Remember That Survey?

The National Survey of Student Engagement? Freshmen and Seniors are being invited to participate in this survey to help UMBC's administration make changes to improve the school.

If you're one of the people selected, take the five minutes to go and fill out the survey. In addition to helping benefit the school, if you complete it before May 1st, you'll be entered to win one of four $100 Amazon gift cards.

**TAKE ACTION** Support Full Funding for Higher Education

Funding for USM institutions is at risk!  The House Appropriations Committee voted to decrease funding by $20.3 million last week.  Take 2 minutes to let your elected representatives know how important it is to support higher education (if you are an out-of-state student, feel free to use your campus address).

Click this link to TAKE ACTION to send an email message to your legislators letting them know that you support full-funding of the Governor's budget.  The sooner you send, the better.  Forward this link to your friends, parents, neighbors, and professors so that legislators hear how important funding higher education is (they can use this specific link).  It only takes a few minutes by simply entering your address and editing a pre-drafted message.  Be sure to let your legislators know your role in the USM (student, faculty, etc.).

A cut of $20.3 million will ensure tuition is not frozen for in-state undergaduates, lower the quality of programs for all students, and could threaten pay/job security for faculty and staff.

If you have further questions, please email me ASAP at joshmichael@umbc.edu or call me at (410) 294-8581.

Read this message from the USM website:

Support Higher Education Funding Oppose Legislative Cuts to Higher Education

Governor O’Malley’s FY 2010 budget proposal for the University System of Maryland supports the overarching goals shared by the state and the University System of Maryland:

• provide access to high-quality and affordable programs and services;
• ensure that the state’s public higher education system sustains its critical role in advancing Marylanders’ quality of life—intellectually, economically, socially, culturally, and in areas related to health.

The Department of Legislative Services is reccomending the General Assembly cut the USM funding by $5.7 million dollars and possibly more. Ask your legislators to reject this cut and fully fund higher education to maintain the quality, affordability and accessability of our public universities.

Tuition freeze warming up

Monday , Governor O'Malley stood with Senators Cardin and Mikulski at Bowie State University, explaining that the federal stimulus package would allow for greater investment in community colleges and for full-funding of a fourth year of an in-state, undergraduate tuition freeze.  The dedication of federal stimulus dollars seemed to seal the deal a fourth tuition freeze...

But on Tuesday , Governor O'Malley instead sat with Budget Secretary Eloise Foster, legislative leaders, and budget analysts, explaining that revenue estimates came in even lower than the already deflated expectations.  According to estimate, the Governor needs to fill an additional $516 million hole, tallying the total deficit to $1.1 billion.  Further layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts have been put back on the table.  And of course, funding to support a funded tuition freeze has as well.

Updates are sure to come in future days.  Recall that the Board of Regents (of which I am your student representative to) officially sets tuition rates, and will do so after the Legislative Session, which ends in mid-April.

Residential Life Clarifies Smoking Policy Enforcement

After some inquiry from students, Residential Life clarified their interpretation of the smoking policy at a recent meeting of the Community Directors, affirming that the inclusion of designated smoking areas in the UMBC Smoking Policy is not meant to prohibit smoking everywhere else on campus.

A source in Residential Life confirmed that ResLife will only be enforcing the 20 foot policy henceforth.

A rumor had previously circulated leading CD's and RA's to believe that the policy meant that if students smoked anywhere on campus besides the designated smoking areas, they could be subject to punitive action. Emails claiming this interpretation were sent to residents, and fliers were posted in residence halls containing this false information.

Hopefully this clarification will alleviate undue restrictions on students and allow for accurate enforcement of the actual policy in place.

For a more detailed description of how this clarification came about, visit my personal blog entry on The Rainbow Road Less Travelled By.

Fan Buses To Binghamton for Conference Championship

The SGA is funding a FREE bus for students for the Championships. The space is limited so sign up ASAP.

1. Buy your game ticket at he Commons Information Desk for $10.

2. Email spirit.czar@umbc.edu to reserve your spot on the bus. Include your name, email address, and student id in the email. DO NOT REPLY ON FACEBOOK!!!

3. Show up at the RAC BEFORE 5am on Saturday. We will be leaving promptly. Game is at 11am. We should be back by 7pm.

4. GET READY TO OWN BINGHAMTON AND MAKE OUR 2ND APPEARANCE IN THE NCAA’S!!!GO DAWGS!!!

Transcript Fee: The Saga Continues

Quite a number of things have taken place since the Senate meeting last month where the transcript fee was discussed with Mrs. Yvette Mozie-Ross and Dr. Steve Robinson. A large number of students were in attendance, but for those who were not (or those interested in reviewing the discussion), the official minutes have been posted here.

