One of the things you’ll notice immediately about UMBC is that we have a very strong sense of community. There is a reason why many of us have spent our entire careers here: this is a place where there are many opportunities to forge meaningful connections with colleagues across the university. At its core our commitment to interdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship is, simply put, a commitment to working with and learning from other people within or beyond the university. This collaborative spirit infuses everything we do, and we look forward to welcoming you, working with you, and helping you make the connections you need to thrive in our world!
Faculty Affinity Groups
Our UMBC community supports a range of faculty-led committees and associations dedicated to improving the recruitment, visibility, and retention of diverse faculty and staff, and providing professional development, mentoring, and support to help them find success at UMBC. These include:
- Asian and Asian American Faculty and Staff Council
- Black Faculty Committee
- College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Women’s Faculty Network
- Latinx and Hispanic Faculty Association
- LGBTQ+ Faculty/Staff Association
- WISE (Women in Science and Engineering)
Department Affiliations
Many faculty members take advantage of the opportunity to become affiliate members of departments such as Africana Studies, Asian Studies, Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, Language, Literacy and Culture, and the Orser Center. We encourage you to contact the Chairs and Directors of these departments and programs for further information.
Faculty Working Groups
Center for Social Science Scholarship Working Groups
Dresher Center for the Humanities Working Groups
University Committees
One of the best ways to get involved in university life is to join one of the many faculty-led university committees. If you are interested in supporting faculty then you might consider joining Faculty Affairs; if you would like to contribute to decisions made about university priorities, academic planning and budget priorities then you might consider joining the Academic Planning and Budget Committee (APB). Other university committees include the Committee on Computer Policy, the Honors and Awards Committee, and the UMBC-Shady Grove Faculty Committee. A call for volunteers for these committees and more comes out every spring from the Faculty Senate.