance Technologies.

William “Bill” Killen ’93, of Emmitsburg, Maryland, was elected president and CEO of the National Fire Heritage Center. He began his career in 1956 at the Potomac Heights Volunteer Fire Department and in 1960 took a paid position as a GS-3 firefighter trainee at the Navy Propellant Plant (now the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head division). He retired as director of the Navy Fire and Emergency Services in 2004. Killen has served as fire chief at Holston Army Ammunition Plant; fire chief of Metropolitan Washington Airports in Alexandria, Virginia, and the Apollo Astronaut Rescue Team, Kennedy Space Center Fire Department in Florida. He served as president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs

ACHIEVER | 42 | UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GLOBAL CAMPUS

2005–06, president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs Foundation 1998–2003, and vice president of the Institution of Fire Engineers, U.S. branch. Killen received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service in 2006 and the Military Firefighter Heritage Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. He was inducted into the Navy Fire and Emergency Services Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Department of Defense Fire Emergency Services Hall of Fame in 2013.

Linda Morgan ’93, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was named vice president and general counsel of Springfield College. Prior to joining Springfield, she worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, providing expertise in areas of employment law adjudication and related statutory interpretation.

Before that, she served as associate dean for gender equity at Bard College, grant administrator in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, and as an attorney in private practice.

John Pfister ’94, of Queenstown, Maryland, was named chief financial officer of Queen Anne’s County Public Schools. He brings more than 28 years of school system financial experience to the role and previously served as CFO of Prince George’s County Public Schools.

Judith Marcano Williams ’94, of Bethesda, Maryland, was named Program Manager–Americas at the Vision Impact Institute. In that role, she works with governments, key opinion leaders, and nongovernmental organizations to raise awareness for

healthy vision through regional advocacy initiatives. Previously, she worked for the World Bank and the Embassy of the Dominican Republic.

Jodee Dickinson ’95, of Alexandria, Virginia, was nominated and confirmed as finance director for the City of Annapolis, effective August 1, 2018. A certified public accountant (CPA) and certified fraud examiner (CFE), she served previously as both the auditor and assistant controller for Anne Arundel County, the deputy director of Budget and Finance for Calvert County, and the supervisor of finance for Anne Arundel County Public Schools.

Patrick McKenna ’95, of Jefferson City, Missouri, has served as director of the Missouri Department of Transportation since December 2015, and previously served as deputy commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. In September 2018, he was named vice president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. He also served as president of the Mid America Association of Transportation Officials for 2017–18 and as a member of the executive committee for the National Academy of Science’s Transportation Research Board.

Teresa Sutherland ’97, of Annapolis, Maryland, served for more than 20 years as county auditor for Anne Arundel County in Maryland.

She was nominated

by Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley to serve as Annapolis City Manager and was unanimously confirmed by the City Council in April 2018.

Jethro “Jet” Defensor ’99, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was appointed vice president of business development by Electrosoft, a leading provider of diversified technology-based solutions and services to the federal government. Prior to joining Electrosoft, he held management roles with Defensor Dynamics, Accelera Solutions, ISSTSPi, and AS Global, among others.

Shane Knisley ’00, of Cincinnati, Ohio, served as chief operating officer and later interim president of Fairfield Hospital before being named president of Clermont Hospital in October 2019.

Both hospitals are part of the Mercy Health network. Prior to joining Mercy Health, he served as COO for Sparks Health System in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and as assistant CEO for Lake Granbury Medical Center in Granbury, Texas.

Before that, he was vice president of administration for Navy Medicine Operational Training Center and a defense fellow/military legislative assistant in the United States Senate.

Wendy MortonHuddleston ’00 & ’02, of Wesley-Chapel, Florida, was appointed national president-elect of the Association of Government Accountants. A Grant Thornton Principal, she served as president of the 2,200-member Washington,

D.C. chapter of AGA in 2016–17 and later as chair of the AGA National Council of Chapters. She is also a United Way National Capital Area board member and an executive sponsor for the Women at Grant Thornton and African-American and Allies business resource groups, as well as an ally for Equality GT.