The plan post-meeting has been for the SGA President to send a letter to President Hrabowski, a move that has been delayed by the recent shifts in SGA's leadership.

Last week, SGA President Gabe Rettaliata sent an official letter to President Hrabowski concerning this fee. At this point, it's been about 2 business days since the letter has been received and we are currently awaiting a response.

Relevant contact information is as follows:

Yvette Mozie-Ross: mozie@umbc.edu
Dr. Steve Robinson: robinsos@umbc.edu
SGA President Gabe Rettaliata: gabriel2@umbc.edu
SGA Speaker of the Senate Rahilla Tarfa: rat1@umbc.edu
Myself: michael.c@umbc.edu

Click here to see all Zwybak posts on this issue.

Being a Student Leader

Being a student leader is no easy task. It's easy to look someone in the eye and say let's make this happen. What is not easy is the amount of work that leads to that plan becoming a reality.

When I first joined SGA I did so in the hopes of becoming part of the student life experience that made my high school experience phenomenal. I didn't realize however that the organization I had joined consisted of a lot of meetings and brainstorming...or so I thought. Then, as a member of the Finance Board and let alone a First Year Ambassador I felt disconnected from the rest of the SGA and it took me a while to truly learn what was going on in the internal workings of student government. What people see, if any, of SGA is either the Finance Board for cash or posts on Umbc Underground/Retriever articles; nothing however about what we are doing for students. However as I began to integrate myself into this organization more and more, I realized that there is a lot of behind the scenes work involved in the process. Whether it was Elani working on ProveIt, or Indek working on the Financial system and many other people working on their projects as well, I realized that even though I was involved with SGA, I wasn't really doing my share of the work. There was so much to be done and those who would excel at it the most were too busy doing even more important things. That is why new leaders had to emerge to the scene and take on these responsibilities so that the torch does continue to be passed on. Losing the election was tough, but it offered me the opportunity to see what happens in the SGA executive cabinet. That was and still is one of the coolest experiences ever. I have been working with so many people on coming up with ideas and seeing them slowly evolve into reality, but nothing at the snap of your fingers. Working to change policy with the administration and create new things on campus is not easy. The infamous RED TAPE is something that while provides a safe net that protects the administration and the students, is in many cases detrimental to the progress of student life. Quoting Josh Michael on this one, "Fighting the RED TAPE is what we do at SGA every day." Its not creating projects or working on ideas or anything of that sort; we do that but its not our essential task because honestly anyone can come up with a great idea. It's all about making it happen. That is why I love this campus, because we have traversed through the fields of red tape and have made things happen and change on campus that has affected each and every students’ daily lives. Its tough sometimes to see the fruits of hard work, but when a group of students get together and say "We will do this!" it can make a powerful statement that if left dry will go back into the big book of ideas that no one cares enough to work on. Why? Sometimes being a student leader you forget you are a student. It can be awakening to see yourself say “wow, I want to do this rather than study.” That is where problems begin and when one must reflect and say to themselves that it’s important not to lose sight of your primary goal in search of change and improvement. Sometimes you need to delegate tasks and give projects up to others. What I'm trying to get at here is that even though I may want to see something happen on campus very badly, I can’t necessarily commit to it because of time constraints. But I'm sure there is a student out there who thinks that they want to see that change as well, have the time, and if given the right direction and help can make it happen and leave their mark at UMBC. That is what I would love to see happen: Students who are not elected officials or appointed officers, just walking into the SGA office saying "Hey! I saw you guys have this project and no one is able to work on it, I will! Teach me how I should approach this and help me assemble a team of several people who can work with me to make this happen!" A dream far away this is? I don't think so, so let's make it happen.

Being a student leader is no easy task. It's easy to look someone in the eye and say let's make this happen. What is not easy is the amount of work that leads to that plan becoming a reality.

Project Black and Gold

Did you know what our school colors were when you first started at UMBC?

Think our campus can look more school spirited?

Want to get more involved with student life?

Want to get people excited about UMBC athletics, student life, greek life,
theatre, or cultural orgs?


Here is YOUR chance:

Project Black and Gold is a student run initiative being done by the SGA
to work towards getting people more excited about UMBC.

