Alejandra Balcazar

The University of Maryland Baltimore's 2027-2031 Strategic Plan outlines a roadmap to advance its mission of improving the human condition. It is structured around six key themes: United for Impact, Student, Faculty, and Staff Success, Future Ready Graduate and Professional Education, Research and Scholarship Excellence, Digital Transformation and Innovation, and Community and Global Engagement. The plan aims to achieve a unified identity, ensure fiscal responsibility, cultivate talent, deliver adaptable education, expand research, responsibly integrate technology, and strengthen partnerships to solidify its position as a national leader.

This Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plan establishes a program management framework for the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to ensure essential functions continue despite disruptions. It guides departments in planning and preparing to maintain critical operations by addressing potential impacts to 'people, places, and things'. The plan outlines a COOP program to reduce broad disruption, providing a process, guidance, and resources for departments to develop their individual COOP plans. It defines essential functions as activities whose suspension for less than 30 days would lead to significant operational consequences, and details four phases of continuity: Readiness and Preparedness, Activation and Relocation, Continuity Operations, and Reconstitution.

The University of Maryland School of Social Work has introduced a new vision statement, developed through extensive stakeholder discussions and surveys, to solidify its strategic direction. This vision aims to integrate social work research, practice, and policy to drive social justice and equity, strengthen communities, and improve lives locally, nationally, and globally. It serves as a guiding 'north star' for the institution, ensuring that all efforts are aligned with these core social work values and fostering a collaborative, accountable community.

The board approved a 99-year ground lease requested by the University of Maryland, Baltimore. The project involves a private developer constructing market-based rental residential buildings, intended to revitalize the downtown west side of Baltimore, increase the city's tax base, and create an inclusive and economically productive district.

The document details the 2022 Alumni Awards Ceremony, which served as a conclusion to the annual homecoming event. Key discussions involved recognizing the achievements of alumni serving as leaders and advocates in the social work profession. Awards presented included the Outstanding Recent Graduate Award (winners were Dr. Elizabeth Liz Aparicia and Seema Nelson), the Innovation in Social Work Award (recipient Lee Westgate), the Field Instructor of the Year Award (recipient Shonda Brown), the Emeritus Award (recipient Deborah Linzenmeier), and the Alumni of the Year Award (recipient Ezra Buchdall, along with his facility dog Carmen). The event also included accepting nominations for the 2023 alumni awards.