Jon Boeckenstedt ’01, of Corvallis, Oregon, was named vice provost for enrollment management of Oregon State University. He came to Oregon State from DePaul University, in Chicago, where he served since 2002 as associate vice president for enrollment management and marketing. Prior to that, he held positions at St. Bonaventure University, Mount Mercy College, Grinnell College, and the University of Dallas.

Sudhir Raju ’01, of Vienna, Virginia, was named president and chief operating officer of health informatics company CTIS, Inc. He previously served as the company’s executive vice president and COO and senior vice president and chief program officer.

Dawn Hopkins ’04, of Dover, Delaware, is director of annual giving at Delaware State University.

She was honored by the Delaware ACE Women’s Network as the 2018 DAWN Rising Star Award at the annual fall awards dinner October 16, 2018.

DAWN is a chapter of the National ACE Network.

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CLASS NOT ES

Identification badge, and the Combat Action badge.

Jeffrey A. Kirwan ’06, of New York, New York, an independent member of the Board of Directors of Bed, Bath, and Beyond Inc., was appointed executive chairman of Maurices Incorporated, a specialty retailer focused on women’s value apparel.

Previously, he served as global president and chief executive officer, Gap, a division of The Gap, Inc.

Col. Michael A. Sinks (right) accepts command of the 844th Communications Group from Maj. Gen. James A. Jacobson, Air Force District of Washington commander, in a change-of-command ceremony June 28 on Joint Base Andrews.

Michael A. Sinks ’05, of Alexandria, Virginia, is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He accepted command of the 844th Communications Group in a change-of-command ceremony on Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on June 28, 2018. Col. Sinks enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1984 and served as a law enforcement specialist for 12 years before receiving his commission in 1996 from the Air Force Officer Training School. He has commanded at the squadron level twice and has served at several joint staff positions, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, and Air Staff.

Wayne Trochmann ’05, of Cumming, Georgia, was named vice president of sales for OLAH Healthcare Technology, a market leader in providing solutions for retiring legacy clinical and

financial systems. He joined OLAH after serving for 15 years in various executive, client services, and technical consulting roles with Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, and prior to that in various clinical and technical roles at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.

Michael Grinston ’06, of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, U.S. Army Forces Command, became the second highest command sergeant major in the Army, in charge of some 220,000 enlisted soldiers. His deployments include Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Kosovo, where he was involved in active combat, and he has received the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and five Bronze Stars (with two “V” devices). He has earned the Ranger tab, Master Parachutist badge, Air Assault badge, Drill Sergeant

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Seth Moore ’06, of Vienna, Virginia, has been named CEO of T-Rex Solutions, a mid-tier IT professional solutions firm.

He previously served as the company’s chief financial officer and vice president and chief operating officer. Prior to joining T-Rex Solutions, he served as director of global finance for Leidos and in several senior leadership roles with Lockheed Martin between 2001 and 2015.

Christina Frye ’07, of Washington, D.C., was recognized as a 2019–20 Influencer by the International Association of Women, a global in-person and online networking platform with nearly 1 million members. She began her career in public service working for the Federal Reserve Board and is now founder and president of Frye Consulting Group.

Anna Hui ’08, of Jefferson City, Missouri, is director of Missouri’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. A graduate of the University of Illinois, she was honored in April 2018 with the UI Outstanding Asian American Alumna award. She is the first Asian American in

Missouri’s history to serve in the governor’s Cabinet.

Derek Elder ’09, of Cumming, Georgia, was named director of Zoom Telephonics, Inc., a leading producer of cable modems and other communication products. He previously served as managing director of strategic advisory firm Sky Advisors LLC and before that as president and CEO of Concurrent, a NASDAQ-traded technology firm.