One of the major aspects of Black and Gold is the creation of campus
lamppost banners that will be displayed for FIVE years around academic row
and the library.

One side: we decided...was going to have our famous slogan "Retriever Fever"


BUT THE OTHER SIDE IS UP TO YOU:


We are looking for design submissions for our campus lamppost banners....

it can be anything that YOU think represents UMBC.
pictures, drawings, sketches, ANYTHING.
This is our campus, and its our project...to make it be know HOW excited
we are about being at UMBC.

Your submissions should be able to fit on a banner which is 35' tall and
20' wide.
There will be templates available for use on myUMBC and facebook.

We will be choosing three designs based on YOUR votes on MyUMBC.

One of your selections MAY even be the new design on the NEW campus "red"
card, which will now be black and gold.


ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY SUNDAY, MARCH 23rd at 5:00 PM.

Questions? Comments? Submissions?

projectblackgold@umbc.edu

NSSE: Let Your Voice be Heard!

UMBC students, get ready to have a say about the quality of campus life and the kinds of changes you’d like to see! Some freshmen and seniors have an opportunity to provide feedback in a forum that is taken very seriously by campus leaders. Freshmen and seniors are being invited at random by e-mail to participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) between now and the end of May. The NSSE is a yearly survey administered by UMBC and other private and public institutions across the U.S. UMBC’s Office of Institutional Research explains that NSSE

“gauges the extent to which colleges are providing experiences associated with a quality undergraduate education and the extent to which students are engaging in those educationally meaningful activities.”

Campus leaders have used the results with other information to make changes to curriculum, programs, and resources. In response to initial results, senior administration at UMBC implemented a number of initiatives designed to increase student engagement and success. Some examples include: first-year seminars, Introduction to an Honors University seminars, living learning communities, the new student book experience, and the faculty mentor program.

If you are one of the lucky invitees, please take the opportunity to tell UMBC’s leaders about your experiences. Students who complete the survey by May 1, 2009, will be eligible for one of four $100 Amazon.com gift certificates.

Moving on From Here...

At Monday's Senate meeting, I was sworn in as the SGA President for
the remainder of the year. Also at the meeting, my two choices for the
vacant VP positions were confirmed. Dave Indek will be the new Executive
Vice President and James McCauley will be the new VP for Student Orgs. In
addition to this, Rahilla Tarfa was selected by the Senate to be the new
Speaker, while Jen Kent retained her post as Assistant Speaker.

First off, I want to commend Steve for the courage and resolve he showed
in handling the situation tonight. After all that's gone on, it was
fitting that he left the room to a round of applause from those present. I
hope everyone looks back on his time in the SGA and sees all the good he
did for students, not what happened over the past week.

That said, I think everyone is ready to put all the unpleasantness of the
past week behind us and move on to our plans for the spring semester. I
know there will be a bit of a learning curve for those of us who have been
put into new positions as we get used to our new responsibilities, and I
ask that you have patience with us while we get adjusted to our new roles.
However, that will not stop us from continuing to work for students, and I
expect everyone in the SGA to continue to work on their projects and
initiatives. I've held the Senate to a high standard in my time as
Speaker, and as President I will hold the entire SGA to a high standard,
because I know you are all good enough to be held to a higher standard
than the average SGA. We have a lot of projects that are ongoing right
now, and it needs to be our priority to finish those projects in the
remaining three months of our terms.

I want to ensure everyone that the SGA is not going to go downhill from
here. I won't let it. I sure as hell ain't going to coast for the rest of
the year. Too many students have placed their faith in us that we will
serve them and make this university the best that it can possibly be, and
I would not be able to live with myself if I disappointed them by not
doing the best job I can. We have a lot of talented and passionate people
in this organization that are ready with ideas to serve students. We can
show the people that have doubted the strength of the SGA over the past
few days that we can rise above any pitfall that we come across and come
out the other side stronger than ever.

The excitement from the retreat just two weeks ago gave me a huge burst of
energy to finish out my time in the SGA at full blast. I hope everyone can
channel that energy and make the spring semester one to remember. The
folks at the Senate meeting tonight were very excited about the
possibilities that await us in the upcoming weeks, and I hope all of you
can feel that way too.

Change has obviously come to the SGA, but I hope we can move forward from
here and continue to do our jobs for the students of UMBC and make for the
best undergraduate experience possible. I am excited to work with all of
you.

-Gabe Rettaliata