Kristen Curran Gannon ’09, of Avalon, New Jersey, was sworn in as deputy borough clerk of Avalon in a ceremony on February 13, 2019. She previously served as deputy municipal clerk.

J. D. Robertson ’09, of Wimberley, Texas, was reappointed as the independent ombudsman for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. He was initially appointed to the role by Governor Greg Abbott in January 2018. He is a retired major with the Texas Rangers and served more than 27 years with the Texas Department of Public Safety and a former commander of the Texas Rangers Special Operations Group.

Mina Larson ’11 & ’12, of Alexandria, Virginia, was named CEO of the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) in July 2019. She previously served as the organization’s deputy executive director. Prior to joining NCCAOM, she served as director to former California Governor Pete Wilson’s executive office and communications office and handled media relations for the California State Assembly.

Gabriel Daniels ’09, ’12 & ’13, of Herndon, Virginia, joined Chinook Systems, Inc. as cybersecurity program manager, leading its newly created CyberCx division.

Reginald T. Johnson ’09 & ’15, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was named fire chief of the Charlotte Fire Department, effective April 30, 2019.

Johnson has more than 24 years of experience in fire and emergency management service and previously served as assistant fire chief for operations, deputy fire chief, and battalion chief. In his new role, he will oversee more than 1,000 uniformed personnel and administer a budget of $124 million.

Aneesha Johnson ’10, of Mechanicsville, Virginia, is a plant manager at DuPont.

She has been named to a five-year term on the Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority Board of Directors by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners and the City of Valdosta City Council.

Paul Mattear ’10, of Oceanside, California, was appointed vice president of sales and business development for Kymeta, a communications company focused on global, mobile connectivity.

He served 22 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he held senior command positions, and more recently served in senior leadership and management positions at Intelsat.

Debbie Payton ’10, of Hagerstown, Maryland, was named director of Washington County, Maryland’s, Division of Health and Human Services. She pre-

viously served as the county’s director of human resources. She is a past president of the local Cumberland Valley Society of Human Resource Management.

Wayne Prender Jr. ’10, of Lutherville Timonium, Maryland, is vice president for applied technology and advanced programs at Textron Systems. He was named vice chair of the newly formed Unmanned Maritime Systems Advocacy Committee of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The committee is focused on the development of policy positions to support the advancement of the industry.

Wendy Webb Williams ’10, of Chicago, Illinois, was named chief legal officer of Sara Lee Frozen Bakery. Most recently, she led the law department for the North America and Europe regions at Mead Johnson Nutrition. Earlier, she served as associate general counsel for US Foodservice, Inc., and was part of the corporate services group at McGuire Woods LLP in Baltimore.

Keith Johnson ’11, of Winchester, Virginia, was named chief of the Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System.

Johnson, a fourthgeneration firefighter, began his career in 1982 as a volunteer in New York State, and previously served as Loudoun’s assistant chief of operations and acting chief. He is vice president of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Fire Chiefs Assocation.

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Jim Henderson ’12, of Bossier City, Lousiana, is president of the University of Louisiana System. He was invited to serve as commencement speaker for Lousiana Tech’s spring commencement ceremony on May 19, 2018. Prior to his current position, he served as president of Northwestern State University from 2014 to 2017 and chancellor of Bossier Parish Community College from 2009 to 2014.

Roderick Nunn ’12, of St. Peters, Missouri, was inducted into the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Alumni Hall of Fame September 28, 2018. He is executive vice president and head of education and employment for the St. Louis-based Concordance Academy of Leadership, a national organization focused on reducing recidivism for formerly incarcerated citizens. He also serves as an adjunct professor in UMGC’s Doctor of Management program.

Sean Plater ’12, of Glenn Dale, Maryland, was appointed general manager of 96.3 WHUR-FM and the Howard University Radio Network by Howard University.

Prior to joining WHUR, he served in various capacities with SiriusXM and RadioOne, Inc.; worked in the academic technologies division of the George Washington University; and served as the principal consultant for Plater Audio Solutions. Radio Ink Magazine named him to its “African American Leaders in Radio” list in both 2018 and 2019.

Karin A. Schultz ’12 & ’13, of Hanover, Maryland, is owner and operator of Zone of Potential, LLC. She was recognized

by Continental Who’s Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Member in the field of Executive Coaching/Consulting/Facilitation.

Ravi Ragnauth ’13, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, joined The Davis Cos., a Bostonbased real estate development firm, as chief financial officer, chief compliance officer, and managing director. He previously served as chief financial officer, executive vice president, and board member of the New York-based real estate development firm the Moinian Group.

Harlan B. Elliott ’14, of Rhonesdale, Maryland, joined Becker Morgan Group as a structural designer, bringing 17 years of experience to the role.

In addition to a bachelor’s degree in computer networks and security from UMGC, he holds an associate degree in architectural engineering from Delaware Technical Community College.

Jane Reindorf-Attoh ’14, of Lorton, Virginia, was named managing director of the World Trade Center, Accra, Ghana, effective June 1, 2018. She previously served as deputy chief of party for the USAID project, responsible for monitoring achievements of programs that received USAID funding for economic and agricultural development in Ghana.

Marissa Cormier ’14 & ’15, of New Windsor, Maryland, joined McDaniel College, in Westminster, Maryland, as chief of staff and secretary of the board of trustees and college.

Previously, she served as director of research and operations of AGB Search, a higher education executive search firm.

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Robert Chislett ’15, of Brooklyn, New York, joined the Volcker Alliance as a program fellow, where he supports the Truth and Integrity in State Budgeting initiative, a multiyear study of state budgeting practices. A U.S. Army combat veteran, he is currently a JD candidate at Fordham University School of Law.

Jason Stoddard ’15, of Port Tobacco, Maryland, joined Charles County Public Schools as director of school safety and security.

A former school resource officer, he previously served as commander of the homeland security and intelligence section of the Charles County Sherriff’s Office. In his new role, he is responsible for developing school safety and security plans and advising the school superintendent and other school personnel on safety issues.

Kristan (Hawkins) Vermeulen ’15, of Ellicott City, Maryland, was appointed to the Maine Public Relations Council board of directors.

Formerly director of communications for the U.S. Department of Defense, she now operates her own public relations and marketing consulting business; her clients include Sea Bags, CHART Metalworks, inner-eco, and Maine Cat Catamarans.

Jamal Justice ’18, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, is Electronics Technician First Class in the U.S. Navy.

He was named 2018 TSCHR Sailor of the Year by the Training Support Center Hampton Roads. He serves as information technologies field support/cyber support technician leading petty officer at Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex.G

ARE YOU READY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE? As part of our dedicated team of scholar-practitioners, your innovation and inspiration would help provide our students with an exceptional learning experience. UMGC offers courses in high-demand areas like cybersecurity, business, and more.

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Richmond Adebiaye, an adjunct professor who teaches in the cybersecurity program, published “Big Data Analytics Conundrums Analysis: The Need for Information Management Collaborations Between Universities and Corporations,” in The International Journal of Engineering and Science, Vol. 8, No. 5 (2019).

Courtney Anderson-Broadhead, a collegiate professor in the MBA program, presented “Applied Experiential Entrepreneurship (They’re Already Running Their Business, Is There Anything for a University to Teach Them?)” at the Southern Academy of Legal Studies in Business Conference, San Antonio, Texas, February 28– March 2, 2019.

Mohammad Bajwa, program chair for health informatics, presented on graduate health information management curricula and the future of health informatics research at the AHIMA Assembly on Education in Atlanta, Georgia, July 29–31, 2019.

Marcia Bouchard, an adjunct associate professor in the doctoral program, published “Navigating Academic and Military Life: A Personal Journey,” in Military Spouses with Graduate Degrees: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Thriving Amidst Uncertainty, A. Hernandez and J. Belding, Eds. (Lexington Books, 2019).

Matt Charles, adjunct professor for public relations, published “Hometown Pride: Communicating Your Locale’s Allure,” in PRSA’s Strategies & Tactics (May 1, 2019).

James Clark, an adjunct professor who teaches in the cyber security and information assurance program, had his paper, “Incorporating Security and Trust

into ICT Networks Consisting of Smart Materials,” accepted for presentation in March 2020 at the International Smart Materials Conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Balakrishnan Dasarathy, program chair for information assurance, presented “5G Network Security,” at the National Capital Region Chapter meeting of ISC2, June 11, 2019.

Danielle Dimitrov, an adjunct professor who teaches in the human resource management program, presented “A Review of Spirituality at Work,” at the Theory and Applications in the Knowledge Economy (TAKE) Conference in Vienna, Austria, July 3–5, 2019.

Camelia Fawzy, an adjunct professor in the MBA program, published (with B. Shore) a chapter in the Handbook of Research on Positive Organizational Behavior for Improved Workplace Performance (IGI–Global, 2019), entitled “Friends or Foes: Dynamics Between OCBs, Contexts, and Innovation Development.” She presented (with B. Shore) “The Inclusive MNC: Repatriating the Expatriate,” in the 2019 Academy of Management Annual Meeting Program. She published (with B. Shore) The Inclusive Management Strategy: Engineering Culture Change for Employees with Disabilities (Emerald Publishing, 2019).

Michael Frank, who teaches in the MBA program; Rosemary Hartigan, associate vice dean of business and management and program chair, MBA; and Ravi Mittal, program chair, MBA, presented “Empowering Students to Reach Their Goals Using a Personality Assessment Tool in an MBA Leadership Development Course,” at the 2019 International Accreditation Council for

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Business Education Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 9–12, 2019.

Rossano Gerald, an adjunct associate professor in the MBA program, published “Ethnic Consumer Markets and Movie Marketing: An Empirical Study on Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ and Predictive Analytics of Ethnic Consumer Behavior of Moviegoers,” in the Asian Institute of Research Journal of Economics and Business, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2019).

He received the Best Paper Award— Statistics Research at the Academy of Business Research Fall 2019 Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

Dan Grosse, adjunct professor for environmental management, published (with G. K. Saba, K. A. Goldsmith, S. R. Cooley, S. L. Meseck, A. W. Miller, B. Phelan, M. Poach, R. B. Rheault, K. St. Laurent, J. Testa, J. S. Weis, and R. Zimmerman) “Recommended Priorities for Research on Ecological Impacts of Ocean and Coastal Acidification in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic” in Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Vol. 225 (September 30, 2019).

Randy Hansen, program chair for learning design and technology, presented a keynote, entitled “Technology-Enabled Teaching and Learning Based on the Standards of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)” at the College of the North Atlantic–Qatar (CNA-Q) Faculty Development Day, EdTechCamp, in Qatar, February 28, 2019.

Douglas Harrison, acting vice provost and dean of The Graduate School, published (with L. Harris, D. McNally, and C. Ford) “Academic Integrity in an Online Culture: Do McCabe’s Findings Hold True for Online, Adult Learners?” in the Journal of Academic Ethics (July 2019).

GIVE AND RECEIVE A charitable bequest to University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) allows the university to offer more scholarships to more students while maintaining the highest level of academic quality. That same gift may also provide substantial benefits to you and your family.

• Fulfill your dreams and aspirations to help future students of UMGC. • It costs you nothing today to make a bequest.

• A bequest is free of federal estate tax.

• Your bequest can be changed down the road.

• You can still bequeath specific gifts to your heirs.

This information does not constitute tax advice. Consult your tax and/or financial advisor for information regarding the tax implications of gifts to the UMGC Foundation.

Funds for the UMGC Foundation are administered by the University of Maryland Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

UMGC is a proud member of the University System of Maryland.

Establish your own lasting legacy at UMGC with a CHARITABLE BEQUEST

To learn more or to request a Wills Guide, visit impact.umgc.edu or call 301-985-7110

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He presented “The New Cheating Economy in Higher Education” at the USM General Counsel and Maryland Attorney General’s Office Monthly Meeting (2019). He presented (with B. Mulherrin) “Developing a Culture of Integrity: One Year Later,” and “Integrated Cyberdefense Technologies to Combat Contract Cheating” at the International Center for Academic Integrity Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 8–10, 2019.

Joe Honer, adjunct professor for

John Munro, an adjunct professor in

accounting, presented “The Applicability of New Jersey and Pennsylvania Tax Reciprocity in Various Business Situations Relevant to Organization Including: The Major Contributing Factors of Reciprocity Such as a Three-Tier vs. Two-Tier Tax Structure; Employees Who Frequently Move Between States, and Common Pitfalls Facing Both Employers and Employees,” at the Daniel J. Ragone Center for Excellence in Accounting, 2018.

the environmental management program, published “Digging Deeper . . .

Is Franklin County Prepared?” in The Mercersburg Journal, April 10, 2019.

He published (with G. Giannopoulos) The Accelerating Transport Innovation Revolution, First Ed. (Elsevier, 2019).

Mansur Hasib, program chair for cybersecurity technology, presented the opening keynote, “Digital Strategy for Healthcare and Medical Education” at the International Medical Education Leaders Forum satellite meeting in Kuwait, February 16, 2019. He published a chapter, “The Information Governance Problem in Healthcare,” in R. Smallwood’s Information Governance for Healthcare Professionals (O’Reilly, 2018).

Richard Heiens, an adjunct professor in marketing, published (with L. P. Pleshko and A. A. Ahmed) “A Comparison of the Relationship Marketing Outcomes of SMEs vs. Large Enterprises in the Kuwait Fast Food Industry,” in the British Food Journal, Vol. 121, No. 10 (2019). He published (with L. P. Pleshko) “An Exploratory Examination of the Relationship Between Time-in-Market and Market Share for Foreign Firms in a Consumer Ethnocentric Emerging Market,” in the International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2019), and “Analyzing True Loyalty in the Middle Eastern Market: Brand Preference and Brand Insistence,” in Proceedings of the Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Annual Meeting, Rick Mathisen, ed. (Association of Marketing Theory and Practice, 2019).

Douglas Kelly, adjunct professor for information assurance, and Ronald Morgan, adjunct professor for information assurance, had “A Novel Perspective on Cyber Attribution” accepted for publication at the 14th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, February 28–March 1, 2019.

Sharon Levin, program chair for accounting, and Anne Rich, an adjunct professor in accounting, presented, “Teaching Graduate-Level Accounting Courses Without a Textbook: From Idea to Classroom Reality” at the American Accounting Association Teaching and Learning Curriculum Mid-Year Colloquium, November 7–9, 2019, in Tampa, Florida.

Sheldon Linker, adjunct professor in the software engineering program, published “The Accidental Chatbot,” in Chatbots Magazine (April 18, 2019).

Maureen J. Murphy, an adjunct professor in the MBA program, published “Flagship Followers: Leadership Flip” in The International Journal of Innovating Technology and Exploring Engineering, Vol. 8, No. 6 (2019).

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Sandeep Patnaik, program chair for marketing, presented (with S. Swaminathan) “Marketing Doctrine in Public Sector Undertakings in an Emerging Market” at the American Marketing Association Summer Academic Conference in Chicago, Illinois, August 9–11, 2019.

Brian Powers, program chair for intelligence management, and Kathleen Hogan, vice dean for graduate learning initiatives, presented “Assessing Intelligence Community Reforms since the 9/11 Attacks,” at the International Studies Association Annual Conference in Toronto, Canada, March 27–30, 2019.

Sudha Rajput, adjunct professor for graduate learning initiatives, published Internal Displacement and Conflict (Rutledge Focus, 2019).

Brandie Shatto, program chair for the MEd in instructional technology, presented “Developing a Project-Based Personalized Learning Framework,” “SPARK Summit for Pre-Service Educators,” and “Building Community Online,” at the International Society for Technology in Education ISTE Conference 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 23–26, 2019.

Linda Smith, program chair for distance education and e-learning, presented “Mentoring Programs: Embedding Alumni Mentors in Online Courses,” at

the Distance Learning Administration 2019 Conference in Jekyll Island, Georgia, June 28–July 1, 2019.

Hakjoon Song, adjunct professor for accounting, published (with S. M. Lee, K. J. Park, and L. Wang) “Material Weakness in Internal Control in Relation to Derivatives and Hedge Accounting,” in the Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, Vol. 29, No. 3 (2018).

Jeff Tjiputra, program chair for cloud computing, published (with B. Ludwig) “Adopting Hands-On Cloud Computing Labs in Your Classroom” online in Education Technology Insights (2019).

Jelena Vucetic, adjunct professor for telecommunications and information technology, published (with K. Musa) “Secure Cloud Computing Services Using Hyper Cloud Framework,” in The Journal of Business and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2019).

Merrick Watchorn, an adjunct professor in cybersecurity, presented a webinar, “Cloud Security and Supply Chain Risk Management,” hosted by EC-Council University, February 28, 2019.

Rudy Watson, program chair for Project Management, presented “Lessons: Oh, Did I Learn Them,” at the November 13, 2019, dinner meeting of the Silver Spring Chapter of the Project Management Institute.

Richard Works, an adjunct assistant professor in the MBA program, published (with R. Meharenna), “Compensation Trends Into the 21st Century,” in Beyond the Numbers: Pay and Benefits, Vol. 8, No. 5 (2019). G

Ethics Takes Center Stage at Big Data and Analytics Education Conference UMGC hosted the annual Big Data and Analytics Education Conference (BDA EdCon) June 3–4, 2019, at its administrative headquarters in Adelphi, Maryland.

The two-day event brought a variety of industry leaders together to discuss new ideas, technical solutions, and case studies. Ethics emerged as a recurring theme.

David Cox, director of the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, opened the conference with a keynote exploring the future and potential of artificial intelligence (AI). He expressed concern for AI’s darker side and its hackability and wondered aloud at the consequences of hacking a self-driving car.

“Deep learning systems are amazing and powerful, but they are often not extracting the real structure of what’s there,” he said, adding that the future of AI depends on trust and transparency.

“Policymakers have to be engaged to prevent things like job displacement and bias. We will need to legislate and direct the technology properly, because AI can also be used to take away privacy and liberties,” UMGC’s Elena Gortcheva, program chair for the MS in Data Analytics. he added.

In a subsequent session, entitled “Ethical and Responsible Use of Data,” Natalie Evans Harris, COO of BrightHive, explored issues related to data bias. “If you’re basing your AI on biased data, then you’re not solving a problem, you’re perpetuating a problem,” she said.

And Cortnie Abercrombie, a former IBM executive who founded AI Truth to help business leaders better understand and engage AI, urged conference attendees to recognize red flags and prevent ethical crises before they arise.

“Catch and fix issues before they become a brand issue,” she said, offering a checklist of questions to ask, including about the upside of the AI solution, the stakes, the potential for harm, the contractual terms, the ownership of the product, and whether it can be withdrawn from market once it has been released.

The conference wrapped up with the Global Analytics Competition, with UMGC as defending champions. This year, a team of graduate students from the State University of New York at Buffalo’s School of Management took top honors with their presentation, “Waste Management Report— Erase the Waste.” The presentation analyzed data sets associated with waste collection in New York City and determined that overall costs could be decreased by increasing budgets for awareness and control programs. G

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